Blue Ensign

Fitting out the Great Cabin- or how to assemble an Ikea flat pack at 1:64 scale

Before I go much further with the build I need to sort out how the internal fittings run up to meet the stern windows.

All this work is of course totally pointless as once enclosed none of it will be seen again - but I know it’s there, and now so do you.

Running across the deck at the stern are seats which double as lockers, and above them a further row of lockers that run up to meet the gallery windows.

The arrangement is split in the centre by the stern post which runs up to attach to a deck beam. Behind this the rudder head proceeds to the Quarterdeck.
Around both stern post and rudder head is fitted the rudder head trunk.

The seat fronts are made from boxwood panelling, and the seats from stained something or other (Georgian Medium Oak – what else)
The facing piece of the rudder head trunk is just dry fitted at this stage.

The Locker lids were scribed into the top and micro brass tubing sections used for the hinges. The assembly has yet to be sanded and varnished.

It took a full day to make and fit the lockers and associated bits after which the stern counter timbers were fitted.
It’s always more time consuming making it up as you go along without a specific plan to work to.
The rudder head trunk can’t be completed until the stern post is in, but there will be access before the Quarterdeck is fitted.
The following shots show the make -up of the revised stern arrangement.

 

 

 

The stern counters are now fixed, necessary before attaching the gunport bulwark strips.
 

The painted ‘sail’ cloth is only a template at this stage to gauge the fit and how large the squares should be.
I think they will stand some enlargement.

The Quarter deck is tried for fit against the end stern counters. I will now make the internal partitions.
 
B.E.
 

Having fun with planks

I have spent no little time of late working out a decking plan for the Upper deck of Pegasus.

Things I have decided:

3.4mm x 0.6mm boxwood strip will be used for decking. This is slightly larger than the provided 3mm x 0.5mm Tanganika, but a truer scale.

Scale 118mm planks will be used in a four butt shift pattern, that is four planks between butts.

Within the centre line area of the deck defined by the main Hatch coamings no butts will be made.
This is because with coamings, head ledges, and other centre line obstructions, there was no need for long lengths of decking and therefore no butts.

As far as I can see there was no King Plank on the Upper deck, although there was on the Lower deck to take the supporting pillars for the Upper deck.

A rough plan was drawn up to mark the butt lines, given the shift pattern and the 118mm plank lengths.

The first eight planks are laid full length along the deck either side of the centre line, the various openings are roughly cut out but at this stage not to their full width.

The divisions across the deck are an important guide for getting the butts in line and at the correct places.
I am far to idle to bother with cotton or paper to represent the caulking, I use a Pilot waterproof broad chisel marker to run down one side of the plank, this gives a good scale look to my eye, at 1:64 anyway.

The planking is then laid using 118mm planks in a 5.2.4.1.3 pattern on the Starboard side of the central belt and 5.3.1.4.2. pattern on the Port side, this produces a laid deck with the minimum of butts whilst maintaining the required four planks between each butt in a uniform and symmetrical pattern.

Full length deck planking is much preferred to the kit suggested idea of splitting the deck into three sections divided by two athwartships planks separating the waist from the deck beneath the Fo’csle and Quarterdecks.

I can’t complete the planking along the edges of the waist until the bulwarks are fitted and the three waist bulkhead extensions are removed.

Micro drill holes are made for the butt end treenails which as present are marked with pencil lead, I have not decided as yet to go the extra mile and fit actual trenails, the plank width is very small for this and there is a risk of splitting.

At 1:64 scale I don’t think they should be too prominent, and for this reason I don’t intend to add the intermediate trenails along the planks, it may end up looking like a spotted deck, something I certainly don’t want.

For now it’s back to fairing and doing a little internal fitting work at the stern.
 
B.E.

Fitting the False (Upper) deck

Although I had added additional support beams for the deck the area around the Mainmast and Main hatch was unsupported and is very flimsy.
To beef things up a little I fitted three support posts along the centre line of the deck in this area upon which the Upper deck join now rests.

The lower false deck was planked beneath the Fore and Main Hatches, I used some Tanganyika surplus to my Pickle Build.

The 1mm plywood under-deck was fitted and to provide further stability and give a greater perception of depth I also lined the hatches with 2x2mm strip.
The under-deck is now rigid enough to start planking.

Looking ahead I note that in the build instructions separate Capstans are shown as fitted on the Upper deck and Quarterdeck. This doesn’t strike me as true, they should really be connected, and that is my intention.

