The gap between the bow and the grating

A little further again with the head. I have no idea what everything is called, so hopefully the photos speak for themselves. Everything is still dry fitted and so does not join up perfectly yet, but that will come.

What does strike me is the gap between the bow and the gratings. Should that not join up? If I let the grating join up, I obviously get a gap between the side pieces and the grating, and that is not pretty either. Pingu57 recommended checking Piet’s log for the correct position of the grating floor. I had done that: Piet also kept a gap, so that is what I have done now too. It is just that I see other logs where the grating does join up, hence my doubt.

Piet had another look at the drawing, and there too the grating does not join up with the bow. So the opening is simply meant to be there, and in his view it is no real problem: once the bowsprit is in and the ship is rigged, it is hardly visible any more.

More important was a tip I had not yet seen: Piet made two elongated holes in the middle of the grating, because otherwise the gammoning of the bowsprit will not pass through later. That is not on the drawing, but in his photo you can see the gammoning running right through the grating. Now that everything is still loose I can easily make those holes. Had I discovered that only after gluing, it would have been quite a different story.