dunnock

Thank you Jeff and Bob, that's very kind of you David

I like to finish the edge with stripwood (it covers a multitude of poor cutting). On previous builds I have edged with 1mm square section boxwood. I now also have some 1.5x1mm strip so I will decide when the coppering is complete which to use. David

Many thanks Ron and Mort for your very kind comments. It's much appreciated David

Coppering the Hull The waterline is marked up based on measurements taken from the plans at stem and stern post and from lower edge the wale directly below the centre of each gunport. To begin with I marked the edge using white pvc graphing tape but it’s not very sticky so I’ve redone it using masking tape. This is my set of tools for coppering. A scrap of dowel with Bluetac to hold and place the plates. Itried’Tacky Wax’ but couldn’t get on with it. Bluetac holds better and I’ve yet to replace it. A burnishing stick; again from scrap dowel, a tool for scoring plates and a cotton wool swab dipped in acetone for cleaning up excess CA. I’m using Rocket Odourless CA glue. The sheets of copper are easily split into individual plates by flexing. I found that the separated horizontal strips can be split into individual plates by flexing 3 strips at a time. Individual plates are cut to shape at the sternpost by scoring and then flexing to split it along the score line. I applied copper tape to the bottom of the keel and sternpost before staring to apply plates from the sternpost at the keel. It's probably overkill but I apply a spot of CA at each corner and a few spots across the rest of the surface to be sure of good adhesion. A rub with the burnishing stick and then every 3 or 4 plates I clean up excess CA with acetone. I have used nearly a complete sheet thus far. There are three sheets in the kit so should be some spares. David

A different presentation that adds new interest and I really like it. I think you may have begun a new trend . David

Thank you Daniel; the finish did look pretty shabby David

Thanks everyone for following and the likes Framing The Tuck I spent most of an afternoon scraping and sanding the hull until I was satisfied. I needed a bit of a think about how to frame the tuck. I had left the etched pattern slightly proud of the hull but some of the planks didn’t finish as tight up as I would have liked. I decided to remove the pattern entirely and try reuse it to fill the frame. With help from IPA and some careful work with a fine chisel, I managed to remove them, though each in a couple of pieces. I had made the frame pieces that follow the hull earlier and now completed framing with more 1mm fret. I made templates from stiff paper (1000g wallpaper lining paper works well) and used these to cut out the shapes from the original pear etch. The etching is quite deep so the pieces are delicate but with care I was able to make them fit. Only dry fitted at the moment. David

Thanks to Ron Andrew and Daniel for their kind comments and for others' likes and encouragement. Completion of the Second Planking I’ve been away for a few days in Northumberland but I did manage to finish the planking before leaving on Monday, just didn’t have time to write the log. All is straightforward to the end of the square tuck at the sternpost with a whole number of planks completing that section. As planking moves towards the keel, stealers or ever widening planks are required at the stern. It is very useful that there is plenty of raw material in the form of 1mm pear fret in this kit. I could say that it was an exercise in the two forms of planking that I have used a stealer on the port side and only spiled planks on the starboard. In reality there was a difference in the degree of flare required and I thought an 8mm wide plank at the stern looked too much so I added a stealer. Maybe I could have made a more gradual increase on the port side but as I am going to be coppering the hull, it won’t be seen. Nevertheless it’s is an annoyance to not have both sides looking the same. Marking and cutting for the portside stealer. In the end a half stealer was enough. I never know which way to cut the angle of the stealer and you may notice that I changed it in the final piece. As planking progressed towards the keel it was obvious (in fact I suspected that I would have to do something like this from first measurements) that I would need either a very thin plank amidships to finish or a slightly wider plank. I opted for the latter. And a few shots of the finished planking Now if the weather holds and we don’t get the forecast thunderstorms, I will be outside scraping and sanding the hull to get a suitable base for coppering. Thanks for looking in David

