Planking Below the Counter

After sanding the stern port lids to square them off of a bit better, I began to apply the planking layer below the counter.  Unlike the counter, these planks are placed diagonally, and cut out around the port lids.

 

I was a bit nervous about this step, but I think it turned out good.  There are a few small gaps which I'll need to fill with some wood filler once the glue has dried, plus I still need to trim the outer edges and the center run where the rudder will go, and finally sand it all down, but all-in-all I'm happy with how it turned out.

Once that is done, the stern will be done for now.  The rudder, upper transoms (where the windows are) and painting all come later.

Next up, the first layer of the hull planking.  This is the part that tends to take the longest, usually with a break of a few months/years between when I start and when I finish... it doesn't actually take that long - I just tend to get tired after doing this after a while t and set it aside... this time I plan to stick with it until it's done!

FYI: For taking the pictures, I'm using the Macro setting on my camera which really tends to make problem areas stand out.  For example, the gaps between the planks look worse in the pictures than they do to the naked eye.  The plus side of this is that I can see and try to fix these minor imperfections...