There are several different types of construction employed in period ship building. Some models aimed toward the novice market provide a solid hull made of pulped wood, or carved from block, but the vast majority of these models are built in the traditional "plank-on-frame" method. Kits will include pre-cut sections of sheet wood to build keel and bulkheads into a framework, and then individual planking strips to form the hull. These strips are generally supplied in lime or obechi for the first planking, and then walnut, mahogany, or other exotic woods for secondary planking. The great thing about a "double planked" hull is that the modeller can effectively have a dry run on the first planking, and tackle the secondary planking with a greater working knowledge of the ship.

The planking of wooden ship hulls is subject to many different opinions, but there are a number of points to remember to have the best chance at a presentable finish. If you were building a wall-sided barge, the job of planking would be simplicity in it's self. However, a ship is not formed of right angles but of compound curves and before you begin the planking, you should understand the principles of measuring, marking and fitting a ship's planking. There are no simple shortcuts if you want to do it correctly, but if you understand and know what is to be done, it will make the job much easier. Essentially the model ship hull is constructed in the same way as full scale ship builders have practiced for thousands of years. The first thing to consider is that where the girth of the vessel is greatest, the planks will be widest, whereas at the ends, where the girth is less, the planks bend inwards and are tapered to conform to the reduced dimension, the effect of this is to have an equal number of planks, evenly spaced. Once the width of a plank is determined, you can calculate the number of planks that will fit between the deck and the rabbet line on the longest frame. Suppose, for example, the distance was 100mm and you wanted to use planking that was 5mm wide. This works out to twenty planks. Now suppose further that the measurement at the bow was 60mm and at the stern it was 80mm. You would still want twenty planks at each place. A little arithmetic shows that each plank at the bow should measure 3mm and at the stern should be 4mm wide. The normal procedure is to plank from the deck line down towards the waterline and from the keel rabbet upwards, then meeting somewhere near 'shutter plank'. This final plank is normally either wider or narrower than the balance of the planking and may have an unusual taper or shape to fill the space leftover between the bottom and topside planking. To make this plank you will have to make a paper pattern, this is accomplished by cutting a piece of writing paper about an 25mm than the widest area where the plank is to fit. You then will secure the paper over the opening then with a pencil, lay the lead of the pencil on it's side and slowly follow the edge of the planks. This will leave a clean line on the paper and then remove the paper and cut out the pattern and place on a piece of wood of the same thickness as the planking and trace the out line. This shutter plank will most likely have a strange shape but it will fit with very little removing of wood, however you may have to do a little bit of sanding to get it to fit properly and snugly in place.

All model ship kits that Antics currently supply include a comprehensive fittings kit, generally with wooden blocks and deadeyes, and a mixture of wood or metal for ships wheels, anchors, davits etc. essentially the highest quality we can expect of the manufacturers.

Rigging a model ship requires a huge amount of patience, but it's well worth taking time over this phase of the construction, as a badly rigged ship can quickly detract from the efforts exerted on the hull planking. One of the most important things to remember is that a tight and full rig is critical to giving a clean finish to a model. A strong rigging will make for a model that will keep it's appearance for many years to come, whereas a badly rigged model will be prone to sagging, so make sure that cord is pulled as tight as the structure of the model will allow for. As rigs will vary considerably from model to model it's important to consult the plans and instructions carefully, but a good way to thread rigging cord is with a fine needle, or for applications where space does not allow for this method use a cyano acrylate adhesive to bind and stiffen the end of the rigging cord before threading through blocks and deadeyes.

 Some of our ship models come with a full sail set, other's do not. This does not mean that some kits are inferior to others, but more that the modelling artist has chosen to showcase the rigging instead. Where sails are supplied they will usually be pre-sewn, and often tinted to give an aged appearance.