Chuck

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Nicely done.  That does look sweet!!

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

nope...You are good.  I changed that part of the deadwood later on after I built it.  The current plans are correct which match your parts which are also correct.   
 
It just made sense to change it after I built it the first time and makes building that area easier for all of you.   My model and log will sometimes be slightly different as improvements are made after the fact....so just follow the plans and instructions and you will be fine.
 
It will make adding the wing transom and creating the square tuck much easier.   

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

nope...You are good.  I changed that part of the deadwood later on after I built it.  The current plans are correct which match your parts which are also correct.   
 
It just made sense to change it after I built it the first time and makes building that area easier for all of you.   My model and log will sometimes be slightly different as improvements are made after the fact....so just follow the plans and instructions and you will be fine.
 
It will make adding the wing transom and creating the square tuck much easier.   

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

It was so great to see everyone at the New London show yesterday.  There were some fantastic models on display.  I hope everyone has a safe trip back to their workshops.
 
And talking about a safe journey back to the workshop.  Many of you may recall that 4 and maybe even 5 years ago, Someone swiped my mini-me off the Winnie model under construction at the show.  
 
I am happy to report that after several years as hostage…and with no ransom paid,  someone anonymously released mini-me and placed him in the depths of the speedwell model at this years show.  I was happy to find him below deck upon my return to the shop.  No harm was apparent on “mini-me” and he is in good health.  Thank you goes out to person for having a change of heart and I am sure that both of you will sleep a bit  more soundly this evening!!   Since I have lost 30 pounds this year so far...mini-me will now undertake the same dietary and exercise regime that I am now unfortunately tolerating.
 
You cant make this stuff up!!!
 

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

It was so great to see everyone at the New London show yesterday.  There were some fantastic models on display.  I hope everyone has a safe trip back to their workshops.
 
And talking about a safe journey back to the workshop.  Many of you may recall that 4 and maybe even 5 years ago, Someone swiped my mini-me off the Winnie model under construction at the show.  
 
I am happy to report that after several years as hostage…and with no ransom paid,  someone anonymously released mini-me and placed him in the depths of the speedwell model at this years show.  I was happy to find him below deck upon my return to the shop.  No harm was apparent on “mini-me” and he is in good health.  Thank you goes out to person for having a change of heart and I am sure that both of you will sleep a bit  more soundly this evening!!   Since I have lost 30 pounds this year so far...mini-me will now undertake the same dietary and exercise regime that I am now unfortunately tolerating.
 
You cant make this stuff up!!!
 

lovely progress.

nope...You are good.  I changed that part of the deadwood later on after I built it.  The current plans are correct which match your parts which are also correct.   
 
It just made sense to change it after I built it the first time and makes building that area easier for all of you.   My model and log will sometimes be slightly different as improvements are made after the fact....so just follow the plans and instructions and you will be fine.
 
It will make adding the wing transom and creating the square tuck much easier.