Very impressed with this build, its progressing very well.



Keep up the good work.


Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

Should also mention that for Section 13 I used the following pieces:
• 24A, 24B, 27 from 8-08
• 16A, 16B from 8-06
• 42A, 42B from 8-09

I am trying to list all the components for each section since they do not follow the order of things in the instructions. Trying to go back through the PDF, which is many pages long, and find all the bits can become confusing, especially since many section look very similar and the line drawings in the instructions can make your eyes start to cross.

Also note, that I went ahead and made all the main cross supports per the instructions (did this before I chose to change my approach to this part of the build), so I am not listing those pieces for each section, but of course, each section does attach to them.

If this is confusing, I apologize...never tried to write out a "how to" and it is much more difficult than I imagined. Every time I start to explain something I quickly realize that others may not, or likely do not have the same perspective as me and would visualize and verbalize instructions differently. Trying to make things simple is very complex.

Section 12 went together just as the others and required the following pieces:
• 14A, 14B, 15A, 15B from 8-06
• 23A, 23B, 25A, 25B from 8-08
• 41A, 41B from 8-09

Once I had everything to my liking, I dry-fit it with section 13 to make sure I could slide them both in and out of the hull at the same time. Yes, I could, so the next step was to attach the two sections.

Finally, time for the dry-fit with the two pieces joined as one so I could refine the alignment of the mast hole. Recall in an earlier post on Section 13 that I did not shape everything to the point that is slid fully towards the bow. I did this so it would leave me the wiggle room to get the holes for the mast aligned as well as I could. If I had shaped everything to move as far forward as possible and per the kit, and for some reason the hole lined up too far forward, it would be difficult to add wood back on so I could move the entire assembly toward the stern.

As it turns out, this was much ado about nothing. When I dry fit the whole assembly, the mast hole was a bit too far astern and needed to go forward. By the time I had sanded everything so the assembly fit perfectly with the mast holes aligned everything was exactly where the pre-cut areas of the model had indicated. This is another hat tip to the designers and manufactures...great job folks!!!

I try really hard...really hard...to not screw things up. Ye, no matter how hard I try, I screw things up. Maybe I should try screwing things up and then no matter how hard I try I will get things right. There is no way I am alone in this. Misery loves company, so please let me know that it is not just me!

I was getting the pieces together for the next section when I noticed that something wasn't right. As I was going through the last few transom supports (or whatever you call those complex curved pieces that connect between the joists and the ribs) I noticed that I was missing two of them. And wouldn't you know, I had two that should have already been used. 13A and 13B were still in the laser cut template. And 11A and 11B were missing. 13A and 13B were to go with Section 11, the section I just completed. So what's the deal here?

Turns out I just wasn't paying attention and in my rush to get Section 11 complete and call it a day I accidentally took pieces 11A and 11B (two transom support pieces) and used them on the section. I get how I made this mistake...but come on man! As I wrote in the previous post, I went through the effort of trimming these down significantly so they would fit within the hull. So now they can't be used in their proper place as they are too small/narrow - I'll try to come up with a pic that demonstrates what I mean in a later post.

In hindsight I know it should have raised alarms when I noted how much they needed to be trimmed. If one thing, this entire kit has been very exceptional in creating things that fit nearly perfectly. But it didn't, and now here I am with the incorrect transom supports in the wrong section (crossed out in green below).

Now, I have expressed in this log how critical it was to label pieces while they were still in the laser cut template and to take your time and most importantly - MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE! Well, I followed the first bit of advice, but the moment I ignored "take your time" it was inevitable that I fall prey to "MEASURE TIWCE, CUT ONCE!".

There must be a little demon or gremlin type character out in the world, lurking in the shadows and awaiting the moment it can sneak into the real world and wreck havoc. The instant I decide to hurry along just a bit is the perfect moment. It seems to sense a vulnerability and boy does it strike fast and hard. I wonder if it slinks away grinning ear to ear as it considers my broken heart as I stare in disbelief at a section of the build that could have been. Curse you little demon!

But all is not lost...after a pick-me-up of some good Scotch, I had vanquished all thoughts of that dastardly little nuisance and once again took charge of my destiny...I think I found a solution. It is late, so not going to take it on today. But tomorrow I will surely fix this problem.

