Cousin Teapot

Hey SkiBee! Glad to have this log as a reference! Great write-up. I had a question for ya: in the instruction photos, on pg. 8, the lower stern transom is shown. The transom knee in that photo doesn't reach the top (beveled edge) of the stern transom. When I assemble mine, it does - just like what you have in your photo above. What gives? This is hanging me up more than it should, probably... Was the photo in the instructions of an earlier prototype build, maybe?

It looks like all the other bulkheads register right to the bearding line, or are a touch high. I wonder why just the center #0 bulkhead is out of whack. Per Chuck's advise below, I'm just going to get it as close as I reasonably can and move on, I think. I might change my mind once I sit back at the bench with it though, and start agonizing over all the misery this misalignment will cause - crops failing, cities burning, children crying in the streets, etc. :)

Thanks, Chuck! I'll do my best to get out of my own way.

Hi Arthur, When you described installing the bulkheads, you mention making adjustments for those that were too low (I assume fell below the bearding line). I have the same issue and I'm wondering what adjustments you made for these. Did you remove material from the outboard side of the bulkhead? Would that work if the bulkhead is low on only one side (i.e., would it make the frame unsymetrical)?

Ha! I knew someone would ask me that! It occured to me after I posted that I should have checked the others. I was so surprised at how "bad" the alignment was on the first one that I stopped there. The alignment on all the other bulkheads is dependent on bulkhead 0, so I figured there was no point in proceeding until I had this resolved. But, I will check them when I get home this evening. Thanks, B.E.!

I'll preface this by saying I am very new to ship modelling (this is my first attempt at a wooden ship, though I have plenty of woodworking experience as a furniture maker, FWIW). The instructions state the bottom edge of the bulkhead should align with the laser-etched bearding line on the keel. The image in the instructions shows this pretty clearly. They also imply that the only correction needed may be to remove material from the bulkhead slot, in order to make it sit lower on the keel. When I dry-fit the center bulkhead (numbered "0") into the keel, it sits a little less than 1/16" below the bearding line (still barely visible in the photos below). I have not removed any material from the bulkhead slot or it's corresponding spot on the keel, not even removed the laser scorch. My questions are: Is this okay, or am I going to run into issues later because the rest of the build assumes the bulkheads all register to the bearding line? The test piece of planking fits okay, not great. I could get a better fit with some cajoling of the edge of the plank that meets the keel, or maybe some plank-bending jujitsu (I've bent wood for furniture, but never planks). If not, should I ask Model Expo for a new keel / bulkheads? ...Or, is there some other (easy) way to remedy this? One thought I had is to glue in material in the slot, but that seems prone to cause issues down the road. The other idea of mine was to glue the bulkhead in a little higher in the slot, but that seems like it would make its structural integrity questionable, esp. when it comes to faring the hull. Finally, assuming there is no error in the laser-cut sheets, as my above discussion implies, any idea on what I could have done to cause this? I was very careful not to chamfer the edge of the keel (the "rabbet" cut) past the bearding line, and I have not removed any material from the slots, so I'm stumped as to what I may have done to produce this misalignment. Assuming the photos show up in the order in which they were uploaded: The first photo below shows the bulkhead in question from the port side, facing forward (looking at the aft side of the bulkhead). The second shows the opposite view from the starboard side, facing aft (looking at the forward side of the bulkhead).