robdurant

I've managed to get started on the second planking for Erycina... Here are a few shots.
 
Before I began, I went through the planks with a digital micrometer to sort them into thickness... That way, I don't get any nasty surprises with thin planks going up against thick planks... I can grade it as I plank. There wasn't anything too dramatic, but it's nice to go into the task with a plan. The planks varied from 0.6 to 1mm thick, and some varied up to 0.2mm from end to end... As I said, nothing too dramatic, and it'll even out with scraping once done. There are a couple of strips that are perhaps a little too thin, but counting up, I should have enough without using these strips. They will be backups, then.

 
For this planking, I use gorilla glue thick superglue - used carefully, this does a great job and removes the need for pins and clamps... The theory is that it gives a better end result... I'm realising that I'm out of practice, so we'll find out whether this model ends up getting painted, or whether the wood will look okay once done. I try to put little dots of glue along the (pre-fitted) plank before fitting to the hull... So far, I'm putting on too much glue, and it's made things a little messy. Anyway - here's the progress so far. Upper parts fitted, and the first row of planking on each side.
 
One decision I made - and the instructions say it's up to me - thanks Chris! - was to let the plank stay at the bottom end of the counter at the stern, so that there will be a filler between it and the upper outer part... this was because if it were to follow the line of the upper part (102, 103?), it would have been too short, and I wanted to avoid joins. I figure it'll look fine once I put the filler in as long as I get a good fit, but I would have preferred to keep the sweep of the planks, ideally. A different option would be to join the planks where the chain plates will be... I made my choice, and I think I'm happy with it.  Time will tell how easy that tuck under the stern is... thankfully I have the rib bender, so this next plank down will need to be well fitted before I attempt to get it to stay in place with glue! PPPPPP, as they say ... (Proper Preparation Prevents "Profoundly" Poor Performance)






As always, the pear strips are a simply beautiful colour, and there are no visible machining marks on them whatsoever. It's simply lovely wood to work with!
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Rob
 
 

Well done, good and faithful clamp. 😆It says something about the devotion you have to this wonderful build that when it's a choice between model or tool taking the hit, it's the tool... quite right, too 👏
 
Glad to hear both will make a good recovery. And thanks for sharing your thoughts, processes, steps (and even missteps) with us. I'm sure I'm not the only one learning a lot.

I've managed to get started on the second planking for Erycina... Here are a few shots.
 
Before I began, I went through the planks with a digital micrometer to sort them into thickness... That way, I don't get any nasty surprises with thin planks going up against thick planks... I can grade it as I plank. There wasn't anything too dramatic, but it's nice to go into the task with a plan. The planks varied from 0.6 to 1mm thick, and some varied up to 0.2mm from end to end... As I said, nothing too dramatic, and it'll even out with scraping once done. There are a couple of strips that are perhaps a little too thin, but counting up, I should have enough without using these strips. They will be backups, then.

 
For this planking, I use gorilla glue thick superglue - used carefully, this does a great job and removes the need for pins and clamps... The theory is that it gives a better end result... I'm realising that I'm out of practice, so we'll find out whether this model ends up getting painted, or whether the wood will look okay once done. I try to put little dots of glue along the (pre-fitted) plank before fitting to the hull... So far, I'm putting on too much glue, and it's made things a little messy. Anyway - here's the progress so far. Upper parts fitted, and the first row of planking on each side.
 
One decision I made - and the instructions say it's up to me - thanks Chris! - was to let the plank stay at the bottom end of the counter at the stern, so that there will be a filler between it and the upper outer part... this was because if it were to follow the line of the upper part (102, 103?), it would have been too short, and I wanted to avoid joins. I figure it'll look fine once I put the filler in as long as I get a good fit, but I would have preferred to keep the sweep of the planks, ideally. A different option would be to join the planks where the chain plates will be... I made my choice, and I think I'm happy with it.  Time will tell how easy that tuck under the stern is... thankfully I have the rib bender, so this next plank down will need to be well fitted before I attempt to get it to stay in place with glue! PPPPPP, as they say ... (Proper Preparation Prevents "Profoundly" Poor Performance)






As always, the pear strips are a simply beautiful colour, and there are no visible machining marks on them whatsoever. It's simply lovely wood to work with!
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Rob
 
 

Counter added. As noted in the manual, this didn't require any soaking - it just fitted nicely. You'll notice below that I managed to break the top of the inner transom part... the grain runs vertically here, so it's almost impossible to avoid... I've tucked away these parts, and I'll refit them when I add the outer part on. In the meantime, it allowed me better access to clamp the counter.


