glbarlow

Two quick posts to get started, they may come a bit slower from here.


I’ve cut a lot of bearding lines but never so easily as I did this time.  On the recommendation of another MSWer as part of a discussion about using square stock for masts I ordered this IBEX flat finger plane. It is pricy but well worth it. I’ve tried planes in the past with no luck other than gouging up wood, but this small little tool made short work of creating the bearding line.
 
I never toss stands from past models, this one I made for Vanguard is a perfect fit, so yay. A block of wood, some curved shoe molding backed by 1x1 strip covered with felt. Build board done.

I followed the stern reference mark on one side of the hull and with tracing paper transferred it to the other side. The plane slides easily to make the taper down to the rabbit strip. Maybe too easy. I may have gotten a little too much angle. I’m thinking that will be ok…won’t it…I can’t put it back on….

I removed the stem pieces from the billet and initially was a little disappointed. I have no experience with Alaska Yellow Cedar. I did some test some WOP on billet scrap and wasn’t seeing it. But I knew there was beautiful wood there somewhere - and there was. There is a Lot of char to remove and sanding to do, a lot of work with 220 and 320 grade sandpaper since I didn’t want to risk taking too much or alter the shape of the stem pieces.
 
After a considerable amount of work (not complaining, I’m not on a schedule) there it was - the Alaskan Cedar is better than anything I’ve seen, it is very nice. A bit lighter color than boxwood, it feels almost like a piece of ivory when sanded smooth. I’m looking forward to working more with it as the ship progresses. 


I followed Chuck’s practicum by adding the simulated tree nails using a #76 bit, #2 pencil and natural wood filler, I simulated caulking between the joints of the stem also with the pencil. I have some charcoal pencils I’ve used in the past but I think subtlety here is the name of the game, a little pencil goes a long way. I finished the night putting the first coat of poly on the stem and keel, big impact on color and grain showing up.

One practice I’ve followed for every model I’ve built is addressing the display mounting very early, no different for Cheerful. I already have the display board, 12" walnut. I’ll figure out the pedestals later, the ones shown are my stock that may not work. However this was a great time to drill the holes through the keel. I use these machine screws, long enough for the board, pedestals, and to go past the keel into the frame, I epoxy them in eventually, no nut needed (other than the builder).
 
All I needed to do now is drill the holes in the keel, once its securely mounted to the frame I’ll extend the depth of the holes an inch or more into the frame. Then years from now when I finally finish this epic build it will be simple to complete the display mount. A lot easier than trying to turn over a completed ship. I like my models firmly secured to a display board verses a cradle and if I change my mind the holes aren’t going to show…
 
Now on to mounting the stem and installing the bulkheads. 

After much research I am ready to build Chuck Passaro’s  @Chuck  Revenue Cutter Cheerful 1806. And so it begins...
 
After completing nine kits over the years I am making my first attempt at scratch building. Well, I say scratch building but Chuck’s Cheerful plans, starter kit, wood package, and sub-assemblies along with his instructions and always gracious guidance make it a much easier transition.
 
While I’m a decent kit modeler I’m hesitant to post a build log for Cheerful. There are several outstanding logs already on MSW, some from builders I’ve admired, some I’ve just discovered in searching Cheerful, and of course the master himself, Chuck. I don’t know how I can add anything to what they’ve already done. They do say however every model is unique, I’m pretty sure I’ll prove that...
 
One thing is for sure, I’m going to learn a lot along the way. A good reason for a build log is having the council and support of the MSW community. I’m going to build it to the best of my ability, and I’m certain at the end of the build my ability will be a bit better than when I started. I’ll ask questions and share how I do things, hoping there is something useful for the next builder. I’d like to think my log will be a Cheerful read and not a Surly one (see what I did there…).

For proper motivation I ordered a copy of the British NMM plan for Cheerful. I plan to hang it in my shop (next to the NMM plan of Pegasus) once frame shops are open again, whenever that is (Covid shut down for future readers). These plans are wonderful to look at - the fact these drawings turned into a ship and stood the test of time to become today’s model … very cool.