Not a mast but a piece for lining up the two capstans. The Hatch linings can also be seen on this shot.

I have removed some of the keel extension below the Upper deck so that the spindle extends below the deck for stability. The corresponding hole in the Quarterdeck is aligned, but a small recess needs to be cut in the aft face of deck beam 9A to allow free passage of the spindle.

I have had a re-think on the Bulkhead 13, I still had niggling concerns about the security of the counter timbers when I attach the stern facia.

I have now modified the original bulkhead 13 and utilised the ply counter timbers provided with the kit albeit made more appropriate by the removal of the solid centres.

 

 

 

This will provide for a stronger framework; the outer stern counter patterns are yet to be fitted.
All dry fitted at this point, I will leave gluing the stern bulkhead as late as possible to avoid the risk of breakage.

There is now a clear run of decking thro’ to the stern, ready for planking.

I am toying with the idea of fitting the hatch ledges and coamings before I plank but I need to fully weigh up the pros and cons before I decide.
If I were building pof I would have to do that way.


The area aft of bulkhead 13 will be filled by the Rudder head case and two tiers of lockers running up to the stern lights.
This is a viable modification for those who wish to open up the stern area on this kit without going to the trouble of making a separate wing transom and counter timbers.

Nothing in the external profile of the original kit has been changed.
 
B.E.

Dust, dust and yet more dust

My least favourite part of a build such as this, adding and shaping the balsa fillers.

I have taken the fillers at the bow back to bulkhead 4, this should provide a good surface both for fairing and planking.

Getting there, but a little way to go.

Trouble with balsa it crumbles around the edges like a fine bit of cheddar, but small imperfections won’t affect the planking line.

The balsa blocks will also provide additional stability for the false deck.

There is one more bit of filler to add –that between the last bulkhead shown above and the final bulkhead yet to be fitted; I won’t do that yet until the fairing is all but complete for risk of snapping the rather delicate bulkhead 13.

For now it’s back to dust, dust, and yet more dust.
B.E.

A bevelling we will go

The kit instructions say to roughly bevel the bulkheads at the stern and bows before fitting to avoid damaging the walnut keel and prow, and for ease of access.
This is ok up to a point but how rough is rough, I didn’t see any reference to using an Angle grinder for rough work.
Only kidding but there is a danger of taking too much off at the wrong angle without the bulkheads being fixed in position so that fairing planks can be used to gauge the correct bevel angle.

This is as much bevelling I did off the model, the bow plank termination patterns are also fixed in place.
I prefer to bevel with the bulkheads firmly fixed and take it slowly using sanding sticks.
I am perhaps fortunate with my kit that the bulkheads are mdf, much easier to work than the plywood I understand is provided in some kits, so I don’t anticipate too much of a problem working them in situ.

Bulkheads 1 -11 were initially glued to the keel, alignment being made with the provided false deck, fitted but not glued at this stage. This part of the build really does go together well; accurately cut snug fitting parts that are a joy to work with.

The two stern bulkheads 12 and 13 will be fitted later.

The build was then set aside to cure overnight.

Once dry the Lower (false) deck was secured using pva. Bulkhead (12) fixed into place, and the Plank termination patterns fitted having been roughly shaped.
There is a need to beef up a couple of the bulkheads to provide a little extra deck support. Could also do with some around the Mainmast area which falls between two bulkheads, but I'm not sure that's feasible.

Additions made to bulkheads 5 and 6.

I decide to remove the keel extensions between bulkheads 11, 12, and 13 completely. Additional support will be provided by beams pinned between the bulkhead centres at the top.

The rather flimsy Upper deck which comes in two halves was tried for size and it fits just like a jigsaw.

 

There is now a clear run of deck thro’ to the stern, although a small extra piece of ‘false’ deck will need to be fashioned.


Even at this early stage the nice lines of a Swan Class Sloop are apparent.

The instructions suggest dividing the planking into three areas, the exposed waist being separate to the planking beneath the Foc’sle and Quarterdeck.

They also suggest planking the (false) Upper deck area that will be covered by the Foc’sle and Quarterdecks, before the deck is fitted, with athwartships strips dividing the waist area from the rest of the deck.
To an experienced eye this looks very odd and is not a correct way to plank a deck.

I will plank the whole deck with the (false) Upper deck in place and run the planks from the stern to the bow using either a three or four shift pattern, not quite decided yet.

