This will be my first attempt at planking a sailing ship. Actually this is a partially completed kit from my father who passed away last year, and I decided to finish it. It's ready to plank, and he had purchased a couple of books on the subject, so I'm ready to give it a shot. They all recommend going in two directions at the same time, from the top down and from the keel up. They also recommend to shape the planks before applying them. What they don't say is how do you arrive at this shape? They seem to just say "taper both ends, like so (drawing), this will give you the best results." I don't see any way to judge how much to taper though. Am I supposed to just guess? Any ideas at all would be helpful.
Bob