We custom built our house, from the very first drawing I had the intent to include room for my model building. The architect didn’t quite get it initially, but the final blueprint has the notation “Ship Room.” We don’t have basements here in Texas due to the soil condition, so it’s fitted into the architecture tucked away on the lower of the three levels. The upside is it’s a nice sized well lit room for building, the down side is that there isn’t a lot of room for machinery, which I don’t have anyway other than the Byrnes saw and sander, so Cheerful, hand tools it is. The tub on the back right is loaded with my Cheerful collection of wood, sub-assemblies, blocks, and rope - ready to become a ship.

The first thing was to print off Chuck’s instructions from the website and have them bound in a spiral notebook, something that will always be by my side along with my iPad to cross check what I’m doing with other build logs, So thanks in advance for the good ideas and experiences I’ll find and happily steal, I mean learn from. Next I laid out the frame and keel parts from the starter package and thought wow, there are a lot of bulkheads, and felt just a touch better about my first attempt at single planking. Then I remembered fairing and thought, wow, there are a lot of bulkheads…

The starter package didn’t include the rabbet strip (as Chuck says, welcome to scratch building). For some reason I had the perfect 1/8 x 1/16  boxwood strip in my stock, one of the few remaining bits I had from our retired friend Jeff of HobbyMill fame. Then I wasted no time in stealing a good idea, so from BE’s log I used the waste from the hull billet to shape the rabbet strip at the bow, making it easier to install.

With the two hull parts joined I glued on the rabbet strip using Tite Bond yellow wood glue, it sets up fast! I pre-positioned my rubber bands but I had to move quickly to center the strip. I have some brass gauges, the 1/16th size allowed me to quickly run the edges to get it centered. 
 
Next up, the bearding line, the keel and stem...
 
Looking forward to comments and feedback. My log has begun.
 

Thanks Chuck.  Yes the perfectionist in me overcomes my lack of patience.  I don’t mind how long it took.  I think I developed a system on the third to last port 🤣
 
Thanks for the advice on the stern frames. I’m going the #11 blade and a jewelers saw, I’m sure the Dremel would get away from me. 1/16th is really skinny. Thank goodness for sanding sticks. 

Thanks BE. The Alaskan Yellow Cedar really is nice wood - easy to shape and sands to as smooth as butter. 
 
Any gaffer tape will do, I have multiple versions and multiple colors. The distinction of gaffer tape is that it is as strong as duct tape but it leaves no residue when removed - as long as it's not left on for too long.
 
I agree with both you and BE. I think sanding sealer has a different purpose, perhaps as a base for acrylic's. The wipe on poly is itself a sealer and adds a whole different dimension to the yellow cedar, it brings out the grain, provides a beautiful finish and changes the wood from a light yellow to a golden color. The photos, at least my iPhone photos, don't do it justice.

The port side is now complete.

 
Cutting and measuring these 64 planks (more like 84 including the ones I rejected after cutting them the wrong length or angle) was an exercise in patience and perseverance, but I like how it all turned out. I will make a few adjustments to the sheer once I start the cap rail step and a few minor modifications to some sills after I thin the inner bulwarks, for now though I’m content to move to the next step.
 

 
Which is thinning these outer stern frames. I’m not excited about this step, not that confident with a Dremel, small drum or not. While I can paint a 1/64th rabbet with a 18/0 brush without concern I’m hoping not to gouge one of the inner stern frames in the thinning process. I’m going to have to think about this a bit. I may first try a jeweler’s saw. I do have one unbroken frame on the first now crushed hull so I get one practice run. If anyone has any suggestions or advice on doing this other than don't screw it up, I'd be happy to hear it.
 
I noticed the photos of the SB and port side appear to be a different color - that's purely the affect of my iPhone. They are exactly the same in reality. At some point I need to get my camera gear out and do it justice.
 
I can’t do anything for a few hours while the poly dries - so I’ll just sit and stare at it for now.
 