Today, the final sides have been added to the keel. This is a clever way of effectively creating a rabbet ready for the second planking...
 


Thanks for looking in
 
Rob
 
 

I've managed to get started on the second planking for Erycina... Here are a few shots.
 
Before I began, I went through the planks with a digital micrometer to sort them into thickness... That way, I don't get any nasty surprises with thin planks going up against thick planks... I can grade it as I plank. There wasn't anything too dramatic, but it's nice to go into the task with a plan. The planks varied from 0.6 to 1mm thick, and some varied up to 0.2mm from end to end... As I said, nothing too dramatic, and it'll even out with scraping once done. There are a couple of strips that are perhaps a little too thin, but counting up, I should have enough without using these strips. They will be backups, then.

 
For this planking, I use gorilla glue thick superglue - used carefully, this does a great job and removes the need for pins and clamps... The theory is that it gives a better end result... I'm realising that I'm out of practice, so we'll find out whether this model ends up getting painted, or whether the wood will look okay once done. I try to put little dots of glue along the (pre-fitted) plank before fitting to the hull... So far, I'm putting on too much glue, and it's made things a little messy. Anyway - here's the progress so far. Upper parts fitted, and the first row of planking on each side.
 
One decision I made - and the instructions say it's up to me - thanks Chris! - was to let the plank stay at the bottom end of the counter at the stern, so that there will be a filler between it and the upper outer part... this was because if it were to follow the line of the upper part (102, 103?), it would have been too short, and I wanted to avoid joins. I figure it'll look fine once I put the filler in as long as I get a good fit, but I would have preferred to keep the sweep of the planks, ideally. A different option would be to join the planks where the chain plates will be... I made my choice, and I think I'm happy with it.  Time will tell how easy that tuck under the stern is... thankfully I have the rib bender, so this next plank down will need to be well fitted before I attempt to get it to stay in place with glue! PPPPPP, as they say ... (Proper Preparation Prevents "Profoundly" Poor Performance)






As always, the pear strips are a simply beautiful colour, and there are no visible machining marks on them whatsoever. It's simply lovely wood to work with!
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Rob
 
 

I've managed to get started on the second planking for Erycina... Here are a few shots.
 
Before I began, I went through the planks with a digital micrometer to sort them into thickness... That way, I don't get any nasty surprises with thin planks going up against thick planks... I can grade it as I plank. There wasn't anything too dramatic, but it's nice to go into the task with a plan. The planks varied from 0.6 to 1mm thick, and some varied up to 0.2mm from end to end... As I said, nothing too dramatic, and it'll even out with scraping once done. There are a couple of strips that are perhaps a little too thin, but counting up, I should have enough without using these strips. They will be backups, then.

 
For this planking, I use gorilla glue thick superglue - used carefully, this does a great job and removes the need for pins and clamps... The theory is that it gives a better end result... I'm realising that I'm out of practice, so we'll find out whether this model ends up getting painted, or whether the wood will look okay once done. I try to put little dots of glue along the (pre-fitted) plank before fitting to the hull... So far, I'm putting on too much glue, and it's made things a little messy. Anyway - here's the progress so far. Upper parts fitted, and the first row of planking on each side.
 
One decision I made - and the instructions say it's up to me - thanks Chris! - was to let the plank stay at the bottom end of the counter at the stern, so that there will be a filler between it and the upper outer part... this was because if it were to follow the line of the upper part (102, 103?), it would have been too short, and I wanted to avoid joins. I figure it'll look fine once I put the filler in as long as I get a good fit, but I would have preferred to keep the sweep of the planks, ideally. A different option would be to join the planks where the chain plates will be... I made my choice, and I think I'm happy with it.  Time will tell how easy that tuck under the stern is... thankfully I have the rib bender, so this next plank down will need to be well fitted before I attempt to get it to stay in place with glue! PPPPPP, as they say ... (Proper Preparation Prevents "Profoundly" Poor Performance)






As always, the pear strips are a simply beautiful colour, and there are no visible machining marks on them whatsoever. It's simply lovely wood to work with!
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Rob
 
 

I've managed to get started on the second planking for Erycina... Here are a few shots.
 
