So I'm prepping to start the woodwork for the SMS Posen, and need to get some wood. I'll be seeing if any of the local hobby shops have any, as it is to my understanding I will want at least 5 ply/6mm/1/4 inch Baltic Birch plywood. my first question is, do I cut the wood so the face goes against the ribs? or the edge? I'm gonna guess face, but i think the edge would be easier to do. I would cut the wood to shape to fit the rib, rather than a strip as wide as my rib and trying to bend it to the rib, or making multiple little pieces shaped and glued to form any necessary curves in the rib ? If I'm correct (the edge against the fiberglass rib) that it's the edge that goes up against the rib, should I get a solid 3/8 inch piece for my ribs, or could I go with 1/4 and 1/8 and glue them together, being able to also use those 2 sizes for other parts of the boat? Also, if I am correct, how thick would I make it, coming off the rib? I would assume at least 3/8 inch as well. I'm probably not making any sense with that, as I am quite tired from having been up for over 24 hours straight, but i hope the jist can be gotten. I should probably go find a sleep aid that helps with my work-induced third shift insomnia, maybe even visit a doctor or something.
Ahoy wdodge, to answer your questions 1) the pattern goes on the face of the wood, not on the edge. You'd have to stack up a LOT of wood to use the edge... 2) yes, you cut the wood to shape, rather than cutting strips and bending. Allows much thicker, stronger ribs. 3) there's no point in making lots of little rib pieces. The real ships had to do that because they didn't have big sheets of plywood. We do, so take advantage of that extra strength. 4) the choice of rib thickness is up to you. Some people prefer 3/8 so there's less ribs to deal with when resheeting. Some prefer 1/4 or even 1/8 so there's more solid stuff for bbs to bounce off. As for stacking 1/8 and 1/4 together to get 3/8, that would work. It's just a lot of extra work for a minimal savings when ordering wood. 5) when making ribs, I generally go for at least a square cross-section, ie a 3/8 rib extends 3/8 into the hull. Sometimes I will go thicker, and on rare occasions when I'm desperate for space I will go thinner. 6) sounds like you need less caffeine and more melatonin. I work a nasty rotating shift cycle, 7 days on then 2 days off, rotating between days, swings, and mids. My sleep habits got much better when I stopped drinking coffee/monster during and after work, and used melatonin pills to help the transition.
so i use the thickness of the plywood for the ribs, correct? the hull is already cut for 3/8, might as well stick to it instead of adding in more and cutting them down. the stacking was just if needed the different sizes, but as i need to find the wood anyways, i may end up just buying all 3. and I've tried melatonin it does not work for me, i had the 10mg pills and they didn't help one bit, i actually think they made it worse when I took them. I don't drink coffee, and if I do have a monster, it's one right when I get there, most of the time before i punch in as I'm usually getting there a few minutes early to chit chat with the other operator. I'm on only thirds, but it's 8 on 2 off, 7 on 4 off.
Reinforcing with 2-3 layers of fiberglass mat will take ~20% of the time as wood backers and be plenty effective. I prefer to work smarter not harder. Pictures in this post. Requires trim with dremel after but that isn't really a big deal https://www.rcwarshipcombat.com/threads/courbet-class-ircwcc.445696/page-7#post-525333
