Thanks Rob. I was kind of assuming that was the case and I don't blame you in the least. I loved planking a model yacht I made for the guy who part owns Cosworth. it was a Luna 50 and thank heavens the guy who had started the model had glued black ebonising veneer to pieces of a very light coloured mahogany, so all I had to do was cut correct sized planks on the circular saw and I had built in caulking lines! But yachts ain't service vessels, so I figures planking might be fanciful, but don't it look good?!
I see from that drawing (and where DO you get these things) that the after deck is double layered and the cockpit floor appears to be planked athwartships, but we can only assume the illustrator has it right, but having been a technical illustrator in the days of pens and skill it was often tempting to "soup up" a drawing.
But thanks for both those views. I have shamelessly stolen them!

Cheers,
Martin

Hi Martin.
I'm pleased that my blog is interesting and helpful, but I don't want to mislead you on some of the details I have included on my model.
I don't have any real hard evidence that there was any type of fancy decking on either of the fireboats, indeed I do believe that it's more than likely that the deck areas that I have finished with planking were probably just painted the same as the main deck and upperworks. These were working boats that would get harsh use and treatment so any type of adornment would be a waste of time and money.
I do have a drawing of the tow hook deck that certainly shows an underlying planked construction of the rear decks but no finishing details.
The only 'photo of the rear well that I have doesn't seem to show any visible planking so I suspect it was all just painted.

My decision to plank these decks is pure 'modelling licence' as used by many other modellers of these boats and I think it adds interesting detail to what would otherwise be a very utilitarian vessel.
Without access to the full original Vosper construction drawings and possibly other photographic evidence the decking question is open to speculation.
Rob (Robbob)