ok
we started with this
and finished up with framing in the mortar pit
there are still a lot of notches to cut for the carlings and ledges which brings up a good question.
Why bother taking all the time to cut these notches when they are going to be covered and no one will see all you fine woodworking skills? In other words if you don't see it in the finished model don't bother doing it.
As i work on this project, it does come to mind this is really not about building a fine scale model it is more of a how to improve you woodworking skills and learning different methods. so you can say seeing you handy work or not in the final model is not the point. The point is a learning woodworking.
You can have the best of both worlds of showing off knife skills and a finished model. You can leave parts of the planking off to highlight the joinery, skip planking all together and show the model as a timbering model, use a tinted plastic for planking so you can see through it to the finer joinery work below.
I found it relaxing sitting out in the yard whittling out notches and notch by notch the job is getting done so this aspect of the build is something to consider a Zen thing. If you look at all the notches to be cut with a sense of dread AND they all get covered up in the final model than you need a quick and easy way to get the job done or short cuts (which i will cover later).
You need to plan out the model from the start and what you want to end up with. There are expensive rare woods you can use such as Boxwood or Pearwood even rosewoods. These woods are very hard and do not lend themselves well to knife carving. you will find cutting the notches by hand will take a lot longer because you can only chip out small pieces at a time. BUT these woods will polish up and give a rich appearance to the final model.
If you are of the mind set of building and using a knife to improve your modeling skills i suggest softer woods like Poplar, Basswood or soft Maple. Don't get me wrong these softer woods also make a fine looking model.
for me it is neither reason stated above I view the model as a prop to be used to create this how to do it topic.