I have drawn out a plan of the deck to work out my planking strategy.

Quarterdeck in place.

Foc’sle in place
Again the fit leaves little to be desired.

I think the stern mod will work ok, but the last bulkhead will not be fixed in place until I have inserted the balsa blocks and faired the bow area of the ship.

The decks and beams now have to be dismantled.
B.E.

Pegasus on the stocks 29 December 2010

I make this post really to fix the start date for the build.

Modifications with this kit starts quite early in the build with the marking of a bearding line and cutting of a rabbet along the keel and up the stem. I feel vaguely irritated that the instructions did not make mention of either, although they do say to sand the stern area to half its width, but elaborate no further.

To mark the rabbet I drew a 1.5mm line along the bottom edge of the keel and temporarily fixed strips of 1mm x 2.5mm styrene along the centre of the keel with c.a.
A chisel blade was then used to cut the rabbet using the styrene and the line as a guide. Once completed the styrene strip can be removed.

 

The MDF keel was very easy to cut which bodes well for chamfering the bulkheads.
Styrene strip was also used to provide the sanding line for the bearding strip, which should allow for a reduction to 2.5mm.

It would be better if the bearding line had been shown on the plans.
The separate prow section of the keel was attached using PVA, best done whilst the keel can be laid flat to centre it on the keel.

I have marked but not cut the rabbet where it crosses the tab on the Walnut prow, didn’t want to risk snapping that area off. Don’t even know at this stage whether the rabbet is required in this area, but best cut whilst the keel can be laid flat, it can always be filled in if not required.

 

I like this mdf bulkhead lark they fit together superbly, and are easier to work than the plywood equivalents.

The Building board is completed and she sits patiently on the stocks for work to begin.
 
B.E.

 

Cheers Guys,
These are the completion photo's, before Pegasus  is enclosed in her case, which is still wip.
firstly the detail shots:













 
The Rigging shots

 





 
With the Longboat, which will be placed within the case, but not on the temporary stand as shown below.



 
Overall shots





 
B.E.
 

As I mentioned in an earlier post,  I have used some of my post build time to create a Photo Album of my build utilising some of the many photo's taken over the course of the build.
The album is large format (28 x 21cm) and runs to 120 pages.
The book has now arrived and I thought you may like to see how it worked out.
The book was designed and created from software downloaded from Vistaprint.  who then produced the Album.
Here's are a few pages to give you a glimpse of how it looks.







In reality the photo's are far better than may appear on this post, and it's nice to have a record outside of a computer to look back on a build.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.
 
 

Great work Ken what a fine model you have made, love the look of the furled sails,
very well done. 😊
 
B.E.
 
 

Thanks Kurt, very useful tips, I would hate to snap a bulkhead extension. 
I haven’t really thought about the stern frames as yet but I’ll certainly take your advice onboard.
 
Regards, 
 
B. E.

Thanks Mike and Dave, and belated New year greetings to yourselves. 
Post 6
That fairing business
Not done much work in the Shipyard since before Christmas, lacking some enthusiasm most probably because one of my least favourite aspects of a build is now required. Fairing seems to go on forever, and there is always the worry in the back of my mind that I may overdo it, and end up having to shim the bulkheads.

4024
One needs a good supply of sanding sticks for this task and I've added to my supply a curved stick made from a strip of Yellow pine left over from a much earlier scratch build of a twelve gun Brig, put into ordinary for many years and then abandoned due to terminal wood worm.
The wood comes off pretty easily during the bevelling operation, but the devil is as always in the detail of the process.

4469
I made a simple block jig to support the inverted hull whilst working.

4467
Once I reached the point where I felt there was a smoothish transition a walnut batten was pinned along the hull at gunport cill level.

4474
getting there I think, at least on the starboard side.

4470

4472

4462

4473
The fairing continues, a further batten strip will be added at Wale level, and a third lower down.
 
B.E.

Thanks Kurt, very useful tips, I would hate to snap a bulkhead extension. 
I haven’t really thought about the stern frames as yet but I’ll certainly take your advice onboard.
 
Regards, 
 
B. E.

Thanks Mike and Dave, and belated New year greetings to yourselves. 
Post 6
That fairing business
Not done much work in the Shipyard since before Christmas, lacking some enthusiasm most probably because one of my least favourite aspects of a build is now required. Fairing seems to go on forever, and there is always the worry in the back of my mind that I may overdo it, and end up having to shim the bulkheads.

