Installing the supports for the side decks (carlins) was more involved than I thought it'd be...the first step was fitting the "knees" which support the carlins at about the half-way point. There are two of these on each side, and it looked like it would be a nuiscance to try to use the joggle stick to get the righ
t shape for the edges that meet the hull...instead, a piece of cardboard served pretty well as a template. I first dry-fitted the two aft knees and cut the notch for the carlins. Then dry-fitted the carlins themselves (after cutting out notches in the transom and the diagonal deck beams). Fortunately, I had a long, flexible piece of fir left over from a previous step, and this proved to be invaluable as a means of measuring the lengths of the carlins to be cut. It was a little tricky to get the right length as they follow a curve in two dimensions and the width of the side decks varies along the length according to the plans. Plus the carlins are pretty thick so it took some creative clamping to force them into the right shape. Once I got the first one in, I didn't have the heart to take it back out and epoxy it--so just epoxied it in-place. I was a little more brave gluing the second one, but it was a real bear getting it back in place with the epoxy making things slippery. But it got done, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief :) Once the carlins were glued in, the second pair of knees was fitted...
t shape for the edges that meet the hull...instead, a piece of cardboard served pretty well as a template. I first dry-fitted the two aft knees and cut the notch for the carlins. Then dry-fitted the carlins themselves (after cutting out notches in the transom and the diagonal deck beams). Fortunately, I had a long, flexible piece of fir left over from a previous step, and this proved to be invaluable as a means of measuring the lengths of the carlins to be cut. It was a little tricky to get the right length as they follow a curve in two dimensions and the width of the side decks varies along the length according to the plans. Plus the carlins are pretty thick so it took some creative clamping to force them into the right shape. Once I got the first one in, I didn't have the heart to take it back out and epoxy it--so just epoxied it in-place. I was a little more brave gluing the second one, but it was a real bear getting it back in place with the epoxy making things slippery. But it got done, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief :) Once the carlins were glued in, the second pair of knees was fitted...
