Beavers Prize 1777 by Mike Y - 1:48 - POF - Hahn style

[Mike Y]

Thank you all, your support means a lot! ☺️

Deck framing preparations

Here is the "final" deck layout that I settled on. Knee shape is quite approximate and would be refined on the model, but the carlings are all in their final spots. Ledges are omitted for clarity, but they would be placed on the top and middle part of the deck, leaving the bottom one fully bare. Depending on the visuals I might add the bottom row of carlings later on.

If anyone can spot any mistake - please let me know before it is too late!

Always a difficult decision point for me - what colour scheme to use for the next phase of the build?
I want some contrast, but not too much. 
After hours of scrolling through amazing build logs here on MSW as well as photos of classical models - settled on the following palette:
Carlings: boxwood, same as the beams. Lighter boxwood would represent the "heavy" timbers of the deck.
Lodging knees: light pear, non-steamed.
Hanging knees, beam arms: Swiss pear, steamed (darker variety)
Ledges: have not decided yet, will try cherry. Something dark, but not black. Hope cherry is not too grainy for these tiny pieces.

Here are the wood sheets planed to thickness and sanded. I will likely keep it unfinished, and use finish only for the top decks that might be touched.

Next is milling the stock for carlings. It took too much effort for pillars, so trying to refine my technology.

Ideally I just need a proper thickness sander, but I don't have one (or a space/time for the DYI variety), so was curious if my Proxxon FET table saw can do if I treat it with some love and care? Any tool shines better if you actually spend time tuning it..  
At least the fence angle needs to be adjusted to avoid pushing wood into the blade (or away from it), it does make a difference!

First was trying a slitting blade with 1mm kerf and no set. It leaves a fairly smooth finish, but tends to burn the wood and is harder to control.
Switched over to the regular carbide tipped blade which has an effective kerf of almost 2mm. Sounds wasteful, but it is easier to control, so fewer planks would end up in the scrap bin.
No burning, but the blade marks are slightly more visible.
Close-up of test pear strips cut with both types of the blade, the surfaces are quite different:

I do not have a proper "thin strip jig" that acts as a bump stop on the other side of the blade, but this saw also has a micro-adjuster that I have never tried before. Fiddly to use, but once you get the hang of it - it actually allows to move the fence quite precisely. 

If I need 4.0mm piece - I move the wheel to 6.0mm and with a blade kerf of almost 2mm I do get consistent 4.1mm thickness (with, say, +/- 0.05 tolerance). Not too bad for a saw that is not really designed for that kind of precision!

They are 0.2mm oversized, leaving just 0.1 on each side to remove saw marks and any imperfections

Boxwood carling blanks straight out of that saw, with no touch-up / sanding / scraping:

Then some very careful planing in my thicknessing jig, taking care to not take too much material. 

I was worried that strips would fall on a side and I will end up with parallelograms instead of squares, but with the narrow face of 2.5mm and a crisp edge it was not an issue, they were standing upright.

Now I have a bunch of blanks ready. They are straight, smooth and satisfyingly square in all directions and with dimensions down to +/-0.02mm! I did not expect to enjoy it that much