4024
One needs a good supply of sanding sticks for this task and I've added to my supply a curved stick made from a strip of Yellow pine left over from a much earlier scratch build of a twelve gun Brig, put into ordinary for many years and then abandoned due to terminal wood worm.
The wood comes off pretty easily during the bevelling operation, but the devil is as always in the detail of the process.

4469
I made a simple block jig to support the inverted hull whilst working.

4467
Once I reached the point where I felt there was a smoothish transition a walnut batten was pinned along the hull at gunport cill level.

4474
getting there I think, at least on the starboard side.

4470

4472

4462

4473
The fairing continues, a further batten strip will be added at Wale level, and a third lower down.
 
B.E.

Thanks Mike and Dave, and belated New year greetings to yourselves. 
Post 6
That fairing business
Not done much work in the Shipyard since before Christmas, lacking some enthusiasm most probably because one of my least favourite aspects of a build is now required. Fairing seems to go on forever, and there is always the worry in the back of my mind that I may overdo it, and end up having to shim the bulkheads.

4024
One needs a good supply of sanding sticks for this task and I've added to my supply a curved stick made from a strip of Yellow pine left over from a much earlier scratch build of a twelve gun Brig, put into ordinary for many years and then abandoned due to terminal wood worm.
The wood comes off pretty easily during the bevelling operation, but the devil is as always in the detail of the process.

4469
I made a simple block jig to support the inverted hull whilst working.

4467
Once I reached the point where I felt there was a smoothish transition a walnut batten was pinned along the hull at gunport cill level.

4474
getting there I think, at least on the starboard side.

4470

4472

4462

4473
The fairing continues, a further batten strip will be added at Wale level, and a third lower down.
 
B.E.

Post 5
Bulkheads.
Nice to have these heavy cleanly cut bulkheads provided for me, I particularly like the scored reference lines for the ports and wales.
All the Bulkheads slipped easily onto the false keel.
 

3820
At this point I made a simple support board to keep the keel upright whilst I fitted the bulkheads.
Bulkheads not glued at this stage.
 

3823
Get my first real impression of what a chunky little vessel she will be, lovin' it already.
The b/h's should have the scored reference lines for the ports and wale facing either forward or aft depending on whether they are designated by letters or numbers. Forward for numbers, aft for letters.
Chuck has confirmed to me that b/h ⊕ can be placed either way around.

3835
Starting with b/h ⊕ I work fore and aft to glue them into place, checking for square and level as I go.

3837

3839
I use a high quality pva for this purpose, which has a 5 minute grab, sufficient working time, but short enough to hold quickly once positioned.
With the bulkheads fixed it remains to fix the Bow and Port fillers.

3934
So far so good, then........
When it came to the Port fillers I hit a problem.
The fillers run between the external edges of bulkheads J and M., leaving just a wedge of the shorter bulkhead L  protruding, which will be faired away.
4013
On the starboard side of my cutter they fit perfectly, as above.

...but on the Portside seem a tad short.
Hhmm have I got either Bulkheads J or M slightly out of square, I spent so much time squaring them up, or has a bit of warp crept into the bulkhead.
Annoying and barely a mm but sufficient to need a filler to make up the difference.
Rather than try to get the bulkheads off again and perhaps end up with more trouble I added a sliver of Boxwood to the aft end of the filler pieces.

 4008
To bring the filler sets up to the level of the Bulkhead extensions I split a spare filler piece and used one thickness of ply.

4012
Onto the far more testy business of fairing next.
 
B.E.

Thanks Martin, been 2013 since we had  any significant snow in my small area of England, an area that would no doubt slip into a corner of Oklahoma and not be noticed for weeks. Great for taking seasonal pictures of William, but it's all gone now.
Been busy in the shipyard this morning making an additional support cradle for the Cutter.

3927
Haven't used it for months but the Band saw came into its own today, I so love these bijou Proxxon  machines.

3932
Set the supports for bulkheads H and 8.

3933
Rough and basic from a bit of scrap 9mm mdf, but it will serve the purpose.
 
Winding operations down now for the Christmas break.

2659
Not before time for some of the Dockyard  workers.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.
 
 

Thanks Martin, I can't make out  the signature on the plan but this is what I know.
 