Oh, I can never have enough ways to sand things. This latest acquisition from here at Amazon are thanks to a recommendation from BobG. Good stuff. 
 

Thanks guys. I'm still a bit daunted by the amount of work involved in fully rigging the guns (I think I'll be well over Chris's estimate of 50 - 70 hours for the build!) but at least I now know it's possible, and hopefully worth the effort.
 
My jigs are not usually that posh! The stand was lying around unused from a previous build - a Victory cross section that I built a picture frame for instead.
 
Derek 

Thanks Chuck.  Yes the perfectionist in me overcomes my lack of patience.  I don’t mind how long it took.  I think I developed a system on the third to last port 🤣
 
Thanks for the advice on the stern frames. I’m going the #11 blade and a jewelers saw, I’m sure the Dremel would get away from me. 1/16th is really skinny. Thank goodness for sanding sticks. 

Thanks Chuck.  Yes the perfectionist in me overcomes my lack of patience.  I don’t mind how long it took.  I think I developed a system on the third to last port 🤣
 
Thanks for the advice on the stern frames. I’m going the #11 blade and a jewelers saw, I’m sure the Dremel would get away from me. 1/16th is really skinny. Thank goodness for sanding sticks. 

The port side is now complete.

 
Cutting and measuring these 64 planks (more like 84 including the ones I rejected after cutting them the wrong length or angle) was an exercise in patience and perseverance, but I like how it all turned out. I will make a few adjustments to the sheer once I start the cap rail step and a few minor modifications to some sills after I thin the inner bulwarks, for now though I’m content to move to the next step.
 

 
Which is thinning these outer stern frames. I’m not excited about this step, not that confident with a Dremel, small drum or not. While I can paint a 1/64th rabbet with a 18/0 brush without concern I’m hoping not to gouge one of the inner stern frames in the thinning process. I’m going to have to think about this a bit. I may first try a jeweler’s saw. I do have one unbroken frame on the first now crushed hull so I get one practice run. If anyone has any suggestions or advice on doing this other than don't screw it up, I'd be happy to hear it.
 
I noticed the photos of the SB and port side appear to be a different color - that's purely the affect of my iPhone. They are exactly the same in reality. At some point I need to get my camera gear out and do it justice.
 
I can’t do anything for a few hours while the poly dries - so I’ll just sit and stare at it for now.
 


Oh, I can never have enough ways to sand things. This latest acquisition from here at Amazon are thanks to a recommendation from BobG. Good stuff. 
 

That looks very good.  It may have taken a while but your care and craftsmanship shows it was worth the effort!!!  You can actually use a very sharp #11 blade to slice most of the stern frames away.  You are talking about the inboard sides of the outer most stern frames?   That is how I did it.  Take little thin slices with each pass.  The cedar is soft and it should take too long.   When you get close to the finished width....switch to some sanding sticks to give it a nice smooth finish.
 
Just be careful......take breaks.  Dont cut yourself or break the center stern frames.....

The port side is now complete.

 
Cutting and measuring these 64 planks (more like 84 including the ones I rejected after cutting them the wrong length or angle) was an exercise in patience and perseverance, but I like how it all turned out. I will make a few adjustments to the sheer once I start the cap rail step and a few minor modifications to some sills after I thin the inner bulwarks, for now though I’m content to move to the next step.
 

 
Which is thinning these outer stern frames. I’m not excited about this step, not that confident with a Dremel, small drum or not. While I can paint a 1/64th rabbet with a 18/0 brush without concern I’m hoping not to gouge one of the inner stern frames in the thinning process. I’m going to have to think about this a bit. I may first try a jeweler’s saw. I do have one unbroken frame on the first now crushed hull so I get one practice run. If anyone has any suggestions or advice on doing this other than don't screw it up, I'd be happy to hear it.
 
I noticed the photos of the SB and port side appear to be a different color - that's purely the affect of my iPhone. They are exactly the same in reality. At some point I need to get my camera gear out and do it justice.
 
