Bamboo Planking

Its time to prep for the first layer of planking. This is a crucial stage that can effect the final look of your model.

Been made aware of the flaws in Bamboo, I scrutinised my supplies of planking. Almost a quarter of one issue has flaws .

The pic highlight the flaws that the knots in bamboo causes.

Issue 17
1st Bow Plank

I used the bamboo plank as a guide

I left the 2nd deck for later to make it easier to fit clamps in those akward spaces. I want to achieve a mirror image on the Port-side, using spacers across.

To get a clean line for the gun ports, I align the bow plank with my 1st deck plate. I hope it turns out well.

Thanks cuandv,

I going to sand down after the Bamboo planking is done. Its a waiste of time do do it now. It needed to be sanded anyway to smooth things out for the second layer of planking.

I must admit that planking the Victory is a breeze against the SOTS's bamboo planking. I bought extra issues just in case I ran out of good bamboo planks.

I came across 2x4's planking of the Victory build. Its ideal to use it as spacers for the false keel when laying down the first bamboo planks at the keel and bow section (Issue 18).

Hi cuandv
I did not built the Victory. Walter, a friend of mine, did finished his recent. Watching and "helping" him making progress, made me want to do a similiar project.

Unfortunate we did not comply a build log of his Victory build. All the info needed on the build of the Victory comes from this forum of previous builts of the Victory.

Learning can be painful and sometimes expensive, but that's what enriches lives.

Tip: If something does not seems right on your build, repair it immediately. After all, this models does not come cheap enough to make a mess of it.

False keel seems out of line


I found a gap of +- 1mm at rib #15 that could be a result from tweaking the slots to level the deck plates.
I posted this matter in the Hull Section of the SOTS Build Post #8
I do not know if this is part of the design. I cannot find info regarding this matter in the forum. If I missed something, please post it here.

Any help for a dummy like me will be appreciated.

Looking back through your diary it looks to me that even though you used a jig the keel was not perfectly flat to the base board,the pics in post 4 show a huge gap...this could be part of your problem.You mentioned that the decks were not lying flat...they won't be,decks rise up from the middle to bow & stern & usually side to side as well.I may be wrong in my observations maybe someone else could double check.

Thanks Rob,
I realise I did make a big booboo out of this build. As a Newbie to ships, I learn as I build.
My mistake came from flattening the deck, not taken the scale of the build in consideration.

I am OK now after being dissapointed with the ribs not to specs.
Thanks to all readers for supporting me.

Another confusing step in Issue 15

Glue part #34 to part #44. The slots in 44, where 34 goes into, are wider than the struds (view attached picture).

To solve this, I took all the parts and fitted them dry into place; marked the correct location and glued them together.

Assembling Stern set 27
Issue 15


To ensure a snug fit of all the parts and proper alignment of rib #27, I went a total different route to finish the stern-set.

After I glued the two brackets #34 onto the stern lower deck #44 (instruction Step 1-2), I turned the lower deck around and glued struts #43 onto lower deck #44 using rib #27, previous assembled and set aside, as a guide.

Issue 16;
I took the supporting pieces #46 and glued it to the half frame #49 as indicated in step 5. After the glue dried, I glued the half frames onto the stern deck extension #47 after taking measurements dry-fitted to the keel. I took the brace pieces #48 and glued it, as indicated, to part #47 so that it sits flush with the end of the deck extension.

I have now 3 different assembled pieces, rib #27, stern extension #43 and the half frame #49. The next step is to glue rib #27 to the half frame #49 and set to dry. The stern extension #43 was now glued into place followed by the two rear struts #45. The notches had to be slightly chamfered for a snug fit.