Bleach! I assume you only use this on very pale coloured woods, I don't think it would work on hard woods such as mahogany and walnut without changing the colour.

I soaked these gunport bulkheads in warm water for about half an hour (as recommended in the instructions), then dry fitted them overnight with clamps. Seemed to work pretty well.
I've just glued and tacked the starboard side in place.

Another alternative for bending planking is soaking in household bleach or ammonia,NEVER MIX BLEACH and AMMONIA!!!! the results are usually fatal. And now back to our program: I made a soaker tube from PVC pipe, added a glued on end cap. I made a lift platform form a round wood disc with a handle glued to it. My tube was three ft long( I build in 1/48th scale, but it can be used for short pieces easily. I soak in the bleach for about an hour and the 1/8 x 1/2 inch planks came out as noodles.

Hi there, I use a domestic kettle for small lengths and as you have realised a wallpaper steamer works well, I used an old stainless steel vacuum down pipe which has a bend at the end, I machined a plug with a tread in it to match the steamer connection and a water drip hole. I just clamp it in the vice at about 20 degrees with the bend pointing down which allows excess water to drip out, it then lets me to feed my planks in whilst they steam for a while\.

It struck me today whilst bending this plank, that if I had a lot to do.....I already have a steam generator, in the form of a wallpaper stripper. A simple steam chamber fed by the steam stripper , which thanks to its long hose, could be sited a safe distance from the bench.

Very interesting, nonsuch, glad you managed to bend it alright. If I was in a position that I might have to do much bending, I think I'd make a set up with a metal pipe enclosed in wood so that it wouldn't get to hot to handle. One of my thoughts for a next project would entail a fair bit of bending, so I might try this for myself instead of pontificating about building clinker ship's lifeboats!

Cheers, Nerys

Apologies Nerys. For the first time in 50 years I have just had to steam the middle of a plank!
I am currently building a live steam tugboat which has a curved strake running round the stern. An obvious candidate for bending from the centre.
I used part of that previously cursed plastic tube with an end cap forced on, rather than glued. I stood this up in a jug to catch the leaks this time! Filled with boiling water, dropped in the plank and placed a piece of tape over the top to stop the plank floating out. After 5 minutes most of the 400mm plank was extremely flexible.

Sounds like a good plan. I will go for the dress rehearsal then.

You can't go far wrong at the price.
Don't forget that your ship model has two layers of planking. Although manufacturers show a hammer and nails planking job on the first lime layer, there is nothing to stop you doing a very careful planking job as if it were the "show layer". Make your mistakes where they can be hidden. You're also building the same hull as the final layer, so get a trial run of bending those bow planks. A full dress rehearsal for no extra cost.

I was thinking of something like this
https://www.mantuamodel.co.uk/products/ship-fittings/lifeboats/858/life-boat-detail
The price won't break the bank, what do you think?

Yes, they're by Master Korabel, a Russian manufacturer. When I said "try something smaller" it was rather tongue in cheek. Small is definately not easier. The parts are very thin and fragile. The kits are also not cheap!
There are some Chinese kits on eBay if you search "wood model boat kit". These are cheaper and a bit bigger in general. The one pictured is about nine inches long.

Ah, yes. I had looked them up, but couldn't quite work out the relevance to planking. I will treat myself to a pair and all will become clear when I start to use them!
Thanks for the pic. A good idea to try something smaller first perhaps. I take it they are both from kits?

No worries.
A while ago I ordered some metal rod which came in a 1metre long plastic tube, which I thought would make a full length plank soaker.
I glued the end cap in place so it wouldn't leak, stood it up in my shed (workshop), filled it with hot water and dropped in a length of lime to try it out. On turning round to check the progress, my foot splashed in something. The tube had softened with the hot water, breaking my waterproof seal at the bottom.
The floor needed a wash anyway!

Having tried to describd them, I decided to photograph them instead. It truly does save a thousand words.
This pair are Russian Navy surplus and come in a lovely fitted wooden box.
The knurled screw is loosened and the pivot block moved to the desired number. This sets the "proportion" between top and bottom points. For example, set at four, the long arms are set to the line to measure and the short arms then indicate one quarter of that length. As you can see, this pair go up to ten, but are a a bit ungainly at this setting and can slip. They're better at at below eight as they lock more firmly.
Photo now added to appropriate post.

Thank you, I have a copy of Harold's book on order!
You mention the use of 'proportional' dividers. I have ordinary dividers - would they serve as well?
Also, you forgot to attach the pic.

Nonsuch, I'm sorry, in talking about building a steaming box, my mind was working on the idea of full, or part length planks for a clinker dinghy or even a vessel with longitudinal planking. I completely agree that a mug of boiling water is all you need for the short strips you need for double diagonal planking.

