Novice question about bulkheads

[Richvee]

I have cut and dry fitted the bulkheads for my pride of Baltimore 2 MS kit. They all fit nice and snug with minimal sanding. They will all sit flush to the top of the center keel once the char is removed, and all the reference lines line up nice. That said, I have 3 bulkheads, D, E and F that end well below the bearding line. 

 

 

 

Is  sanding and fairing the bottom of these three bulkheads more than the rest of them what should be done? Or should I shim the center keel slot, raising the bottom of the bulkhead to align more with the bearding line, and then trim the top of the bulkhead level with the keel center?  

 

[Dziadeczek]

I would sand away the bottoms of these three bulkheads to the indicated by you, black line. Make sure though, that the distance between the arrows is the same as the thickness of your planks, so they fit snugly there, between the keel and the edges of all bulkheads.

[GuntherMT]

19 hours ago, Richvee said:

I have cut and dry fitted the bulkheads for my pride of Baltimore 2 MS kit. They all fit nice and snug with minimal sanding. They will all sit flush to the top of the center keel once the char is removed, and all the reference lines line up nice. That said, I have 3 bulkheads, D, E and F that end well below the bearding line. 

 

 

 

 

Is  sanding and fairing the bottom of these three bulkheads more than the rest of them what should be done? Or should I shim the center keel slot, raising the bottom of the bulkhead to align more with the bearding line, and then trim the top of the bulkhead level with the keel center?  

 

 

Either way will work, but shimming them up will preserve the bottom of the bulkhead shape and probably make fairing easier as fairing the top of the bulkheads for the deck is pretty straightforward and simple compared to fairing the bulkheads for planking.

 

You can also test fit the planking where the gap is between the bottom of the bulkheads and the top of the keel.  If they fit nicely then no shimming or adjustment is needed, just fairing before you plank.

[ah100m]

Have you checked the offending bulkheads against the plans to see where the discrepancy in shape is?  This will tell you what the proper remedy is, to sand the bottom or raise them up and sand the tops I think.

[Richvee]

2 hours ago, ah100m said:

Have you checked the offending bulkheads against the plans to see where the discrepancy in shape is?  This will tell you what the proper remedy is, to sand the bottom or raise them up and sand the tops I think.

Thanks. I just checked . They match up with the plans very well. All which leads me to believe my bearding line may be a tad high through this section.  As mentioned above by Brian, I have tested a plank between the keel and the bulkhead, and I believe after fairing the bulkheads, that lowest plank will sit rather nicely between the bottom of the bulkhead and the top of the keel with a little edge beveling.  I think I may be OK. I'm going to move ahead and start gluing the bulkheads in place. With the tops flush with the deck. 

 

Thanks everyone for the help.