T37 Model Sailboat Build Log

Once I got the tape off of the deck, it was clear there were a few issues to deal with. First, I needed to trim a bit of the excess or overhanging veneer strips with an X-Acto blade to get it roughly flush with the side of the hull. The tape also pulled some of the grout out between the veneer strips. This was expected and all gaps will be filled prior to varnishing. Remember, I am putting a toe-rail all round the edge of the deck, so I am not concerned with how the veneer is cut or how cleanly it matches up with the edge of the deck, as it will be covered by my ¼" wide rail: Unfortunately, some of the ends of the veneer, particularly where cut to points as the deck curve intersected the ends of the strips, did not hold with the epoxy. I should have had more at the edges. I will have to through an extra step in the process for getting these ends secured with epoxy. Though not shown in the photos, I just used a scrap piece of veneer to spread a bit of epoxy under the...

Today was pretty much dedicated to finishing off the deck laminate. In the photo below, you can see how all the pieces toward the bow are in place and pinned down, with the exception of the bow plate and the filler corner pieces around the companionway: The front of the laminate strips have been trimmed to match up with the bow plate: Here you can see how the edge pieces just hang over the edges of the bow and have mostly been trimmed with a pair of sharp scissors: Another shot of the companionway opening: I did not attempt to trim the pieces too closely to the deck edge, just to leave myself a little flexibility: My approach to applying the deck laminate is a bit off from the instructions. Now that the pieces are placed, I am taping over the entire top surface to essentially turn the whole surface into one piece I can glue in place all at once. I started with strips of tape in between rows of pins. Small pieces connect small parts. Once...

Day 5 begins with sanding the keel. Now that the epoxy has set, its time to smooth out and shape the ballast and its transition to the keel. To make things easy to handle, I used two of the wood clamping blocks from the keel assembly step in my bench vise. As you can see below, my fill job with the epoxy was incomplete, or perhaps it shrunk back a bit. Either way, I will have to come back with some additional epoxy in the low spots: Likewise on the sides, where the darker epoxy reveals some low spots. The transition between ballast and keel came out nice with the gently sloping fillet: Next, I sanded the entire hull, paying particular attention to shaping up the bow, keeping the deck edge flat and square to receive my decking veneer, and rounding off the chine between the boat bottom and hull sides. I used 100 grit first, followed by 220. When I was done, I used a slightly damp rag to wipe down the hull and deck - this causes the grain to raise a bit, which helps ...