Thanks Ron

Planking the First Band The first 6 strakes have been added below the drop plank to complete the first band of planks. Tapering and edge-bending from the bow to bulkhead 7 is necessary and then planks are full width back to the stern. The only difficulty has been where the following strake runs above the join between two planks and I have been finding the transition is not smooth enough and leaves a small gap between strakes. I have improved the joint by scraping the top edges of the two planks into a smoother curve to but I must pay more attention to this area. I have scraped this first band to get an impression of the finished appearance but further work will be required once all is finished. I haven't yet measured off the next band of planks in case it needed some adjustment but so far it all looks in line and I casn continue to mark off the plank widths at each bulkhead. David

Thanks very much for the likes Planking Below the Wale I began with a drop plank at the bow, running forward from bulkhead 5 tapering to 3mm at the rabbet. I gave the drop plank a quick dip in water and then formed the curve around a jar to make fitting easier. I am making my plank length around 140mm although I will not be using a strict 4 plank shift, I will make sure that there is separation between joints. I’m using CA gel to glue planks. After installing the first two strakes, I moved to fitting the garboard plank. I made the garboard 50% wider than the rest of the planks at 6mm. The garboard meets the rabbet at slightly beyond bulkhead 3. I followed this with a 5mm plank which runs forward to midway between bulkheads 3 and 2. I lined off the hull in three sections: two of 6 strakes and one of 4 but I expect that some adjustments will be need as planking progresses. Tick strips are used to mark the width of the plank at each bulkhead. I’ve now added four strakes below the wale on each side and so far, so good. Onwards... David

The Wales I marked up the bottom line of the wales and intended to fit and trim two runs of pear planks to the line. In the end I tapered the fore and aft ends of the planks to the the line of the lower edge of the wales but left the midsection, where I thought it would be easier to trim back the planks. The forward end of each wale was sanded back as far as I dared to appear that it tapered into the rabbet at the prow when glued in place. To achieve the required curve at the bow, the patterns were soaked and clamped to the hull and left to dry overnight. I used CA gel to fix both the under-planking and the wales, applying a few sections at time. In this way the need for awkward clamping was largely avoided. I had to redo the centre section on both sides where it misaligned with the etching on the bulwark pattern. Once I was happy with the fit, it was time to cut back the excess planking. I was nervous of cutting into the wales as I went, so as some protection from accidental damage, I used a length of fret that formed the top line of wales held in place with rubber bands and clamps and worked my way slowly along. Completed without mishap, I finished off by scraping along the line and a light sand. A bit of staining on the prow which needs some attention. Thanks for the likes and on to the pear layer of planking David

Lovely and accurate work Maurice

Thanks once again for the likes and comments. In Preparation for Second Planking I spent a couple of afternoons sanding the hull. Some filler was necessary at the bow and in odd places along the length but I’m now happy with the look and can move on to second planking. I forgot to take photos at each stage so the pictures that follow show the relevant parts at the end of this stage. But first some more parts need to be added. I started with the square tuck. According to the instructions, these parts should sit slightly proud of the first planking so a little more sanding at the stern was needed. I liked Maurice's @Blue Ensign treatment of this area with the addition of the framing and have decided to follow suit. I’ve roughly cut the outer edge pieces from some 0.8mm pear using the kit parts as a template and will finish them later. I'll make the other parts of the frame when I’m ready to fit them all. I plan to glue the frame to the kit parts and then infill. As with the core pieces of prow and keel, there was a 1mm gap between the two etched pieces which I filled with a scrap piece of pear. A little sanding around the rudder port was needed for the sternpost to fit snugly. I soaked the counter and clamped it in place to achieve the curve. It was probably unnecessary since the curve is only slight but as I had to soak and leave the outer bulwark patterns to dry overnight, it was no extra hardship. The port bulwark pattern fitted almost perfectly with only a little bit needing to be taken off at the bow. However the starboard bulwark needed about 1.5mm to be removed before I was satisfied and the gunport jigs fitted. I think this was due to the problems I had getting both of the plywood patterns to fit into the rabbet. They looked to be symmetrical at the time but clearly something was out. I will now apply a thin coat of shellac to the planking as a sanding sealer. I also plan to follow Maurice's @Blue Ensign lead with the pear planking and align it with the wales but I need to decide whether to follow his method or perhaps take the less risky route of Richard @Richard44 Something to ponder. David

Thanks Ron