Mayflower by RichieG - Model Shipways MS2020

[RichieG]

I did try natural and golden oak on some scrap, (each with and without prestain conditioner) and I present the findings below. My take is that the natural does something, but it's pretty subtle. (Correction: the middle piece has conditioner on the left, the bottom piece has it on the right. I put it upside down for the picture!) The conditioner didn't seem to make any appreciable difference on that particular piece, but I assume that dependent on the type of wood and the state of the wood. I didn't think that the golden oak was too dark to use straight, so I used it on the hull. I used the natural on the floor boards. In the unfinished hull photo, you can see that I managed to get rid of pretty much all of the white residue from the CA glue. It was actually pretty easy to do: I just drew some nail polish remover (acetone) into a 1 cc syringe, and put a 30G needle on it, and put tiny microdrops wherever the white stuff was, waited a few seconds, and wiped it off with a cotton swab. I did that a few times, but the first pass did pretty much the whole job.

I finished the hull with prestain conditioner and straight golden oak. I hate opening and closing those metal cans, so I got some 4 oz mason jars and poured a few ounce of each of the prestain conditioner, natural stain, and golden oak stain in 3 jars. (I wonder if the rubber gasket is ok with the mineral spirits, but so far, it seems to be holding.) Then, I just dipped the whole hull and each floor board into the prestain conditioner, and let them sit for 15 minutes, and wiped them off. Then I also just dipped the whole piece into either golden oak or natural as appropriate. I only left the oak for about 3 or 4 minutes, but I left the natural for the full 15. The two short pieces are the stained floorboards, and the longer piece is untreated. I don't see much difference. But I think the hull looks great with that color. Next step is to actually install the floorboards...

 

 

[Captain Al]

Quick comment on oar locks.  Some possibilties are: 1.  notches filed into the bulwarks, 2.  eyebolts, 3. (better -- eyebolts with the tops snipped off.  You can get more sophisticated especially if you want to solder.  These must be pretty tiny.  Were they brass (bronze?) on the real thing?

 

Are you a medical professional RG?  I've wanted to get a hold of a real syringe for some time but can't find one.  They do come in handy here and there.

[RichieG]

It looks like the oar locks that are in the plans and in the photo in the instruction manual are made of wood. It's tough to be sure, but it looks like a small dowel on one side, and a thin (maybe about 1/64" thick) sheet of basswood on the other. You can see it from above and the side in the plans, and it's in the photo in the book.

And, yes, I work in medicine, so I can sometimes co-opt some of the medical supplies for personal use. It's ok; I own the office, so it's only stealing from myself...

[Captain Al]

Well no harm no foul as they say.

 

Way back when I was making Bounty's launch I experimented with making some fast and simple oar locks..... I snipped off the end of a Starbucks wooden stirrer which is a half round, and used a round file to file the inside of the half circle into a horseshoe shape.  I stopped short of figuring out how to get this oarlock on to the boat's gunwales.  Instead I  filed notches into the bulwarks.  But the half rounds looked good albeit probably way out of scale.

[Captain Al]

What type of blade (for exacto type knife) do you think is best for getting laser cut parts off of their sheets?  For me this is the most trying of exercises.  Maybe my blades haven't been sharp enough?  Its really frustrating to break one of those tiny pieces that seem to have more tab left on them then they are in size.

[RichieG]

Al, I'm certainly not the best person to ask general questions, as I'm pretty new to the field. But, that being said, I'll give you my experience: I use an 11 blade (not because it's necessarily the best, but because I have them handy.) I think the trick is to make sure the sheet is on a nice flat surface, and don't try to cut through in one pass. Just make a light pass over the tab, and then repeat, with gentle pressure until it cuts through. You definitely don't want to try to pop out the piece until the tabs are cut, because it'll probably break somewhere other than the place that you want it to. I sometimes make 5 or 7 passes with the 11 blade until it gets through. Also, it's probably a good idea to err on the side of leaving some tab on the piece, and sand it off later (rather than leaving some piece on the tab, if you take my meaning.) And, yes, a sharp blade is a good idea. That being said, I've been using the same blade for quite a while now, and it still seems to get the job done.