I can’t do anything for a few hours while the poly dries - so I’ll just sit and stare at it for now.
 


Oh, I can never have enough ways to sand things. This latest acquisition from here at Amazon are thanks to a recommendation from BobG. Good stuff. 
 

The port side is now complete.

 
Cutting and measuring these 64 planks (more like 84 including the ones I rejected after cutting them the wrong length or angle) was an exercise in patience and perseverance, but I like how it all turned out. I will make a few adjustments to the sheer once I start the cap rail step and a few minor modifications to some sills after I thin the inner bulwarks, for now though I’m content to move to the next step.
 

 
Which is thinning these outer stern frames. I’m not excited about this step, not that confident with a Dremel, small drum or not. While I can paint a 1/64th rabbet with a 18/0 brush without concern I’m hoping not to gouge one of the inner stern frames in the thinning process. I’m going to have to think about this a bit. I may first try a jeweler’s saw. I do have one unbroken frame on the first now crushed hull so I get one practice run. If anyone has any suggestions or advice on doing this other than don't screw it up, I'd be happy to hear it.
 
I noticed the photos of the SB and port side appear to be a different color - that's purely the affect of my iPhone. They are exactly the same in reality. At some point I need to get my camera gear out and do it justice.
 
I can’t do anything for a few hours while the poly dries - so I’ll just sit and stare at it for now.
 


Oh, I can never have enough ways to sand things. This latest acquisition from here at Amazon are thanks to a recommendation from BobG. Good stuff. 
 

Short log for a lot of work. As noted by @Chuck instructions and multiple Cheerful logs this part, seemingly simple, takes a lot of “fiddling” as my English friends say. I’ll be honest and say while I finished with 2 sills and 2 lintels, more than 4 were used in the making of this stern.

Cutting out the stern pattern from a copy of the plans is the first step to get a feel and mark where they go. But that in itself isn’t enough.

I modified my port shaper for these smaller ports, its a great jig to both get the size right, keep the port squared, and with the help of various levels to get the sill parallel with the waterline (matching to another level not shown here setting at midship positioned bow to stern). And for those taking notes, the level was straight when I wasn't posing it for photos. 

Definitely an opportunity to demonstrate patience and taking the time to get it right. I almost settled at one point with one slightly off but quickly said no I’m not doing that.
 
Though still a bit more fairing to do, including the top of the frames, but that comes later.  In the end I got there, a little smarter than when I started.

I’ve finished Starboard above the wales. It’s very slow going measuring out each of the 4 planks (one just 1/16th, the others 5/32) between the ports to keep the 1/64th rabbet. I've only done preliminary sanding I don't need to go to far on that as yet.

I wish I could impart some sage wisdom on cutting these, but its just grinding it out with careful measure and cutting. More finely and carefully than I’ve ever had to do on any kit. I finally determined the best way for me is using my Veritas mini- chisels to cut the planks on carefully measured and marked lines using the sides as the ports to mark the angle from the in-board side.
 
I will have to build up the sill on port 3 by 1/64th. I have a plan, but it will keep until I thin out the bulwarks and before I put in the false deck, so a while from now. I’ve already tried it, it works. Still it’s pretty amazing to me with all that it took with aligning port sills and wales to the frame to get here that I was that close to being right. Once again I attribute it to the design, Chuck's great monograph, and some peaceful patience on my part (something I’m that good at). In case you missed it earlier, the green gaffer tape (a photographers best friend, it leaves no residue and is thicker than blue painters tape) is to protect the keel while the ship is in the Amati keel holder for working angles.
 
Wondering if I should I apply a coat of wipe-on poly to this completed side above the wales, or wait until later.  I’ve already lightly sanded parts of the stem and keel and plan to re-apply poly there after I’ve completed the above wales planking and stern before starting on planking below the wales. Any thoughts on the timing of the poly? I will be sanding it more later, just don’t want to over-sand at this point. This single planking stuff can cause some anxiety knowing what I see now is what I’ll always see…
 
Now on to port side…

It’s starting to look like a ship. Every single plank takes time.