Nerys

Static sailing ship models are usually double planked, first with lime and then overlaid with walnut. These planks are generally only 1mm thick so boiling water more than adequate.
As most serious bending is within the end 6 inches whether bow or stern, a tall mug is plenty tall enough. In 50 years of buiding I have never needed to steam the middle of a plank. The water does cool down, but as I never fit more than one plank per side per day, that isn't an issue.

I use Gorilla woodglue for all my wooden joints. I reserve CA glue for locking rigging in place.
Don't use map pins, they make a big hole. Dressmaking pins can be bought with coloured ball ends. They are about as fine as pins get so leave only tiny holes. Usually re-wetting the plank is enough to swell the grain and make the pinholes disappear.
There are some horrible planking practices advocated by kit manufacturers, most involving full width planks from bulwarks to about half way round the frames. They then start with more full width planks from the keel up. The remaining gap is then filled in with more full width planks in crescent shapes. This is not scale and would never have survived a bump against the dock wall. Harold Underhill's book gives a masterclass on the subject.
"Briefly". You can plank the bulwarks to a little below the deck level with full width planks. Then measure the length around each frame, by wrapping with a strip of paper and marking the length with a pencil. Do this for each frame. Find the "longest" midships frame and divide by the width of your planks. This is the minimum number of planks you will need to cover the remaining space.
(I say midships as frames in the "dead wood" area of the keel, just in front of the rudder, are usually longer than those midships. Here you can leave the plank full width and allow them to take (almost) their natural curve, leaving a wedge shaped gap with the previous plank. Try to make the wide end of the gap the same as the plank width. A tapered plank can be inserted here. They're true to scale and called "stealers".)
Divide each frame length by this number to get the plank width at each frame location. Mark this onto the plank. I repeat the measuring process for each new plank. By remeasuring the frame distance you eliminate errors rather than amplifying them. Once you get down to ten planks or so, you can use proportional dividers if you have them.
At this stage you are OK trimming the plank from just one side. I use a miniature woodplane for this, rather than a knife. Don't forget that you're planking round a curve, so plank edges need a slight bevel to allow them to fit snuggly to the adjacent plank.
Then soak the plank.
Just take your time and remember to breathe! You'll be fine!
Why not try something smaller as a challenge? (See pic) The in-progress boat at the front is 65mm long.

Having been acquainted with bending wood in the days when we built real boats with planks of wood , I have often thought that it shouldn't be difficult to build a simple model size plank bending system. All it needs is a metal pipe, well insulated, perhaps put inside a square section wooden box. It would have to have one end sealed then a source of steam at the other. Probably a proper kettle with a spout could be used, could always keep topping it up as necessary. That's just my idea, but I do not have a scientific enough mind to know if there are any snags in the idea. These days, with the type of boat I build, I do not need to do a lot of plank bending, and when I do, it is a simple bend in one dimension, I make a jig, soak the wood overnight then bend the wood around the jig, holding for long enough to make sure it has the idea of what I want it to do, then fasten in place. I normally use lime strip for anything like this and have never had any problems.

cheers, Nerys

Thank you Nonsuch, for the very helpful advice. It is also suggested that if the wood is wet, the knife is less likely to follow the grain when tapering the plank?
Can you tell me how you fix the second planks? Jotika recommend using medium super glue, being very aware of the drying time. The alternative is using pins but then you have the holes to contend with.

If my planking comes anywhere close to yours I shall be well pleased!

Good choice! Static sail is the love of my life and sadly I love doing the rigging most of all!
Plank benders come in two main types; not very good and useless!
Avoid the pliers type like the plague. They simply snap the plank every few millimetres, permitting a facetted bend over the frames.
The Amati plank bender is two rollers with three stepped diameters. One roller is inverted so that they "mesh", large to small, medium to medium and small to large. This supposedly gives three different curvatures for the planks, as you simply wind them through. A nice theory, if only life were so simple.
In my opinion you already have the right advise, soak them. Dry bending is a waste of time and wood. Tighter bends can then be introduced by lightly pressing the plank against the shaft of a soldering iron. There is a commercially available tool that looks like a soldering iron with a chunky cylindrical bit on the end. That one will be OK I'm sure. I keep thinking of buying that one myself. The added heat on the wet plank, steams the plank from inside. Once cool, the bend remains, allowing the plank to be dry fitted against the hull. It can then be glued with almost no pinning or clamping.
I can recommend a good book on the subject; Plank on Frame Models - Volume 1 , by Harold Underhill. If you're going to learn, learn from the master.
Photo is planking on my latest build.

Hadn't thought about it, but I did enjoy doing the one for Resolve, so I may well do. I'm just finishing a Deans RAF HSL (I will never part with my hard earned money to him again!).
Will be starting the new venture in the next few days.

Hi Steve,
This looks interesting, will you be doing a build log ?

Martin555.