Figure 4:

Balsa filler blocks can be used in the bow and stern sections to allow for a better controlled shape to these sections. Apart from the added advantage of superior glue surface the shape of the hull can be better formed without the use of additional bulkheads or separate formers. Some hulls are more difficult in the area of bow shapes than others. With hulls like ‘Endeavour’, where a real ‘apple’ shaped bluff bow is required filler blocks are almost invaluable to obtain the correct curvature. With another completely different form of a hull such as ‘Flying Fish’ or a clipper ship with smooth free flowing lines at the bow the use of filler blocks is probably not required at all, and would be a matter of choice in this case.

To build up the filler blocks a bread and butter type construction is better. Don’t pay too much attention to getting the exact shape of the area at this point in time as sanding and fairing will show up any errors. It is better to have too much material rather than too little as low spots take more time to fix with the use of wood fillers. Although low spots are not a sign of a disaster they are an unnecessary problem that could be overcome earlier with some thought.