Before I began, I went through the planks with a digital micrometer to sort them into thickness... That way, I don't get any nasty surprises with thin planks going up against thick planks... I can grade it as I plank. There wasn't anything too dramatic, but it's nice to go into the task with a plan. The planks varied from 0.6 to 1mm thick, and some varied up to 0.2mm from end to end... As I said, nothing too dramatic, and it'll even out with scraping once done. There are a couple of strips that are perhaps a little too thin, but counting up, I should have enough without using these strips. They will be backups, then.

 
For this planking, I use gorilla glue thick superglue - used carefully, this does a great job and removes the need for pins and clamps... The theory is that it gives a better end result... I'm realising that I'm out of practice, so we'll find out whether this model ends up getting painted, or whether the wood will look okay once done. I try to put little dots of glue along the (pre-fitted) plank before fitting to the hull... So far, I'm putting on too much glue, and it's made things a little messy. Anyway - here's the progress so far. Upper parts fitted, and the first row of planking on each side.
 
One decision I made - and the instructions say it's up to me - thanks Chris! - was to let the plank stay at the bottom end of the counter at the stern, so that there will be a filler between it and the upper outer part... this was because if it were to follow the line of the upper part (102, 103?), it would have been too short, and I wanted to avoid joins. I figure it'll look fine once I put the filler in as long as I get a good fit, but I would have preferred to keep the sweep of the planks, ideally. A different option would be to join the planks where the chain plates will be... I made my choice, and I think I'm happy with it.  Time will tell how easy that tuck under the stern is... thankfully I have the rib bender, so this next plank down will need to be well fitted before I attempt to get it to stay in place with glue! PPPPPP, as they say ... (Proper Preparation Prevents "Profoundly" Poor Performance)






As always, the pear strips are a simply beautiful colour, and there are no visible machining marks on them whatsoever. It's simply lovely wood to work with!
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Rob
 
 

I've managed to get started on the second planking for Erycina... Here are a few shots.
 
Before I began, I went through the planks with a digital micrometer to sort them into thickness... That way, I don't get any nasty surprises with thin planks going up against thick planks... I can grade it as I plank. There wasn't anything too dramatic, but it's nice to go into the task with a plan. The planks varied from 0.6 to 1mm thick, and some varied up to 0.2mm from end to end... As I said, nothing too dramatic, and it'll even out with scraping once done. There are a couple of strips that are perhaps a little too thin, but counting up, I should have enough without using these strips. They will be backups, then.

 
For this planking, I use gorilla glue thick superglue - used carefully, this does a great job and removes the need for pins and clamps... The theory is that it gives a better end result... I'm realising that I'm out of practice, so we'll find out whether this model ends up getting painted, or whether the wood will look okay once done. I try to put little dots of glue along the (pre-fitted) plank before fitting to the hull... So far, I'm putting on too much glue, and it's made things a little messy. Anyway - here's the progress so far. Upper parts fitted, and the first row of planking on each side.
 
One decision I made - and the instructions say it's up to me - thanks Chris! - was to let the plank stay at the bottom end of the counter at the stern, so that there will be a filler between it and the upper outer part... this was because if it were to follow the line of the upper part (102, 103?), it would have been too short, and I wanted to avoid joins. I figure it'll look fine once I put the filler in as long as I get a good fit, but I would have preferred to keep the sweep of the planks, ideally. A different option would be to join the planks where the chain plates will be... I made my choice, and I think I'm happy with it.  Time will tell how easy that tuck under the stern is... thankfully I have the rib bender, so this next plank down will need to be well fitted before I attempt to get it to stay in place with glue! PPPPPP, as they say ... (Proper Preparation Prevents "Profoundly" Poor Performance)






As always, the pear strips are a simply beautiful colour, and there are no visible machining marks on them whatsoever. It's simply lovely wood to work with!
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Rob
 
 

I've managed to get started on the second planking for Erycina... Here are a few shots.
 
Before I began, I went through the planks with a digital micrometer to sort them into thickness... That way, I don't get any nasty surprises with thin planks going up against thick planks... I can grade it as I plank. There wasn't anything too dramatic, but it's nice to go into the task with a plan. The planks varied from 0.6 to 1mm thick, and some varied up to 0.2mm from end to end... As I said, nothing too dramatic, and it'll even out with scraping once done. There are a couple of strips that are perhaps a little too thin, but counting up, I should have enough without using these strips. They will be backups, then.

