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Looking for wooden strips for deck planking

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  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: United Kingdom
Looking for wooden strips for deck planking
Posted by Beau Mansfield on Thursday, January 8, 2009 5:25 AM

Do any of you guys know of a good supplier for wooden strips for deck planking.

I am looking for a good supplier of wooden planks in 1:200 scale to do the main deck of the Japanese Battle Ship Yamato.

Thanks.

Kind regards,

 

Beau.

  • Member since
    December 2002
Posted by lenroberto on Thursday, January 8, 2009 7:43 AM
Hi Beau- when I planked my big Cutty Sark- I got my strips here-

http://www.modelexpo-online.com/search.asp?UID=2009010808392149&SKW=wood+strips&B1=Go!

Not cheap- and they have lots of sizes and types of wood for your needs...

hope it helps

Len
  • Member since
    January 2005
  • From: Tampa, Florida, USA
Posted by steves on Thursday, January 8, 2009 8:01 AM

Kappler Mill and Lumber Co.

 http://www.kapplerusa.com/

 

Steve Sobieralski, Tampa Bay Ship Model Society

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Thursday, January 8, 2009 11:48 AM
The site to which steves kindly linked us looks most interesting; I hadn't heard of it before.  But after surfing around it for several minutes I have one big, obvious question:  what species of wood are we talking about here?  There's one rather vague reference to redwood in a "what's new" item (dating from 2005), but unless I somehow missed it there's no other indication of what kind of wood the company sells.  Is it basswood?  Or something harder? 

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    January 2005
  • From: Tampa, Florida, USA
Posted by steves on Thursday, January 8, 2009 12:00 PM

jtilley,

The wood that I have gotten from them has been bass wood.

 

Steve Sobieralski, Tampa Bay Ship Model Society

  • Member since
    January 2005
Posted by ggatz on Thursday, January 8, 2009 12:02 PM

I have have found these veneers from Rockler to be excellent for model ship decking .

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?Offerings_ID=2214

They are very reasonably priced..  You can probably get all you need from one 36" x 6" piece.

The have 10" widths as well. 

 You will have to cut your own strips, but it is easy to do with a metal straight edge and an Xacto knife . 

 Here is another source..

http://northeasternscalelumber.com/osc/catalog/index.php?cPath=23&osCsid=301cab036401c4a9eaa9a65450855706

Precut, but a bit more pricey . 

 

 

 

To a dog, every day is Saturday. ' Roger Miller '
  • Member since
    January 2005
  • From: Tampa, Florida, USA
Posted by steves on Thursday, January 8, 2009 2:10 PM

 ggatz wrote:
  You will have to cut your own strips, but it is easy to do with a metal straight edge and an Xacto knife . 

Actually, using a knife and straight edge to cut the number of 1/32" wide strips required to plank the deck of a 1/200 Yamato with accuracy and consistency would be very difficult and time consuming.  This might be a more feasible technique for larger scale models but, in my opinion, working in 1/200 he would be much better off using pre-cut strips.

 

Steve Sobieralski, Tampa Bay Ship Model Society

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Thursday, January 8, 2009 5:18 PM

I agree with steves.  The problem is that, when you look at a relatively large area (say an inch or so wide) covered by narrow planks, your eye immediately notices any slight inconsistency in the gaps between them.  A discrepancy of .001" or .002", which might not make any difference elsewhere in the model, becomes horribly obvious.

Sailing ship modelers have figured out over the decades that the most practical way to make really uniform strips of wood is with a table saw - preferably a "miniature" one.  With a tool like that, and a simple jig, you can rip out enough planks for the deck of a model in half an hour.  But cutting them with a knife blade invites trouble when the blade tries to follow the grain.  And it's almost impossible to hold the blade at precisely the same angle for every cut - and if the angle varies, even a little, so does the width of the plank.

Quite a few years ago a fine British modeler named Gerald Wingrove published a book in which he described an ingenious way to make planks.  He made a gadget with five or six homemade blades clamped in it, with metal spacers to hold them apart by a specified distance and an integral fence to keep the one on the end parallel to the edge of the workpiece.  He'd run this thing along the edge of a reasonably thick, straight board, thereby making a series of grooves in it.  Then he'd run a sharp plane along the edge of the board.  The shavings from the plane were the planks.  I've never tried that trick, but Mr. Wingrove's results were quite impressive.  I think Donald McNarry does something similar with his wonderful small-scale models.