[Captain Al]

Thanks RG.  You've pretty much confirmed that if I've been doing anything wrong its been trying to get through the cut in too few passes and maybe with an old "dull" blade.  They never seem dull to the touch.  Like you I have #11s cause they are the most common and I keep them in the holder til I can pick my teeth with them safely.  I just saw them for sale on Micro Mark.com 100 for $21.  For this next build I'm going to invest in these and leave no doubt that my blades are sharp.

[RichieG]

Sounds like a pretty good deal, Al. For my purposes, I'd just go to Michaels (because there's one right near me) and they sell 11 blades for something like 50 cents each in packs of 5 or 15 or thereabouts. The trick is to print out the 40% off coupon from their website before you go (or get it up on your smart phone if you have one). That takes it down to as good a deal as micromark, and you don't have to wait for it to be shipped out to you. I like the instant gratification of walking out of the store with it.

 

here's a sample link to the michaels coupon page:

http://www.michaels.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-MichaelsUS-Site/default/Coupons-ViewCoupons

[RichieG]

I decided to stain the risers natural and the thwarts golden oak, again, for some contrast.

I have a picture of the floorboards installed, then one with the risers (sorry it's out of focus, my camera isn't good at close up shots.)

Then I have a couple of views of most, but not all, of the thwarts installed.

As per the instructions, I used 1/16" x 1/32" for the floor boards and the risers. They called for 1/8" x 1/32" for the thwarts, but as there was no corresponding supplied strips of that dimension, I used some of the 0.020" x 1/8" strips (that I think are meant to be used for the second layer of hull planking.) My caliper measured those to be about 0.03" thick anyhow, which is pretty much what was called for. I went to the trouble to put little notched in the thwarts to accept the frames, but all of that will be covered by the cap rail shortly, so it was just a little practice in microsurgery...

[Captain Al]

You could be a surgeon...now you have the knives and syringes and probably the creativity.  Much of what we do is cosmetic surgery on wood, so its all fitting.  I like what you're doing on this little boat.  I haven't really taken stock of how small it is but at 1:78 scale all these pieces must be quite small. 

 

So I rec'd my kit late yesterday afternoon!!  I was expecting 7-10 days delivery but it came in 2.  I haven't had much time to unpack each item in turn and do any inventory check, but it looks like its all there and in good shape.  I did lay out the sheets with the false keel (I think Chuck calls this the 'keel former') and the bulkheads and they appear to be flat and non warped.  But maybe the warpage, if any, shows up after the keel has been popped out.  So today (April fools) will mark the start of my second build.

 

Its funny cause a week ago I had nothing to do and now I have 3 projects going at once.  I'm in the process of building a stand for my Bounty.  I have stripped down a model of Bluenose II to just a bare hull and am starting to think about how to build it up to a real model.  I bought this thing 20 years ago and its a joke.  But the hull is OK so I thought I have nothing to lose but time and some left over materials, so I might as well give it a go.  And now third project, but highest in priority, is the Mayflower.

 

Speaking of stands for the model.  This kit does not include one.  I learned on Bounty that whether its included or needs to be scratch built, some accomodation for it needs to be done long before much build up makes it hard to turn the ship upside down.  At the very least I will use the bulkheads as a template to draw the outline of two cradles which could hold the boat.  I also have some pedistal brackets from Bounty (left over cause I didn't prep the keel for them in time) that maybe I can use.  Might have to add a bit of wood to the keel at those two spots so it fits snug into the brackets.  Have you thought of what you'll do for a stand?   BTW, have your new keel and bulkheads arrived yet?  Have they given you an e t a ?

 

 

 

 

[RichieG]

I haven't received the replacement parts yet, but I expected it to take some time, and I figure that if they're willing to replace them for free, they can do it on their own schedule. I have enough to keep me busy with the ship's boat for now.

