Doesn't planking take a long of time?; it has not been 6 months of no activity on Inga as I have been working on the Marlin Cabin Cruiser, which also has a planked deck. I’ve had to take this job very slowly as the planks are curved so you can only do 2 planks a day leaving them to set overnight whilst still clamped in position. Having finished the gluing stage it now needs sanding down to remove all the excess black card caulking and any uneven bits of plank. Next will come the final sanding before it’s sealed prior to varnishing. This sanding stage is the most satisfying as reveals the results of a lot of detailed work, It also shows any defects, for example a missing piece of caulking or a dent in the planking that you didn’t see on the construction stage, this gives the opportunity to correct any of these defects

As I said in the introduction there is a lot of work to bring this craft back to an acceptable standard, a major job was to replace the deck as the original laser etched/marked deck had been damaged and worn in a lot of places.
The first job was too stabilise the wooden structure as I was able to press and indent the ply and I also noticed that the whole hull structure was in a similar state again been able to flex the hull. It was obvious that in the initial build there had not been any structure in place to stop this happening. I first made a card template of the front part of the hull about half way down this was then transferred to a piece of 3mm marine ply and then epoxied in place, this enabled me to fill the bow lower half of the hull with expanding foam, this resulted in the hull becoming quite rigid.
Back to the deck I now needed to remove any fittings and wooden pieces that were not secure making it easier to plank the deck. Next I want to make sure the deck profile was even across its length and width, so some two part wood filler was applied where any low spots were found and then the whole deck was sanded to give a firm base for planking.
There wasn’t any gunwale on the boat so to enable planking and painting to be separated I decide to place a mahogany gunwale 6mm wide around the hull side and 6mm wide edging around the deck this was relatively easy apart from the stern which had some really tight curves.in order to replicate the original deck pattern I had to make a central piece so the longitudinal planks could be joggled as they are terminated, the cut-outs are made as each plank is laid along with its card caulking.
As the planks are curved I decided to steam enough planks and keep them in a jig until they were fully dried, this worked really well leaving very little force to secure each plank with wooden clamp with a pin holding each plank in place and flush with the deck base. All planks are secured using aliphatic wood glue. When all the planking is finished it will be sanded smooth and given a number of coats of varnish.

As I mentioned all the metal fittings are made of brass however some of them could be seen to be bright plated and some were just plain brass the railings being soft soldered were not plated (more later on that). The parts are for the most part in really good condition and only require some cleaning and polishing before plating.
The plating process is something I had not done before so some research had to be done; I came up with the following process and equipment.
So with a glass jar two 6mm Nickle rods a bottle of white vinegar and some salt and finally a variable power source.
The initial solution is created by using two nickel rods in the solution one connected to the positive and one to the negative using a voltage of about 4.5 – 5 volts, its left for about 3 hours and the solution turns green and is ready to use.
Remove the negative nickel rod and connect the component to be plated to it, leave the other positive connection to the nickel rod and immerse both in the solution. Now connect the 4.5 V power to the circuit, bubbles will be seen on the component as the process starts, as for how long you leave it seems to depend on the size/surface area of your component.
I have had varying results so far but I need to do some more recorded tests to achieve the results I want so there will be an update further in the blog, however results are promising so far.

This is my way of starting a restoration by removing all the parts that will need attention and in particular the parts that are not firmly adhered in place
The two masts were removed and dismantled in terms of their brass/nickel fittings as they were all in various states of deterioration and would need to be cleaned and re plated.
Cabins are removable and would need quite some attention as the veneer was lifting in places and generally the glues used originally didn’t seem to be as solid/attached as they should be.
The rigging will all have to be replaced as will all the electrics, the motor drive system is still usable but will need an up to date control system and power packs.
The hull of the yacht is not the most rigid of structures so will need some attention in terms of some sort of internal structural framework to stop the possibility of it being pressed out of shape.

To start this restoration it may help to see what I was presented with when I first purchased the model. I have to say that the pictures make it look a lot better than it actually is and many may be horrified at what I have done in the next few posts but its all necessary to finish up with a structurally sound model.

The deck is discoloured and cracked and will have to be planked to strengthen it and make it look the correct colour, the cabin structures are all veneered and are unfortunately suffering from delamination so will have to be re veneered.
On the plus side the wooden parts of the masts are all in excellent condition and will need little attention, however all the metal (brass) fittings are in need of restoration, at some point they have been plated (nickel) so they will all have to be cleaned and old plating removed and re plated. The rigging wires are all in varying states of twist and kink so again will have to be replaced.
So there's a lot of work to be done over the coming months

This is a sailing ketch called “Inga IV”. It is German kit of a sailing ketch which is now out of production. The model is approx 52″ in total height and 43″ from bow to stern. It has a traditional full length keel and almost sails itself when on the lake. All decks and superstructure are plywood with much of it being mahogany veneered and coated with many layers of varnish.”

I have just purchased an Inga IV which is in reasonable condition, however it looks as if its not been touched for a great number of years so I intend to repair and replace fittings and wood as required.
This is a picture from the web