Here is the Guillow's conversion PBY airframe I'm getting ready to plank, and I can't decide whether to do strip planking or insert planking. Especially up near the nose and where the tail joins the main body there are mucho compoundish curves. Which method would be better in this case?

--Bill

I don't think it makes a deal of difference frankly.

But the opportunity to use largish pieces of balsa in sheet form in places would tempt me to sheet over it really.

I have found that any gaps between bits are easily filled with wedges of balsa CA'ed and jammed in the cracks - they soon sand down.

And a coat of lightweight spackle, before tissuing, makes all neat enough.

1/16" strips are the easiest. I end up sanding off most of the wood anyway during sealing and finishing. If you don't sand all the way through it at some location, then you aren't sanding enough Use spackle like Vint suggests and weight gain will be minimal.

charlie

Since you've already put the stringers on, insert planking would seem to be the way forward. If you try to sheet over the stringers it will all end in tears.

Normally if you're strip planking you just go straight over the formers, no stringers involved.

Inlaying is best in that it doesn't enlarge dimensions, it's a PITA and it adds weight due to amount of glue needed. Suggest you use sandable glue and balsa filler then cover with silkspan and coats of clear dope then colored dope to waterproof your seaplane.

On second thought, maybe you could dremel out the edges of formers/bulkheads so that you could use long strips between stringers, where practical.

Thanks, now I have a better idea on when to use which type of planking.

--Bill