Now that I have mentally recovered from my previous mistake, it is time to move on with the rest of the deck supports. Section 10 was built same as the others and consisted of:
• 39A, 39B from 8-09
• 19A, 19B from 8-08
• 12A, 12B from 8-06

Difference here is this section cannot be attached to the previous one as it would then make it impossible to slide these in and out of the hull. It also cannot connect to section 9 for the same reason. In fact, best as I could determine, these last few sections (8, 9, 10) have to all be independent as each of these reside at about the widest point of the hull.

The assemble of Section 10 was just the the rest. Because it cannot be attached to the group of sections 11, 12, 13 then I just did my best on sanding and dry-fitting to make sure the transom supports lined up nicely with the group section.

Now for the final section - 8. This consisted of the following:
• 16A, 16B from 8-07
• 36A, 36B, 37A, 37B from 8-09
• 10A, 10B, 9A, 9B from 8-05

This section was much trickier than all the rest. Reason is, there is no way to assemble it and then maneuver it into place, it's just too wide to fit past the top of the ribs. I tried and tried, but no luck. So instead I decided to attach what pieces I could to the grouping of sections 5, 6, 7. This ended being only the two joists and two transom supports as shown in the image below. The other two transom supports and their respective joists were assembled separately (roughly sketched in green in the image below). Doing it this way allowed me to end up with as few point for glueing as possible once I decided to glue everything permanently into place.

FINALLY! Time to take everything out and prep for finishing. As I stated earlier, I typically use 240 and 320 grit to finish off pieces. However, I wanted to tighten the grain up just a wee bit so that when I applied the Minwax Gunstock, the same stain I used for the ribs, the stain would not soak in as much and hopefully these pieces would end up just a tad lighter than the ribs. Wanted them to appear the same color, just not quite as dark so they stand out just a bit more. To do this I used a 600 grit and only sanded to top/visibly surface. It takes time, especially as 600 grit doesn't have much bite, so to get a nice finish you really need to work the piece. However, this is one of the best activities when working with wood - sanding. The smell, the feel, the repetition, it is therapy!

Once I had the top surface sanded to my liking I went ahead and wiped on the stain using a soft cloth - being sure to follow up quickly and wipe off any excess. Left that overnight to dry and then I applied the wipe-on poly. I am really happy with it and also really surprised at the lack of glue spots.

About those glue spots...all I can say is I really took my time with all these pieces. Anytime I applied glue I was meticulous in ensuring the excess was wiped away and that any that worked its way into a visible surface was sanded away. Even with that, when I was going over the surface with the 600 grit I was constantly inspecting each joint for any areas that I may have missed. Now, I am not saying it is perfect, cuz it is not. But I am extremely happy with the results and totally glad that I took all the extra time to do it cleanly.

I know the approach I used isn't the easiest, but it was very effective for what I wanted to achieve - the ability to complete the deck support in large sections before attaching to the hull to ensure a better fit at all joints and a cleaner finish. At times my writing, although I did the best I know, may have made things more confusing, so I will try to clarify a bit with some imagery and mark-up using the instruction provided with the kit. What made it a bit more confusing is I was winging it the entire way and trying to share what I was doing at the same time. Here goes my attempt to clean things up a bit.

First of all, I built in small sections and determined that a section would be up to a main cross beam. I have rendered in green on the image below where I divided things up as sections. Credit: the drawing is from the Month 8 Instruction Download PDF - the green markings are mine and indicate the 13 sections.

Part of my thinking was to keep the number of glue points there would be during the final assembly of the deck to as few as possible. On top of that, I also constantly referred to the decking plan to see where I could hide these glue points. In the first drawing below I have indicated in magenta all the glue points there would be during the final assembly that would be hidden by the decking that would go on in the next phase of the build. I have also indicated in green the glue points that would be visible. Again, keeping these as minimal as possible since it is nearly impossible with my limited skills to get them looking as nice as those joints I was able to work outside the hull.

The second image below show where the decking will go (cyan). You can see from this that all the magenta joints will be covered and the end result is only 6 joints that will be visible to the eye. So now I only had 6 joints that I needed to be very, very careful with and make sure I got things looking beautiful. Credit: drawings are from the Month 8 Instruction Download PDF for this kit - green, magenta, and cyan markings are mine.

Oh yeah! Remember this little guy? I snapped him off way back and reattached him. Seems like I am holding a grudge against this little bit as I have twice again snapped him off. Poor little beggar, just can't stay in place with me around. I have now decided that he can rest in a safe spot until I reach a point where I can reattach him and also provide some additional strength such as when some interior or exterior planking is applied. I don't want to keep abusing him like this, feels so wrong.