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Sovereign of the Seas - Mantua by Brian

The instructions say to now fit the deck? doesn't make sense to me. I'm going to finish the hull unless you guys know something I don't?View attachment 614319
Indeed it does NOT make sense - I'm becoming resistant to say but, I discuss that in the early pages of my log for this kit. I tossed the instruction
booklet - almost useless..
 
Hi Brian

I have some hopefully friendly advice here before proceeding with your planking any further. There are not enough bulkheads in this kit to support your planking. You can see it the way your planks are not forming a gentle curve as they are supposed to towards the bow. I would remove these planks and put some fillers in between the bulkheads. You can use balsa or better yet basswood. This way you can sand/fair everything properly to get the right lines and have some wood to support the planking between the bulkheads.

If you have to discard the planks you have already installed thats OK, its a long term project and buy some additional wood. Better to correct now than hope you can sand this out later before the second planking
Chris
 
Thanks for the advice and agree about the bulkheads but I can't bring myself to stripping the planks a second time, I'll have to manage other builder have without the fillers:)

IMG20260626132323.jpgIMG20260626132328.jpg
 
My OCD kicked in and I stripped all the planks off and started again I just wasn't happy with the shape of the bow.
That is probably the most impressive post I have read today. Good for you for not accepting less than what you are striving for!!!
Allan
 
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