As far as a stand, I haven't worried too much about it yet. I expect I'll have to make a display stand eventually. (I'll probably just get a flat piece of wood, router a nice contour onto the edges, and use the model shipways pedestals to hold up the ship.

http://www.modelexpo-online.com/search.asp?SKW=cat1_MX Pedestal

I don't think it's critical to have a real wooden stand during the build. I've seen people use pillows, foam blocks, keel jigs, and a host of other things to keep the ship upright during construction. I do have a pretty good sized piece of foam that I think I'll use for as long as it works. I can even cut a contour into it to hold the bottom of the ship more securely if it comes to it.

PS. I guess the April Fool's joke is that today is only March 31st!

[Captain Al]

It wasn't meant as a joke, but I guess it was on me.  I truly thought today was April 1.  I didn't do my little ditty of "30 days hath Sept. etc. etc" until I had sent the comment.

 

I'm not planning on any build stand either.  Only trying to be prepared for when its needed to display.  Thanks for the link....these are just what I have left from Bounty.  They may work well for Mayflower, but I was (and still am) very skeptical that they'd hold the Bounty model very securely.  Way too top heavy and not much keel in those slots.  Before I decided to embark on Mayflower I was designing a sort of diaramma (sp) where I was going to sit the Bounty on foam rubber (covered with a nice blue felt) and moor it to some dowels put into a base to look like piers.  Two fore and two aft and ship would go nowhere.  But alas I am settling for a quick and cheap cradle type thing.

 

BTW, the two inch foam rubber with wedges on both sides of the hull worked perfectly well for 4 years as a build stand.

[RichieG]

Al, maybe I don't have a very discerning eye about these things, but that model looks great to me! I find it mildly humorous that you're asking me for advice, when I have this half-finished 2 inch long boat, and you have a completed full size ship with all the deck furniture and rigging and stuff that I don't even know what it is! But I think it will be a lot of fun to work on the mayflower together. Message me if you start a build log on it, please?

[jbshan]

Your 'oarlocks' are 'thole pins' and are merely pegs or short lengths of small dowel.  Just drill holes and stick them in.  On the plans you show, there is also a short length of a 'wash strake' associated with the thole pins, which you would make from scrap strips.  Again looking at the plans, it is a flat bottom and the footboards are laid right on the frames.  Chuck's good.  Most of, if not all of what you need is there, if you hunt for it, checking all the views of the particular feature.

As far as doing a bread and butter boat (and yes, the wood is the bread and glue is the butter), I have done one, I didn't like it because I'm no sort of carver and now I do them from scratch plank on frame.  A correspondent at the time advised to make the hull thin enough and even enough to look like an eggshell when held up to the light.  The plank was less than an inch thick, so in your scale, less than 1/64" thick, just for future reference.

A ship's boat of this time frame was never intended for saving life, as you point out it's far too small and there's only one of them.  It was solely for transportation, ship to shore or ship to ship.  It was also used for bringing stores out to the ship, water, vittles, firewood, etc.

If you follow the link in my signature, there should be a couple of pics of my ship's boat for Lexington of 1776, just to show one example.

[RichieG]

Joel, thanks for all of that useful information. I kind of got the idea of the 'thole pin' and 'wash strake' without actually knowing what they were called, but now I can look up picture reference much more easily! Plus, I was planning on just gluing the dowel onto the surface of the cap rail rather than drilling a hole; obviously a hole is the way to go. I was (and probably still am) going to use the tip of a toothpick for what I now know is called a 'thole pin', and I'll use some of the 0.020" plank for the 'wash strake'. And I agree: Chuck is good. The fault definitely lies with my extreme degree of ignorance and inexperience.

It's a little too late for me to thin the hull more that I already have, now that I've done all of that internal work, but I think you are probably right that I should have made it thinner than I did. I was afraid that I was going to cut all the way through. I can live with it the way it is, I think, and I've learned something along the way.