It's not so impractical to score grooves to represent planking seams in a thin sheet of wood.  (If one plank is just a tad wider than the next one, the eye probably won't notice - as long as the grooves are uniform and straight.)  Scored decks - especially if made out of some hard wood, like maple or (my personal favorite) holly - can be made to look extremely effective.  Especially if they're painted.  Problems arise if a scored deck is stained, rather than painted; the stain emphasizes the wood grain, and makes it obvious that the grain pattern extends across the planking seams.

If I were thinking about planking the deck of a 1/200 battleship my strong inclination would be to bite the bullet and buy precut strips.  (Those prices in the source to which steves linked us aren't bad - and the shipping fees, by today's standards, are downright reasonable.)  I wish something harder and less fuzzy than basswood was available, but basswood decks can, with care, be made to look extremely effective.  Try running a fairly hard pencil around each plank before you install it.  (The pencil lead will represent the caulking between the planks - and will survive any sanding or scraping you inflict on it.)  When the deck is laid and really dry, smooth it out by scraping gently with a razor blade and/or sanding with extremely fine sandpaper.  Then give it a thin coat of some kind of stain, and wipe it off before it has time to really soak in and over-darken the wood.  Finish off with a coat of white shellac, diluted almost beyond recognition with denatured alcohol.  The shellac will lay down any fuzz that's been raised by the stain - and protect the deck from errant drops of paint that land on it later.

Hope that helps at least a little.  Good luck.

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    January 2005
Posted by ggatz on Thursday, January 8, 2009 5:34 PM
 steves wrote:

 ggatz wrote:
  You will have to cut your own strips, but it is easy to do with a metal straight edge and an Xacto knife . 

Actually, using a knife and straight edge to cut the number of 1/32" wide strips required to plank the deck of a 1/200 Yamato with accuracy and consistency would be very difficult and time consuming.  This might be a more feasible technique for larger scale models but, in my opinion, working in 1/200 he would be much better off using pre-cut strips.

Accuracy and consistency are only a problem if you are not consistent and accurate .Smile [:)]

I was just offering another option. Working with 1/32 stock is a challenge whether
you make it yourself or not .
To a dog, every day is Saturday. ' Roger Miller '
  • Member since
    June 2003
  • From: United Kingdom
Posted by Beau Mansfield on Friday, January 9, 2009 6:40 AM

Thanks to all you guys for the very helpful links and info that you have given me here.

Kind regards,

Beau.

 

 

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: San Francisco, CA
Posted by telsono on Friday, January 9, 2009 2:16 PM

FYI - I work with the import and export of agricultural products. There may be changes in the allowability of certain woods as their trade would be regulated by CITES. The one in particular which could be a problem is Ramin wood from Indonesia which is commonly used in wooden ship models. Although I haven't seen it applied in this fashion yet, legally any international shipment requires such certification. For example, we have a dealer of classic electric and acoustic quitars, he gets certification all the time for his shipments to Japan. The reason, the Rosewood veneer on the fingerboards of the guitars is covered by this requirement. Domestic sales of the material is not affected as it is assumed that the importer meet the entry requirements.

Mike T.

Beware the hobby that eats.  - Ben Franklin

Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out. - Ben Franklin

The U.S. Constitution  doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. - Ben Franklin

  • Member since
    August 2008
Posted by tankerbuilder on Sunday, April 12, 2009 10:06 AM
  Hello  I found a unique source for plank strips , I can,.t say you could do it ,but try .Some counties used to use these unusual archive rolls to put property descriptions on . It consists of these long rollers of wood strips with a good typing surface on one side and a flexible backing on the back . I got two rolls worth about five years ago , when the county where I lived put everything on c.d. . I soaked the paper off and ran the flat side of an X-ACTO blade while the wood was wet, on the surface to make sure the wood was clean. I then placed the strips out to dry. The strips turned out to be very thin strips of white oak !!! Try asking around and you may be surprised at where you find the wood you need .These strips are 1/4" x.010 x12" long .      tankerbuilder
  • Member since
    August 2008
Posted by tankerbuilder on Monday, April 13, 2009 1:31 PM
 Hey BEAU ... I know I replied yesterday or day before ,but ,another source hit the old grey cells later .There are stores that sell veneers for woodcraft projects and or dollhouse floors ,I would suggest you try this too, Try the local custom tobacco and cigar stores . The liners of many of the fancier cigar boxes are finely cut (read thin )reddish and blonde looking woods . This works great .!!You need to remember NOT to use super glue or white glue on your wood , this will prevent stain from soaking in at glue points.        tankerbuilder
  • Member since
    April 2004
  • From: Under the round engines...
Posted by therbert on Wednesday, April 15, 2009 10:06 AM

Bluejacket is also a good source --

http://www.bluejacketinc.com/fittings/stripwood.htm

Tom Herbert Katy, Texas, USA
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