 
For this planking, I use gorilla glue thick superglue - used carefully, this does a great job and removes the need for pins and clamps... The theory is that it gives a better end result... I'm realising that I'm out of practice, so we'll find out whether this model ends up getting painted, or whether the wood will look okay once done. I try to put little dots of glue along the (pre-fitted) plank before fitting to the hull... So far, I'm putting on too much glue, and it's made things a little messy. Anyway - here's the progress so far. Upper parts fitted, and the first row of planking on each side.
 
One decision I made - and the instructions say it's up to me - thanks Chris! - was to let the plank stay at the bottom end of the counter at the stern, so that there will be a filler between it and the upper outer part... this was because if it were to follow the line of the upper part (102, 103?), it would have been too short, and I wanted to avoid joins. I figure it'll look fine once I put the filler in as long as I get a good fit, but I would have preferred to keep the sweep of the planks, ideally. A different option would be to join the planks where the chain plates will be... I made my choice, and I think I'm happy with it.  Time will tell how easy that tuck under the stern is... thankfully I have the rib bender, so this next plank down will need to be well fitted before I attempt to get it to stay in place with glue! PPPPPP, as they say ... (Proper Preparation Prevents "Profoundly" Poor Performance)






As always, the pear strips are a simply beautiful colour, and there are no visible machining marks on them whatsoever. It's simply lovely wood to work with!
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Rob
 
 

Well done, good and faithful clamp. 😆It says something about the devotion you have to this wonderful build that when it's a choice between model or tool taking the hit, it's the tool... quite right, too 👏
 
Glad to hear both will make a good recovery. And thanks for sharing your thoughts, processes, steps (and even missteps) with us. I'm sure I'm not the only one learning a lot.

Log entry 39 - Finale!
 
With the anchors attached, I now consider my Flirt finished! 
 
I whipped out the old DSLR and the big flash for the images to give it justice - though of course it also showcases all the shortcomings 😉.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Overall, I am very happy with how it turned out.
 
What an absolutely fantastic kit @chris watton has made! It is truly a testament to the quality of both the kit and the instructions that a first time builder like me can achieve something like this, even with all the small rooms for improvement I know I have!
 
Big thanks to all who followed along and commented and liked along the way. This community and all your logs and helpful comments is a big part of the building experience for me. So really, thank you!
 
I will now take a short intermezzo doing other things (not least; a thorough cleanup), but I am itching to start up the next project, so it probably won't be long before I am back. The next project will also be a Vanguard Models kit, though I plan to give it a Danish twist! So stay tuned for that!
 
See you around!
 
TJM

At this point, most of the deck structures were installed, including the pumps, windlass and pin rail that fits over the windlass.  The guns were made of bronzed metal, with good detail.  The carriages were simplified as was the gun’s rigging.  This would be another place where some research and scratch building would take this model to the next level.  The pins are nicely shaped and to scale.  Again, everything was painted before installation.  I could not figure out how to install the leeboards from looking at the pictures in the manual.  I looked at Angarfather’s scratch build log of Utrecht and was able to see how it was rigged.

 
The anchors were added next.  The hawser cable runs below the windlass and passes to below deck through a hatch behind the windlass.  I chose to show one anchor hauled in and the other hanging free.

The masting and rigging were next.  The two halves of the mast were glued together and weighted down until the glue had cured.  However, the two mast halves were warped in the plastic fret and even with weighting the assembly, it was warped.  I was able to partially correct this later with the rigging.  On this boat, the topmast bends forward and has a sheave running through it.  This can be seen in the round black bulge halfway up the topmast.  The pictures show the forestay, fore preventer stay, backstays and shrouds installed.  The manufacturer chose to show tarred like for the shroud and mainstay lanyards.  Again, I went to Hartmut’s build log for direction and he shows untarred line for the lanyards.  Additionally, the five hole block for the forestay should have eight holes, with a corresponding number of holes on the stem.  The instructions have nicely detailed sketches of the various knots and methods to rig the blocks and deadeyes.   In the last two pictures you can see that the port top rail and timbers is missing.  This broke off the model and fell into a floor register, never to be seen again!

The ratlines were installed next.  I used the same number of rows of ratlines shown in the instructions and was very frugal with the amount of line left at both ends.  There was not enough line provided to finish the ratlines.  I had line that was almost the same size and used that to finish them.  Since the model was not going to be moved much more, I installed the rudder.