As far as the thickness of the cap rail, I cut it from the sheet, and just tried to dry fit it to the to of the boat. I heard that dreaded little snapping sound; I didn't see anything at first, but indeed, there was a crack through the tight curve of the stern. It was a clean break, and easily glued, but it made me think that I'd be better off thinning it down to half thickness before trying to fit it. I did sand it down to about 1/32", and now it's a lot more flexible, and bends easily to the shape it needs to be.

But, before I do that, I'm going to try to put the 3 or 4 clinker-style planks on the hull. The trickiness of that, as I see it, is that I have to put the bottom one one first, and then put the next one (overlapping it), followed by the next. So I have to try to plan the position of the first plank such that the last one comes right up to the exact top, right below where I will then put the cap rail. It'll just take some measuring and planning, but I think I can do it. (I hope the degree of overlap can be somewhat variable to hide small degrees of imperfection, but we'll see.) I plan to use the 0.020" plank, cut to half width, and sanded to a slightly thinner thickness. I hope to have some pictures by late tonight...

[jbshan]

You might be able to cut and fit all three clinker planks, starting or at least keeping in mind the shape of the top one before gluing any of them on.  Use paper or thin card to make patterns before you 'waste' a lot of wood with rejects.  If you have some dividers or a compass, hold up a strip of card, taping it to hold it in place, wider than you will need, and mark the top edge to match the rail.  When you have the top matching the rail, mark and cut to an even width.  Work out the overlap between planks and mark the second from the first, with a little extra for the lap, etc.  When you have them all fitting, make them of your thin wood.  You might want to wet them a bit first and hold them onto the hull until dry before you glue them in.  Mark and measure about four times what you think you need to.  Welcome to the wonderful world of planking.

[RichieG]

Thanks, Joel, I think doing it with paper first is a brilliant idea. At the very least, it should get me to the right starting place. I wasn't planning to have to spile the planks; I was just going to cut them to 1/16" width and edge-bend them, forcing them into shape, hoping that their thinness and flexibility would allow me to get them in right. But now that you mention it, the stock I'm going to use is double width, so I can cut paper forms and then cut the actual shape of the plank from that. It seems like overkill, but it might be an interesting exercise. I think I'm going to try it. Thanks for giving me that idea. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Captain Al]

Well first thing Richie, thanks for the compliment on Bounty.  It did come out alot better than I expected when I started 4 years ago.  Trial and error; fix things as mistakes are made; don't obsess over things that the ordinary person would have no clue about; and do it for fun.  These are my take aways from this build.  I have alot to learn and some of the best tips and ideas I've had (in many different endeavors) have come from the least experienced.  Maybe another lesson learned is that there is no one way to do things so the simplest and least likely may end being the best.

 

OK, here's what I learned today.  I'll pass things on to you (til you tell me to stop) even if they would seem kind of simple and intuitive.  I unpacked my kit and laid out all the pieces and parts.  I'm quite happy with the lack of warp in the keel former even though its possible to see the slightest bit of movement when it lies flat and pressure is put with a finger on one place.  With plywood 3/16" thick I'm going to proceed thinking it doesn't get any better.  If I think back on Bounty's keel and how warped it was and how (with much effort and adjustments elsewhere) I was still able to end up with a solid and symetrical hull, I know this amount of warp is not going to be critical.

 

But what I wasn't expecting was the amount of laser burn.  I mean the edges of all the laser cut pieces look like they came out out the London Fire.  There is even char on the flat surfaces.  But still, the pieces are flat and sound.  So I began to sand off the char.  Then I began to think about what I was doing and what really needs to be done.  How much discoloration needs to be removed?  If I were to sand to unburnt wood I would be changing the dimension of the pieces.  Especially on the insides of the slots where you want the fit to be snug.  My thinking is that since these edges are not seen and all you are trying to do is make for a good gluing surface, the most you need to do is take the shine off where there is some.  If the edge is porous at all it will hold glue well enough.  Dark discoloration does not matter.  Do you agree?

