A well-laid wooden deck is one of the details people notice first on a model ship. It adds texture, colour and a sense of scale that a painted surface rarely matches. This guide covers how to plan, lay and finish a planked deck on a wooden kit or scratch-built model, plus notes on wood decks for plastic kits.
Why use a wooden deck
- Realism: most sailing ships and many later vessels had planked wooden decks. A planked deck shows the plank lines, butt joints and fastenings at scale.
- Finish: natural wood under a matt finish has a variation in tone that is hard to reproduce with paint.
- Detail base: hatches, gratings, deck fittings and guns sit more convincingly on a planked deck.
Kit decks, plastic kits and aftermarket wood decks
- Wooden kits usually supply strip wood for the deck and a plywood false deck (subdeck) to lay it on.
- Plastic kits usually mould the deck planking into the plastic. Some modellers paint and weather it; others fit an aftermarket wooden deck.
- Aftermarket decks for popular plastic kits are often laser-cut thin veneer, sometimes with an adhesive backing and pre-cut openings for fittings. Fit them before installing parts that would be hard to work around, and test-fit carefully, since veneer can’t easily be repositioned once stuck.
Preparing the subdeck
On a plank-on-bulkhead model the false deck sits on top of the bulkheads. Before planking it:
- Make sure it’s fully glued down and follows the camber (the athwartships curve) smoothly.
- Fair the bulkhead tops so the subdeck doesn’t kink between them.
- Mark the centreline, hatch and mast positions, and any deck openings.
- Decide whether to lay the deck before or after planking the hull. Many builders fit the subdeck early and lay the planked deck later, but follow your kit instructions. Some sequences install decks before hull planking to give the hull rigidity.
Fairing the top edges of the frame is covered in how to fair bulkheads before planking a model ship.
Choosing deck wood and plank width
Real decks on wooden ships were often pine or fir, later teak on many vessels. At model scale, builders usually prefer pale, fine-grained woods that don’t look out of scale:
- Holly: pale and very fine-grained, a traditional choice.
- Maple and basswood: easy to obtain and work.
- Boxwood: fine grain with a yellowish tone.
Choose a plank width from references for your ship, then divide by the scale. Our guide to model boat timber and planking supplies explains how to convert real dimensions and what to check when buying strip.
Simulating caulking
The seams of real decks were caulked and sealed with pitch, which showed as dark lines. At model scale, options include:
- Pencil or marker on one edge: run a soft pencil or fine marker along one edge of each plank. It’s quick, and the lines stay subtle.
- Black paper or card: glue thin black paper to one edge of each plank, then trim it flush. This gives a crisp, consistent line.
- Black thread: lay fine thread between planks. It’s effective, but slower and harder to keep neat.
- No caulking line: some builders leave the seams plain, arguing that dark lines are often overscale on a small model.
Whatever you choose, test it on a scrap panel and finish that panel the same way you’ll finish the deck. Some markers bleed into the grain when varnish is applied.
Laying the deck
King plank and centreline
Many builders start with a plank on the centreline, or a wider king plank on vessels that had one, and work outward to each side alternately. This keeps the plank lines symmetrical.
Butt shift patterns
Real deck planks were limited in length, so each line of planking was made up of several planks joined end to end. The butt joints were staggered so no two came together too closely on adjacent strakes, or on the same deck beam. This pattern is called the butt shift. Common model patterns are three- or four-strake shifts, where the butt joints step across the deck in a repeating sequence.
To lay out a shift:
- Cut planks to a consistent scale length based on references for your vessel.
- Plan where butts fall, ideally over the scale positions of deck beams.
- Mark the end of each plank with pencil or by cutting it cleanly square, so the butts read as fine dark lines like the edge seams.
Margin planks and nibbing
The outermost deck plank, which follows the curve of the hull side, is the margin plank (or waterway). The straight deck planks meet it at a shallow angle toward the bow and stern. To avoid long, thin feather ends that would split on a real ship, the deck plank ends were often nibbed (joggled) into a notch in the margin plank, leaving a short squared end instead of a sharp point.
Practice on scrap first, and check references for your ship. Methods varied by navy, period and builder, and some vessels used hooked scarphs or other arrangements instead.
Treenails
Treenails (wooden pegs) and bolts held the planks to the deck beams. On a model:
- Real treenails: drill small holes and glue in fine wooden pegs or bamboo, then sand flush.
- Simulated treenails: press in a pattern with a pointed tool, or mark with a fine pencil or pen.
Keep the pattern subtle and consistent. At small scales, very visible treenails can look overdone.
Sanding and finishing a wooden deck
- Sand gently with a sanding block to level the planks without rounding the edges.
- Clean off all dust before finishing.
- Most builders aim for a matt or satin finish, since real ship decks weren’t glossy. See our guide to model ship finishes. Thinned matt varnish, sanding sealer or a light oil can all work.
- Weathering, if wanted, is usually kept light: a very thin wash or dry-brushing to suggest wear.
Common mistakes
- Glossy finish: looks toy-like at scale.
- Overscale caulking or treenails: dark lines and dots that look too heavy.
- Uneven plank widths: check strips before laying and sort out odd ones.
- Butt joints lined up across the deck: plan the shift pattern before you start.
- Glue squeeze-out: dried glue repels stain and varnish, so clean it off promptly.
For an overview of how the deck fits with the rest of the hull build, see making a model boat hull.