FLORA’s hull and decks consisted of welded steel sheets.
On the model the keel, frames and deck are made from plywood and for the planking I have used 9 mm wide and 2 mm thick pine wood strips. Stern and bow are cut out from solid wood blocks.
The narrow bilge keel on each side of the hull is made from styrene which has also been used for the strips delimiting the deck waterways. The breakwater on the foredeck is also made from styrene.
The anchor hawse holes are cut out in the hull and deck and are strengthened with an additional plate on the deck.
Brass has been used for the robust iron fender on each side aft on the hull as well as for the stern tubes for the propellers. The two propellers of brass are among the few things I have bought readymade.
The rudder is made of wood.
As previously mentioned, pine wood strips have been used for the planking, but the final result should look like a hull made with plane steel sheets. This is not that easy due to the many joints between the strips as well as the fact that wood continue to “work”. But with lot of patience and up to ten repeated treatments with filling, planishing, priming and painting the result looks acceptable.