 

In the process of getting these bulkheads off their template and removing the last bit of tab, I had a revelation that is critical.  Maybe simple but on my first build I probably wouldn't have thought of it.  Be very careful when sanding off the tab and getting the laser char off the top edge of the bulkhead that you do not take the slight concave shape off the top.  I was about to sand it flat til I remembered that this shape is what creates the shape of the deck  and that's needed for water to run to the scuppers (holes in the bulwarks).

 

And my last discovery which has nothing to do with laser cuts and sanding etc. is this.... you may have already figured it out.... on the plans you'll find alot of little squares with bolded numbers inside.  At first I couldn't figure what the numbers referred to.  Now I believe that they indicate belaying points and each number represents either the belaying pin or cleat as well as the loose end of a piece of running rigging.  So you should find the same squared number on two different plan sheets and you should be able to link the two.  It will be months before this becomes relevant and useful; just thought I'd throw it in since its on my mind today.

 

Have a great evening.  Probably be back tomorrow.

 

 

[RichieG]

Al, you're cracking me up. London fire, indeed.

But, as far as sanding off char: I actually saw a comment from Chuck regarding this (I don't remember where exactly, but I'm sure it was from him) and he said that for the notches where the bulkheads go onto the bulkhead former, it's not that critical to sand off the char. It's more important to keep a snug fit. You can always paint some thinned PVA glue onto the outside of the joint if you want to strengthen it. For pieces that fit flat against each other, it's more important to sand off the char. But, I wouldn't sand any char off of the bulkheads at this point. I think the bulkhead char is a great marker when you fair the hull. Generally, you want to sand only the fore or aft aspect of a bulkhead, leaving one edge untouched so as to preserve the shape. So, during the fairing process, you might want to see the slightest bit of char along one edge of the bulkhead, just to know that you haven't perverted the shape. The other edge will not only have had all of the char removed, but, depending on the curvature of the hull at that point, it may have a good hunk of uncharred wood removed too. (I don't think I'm explaining it well, but if you think about it, I think you'll get my point.)

 

When I was gluing on the rabbet strip to the bottom of the bulkhead former, I did sand most of the black off, but I erred on the side of leaving some black rather than destroy the shape. I agree, you just want to make sure that the edge takes up glue well. Discoloration doesn't matter. Now, when I get the replacement pieces, I think I'll create the rabbet a bit differently: the first time, I glued the strip on, and then sanded, filed, and chiseled off the keel and part of the rabbet strip. But I ended up thinning the rabbet strip to maybe 1/32" because I continued the bevel right off of the bulkhead former onto the rabbet strip, making it even thinner. This time, I'm thinking of using a pinstripe of tape about 3/32" wide to mark the final width of the bulkhead former, and then gluing a 3/32" rabbet strip onto it after it's done. That way, the rabbet strip will be of uniform thickness.

 

And as far as the rigging, I looked at it, was thoroughly confused, and figured I'd wait until I get up to it (if ever) before I even begin to worry about it.

 

Thanks for letting me know how it's going. Talk to you later.

[jbshan]

Edge bending doesn't work well until the plank approaches a square cross-section.  It causes a lifting of one edge which can be hard to get rid of after the plank is on the hull.  Try it with your paper strips, it'll show up soon enough.

The char isn't bonded very well any more with the wood it came from, so glue can be problematical.  I have used it to help indicate the shape when fairing the hull, although a batten laid on the formers is more accurate, and you may have to dub off or pad out some places.  The char won't show you those places.  You will probably in many instances want to get the edge back to square; the laser cuts a slight bevel into the edge.  I have used a machinist's square as a scraper to keep the edge squared up, on other places than just the char as well.

I have a model sitting on the shelf that I 'inherited' and the first person working on it followed instructions and glued the keel on before cutting the rabbet.  (That's the process Richie is describing.)  Unless I debond the keel I will have to try to shape the rabbet with keel in place, far more difficult than before it is installed.

