Vol. 65, No. 1 spring 2020 60


T e next step was to apply the fi nished decking. T e supplied 0.6-millimeter thick veneer strips were fi nished with sunbleach stain sanded to give a grayish, aged look to the wood. T e decking was applied fi rst to the top of the gangway with the strips running perpendicular to the underlayment and then to the main deck with the strips running parallel to the subdecking. A 15 x 15-millimeter hatch cover made of 0.6-millimeter veneer was glued to the gangway forward of the mainmast opening, aſt er which two photoetched brass handles were attached to the cover. Aſt er the decking was completed, fi ve 13 x 13-millimeter (1 x 1-inch) platforms 4 millimeters (0.16-inch) tall were installed on the deck next to the gangway. Finally, two 5 x 10-millimeter (0.020 x 0.040-inch) hawse holes were cut into the decking and the inside edges planked with 1 x 1-millimeter strip wood. (Figure 7)


I next installed the keel composed of fi ve 3-millimeter thick pieces glued to the main body section along the bottom edge. T e fi rst forms the spur that extends out over the hull and terminates in the ram. Four 3-millimeter thick pieces that tapered to 1-millimeter at the bow end reinforced the spur and also were glued to the sides of the hull. Two 1 x 1-millimeter strips glued to the end of the spur in between the support pieces formed the ram.


T e instructions called for the installation of the wale strips next, the main wale being a 2 x 2-millimeter strip that extends from the end of the bottom reinforcing piece to the stern, where it wraps around the end blocks. T e unusual aspect of this is that the wales are meant to be installed prior to the fi nished planking, which apparently is meant to be fi tted in around the wale strips. I decided to reverse this by installing the fi nished planking from the sheer down, put in the wale once the planking had reached the top of the wale’s position, and then continue the planking to the bottom of the hull. T e fi nished planks were 1 x 3-millimeter strip wood. It was somewhat soſt er than basswood but still required soaking in water to allow them to be bent into shape. T is was particularly true at the stern, since the planks had to be bent into a


U-shape to cover the rounded stern sections. T e kit included a bending jig to help with this, but a considerable amount of work was required to shape these planks. T e 2 x 2-millimeter main wale strip was kerf cut fi rst at the stern end, then soaked in water and bent using an electric plank bender. Even aſt er all preparation the stern planking did not conform exactly to the hull and the gaps required wood fi ller. In addition to the main wale, there were two other wales at the stern. T ese were placed on top of the fi nished planking and then sanded down to match the thickness of the main wale.


Aſt er installing some of the planking I noticed that the keel pieces had begun to come loose in places, so I reinforced the bond by drilling holes through the keel into the hull and gluing in wooden dowels (toothpicks).


Aſt er the hull planking was fi nished any imperfections were fi lled with stainable wood fi ller. T en the hull was coated with sanding sealer and sanded to a smooth surface. Pictures of


the full-scale replica


show that the area between the wales on the stern of the hull painted a dark red color, so I fi rst applied a cherry stain to this area. I applied the golden pecan stain fi nish to the rest of the hull above the waterline but, because the planking strips were much lighter than the veneer wood used previously, the color did not match. I then applied a light coating of a walnut stain to the hull to act as a primer followed by applying the golden pecan stain, which gave a more satisfactory result. T en the foredeck was planked with 0.6-millimeter plywood strips stained to match the main deck. T e hull below the waterline was to be a white color but I decided to put off applying this fi nish until the hull was more complete. To complete this step, I used a gold Sharpie paint pen to gild the wale strips. Figure 8 shows the model at this point.


T e next step was to install the rowing frame on top of


the hull. T is is a rectangular structure bounded at the ends by the yokes and on the sides by


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