The good news is the time on the fairing was well spent. I’ve only lightly sanded so far, I’m going to wait until everything above the wales is complete for doing any serious sanding.
 
It’s going to take a really long time to finish above the wales. Not only maintaining the 1/64th rabbit on the sides of the ports, but also cutting the proper angles of each plank between the ports. Slow and careful.
 
Having finished the run below the ports on both sides I decided to give myself a little reward for the day by planking up the sheer at the stern. Right now there are two 1/16th strips in that run flush with the other planks. Later I’ll cut a fashion strip above both those, no idea how but I’ll figure it out then I guess.
 
So back to cutting properly angled lengths of planks in very precise lengths, 64 of them to be exact, well 60 more since I did that stern second to day.  I won’t complain about kit gunport patterns ever again.
 
I'm hoping this is how its supposed to look...

Completing the square tuck is the final step of building the ships skeleton. I was glad to learn the plan template as I cut it out from a sheet of 1/32 cedar fit with just a few adjustments. So far everything is standing up to being where it;s supposed to be.

The next step is planking the wales by first marking where then go. I started with the reference lines and then smoothed out the curve until it looked right.  I found that if something looked wavy I could just remove the nail at that point having placed ones to either side of it. Definitely don’t want a nail in every frame to allow it to flow. I took my time until I felt good about it then did the other side.
 
I love it when a plan comes together. Having done all that, I thought lets just check the distance between each port and the wales agains the plans. I used my millimeter ruler and I wasn’t just close, I was right on the distance - on both sides.  How the hell did that happen.  I have to attribute it to the design, I don’t think I’m near that good.

After painting the gun ports I started on the wales. I’ve never done a single planked ship before, really hoping I can get the planking tight enough so it doesn’t look like a sieve. I sort of wish the wood was long enough to have a single run for this lower layer of the wales, but I might as well get used to running short planks. I’ll be doing a lot of that from here on in. It took several hours to get one side done.
 
The small 1/16rh piece marks the lower edge of the ports and the distance to plank between that and the wales. I came pretty close to the goal of leaving a 1/64th rabbit above the piece - I never really thought about how small 1/64th is.  I used a piece of my batten, coincidently 1/64th thick as a bit of a tool to measure.
 
I’ve lightly sanded the stem and keel. I’ll put on another coat of wipe on poly later, no need at this point. I'm starting to think of posting smaller photos, these high quality large photos show too much 😕
 
Almost every step something I haven’t done before, it’s an adventure. Hoping it looks like it’s suppose to look…

Short log for a lot of work. As noted by @Chuck instructions and multiple Cheerful logs this part, seemingly simple, takes a lot of “fiddling” as my English friends say. I’ll be honest and say while I finished with 2 sills and 2 lintels, more than 4 were used in the making of this stern.

Cutting out the stern pattern from a copy of the plans is the first step to get a feel and mark where they go. But that in itself isn’t enough.

I modified my port shaper for these smaller ports, its a great jig to both get the size right, keep the port squared, and with the help of various levels to get the sill parallel with the waterline (matching to another level not shown here setting at midship positioned bow to stern). And for those taking notes, the level was straight when I wasn't posing it for photos. 

Definitely an opportunity to demonstrate patience and taking the time to get it right. I almost settled at one point with one slightly off but quickly said no I’m not doing that.
 
Though still a bit more fairing to do, including the top of the frames, but that comes later.  In the end I got there, a little smarter than when I started.

Not wasting anytime I moved on to the stern. Every stern on every model has been an adventure for me. I’m not trying not to over- optimize and going very slowly. Chucks instructions are easy and clear. Well, the words are easy and clear, but the work isn’t simple and nothing like any kit I’ve ever done - can you say scratch build…

Chuck provides a set of stern frames as part of the starter kit wonderfully and precisely cut in boxwood. The fun part of these is that apparently boxwood likes a suntan, the laser char though light in color was not at all easy to remove, especially as I’m trying hard not to take too much off. My approach was to skin each frame by frame (not taking to much) before they are installed on the ship. So sand and sand and sand I did for each of the 12 stern frames.