[RichieG]

agreed, Joel, re: sanding char. I didn't meant to use the bulkhead char exclusively for fairing. The laid batten should definitely be used to get the final shape. But for initial roughing out, I think the char is useful. At least, it helps prevent you from taking too much off too early accidentally.

[Captain Al]

All this talk about fairing is putting me in a bad mood.  I'm going to have a drink.  Just kidding.  Good pointers which I will keep in mind.  My first inclination is to follow Chuck's procedures to the letter because this was one of the main reasons I had for chosing this kit.  Even at this most early stage its such a pleasure to have his booklet as opposed to the picture book which A.L. provided.  Also having most of the parts laser labeled with reference lines etched in makes things go a whole lot quicker and smoother.

[Captain Al]

I've gotten all my bulkheads cut out and sanded down (leaving plenty of char for fairing).  I will be test fitting and doing a bit of sanding today and then tomorrow I am going to put the rabbet strip on.  So I want to be sure I'm understanding what you were saying above about that.  If I understood it you had a problem cause when you tapered the keel you tapered all the way into the rabbet.  I'm wondering why this was a problem since Chuck's instructions specifically say that the tapering to 3/32 means you will reduce the thickness of the rabbet as well.  And that makes sense since the rabbet starts out being 1/8 or 4/32.  So 1/32 will come off the rabbet (1/64th " from each side of it hopefully). I don't see any harm in doing it the alternative way you mention, but you are then going to be dealing with a sliver of wood 3/32".  Do you have such a piece already or is your plan to glue on the 1/8th inch piece and sand off the overlap?  That seems like getting right back to where you started.  And if you have the 1/8th rabbet already on when you do the tapering, it gives you a reference to get both sides even and then just a bit more off the rabbet.

 

I've practiced a bit on tapering a corner of one of the used templates from the bulkheads and while its not really a hard thing to do it is easy to take too much off one side or the other ending up with the right size but looking unbalanced.  I'm going to see if I can make a little V shaped sanding tool to make sure I do the sanding evenly on both sides.  I'll cut a  V (with a flat bottom) into a little sanding block with the same width at the top and bottom as the keel needs to end up.  Then I'll glue sandpaper to the inside of the notch and place it over the keel.  As I stroke back and forth it should take just the right amount off as it pushes deeper into the keel.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  I'll let you know if it works.  Probably just easier to do a bit at a time turning the keel over and over as you go. 

[jbshan]

When I say 'keel' I mean the squarish shaped strip in the outside of the bottom.  My kit of another ship had this as a piece to be added to the profile plate, center keel plate, I've seen it called lots of things.  If you glue on that squarish strip all along the bottom, it becomes really difficult to then thin the center plate with sandpaper without also thinning the keel, which needs to remain square.

The rabbet is a thinner area on the center plate, where the edges and ends of the hull planking will seat, between the ends of the frames and the stem, keel and sternpost.  Along the stem and bottom of the hull it is a notch.  At the stern it is a large area with a concave curve along the forward edge and meets the sternpost and rear portion of the keel, at a matching depth to the keel and sternpost.

Here's a sketch I did for our club newsletter.

[Captain Al]

I can tell that I have much more studying to do and probably more hands on experimenting before i truly understand this rabbet stuff.  Now I know why magicians use rabbits.

If I am not mistaken, this kit with the glued on rabbet strip is providing a shortcut way of making a rabbet for the garboard strake to fit into.  In most of the kits and tutorials I've seen this rabbet needs to be carved into the false keel at ever increasing angles from the center to the stern.  Since I'm a total dunce at understanding drawings and diagrams, I'm going to have to make some mock ups from scrap wood to see what it is I'm trying to accomplish. 

[RichieG]

Al, first of all, we might as well define our terms and agree on calling things by consistent names. That big center piece that all of the bulkheads go into? I've seen it called a 'false keel' and other things, but I like the idea of calling it the 'bulkhead former'. That's what it really is. And it's not actually part of any real ship. It's just something that this type of model uses to, er, form the positions of the bulkheads. So, let's call it that.

