Okay I have started planking the hull of the Victory and have made some mistakes in doing so. I am posting this so that hopefully others won't do the same

I am building the version with the cut-out and painting the ship in the Black and Yellow Ochre scheme.

a) DON'T plank from the rear upto the cut-out and then continue from the cut-out to the front of the ship. Alighning for the flow of the hull doing this is a nightmare. Instead plank OVER the cut out section and the entrance section and CAREFULLY cut the plank to make the cut out once the glue for EACH plank has dried fully.

b) DON'T use the supplied plank bender. If you go slightly too far through the plank it will snap or create an "elbow" in the wood. This will cause major problems in sanding the hull smooth requiring a lot of filling. Not too bad if you are painting the hull but if going for the natural finish it will look awful! Use either a steam bender, just steam, or what works best for me is soaking the planks in warm water for a couple of hours.

c) Take your time and ensure that you also glue along the full length of each plank. If you fail to do so, when you cut the gun ports a section of planking is likly to spring out from the hull.

d) if you push a pin in too far then carefully using the edge of your craft knife lift the head away from the plank just enough so that you can grip it with your pliers. DON'T gough at the wood as this too will require filling.

e) Constantly check the alignment of the planks from the left and right side of the hull. It is easy to make one side higher than the other.

f) Remove all traces of glue as you go. If you leave a "bobble" of glue on the wood to dry it will be harder than the surrounding wood. Sanding it off will create a low spot in the surrounding area whihch will show once you add the final finish.

Hope I am not preaching to the converted but I have made some of these mistakes my self and would like to prevent others from doing the same.

Thanks Riff Raff. Useful info/warnings. I am intending to use aliphatic resin glue to do the planks. Do you think this would do the job ?

Cheers Riff Raff, great advice for us newbie's, cheers mate.

riff-raff,a couple of things here,first,well done for pointing out some of the pitfalls,but the plank bender is kosher,if you know how to use it,the bit you were talking about is for cutting,you turn the blade around with pliers and then you can use it for bending planks.nobody has twigged it as yet.some even drill a hole in the handle and use a blunted screw to adjust the depth of the cut.which ever takess your fancy.
and aliphatic glue has 3 times the grab of pva woodglue,again it is personal choice.