Rudder done, taffrail on the stern

The rudder is now done. The gudgeons are on the hull too. I am not entirely happy with the result, it all looks a bit messy. I think that is partly due to the white marks on the copper of the hull. I suspect they are glue residue after all, even though I cleaned everything thoroughly with steel wool and white spirit. By now I really cannot get the marks off any more. Ah well, in real life such a hull would not always have been an even colour either.

Stephan recommended old-fashioned copper polish, but on a test piece first: the acids in the glue attack metal, he sees that with his blades and PVA glue too. Piet confirmed that it is glue residue. It usually only appears later, because the copper plates slowly darken while the glue holds that process back. Glue really has to be removed straight away, before it has cured, and with CA glue that happens fast. He had his doubts whether copper polish would still help. For next time: just two small drops of glue under a plate is more than enough, because it has nothing to hold, and then no glue squeezes out either. You learn by doing. On my next boat it will surely go better, and who knows, the copper polish may still have some effect.

The taffrail on the stern

Because I am still waiting for the parts from England, I have started on the jobs that in my view should have been done by now but that I had overlooked in the manual. Such as the taffrail on the stern: it is right there in the stern gallery chapter (the 1 x 4 mm strip on the edge of the taffrail, soaked in warm water first), only by then I had long since moved on to the coppering. That was not on yet, now it is. With the plank bender that went surprisingly well. I did sneakily use CA glue here to fix it: I could not clamp it properly, so PVA or other glues did not work so well.