rudder
Fixing the hinges to the rudder proved to be quite a challenge as they would come apart just when they seemed about to fit together. I ended up gluing the axles in place while leaving a small gap for the hinge pieces. This allowed the top hinges to be fixed to the rudder then the lower hinges were pushed through the gap to be fixed to the hull. The supplied brads needed to be cut down to be shorter than the thickness of the rudder.
The lower hinge was fixed to the hull first and then the others were tacked on with one nail each side to allow them to be adjusted. It turned out not as neat as expected, I think partly because the axles were not properly aligned when glued, and I didn’t pay enough attention to the alignment, however the rudder does swivel freely.
Micro-engineering of the deck pieces:
anchor davits
davits were filed to shape and holes drilled for the mooring bitts, eyebolts and rigging.
windlass
Masking tape strips were used to mark out for filing the octagonal shape of the windlass lathes.
The holes were drilled then made square with the tip of a small square file.
belfry
The lintel was drilled for mounting the bell then the stands were cut and drilled for the cleats before being assembled.
A piece of brown thread was used for the bell rope.
pinracks
Two prefabricated pinrack stand pieces were missing from the kit so these were cut and shaped from the Walnut frame that had held the supplied six pieces.
