Removing Char from bulkheads

[woodartist]

It would appear much easier to remove bulkhead char prior to gluing them in. Is there a reason to do so after gluing them in to keel board?

[tmj]

When the bulkheads are 'fared', prior to planking the model, that faring operation should effectively remove all of that char. You 'can' sand away that char, prior to gluing the bulkheads in place, but take care. You must be very careful and sand with fine paper using a very light touch. If you sand too hard it will leave low spots in the areas of those bulkheads that were sanded harder than in other areas. This will make your planks wavey, in and out, and just plain bad looking in the long run, requiring filler, sanding and laying down a 'second 'decorative layer of planking to hide all of the filler, unless you plan to fill, sand and paint the hull without any planking details showing through to the surface after painting. It's your choice, but no real reason to sand that char prior to faring.          

Edited July 25 by tmj

[woodartist]

thanks