Choice Miscellany: Hull Details - Channels, Chesstress and Catheads

Just a reminder that I'm not a professional ship builder... but hopefully I'm learning so my next builds will be better!! Plus, while the pictures tend to highlight the errors, when looking at the model with the naked eye, they are not nearly as bad :-)

Before moving on to adding some more deck details, it's time to add some final touches to the hull by adding the channels, chesstress and catheads.

First up are the channels - there are 3 of these per side. Later, when I get to the rigging, dead eyes will be added to these, which will be used for the lower shrouds and ratlines.

Each of the channels was laser cut, with small notches along one side where the dead eyes will eventually be attached.

Since there will also be eyebolts attached, I drilled 2 small holes in each of the 2 forward channels - the small ones at the stern of the ship do not need them.

Painting the channels and eyebolts:

Each channel also has a number of knees - luckily these were also laser cut.

The channels finished and ready to be attached to the hull:

Each side also has 1 chesstree ("A piece of oak bolted perpendicularly on the side of a vessel, to aid in drawing down and securing the clew of the mainsail..." whatever that means...). These were also laser cut, and there were 4 included, even though I'll only need 2 according to all of the plans and instructions.

Last up are the catheads, one per side; these will be used to support the anchors. Unlike the chesstrees, instead of extras, there was only 1 included so I had to make a copy using some scrap wood. Cutting the second cathead was fairly straightforward.

The problem came when I had to drill a number of holes into the top piece (1 from the side, and 4 from the top). The first few attempts weren't exactly successful...

So I tried something different... I drilled the holes in some strips of wood first (it took a few more attempts to get them right), then formed the catheads afterwards by putting 2 pieces of wood together at the appropriate angle.

After adding a little bit of wood filler where the 2 pieces joined, they didn't turn out too bad. They're missing the curve, but I can live with that.

Painting the catheads and eyebolts for the sides:

With all of the various parts ready, it was time to start adding them to the hull. The only parts that required some work to the hull first were the catheads - I had to cut slots through the trim work so they would fit flush against the hull.