Moving right along with the longboat build, it's time to remove the inner bulkheads. These are laser cut in such a way that you just need to file off the connections at the top of the frame, and then carefully snap the remaining connection at the bottom middle. Then you can remove the bulkhead and sand the insides. It takes quite a lot of sanding actually, as the frames all need to be thinned out significantly, and the inside edges need to be faired as well. Here is a shot of the hull with the bulkheads removed and the sanding underway.
Next I added the caprails to the top edges of the hull. To make these, you trace the outline of the hull onto some thin basswood sheet to get the right curve, measure out a small distance for the other edge, cut and install. The rail is much too wide at that point, but then you sand it thinner. Note that the frames need to be thin enough not to extend beyond the inside edge of the caprail. I removed and scrapped my first rail because I had not made the frames thin enough.
Next I added the decorative friezes. These are printed on paper, sprayed with matte varnish, cut out and carefully glued in place. Then a thin wooden strip is glued along the bottom edge. You can see in this photo the waterline has been marked in pencil.
Here you can see the stern decoration, and the waterline has been painted white.
Flipping the boat over, we have another view of the decorative friezes and the painted waterline.
Next I painted the caprail and the inside of the top planks red.
Then I added the floor boards in the bottom of the boat.
Here I've added the stern and bow platforms.
After the platforms, it was time to add the thwarts, the windlass, the knees, and the eyebolts in the bottom of the boat. At this point the body of the boat is nearly finished, and next time I'll post pictures of the masts and other details.
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