Tiny gaps

The first side is completely closed above the wale. Now the other side.

Straight on to a question. In the photo you can see a very small gap here and there between the planks. They aren’t gaps down to the first planking, more small irregularities in the edges from cutting. While fitting you often don’t see them; only in the photo do they become clearly visible. Will they still disappear under varnish?

Pingu57 was clear: those gaps won’t disappear by themselves. His suggestion was sanding dust from the planks concerned, with glue, in the gap. Marc w knew from experience with RC hulls that small irregularities disappear under varnish, provided it goes on in several thin coats; with stain it gets harder because that soaks into the wood. Test on a scrap piece first.

Henk gave the trick I’ve since adopted. Lay the ship on her side so that the seams face upwards, and sand the surface with very fine sandpaper. The sanding dust runs into the seams by itself and fills them. In a small pot, dilute some PVA glue with water until it looks like milk, and brush that with a fine brush once or twice precisely over the seams. That fixes the sanding dust. Then sand lightly once more and repeat if necessary. The advantage: always the same wood colour, and the least trouble with glue stains.

Meanwhile I also found the cause. I had forgotten to scrape the small glue residues off the top edges of the strips already fitted. On the other side, where I do that consistently, the problem no longer occurs.

The other side

A week later the port side is also closed from the wale upwards. Here I’ve already closed most of the gaps with Henk’s trick, only not yet at the bow. Now working downwards; that will take a while, I fear.

To show the difference, a small crop from after I had filled all the gaps. It really works well.