From the one on the right to the one on the left I finally got them all done with the skin gone from my forefinger.

Then its gluing Z and its three ZZ friends to port and starboard, most of these will be faired off but you have to start off right to get it right.

Next its creating my version of Rusty’s pencil lead marking jig to identify the line to fair. That’s the easy part. Next is the semi-panicked step of grinding it down to near that line with my Dremel tool with sanding drums. Go slow Glenn..don’t go to near the line Glenn...don’t drop it Glenn…

After managing not to do any of those things its back to sanding to shape up the combined four Z and ZZ frames making up the outer stern (it is not done yet in the photo).

After adding the interior X and Y frames I finally reach a new point of the build. From here on I really want to just do everything once if that’s ok.
 
Next up stern ports and the start of the square tuck. I finally get to see what one of those are. So far I know it starts with a triangle so ….

I did a little side project, putting together the winch sub-assembly from Chuck’s https://www.syrenshipmodelcompany.com site. This is one of several I have as part of my Cheerful semi-scratch build. This model with the plans, starter kit, monograph, and these sub-assemblies, make entry into scratch building so much easier an experience.

The winch comes in a little baggy of finely lasered parts, mine is in boxwood. I printed the simple to follow instructions from the website and commenced to sand and file away.

The instructions say to bevel the many panels (5 barrels and obviously 8 to each barrel) so that only a brown edge is showing. Not surprisingly my last one was better than the first. The big key is when the instructions say only a little edge is showing, it means a very little tiny barely visible bit of brown edge. This one still needed more filing.

With everything assembled, it’s time to paint using the Golden Cadium Red I’ve selected for the model. This is in a bottle not a tube, but I still mixed it at about 3 parts paint to one part water. This gives it an almost ‘red water’ consistency. I found three coats were enough to make me happy. I painted a scrap piece and after three it started looking a little too thick.
 
I use Admiralty Paint Ironwood Black for the components that are, well, wood meant to look like iron, (so that’s how they got the name…) on a real winch. This is great paint, it took only one coat, any more and it will look more like paint and less like metal. As a side note, more of this paint is one of the items in my lost order from the UK.

I’m a big fan of 400 grit sandpaper, I use it to soften everything to make it feel “warmer” and “worn.” With 400 grit as opposed to even 320 there is no danger of losing shape or too much material.  I also did a little shaping at the top, not too much, its a winch…
 
Because I’m using very thin paint I did have to remove all the laser char otherwise it would show through. That was a bit challenging with the end pieces. So here I'm clearly not done.
My hemostats come in handy to hold things while I’m painting, easy here since I could use a 1/16th stick to hold them.

The final dry-fit. It’s really not this shiny, just the bright light and my iPhone thinking too much.
 
The final step is glue it all together, snip off the rod running through it and add the red caps to the ends. I’m not going to do that until I’m ready to mount it on the ship - a long long time from now - just in case any adjustments are needed on the fit to the deck. So off it all goes to join the rudder and sternpost on a cabinet shelf I keep free of everything but a soft cloth bottom and future parts of my current model. I’m sure a few cannon will find their way to that shelf before they’re ready to mount. I like little projects like this to break up the build process.
 
So now back to the hull.

After much research I am ready to build Chuck Passaro’s  @Chuck  Revenue Cutter Cheerful 1806. And so it begins...
 
After completing nine kits over the years I am making my first attempt at scratch building. Well, I say scratch building but Chuck’s Cheerful plans, starter kit, wood package, and sub-assemblies along with his instructions and always gracious guidance make it a much easier transition.
 
While I’m a decent kit modeler I’m hesitant to post a build log for Cheerful. There are several outstanding logs already on MSW, some from builders I’ve admired, some I’ve just discovered in searching Cheerful, and of course the master himself, Chuck. I don’t know how I can add anything to what they’ve already done. They do say however every model is unique, I’m pretty sure I’ll prove that...
 
