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ť Forum Category: PT Boats of WWII
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ť Forum Name: PT Boats - General
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ť Topic: possible dumb topic
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I believe I have asked this of a few of you before, but......
I have viewed new photos of PT 309, PT 796, PT 617, and PT 658 and my question is: Why is the planking visible today, but in the 1941-1945 photos it is not visible in 99% of the photos? I am only speaking of the same perspective, such as hull and deck photos.
I am really asking this in a pure modelers perspective.
Take care,
TED
P.S. this might help in my PT 308 model.

Posted By: TED WALTHER | Posted on: Feb 15, 2012 - 7:57pm
Total Posts: 3059 | Joined: Oct 16, 2006 - 7:42am

HI Ted.
I too have wondered about this same question. The only plausible answer that I have heard is this: Older wood shrinks with age and makes the joints between planks more pronounced. The joints were always there, but now they stand out more since the wood itself has changed. When it was new, it was smoother and easier to cover the smaller mismatches between planks with paint. Just my 2cents.
Jerry PT658 Portland OR

Jerry Gilmartin

Posted By: Jerry Gilmartin | Posted on: Feb 16, 2012 - 10:17pm
Total Posts: 1472 | Joined: Oct 8, 2006 - 11:16pm

The boats and wood for that matter were made to be in the water. The properties of the salt keep the wood plyable. When the wood is exposed and dried for a number of years or less, it does shrink and change, causing joints to shrink and expand with weather conditions. With no maintenance, such as scraping and painting, this is what you will get with wooden boats.

Posted By: Frank J Andruss Sr | Posted on: Feb 17, 2012 - 1:29am
Total Posts: 3497 | Joined: Oct 9, 2006 - 6:09am

Guys,

I always thought that the lighting and the camera angle in a photo had a lot to do with seeing the planks or not. Never really thought about it too much. Check out the photo for March 2012 in the calendar from HQ. You can see some of the planking very well.

Steve

Posted By: Nuge210 | Posted on: Feb 17, 2012 - 8:27am
Total Posts: 323 | Joined: Jun 4, 2008 - 7:50am

I agree, Nudge. I always thought lighting was a big part of it.

Will

Posted By: Will Day | Posted on: Feb 17, 2012 - 9:16am
Total Posts: 1955 | Joined: Oct 8, 2006 - 4:19pm

If you are also talking about decking ...these pictures are from the Elco movie I saw at Frank's Springfield PT Boat Exhibit. It shows the early decking as plywood.
[image]http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p249/ptboats/Nathaniel%20Smith/PTdecking0.png[/image] [image]http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p249/ptboats/Nathaniel%20Smith/PTdecking.png[/image]
[image]http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p249/ptboats/Nathaniel%20Smith/PTdecking2.png[/image] [image]http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p249/ptboats/Nathaniel%20Smith/PTdecking3.png[/image]

natsmith

Posted By: Nathaniel Smith | Posted on: Feb 17, 2012 - 4:07pm
Total Posts: 211 | Joined: Jan 19, 2008 - 6:55am