Fiddlehead model

All of the deck framing for this boat runs fore and  aft. The parts are therefore called carlins. The first carlins are short, running between the stems and bulkheads.

Once the short carlins are secure, the longer ones fit in notches in the bulkheads, a notch in the mid-frame, and end abutted to the short carlins. Through the middle section of the boat, these carlins define the edge of the decking.

Fitting them in place was a bit fussy.  On the 1:1 version, there are all sorts of clamps that might be used. Not so at this scale. I ended up devising a clamp made up of a short board with notches in each side. Wedging the board between clamp and carlin did the trick.

We can see the painted watertight compartment in this picture.

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The best time to paint the insides of the wtertight compartments is now, before the deck or the deck framing goe on. The plans suggest shellac. I used a thin white paint instead. For models, I use acrylic artist colors and thin them very thin with water. I also used matte medium in this case, to dull the shine.  … although who will be inspecting the paint through a tiny hatch?

The open part of the interior is finished with clear semi-gloss. I use Minwax  Polycrylic.

Here we see the boat removed from the building horse and the sheer planks trimmed. The translucent nature of these very thin planks lets us see how the laps (seen here as shadows) diminishes as they approach the stem.

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