The rabbet strip is that little strip that we're going to glue onto the bottom of the bulkhead former. I'm not sure that it's actually part of any real ship either; I think that it's a modeler's technique that makes carving the rabbet easier. In reality (and I'm not completely sure of this) the rabbet would be carved out of a single piece rather than composed of two pieces glued together.

 

Then there's the actual 'keel', which is the piece of wood that is attached to the bottom of the ship, and in our case, would be glued to the bottom of the rabbet strip. (In the case of the Mayflower model, the keel is not attached until page 15 of the manual, whereas the rabbet is made on page 2. So there never was an issue with the keel itself (as I think Joel thought I meant.)

 

So, now that I think we're talking about the same things, I can try to make my earlier point more clearly. The instructions suggest gluing the 1/8" wide rabbet strip onto the center of the bottom of the 3/16" bulkhead former, and then to thin the bulkhead former (gradually from the bearding line to the edge of the former) to 3/32", and also to reduce the rabbet strip to 3/32" inch (which as Al states, is to take off 1/64" from each side.) And this would work fine, except for the fact that I chose to use a file and sandpaper to create the rabbet. So, I essentially continued the bevel, which was, say, 3/32" at the beginning of the rabbet strip, to even narrower at the outer aspect of the rabbet strip. (I think in my case it was probably less than 1/16" at the edge of the rabbet strip by the time I was done, and that's the edge that I would eventually need to glue the keel to. It would be tough to sand or file up to the beginning of the rabbet strip and stop exactly there. So, my new strategy was to reduce the rabbet strip to 3/32" before gluing on, and then gluing after the bulkhead former was already reduced.

 

Upon further consideration, I think what I'll do is use a chisel rather than a file or sandpaper, and then it would be possible to make a 'stop cut' right at the joint between the rabbet strip and the bulkhead former, and I can really thin the former by carefully chiseling up to the stop cut without carrying the bevel father out onto the strip. But I do think it's easier to thin the rabbet strip before gluing it on. So that begs this question: what technique is best to reduce the width of a 12" long, 1/16" thick strip from 4/32" wide to 3/32" evenly and consistently over its length? The obvious choices to me are 1) put a straight edge on it, 1/32" from the edge and cut it with a knife or 2) put a sanding drum into a drill press and put a fence 3/32" from it, and pass the strip through the gap. I'd lean toward the second choice. Any thoughts?

[RichieG]

PS. Al, would you mind checking your 1/32" sheet with the bulwark template on it? I'm putting a picture of mine up below: there's only one bulwark template. I think there's supposed to be 2 of them, and there kind of is space for a second one, but it's just not there. Is yours like mine?

[jbshan]

OK.  I looked at the instructions.  You are to plank over the rabbet strip, not up to it.  Apparently you have to thin the former plate to match the rabbet strip.  The keel goes on top later (p. 15 center para left side).  Most of my comments will not be helpful.

[RichieG]

Joel, your comments are plenty helpful in general, but in this particular context, there's something a little specific going on. I have faith that we'll eventually get there. (I may need some more replacement parts, if indeed I'm missing a piece on that 1/32" sheet. So, I'll have even more time to ponder stuff...)

In a way, my warped plywood gives me a second shot at carving out the bearding taper. I think I did ok the first time, but I can do a little better, I think.

I haven't done anything more on the ship's boat worth showing. I did use paper to plan out the 3 clinker planks, so I think I'll cut them out to the paper patterns and see how it fits. It's pretty small, so it's hard to know if I'm on the right track; the paper shifts under my hand, and even a small shift may make a big difference. I tried card stock, then regular paper, then post it notes (using the sticky side to stick to the boat. tape wasn't doing great either.) there may be some trial and error here.

[jbshan]

I sometimes forget that a kit may be intended to be done in a particular way that is different than either prototype practice or the somewhat resembling manner that kits I have done have used.  I also don't hesitate to change the kit if either the appearance doesn't fit my eye or the construction technique seems to have a better alternative.