Bending Hull Strakes
Bending Hull Strakes:  Put a small amount of ammonia (clear type, not lemon scented! LOL) in the water (hold your nose!). Don't worry, the model won't smell like cleaning fluid. The ammonia evaporates quickly. And use a fan for ventilation. A water trough, like the ones used for wetting pre-pasted wallpaper is great for this purpose. The ammonia helps, especially with sharper bends. The plank section must be dry before gluing. I use a bending template jig (diagram below) made of hard wood (with radii to match the different hull curves) to let the sections dry, while gluing each preceding dry piece. Position a hair dryer (on low) near the jig. Helps speed up drying time. The radii are slightly over bent to allow for 'spring back'. Really sharp bends, or hard woods may need steam bending. Wear gloves!
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You don't have to follow the entire curve of the plate (s) with your plank strip. You can just bend enough of the plank around a portion of the plate arc, until you achieve the desired curve. The thickness of the plates is optional. Don't make them too thin however (the planks may twist). 1/8" -3/16' thickness is usually good. Generally, the larger the scale of the model, the larger the scale of the planks, adjust the plate thickness