would it be at all possible for someone to post some close-up pics of the bow and stern area where there are some dropper and stealer planks ie where to start with the dropper and stealers just to give some clues as i am getting very confused and getting some gaps between the ribs and the planks any hints would be grateful

Hi Allan.
It's a bit of trial and only an error if you glue and pin before you get them flat. Generally I found tapering further back from the end of the plank achieved flatness. Then if the taper looks to be going below the half plank level at the bow, a dropper will be required following the instructions with a guide plank fitted temporarily spaced 2 planks away. This should lay reasonably flat and leave about half a plank's width at the bow. To be honest the pics in the instructions are not too bad. Don't forget every example will be different: unique even.

The stealers are at the back end where the planks narrow as they curve round the stern then need to be wider at the stern post. To be honest I cheated a little here particularly on the last 10-11 planks which I "waisted" rather than using stealers.[Don't tell the others] The waisted width was never thinner than 2 mm however. Hope this helps as the end result looks good. We may all end up changing our handles to "Percy Vear" at this rate.

Laury