Cheerful (and Surly) were designed by Sir John Henslow, Surveyor of the Navy, who had served as a young man as draughtsman to Sir Thomas Slade; The Cheerful Class were the last of a varied class of ship designs produced before he retired in 1806.
The plans were produced in The Navy Office 16/4/1806, approved by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty 17/4/1806 and a copy of the draught sent to the Merchant Builders James and Joseph Johnson, Dover 30/5/1806.
The keel was laid in June of that year, the vessel launched in November, and commissioned in January 1807.
She was sold  on 31 July 1816 after 9 years service.
Surly her sister ship was commissioned at the same time but had a much longer and more exciting early career, finally sold in 1837 after some 30 years.
 
The moral of this tale if anything, is, if longevity is your goal, it's better to be surly than cheerful.

Happy Christmas to you and Mrs W. 
 
B.E.
 
 

Post 4
Attending to the stem
 I am grateful to Chuck for the laser cut parts that make up the stem and keel, saves a lot of time faffing around with the scroll saw; nice Boxwood and need for very little fettlin', the most time consuming part is removing the quite heavy char on the pieces.
I did this mostly by scraping with a sharp blade.
I followed Chuck's  example of filling the treenail holes rather than use dowel pegs.

3772(2)

3609
They are very small, he suggests a #76 drill equivalent to 0.508mm Ø I used a 0.6mm Ø drill.

3603
Once I was satisfied with the fit the two stem pieces were  glued together.

3608
and then to the Rabbet strip on the false keel.

3772
All went together very nicely.

3774
The two keel pieces were then added.

3779
Impressed by the fit of the stern post and rudder, although these will be put aside for much later in the build.

3776
There seems to be a slight kink in the forward section of the keel, I hope this doesn't prove to be troublesome, the false keel looks true sighting along from stem to stern.
 
To complete this part of the build, a light sanding and sealing with wipe-on-poly.

3786

3783
Note:
Chuck makes reference to the use of Minwax wipe-on Poly to seal the Boxwood finish of the stem pieces once they have been fitted.
For those in the UK Minwax products are horrendously expensive (£36) for what is essentially a thinned down oil based Polyurethane Varnish.
Normal oil based Poly is readily available in the UK. Thin it down 50/50 with White spirit to make your own wipe-on.
I used Blackfriars satin poly - 250ml cost me £8 effectively 500ml once diluted.
There is loads of stuff on making your own w-o-p on the internet.

3771
Finally as with Pegasus I obtained the Admiralty plan for Cheerful and Surly which now sits above my workbench as additional inspiration.
 
Next up fiddlin' with my Bulkheads.
 
B.E.
 
 
 

Cheers Kurt, I've got to work
So the build begins
The two keel halves are glued together and the Bearding line marked on the Starboard side to match the Portside.
The Rabbet strip is now ready for fixing.

3112
I used the False keel fret cut out to make a former to shape the rabbet around the bow shape.

3120
Using the wet/heat method I pre-bent the strip to take the stress out when gluing.

3122
Because the strip has to be centred along the keel not having to fight it or apply too much pressure is a great bonus.

3256
Only light clamping is required.

3258
The stern rabbet strip is then added.

3262
and finally the bearding line taper sanded in.
 

3263
I can now move onto the Boxwood stem and Keel.
 
B.E.

Cheers Guys 
Well a week or so has passed and nothing really to show, but I have been busy reading logs  and I feel grateful for three fine builds by Rustyj, rafine (Bob) and Stuntflyer (Mike) in addition to Chuck's own initial build, to refer to.
If I come anywhere close to those examples I will be a happy man.
 
As an aside I have treated myself to a couple of Proxxon goodies to add to my collection.
A Thicknesser/sander, (DH40) and a Surface Planer (AH80) plus some spares, and mill bits.
 
As with previous purchases I obtained the machines from Germany.
https://www.tbs-aachen.de/
 .....and saved myself £118.00 over the UK supply price.
 
I always feel a certain trepidation whenever I start a new build, and I tend to spend a fair bit of time fiddling with the first stage bits before I get the pva out.

3079
Looking at the two false keel halves, they don't seem to join square at both top and bottom. Maybe the tongue of the Jigsaw join is a tad long.

3078
The second task will be to glue a Rabbet strip (⅛" x1/16")- 3.2mm x 1.59mm along the stem, bottom and up the stern of the false keel.
This strip doesn't seem to have been provided in the Crown Timber package  but they do supply a 1/16"" thick sheet of boxwood which would require a ⅛" strip cutting off.

