I've only built two ships to-date and have attached the keel assembly after the 1st planking as per the kit instructions but is it better to do the keel assembly after the 2nd planking?
You can do it both ways, but I prefer to attach keel after the first planking.
There was a bigger discussion / talk about the pros and cons appr. 1 week ago in another topic - but unfortunately I can not find it in moment.
Maybe somebody else can make here the link......
Maybe somebody else can make here the link......
To me, if you install the keel after the first layer of planking, then you would probably need to make provisions for some type of rabbet edge (or maybe some type of partial rabbet edge) for the second layer to fit up into.