How to Plank a Fuselage
 

I am starting a Ziroli 70" P47 and need some advice on how to plank the fuselage. Never done it before and couldn't find anything by searching this web site.

Thanks.

How to Plank a Fuselage
 

There are a lot of ways to do it. Here is the way I do it.
Get a Master Airscrew balsa stripper. On the bottom outside edge, glue a piece of 1/4" hard wood. This sets a nice bevel. Set the guide for about 3/8" and make the first strip. Now flip the wood over 180 degrees and on the same edge you made the last strip from, make the next. Now you have the proper bevel on each side of the strip. Continue flipping the wood until it is used up.

To plank. I start on the side of the fuse and lay 1 or 2 strips on then switch sides and do the same. Then I go to the top and do 1 or 2 strips on the left top and switch to the right top. Once again I go to the sides and continue that way until the area is done. This keeps the fuse from getting tension in it. For the last strip I make the hole fit the strip. Not the other way around. It is easier to make the hole in the fuse a square ended hole, than it is to sand the strip to fit a pointed hole.

Hope that helps out. I'm sure athers have ways that are just as good or better.
Hans

How to Plank a Fuselage
 

Dave Platt sells a series of videos on scale building, one goes into some depth on planking and is worth getting hold of (the series as a whole is very good)

Some thinks I have learned.

Don't be tempted to make the planks too wide, I use about 3/8"

Cut them yourself from sheet, angle the knife blade alternately in and out so that you create a beveled edge, helps the fit no end.

I use white wood glue on the edge of each plank and cyano to tack at the formers, that way no pins are needed. If you use cyano for the whole job (which will work fine) I find that you get a lot on the outside which hardens the wood making it sand unevenly.

Add planks to each side of the fus alternately, that way you even out the tensions and will not induce a bend.

I used to be frightened of this technique until I figured out how to do it properly, now It is my preferred choice for curved surfaces.

Hope this helps.

Simon.

Try this
 

A good place to start http://www.modelairplanenews.com/how...rip_plank1.asp

Thanks,
Mark
RT Models

How to Plank a Fuselage
 

The tips so far about the width of the planking are great.

For glueing, you might want to use ambroid. CA glue is difficult to sand properly, and white glue will 'ball up' on you while you are sanding.

Mace Gill
The Aeroplane Works
http://www.theaeroplaneworks.com

How to Plank a Fuselage
 

my Royal Zero asked for planking, i wish to god i hadnt, would have been much simplier to just sheet it, not it looks like 5 50p peices lined up behind each other :(

How to Plank a Fuselage
 

Simon, do you have Dave's website ? Thx............

Planking
 

Well I have to throw my 2 cents worth in here. I choose to forget the hassles mentioned above. They are nice and stuff but you dont need to go through the trouble of making bevels.

What I do is cut normal strips 1/4 to 3/8 wide depending how tight my radius is. then I use Probond Polyurethane glue and CA to glue my strips down. I will use medium CA or thick ca and put a drop on each stringer or former the strip will sit on and I run a bead of Probond on the edge that will butt up against the other plank and glue it in place. I lay a few planks alternating sides to not get stress on 1 side. after i lay several planks I will take and scrape any excess glue. when this all sets up the probond will expand and fill the gaps between the planks and when you scraped any glue that dropped down into any imperfections will also expand. then once you sand the fuse down (like you will still have to do if you bevel the planks) it will all smooth out and all gaps and perfections will be filled thus no need for going over the fuse filling any imperfections like you will have to do anyways. thus my version saves on CA and it saves a step of filling everything after sanding the fuse down as it does it all in one step and can go right into glassing.

Joe

How to Plank a Fuselage
 

Mace,

Which Ambroid product do you recommend. I went to their web site and they have quite a few listed.

How to Plank a Fuselage
 

The problem with not beveling the planks, and using the glue method as described above by Prolooney, is just as he describes,the glue expands. What he doesn't say is that it runs, and drips inside the structure. This causes excessive weight gains and just an over all sloppy build.
Maybe I should just post a picture of what I mean, JOE?
Because I can...

Glue is heavier then wood. The more you use, especially to make up for in building ability, the heavier your plane will be.
For me? I think if you bevel the planks(as described by Heavy Date). Get a good, close fit between them, use the RIGHT amount of CA (and\or Ambroid), you get a good, strong, and LIGHT airframe.

Maybe we could all take a lesson from Cabinet makers.

-Mustang51

How to Plank a Fuselage
 

Chuck,

Addmittedly, the ambroid that I have has been hanging around for YEARS! (me and my old man always bought in bulk and since CA glues, I usually only use the ambroid for planking now).

I am afraid I don't know what is current anymore.

Mace Gill
The Aeroplane Works

too much glue
 

Hi Mustang yes i agree with you but I havent had a problem with that as I use a very thin layer of glue. an acid brush and bruching it on works great. if you know how to work with poly glue it works wonders. it does take some practice or I agree you get a lousey job with ecessive weight. but the glue doesnt get any heavier when it expands that it was when you put it on originally and fillers add weight. so in my personal opinion I figure if i have to glue it anyways which do i want to do use the glue to fill my joints and not add any more weight than i normally have to add using the glue to join the pieces or do I want to add weight to my plane by having to add fillers.


Basically is is personal choice and knowing the properties of the glue you are using. either method will work fine if done properly. I just give an alternate method as that is the only way people will learn new ways. It is just like the debate over which method is best and easiest to glass with epoxy, polyester resin, or poly urethane.


Joe

How to Plank a Fuselage
 

Chuck, go to the warbirds forum and do a search. There's quite a bit on this plane down there and quite a few of us that have built or are building this particular Jug. I'm finishing one up now. There's a photo on my website taken during the planking stage.
P-47 planking

I like to use something like Weldbond, Titebond or Elmer's aliphatic glue for this. I agree on the Ca glues. It makes sanding very tough.
Planking is tedious work but makes for a very strong and accurate fuse. I cut the strips as wide as I can on the more flattened surfaces and about 3/8 inch or so where the radius gets tight. You can see the wider planking in the photo that I linked above. I also cut the strips with a taper at one end since the radius gets tighter at the rear.
Any questions on this particular plane, feel free to drop me a line as it's all pretty fresh in my memory right now. Chad Veich is building one too and has been a great help to me. Dean has built one and also helped me through some rough spots with the wing early on. (The wing is definitely the toughest part of this project.) Both of these guys can be found in the Warbird and Scale forums regularly.