 
The rigging for the gaff and yards was straight forward.  Each block is color coded, making it easy to select the correct block for the line.  These are very nicely shaped blocks, including the fiddle blocks used to haul in the gaff.  Sorry, but I forgot to take any more pictures until I started to work on the sails.
This is the premium version of the model, so it came with pre-sewn sails.  The instructions include full-sized templates for making your own sails, along with directions for installing the tabling, bolt ropes and cringles.  The fabric of these sails was of good quality but the hem was sewn very poorly, and there was fraying in several areas.  As this was an OOTB build, I did not resew them.  I would suggest to someone doing this build to not get the premade sails.  Make your own from cloth or silkspan and add the details.  I added the bolt ropes, cringles and metal rings to the sails. 

The sail rigging diagram was a bit difficult for me to follow.  There were instances where I could not tell whether a particular line was on only one side or both port and starboard.  There was one other minor issue; there was insufficient line to finish the model.  Specifically, the natural 0.25 line.  Again, I had line left over from an old kit which was almost the same diameter and used it as a replacement.  My estimate is that 50% more line was needed than provided.   I used 24-gauge brass wire inserted into some of the sail hems to give the sails some life.  Nothing was applied to the sails to otherwise stiffen them.
Finally, the flags were installed.  I cut them out and moistened both sides with dilute white glue.  While still wet, I shaped them and let them dry overnight.  They were hoisted and their shapes were tweaked by moistening them and holding them in position until dry.
 
So here she is finished.  As I said at the beginning, this was an as-built kit review.  There are a lot of nice things about this kit.  Hull, bulkhead and mast detailing is very sharp.  The resin decorations, including the figurehead are wonderful and fit perfectly.  The blocks are high quality.  There is a lot of room for improvement and correcting the inaccuracies.  As far as improvement is concerned, better quality control would have seen the miscast head timbers and the warped mast.  A modern kit should not require as much filler as this one did to correct gaps in the hull.  The photoetch windows were nice but the ringbolts should have been supplied as just that, ring bolts, not flat pieces of brass and white metal.  And finally, the inadequate supply of line is inexcusable.  If you are a plastics modeler trying to decide whether to start building ships, you are not going to have a stash of line to supplement the kit supplied material.
 
For someone who wants to detail a kit, this is a great option.  Even with the problems, she builds up into a pretty model.  There are a lot of small things that can be done to make the boat more historically correct.  The first two would be to purchase Ab Hoving’s book on the Utrecht and find pictures of the replica on the internet.  The pictures will allow you to use the correct paint scheme.  Other areas for detailing include hand laying the deck, correcting the inboard leeboard connections, properly rigging the guns, using the correct types of line for the rigging and making your own sails. Thanks for following along for this kit review.

 

Cheers guys.
 
My problem is that the carver I have used from the start seems to have vanished, I can only think that they may have passed away. He was responsible for all natural and carved decoration, both figures and stern/figurehead 3-d prints. I prefer to stick to just one person or company for each discipline used, that way they know exactly what I want and know what they can do.
 
Problems arise when you have to find a replacement for the previous person or company. To try a new sculptor out, I thought the best thing to do was to give them a figure or two to work on. This is the main reference I suplied, along with another two references for the period clothes, from head to foot. I thought at the time that this would be a very nice addition to my figures range:
 

 
Now, if something is not right, I will not waste my time producing them (the 3-d prints do take a lot of time) and selling something I am not 100% happy with - even though at my main scale, these details will be barely seen, more so when in their cabin with deck beams obscuring a lot of the view. This was to be a 5-part set and would take a lot of time to produce and post process, so if there are doubts about this set, I have no problem abandoning it and turning my attention to kit design, the one thing I do know well and have complete control over.
 
I will give this carver one more chance to get the problems highlighted sorted - so the fat lady hasn't broken into song quite yet.

Hi Rob,
I'm just catching up on your log. It's great to see you back modelling again and making a lovely job of Erycina too.
 
David

Counter added. As noted in the manual, this didn't require any soaking - it just fitted nicely. You'll notice below that I managed to break the top of the inner transom part... the grain runs vertically here, so it's almost impossible to avoid... I've tucked away these parts, and I'll refit them when I add the outer part on. In the meantime, it allowed me better access to clamp the counter.


Today, the final sides have been added to the keel. This is a clever way of effectively creating a rabbet ready for the second planking...
 


