Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack by Venti - Model Shipways - 1:24

[Venti]

Step 8: The Deck

 

This step wasn't toooooo bad. Like the transom, I did not wet the top surface of the deck like the instructions say to. What I ended up doing was dry fitting them both as best I could to make sure they would come together in the center. Before gluing I looked at the tops of the frames to see how flat they were to each other and it wasn't good.... I had to sand a couple down as they were much higher than the 2 next to it and multiple were too low and would need shims to make the deck flat. I started by gluing one half down only on frames 4, 5 and 6.

The instructions say to put glue on all of the frames... I'm very glad I didn't do that and started with the middle 3 only for two reasons. The frame at the transom still had a slight twist and I was able to use the deck to twist it back and glue it in place. The other reason is what I mentioned earlier, frames 1, 7, 8 and 9 all needed shims to make a nice looking curve of the deck. The first half of the deck went on without an issue; the edge of the deck lined up perfectly with the center of the spine. The second half went on mostly fine... The front section of the deck where it meets the other deck had a small gap in it somehow... I used some wood filler to fill it in along with the hole for the centerboard rod since I am not using it. 

The transom, somehow, was not perfectly lined up with the edge of the deck either. I suspect it was because this slight twist was there when I put frame 10 on and squared it to the other frames. Then when using the deck to get rid of the twist, the transom wasn't square anymore. Not a huge deal. I sanded it like the instructions say and it looks fine now! 

One concern I have is the fore edge of the cockpit does not line up perfectly with frame 6. I'm considering adding some wood filler to bring it all flush with each other. You can see this in the last picture of the last post for the cockpit seats. 

 

I have lots of sanding to do next for the fairing... it's my most dreaded step of the whole thing I think... 

 

 

Edited 22 hours ago by Venti