One thing is for sure, I’m going to learn a lot along the way. A good reason for a build log is having the council and support of the MSW community. I’m going to build it to the best of my ability, and I’m certain at the end of the build my ability will be a bit better than when I started. I’ll ask questions and share how I do things, hoping there is something useful for the next builder. I’d like to think my log will be a Cheerful read and not a Surly one (see what I did there…).

For proper motivation I ordered a copy of the British NMM plan for Cheerful. I plan to hang it in my shop (next to the NMM plan of Pegasus) once frame shops are open again, whenever that is (Covid shut down for future readers). These plans are wonderful to look at - the fact these drawings turned into a ship and stood the test of time to become today’s model … very cool.

We custom built our house, from the very first drawing I had the intent to include room for my model building. The architect didn’t quite get it initially, but the final blueprint has the notation “Ship Room.” We don’t have basements here in Texas due to the soil condition, so it’s fitted into the architecture tucked away on the lower of the three levels. The upside is it’s a nice sized well lit room for building, the down side is that there isn’t a lot of room for machinery, which I don’t have anyway other than the Byrnes saw and sander, so Cheerful, hand tools it is. The tub on the back right is loaded with my Cheerful collection of wood, sub-assemblies, blocks, and rope - ready to become a ship.

The first thing was to print off Chuck’s instructions from the website and have them bound in a spiral notebook, something that will always be by my side along with my iPad to cross check what I’m doing with other build logs, So thanks in advance for the good ideas and experiences I’ll find and happily steal, I mean learn from. Next I laid out the frame and keel parts from the starter package and thought wow, there are a lot of bulkheads, and felt just a touch better about my first attempt at single planking. Then I remembered fairing and thought, wow, there are a lot of bulkheads…

The starter package didn’t include the rabbet strip (as Chuck says, welcome to scratch building). For some reason I had the perfect 1/8 x 1/16  boxwood strip in my stock, one of the few remaining bits I had from our retired friend Jeff of HobbyMill fame. Then I wasted no time in stealing a good idea, so from BE’s log I used the waste from the hull billet to shape the rabbet strip at the bow, making it easier to install.

With the two hull parts joined I glued on the rabbet strip using Tite Bond yellow wood glue, it sets up fast! I pre-positioned my rubber bands but I had to move quickly to center the strip. I have some brass gauges, the 1/16th size allowed me to quickly run the edges to get it centered. 
 
Next up, the bearding line, the keel and stem...
 
Looking forward to comments and feedback. My log has begun.
 

Really nice work!  btw, you mentioned gaffer tape so I checked amazon and there are about two million versions ... which one do you use?  and it seems to me that sanding sealer would defeat the enhancement of the wood produced by wipe-on poly.  have you tried the two on scrap wood to see the difference of sanding sealer first, then wipe on poly?
 
warthog

Looks good to my eye Glenn, Cheerful looks so impressive with those nice woods.
 
I certainly wouldn't use sanding sealer on quality woods like Box and similar.
 
B.E.

I know what you mean, planking below the wales is always an adventure curving both in and down or up depending on how you look at it.  As I hope you'll see when I get there Chuck's bending method is even more mind blowing, I'll bend a board upward (in a 2D view) to get it to fit the inward bend of the bow. It doesn't look like it works until you lay the board on and then you go "wow."

Thanks Chuck, I understand and good point.  I haven't touched the sheer yet, I plan to wait until the other side is done so I can even them both up at the same time. I'll run a board along the top with a level to make sure I don't get out of whack on one side. I left the top planks just a tad higher than the bulkhead extensions to make sure I had a little room to work with.

Interesting question Jim.  I don't know a lot about sanding sealer but the big thing about wipe on poly is how it's absorbed into the wood and brings out the color. Again I'm no expert but I think that poly is a form of sealer and putting on actual sealer before would defeat part of the purpose of the poly.  Perhaps the sealer, like gesso, is as a first step to painting?
 
It would be interesting to hear from anyone with more experience with sealer, I haven't used it myself.