3104
Fortunately I do have some 3.4mm square Boxwood strip and this provides me with a perfect opportunity to bring my new Thicknesser machine into use.

3103
It  brought the  30" length of 3.4mm boxwood strip down to 1.59mm consistently along its length. Being new to this machine  I took  quite a few light passes to familiarise myself, but I think it will be a very useful addition.
 
A question to those who may have this machine, when feeding narrow strip thro' is it normal for it to move across the planing table without maintaining a straight line? it doesn't seem to affect the cut but is a bit disconcerting to a new user.
 
B.E.
 
 
 

HM Cutter Cheerful 1806- 1816
This is my new project following completion of the Pinnace and Long-boat kits.
I have had this offering from Chuck's Syren stable, including the wood set, gathering dust beneath my workbench since 2016, and I have been collecting all the subsequent add-ons, and fittings as they have been issued.
So I now have all the makings  to hopefully do justice to the fine materials, fittings, and the beautiful plans produced by Chuck.
A period now to organise the build, assimilate the instructions and read thro' logs of those who have gone before.
 
A couple of holding pics of my last foray into cutter building some 30 years ago, a bashed version of the Mamoli kit at 1:72 scale.

3070

007
Still on display in my Dining room, uncased, but fairly easy to periodically clean, she remains one of my favourites.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.
 
ps: I did show Mrs W the actual plans of Cheerful and pointed out the actual, not insubstantial size of the beast.;  Fazed she was not in the least; what can possibly go wrong with her on-side .

Thanks Mike and Dave, and belated New year greetings to yourselves. 
Post 6
That fairing business
Not done much work in the Shipyard since before Christmas, lacking some enthusiasm most probably because one of my least favourite aspects of a build is now required. Fairing seems to go on forever, and there is always the worry in the back of my mind that I may overdo it, and end up having to shim the bulkheads.

4024
One needs a good supply of sanding sticks for this task and I've added to my supply a curved stick made from a strip of Yellow pine left over from a much earlier scratch build of a twelve gun Brig, put into ordinary for many years and then abandoned due to terminal wood worm.
The wood comes off pretty easily during the bevelling operation, but the devil is as always in the detail of the process.

4469
I made a simple block jig to support the inverted hull whilst working.

4467
Once I reached the point where I felt there was a smoothish transition a walnut batten was pinned along the hull at gunport cill level.

4474
getting there I think, at least on the starboard side.

4470

4472

4462

4473
The fairing continues, a further batten strip will be added at Wale level, and a third lower down.
 
B.E.

Thanks Mike and Dave, and belated New year greetings to yourselves. 
Post 6
That fairing business
Not done much work in the Shipyard since before Christmas, lacking some enthusiasm most probably because one of my least favourite aspects of a build is now required. Fairing seems to go on forever, and there is always the worry in the back of my mind that I may overdo it, and end up having to shim the bulkheads.

4024
One needs a good supply of sanding sticks for this task and I've added to my supply a curved stick made from a strip of Yellow pine left over from a much earlier scratch build of a twelve gun Brig, put into ordinary for many years and then abandoned due to terminal wood worm.
The wood comes off pretty easily during the bevelling operation, but the devil is as always in the detail of the process.

4469
I made a simple block jig to support the inverted hull whilst working.

4467
Once I reached the point where I felt there was a smoothish transition a walnut batten was pinned along the hull at gunport cill level.

4474
getting there I think, at least on the starboard side.

4470

4472

4462

4473
The fairing continues, a further batten strip will be added at Wale level, and a third lower down.
 
B.E.

Thanks Kurt, very useful tips, I would hate to snap a bulkhead extension. 
I haven’t really thought about the stern frames as yet but I’ll certainly take your advice onboard.
 
Regards, 
 
B. E.

Looking good. I am just a little bit ahead of you. The fairing itself isn’t too bad since the bulkheads are so close together. A suggestion if I may. If I were to do it over again, when It comes to installing the stern frames. Create some sort of jig so everything ends up where it is supposed to be in regards to alignment. I ended up ripping out the first set and replacing them. I still did it depending upon eyesight and a million measurements. I’m still fussing and tweaking things. I also placed sacrificial supports between the frames to be removed at a later point. This helps keeping things were they belong when fitting the gun ports. It also strengthens the area while fairing. Snapping one will break your heart. Been there. I actually discussed this with Chuck and he agrees. Hope this will lessen some anxiety when you reach that point.
 
Regards, 
Kurt