Thanks for looking in
 
Rob
 
 

A little progress to report. I've finished the first planking. It all worked out quite nicely, with only one stealer required on each side of the hull. If the second planking goes as nicely, I shall be very pleased. I've done some sanding, today I added the inner transom piece (watch out for the pieces at the top, I had to brush on some diluted PVA as the process of removing the cutouts caused the wood to split. Not a fault of the kit, just my clumsiness, and being lazy and not switching to a new scalpel blade soon enough.
 
Here's the last strake going in:

And the hull fully planked...

And here's the inner transom going on... It was a lovely fit. Very encouraging!
 


And a shot of progress so far.

Thanks for looking in. Progress will be slow with this build, but it's just good to be building again at all!
 
Rob

Counter added. As noted in the manual, this didn't require any soaking - it just fitted nicely. You'll notice below that I managed to break the top of the inner transom part... the grain runs vertically here, so it's almost impossible to avoid... I've tucked away these parts, and I'll refit them when I add the outer part on. In the meantime, it allowed me better access to clamp the counter.


Today, the final sides have been added to the keel. This is a clever way of effectively creating a rabbet ready for the second planking...
 


Thanks for looking in
 
Rob
 
 

Counter added. As noted in the manual, this didn't require any soaking - it just fitted nicely. You'll notice below that I managed to break the top of the inner transom part... the grain runs vertically here, so it's almost impossible to avoid... I've tucked away these parts, and I'll refit them when I add the outer part on. In the meantime, it allowed me better access to clamp the counter.


Today, the final sides have been added to the keel. This is a clever way of effectively creating a rabbet ready for the second planking...
 


Thanks for looking in
 
Rob
 
 

Counter added. As noted in the manual, this didn't require any soaking - it just fitted nicely. You'll notice below that I managed to break the top of the inner transom part... the grain runs vertically here, so it's almost impossible to avoid... I've tucked away these parts, and I'll refit them when I add the outer part on. In the meantime, it allowed me better access to clamp the counter.


Today, the final sides have been added to the keel. This is a clever way of effectively creating a rabbet ready for the second planking...
 


Thanks for looking in
 
Rob
 
 

Counter added. As noted in the manual, this didn't require any soaking - it just fitted nicely. You'll notice below that I managed to break the top of the inner transom part... the grain runs vertically here, so it's almost impossible to avoid... I've tucked away these parts, and I'll refit them when I add the outer part on. In the meantime, it allowed me better access to clamp the counter.


Today, the final sides have been added to the keel. This is a clever way of effectively creating a rabbet ready for the second planking...
 


Thanks for looking in
 
Rob
 
 

Counter added. As noted in the manual, this didn't require any soaking - it just fitted nicely. You'll notice below that I managed to break the top of the inner transom part... the grain runs vertically here, so it's almost impossible to avoid... I've tucked away these parts, and I'll refit them when I add the outer part on. In the meantime, it allowed me better access to clamp the counter.


Today, the final sides have been added to the keel. This is a clever way of effectively creating a rabbet ready for the second planking...
 


Thanks for looking in
 
Rob
 
 

Counter added. As noted in the manual, this didn't require any soaking - it just fitted nicely. You'll notice below that I managed to break the top of the inner transom part... the grain runs vertically here, so it's almost impossible to avoid... I've tucked away these parts, and I'll refit them when I add the outer part on. In the meantime, it allowed me better access to clamp the counter.


Today, the final sides have been added to the keel. This is a clever way of effectively creating a rabbet ready for the second planking...
 


Thanks for looking in
 
Rob
 
 

A little progress to report. I've finished the first planking. It all worked out quite nicely, with only one stealer required on each side of the hull. If the second planking goes as nicely, I shall be very pleased. I've done some sanding, today I added the inner transom piece (watch out for the pieces at the top, I had to brush on some diluted PVA as the process of removing the cutouts caused the wood to split. Not a fault of the kit, just my clumsiness, and being lazy and not switching to a new scalpel blade soon enough.
 
Here's the last strake going in:

And the hull fully planked...

And here's the inner transom going on... It was a lovely fit. Very encouraging!
 


And a shot of progress so far.

Thanks for looking in. Progress will be slow with this build, but it's just good to be building again at all!
 
Rob

Not much to update, except to say that I'm pleased with how the first planking is going, and show a little evidence to that effect. (It also shows that my boat building space desperately needs a tidy!)

Thanks for looking in
 
Rob