Friday and Saturday were warm so I was able to start attaching the bottom 3/8" plywood. I had previously cut the rear two panels and was just waiting for the warmer temperatures to use the epoxy. Here is a picture of the panels ready to be attached.
The two rear pieces are pretty easy to attach because they lay pretty flat and don't require a lot of work to get in place. The two pieces are just butted at the keel and glued and screwed to the keel, chine and the battens. But, boy, do they take a lot of screws. Spaced 3" on the keel and chine and 4" on each batten, it starts to add up. Here is one panel after attachment.
The screws must be set just below the surface so they can be filled and sanded smooth. I had trouble with the silicon bronze screws breaking when did the frames so I was worried I'd have to countersink each hole. That was not necessary. With a 1/8" pilot hole and shank sized hole drilled in the plywood, I was able to drive the screws below the surface without breaking and without countersinking.
After the plywood was attached I added butt blocks between the battens to permit joining the front panels to the rear panels. I cut pieces of the 3/8" plywood to fit and glued and screwed them in place.
After setting overnight, but epoxy was still not fully set due to the cool temperature at night. Regardless, I started to fit the first front panel. This piece has a nasty bend as you have to curve the 3/8" plywood around the chine and stem. The batten nearest the keel can make fitting the plywood difficult so I used wire attached to the building form to pull the ends of the battens down and in to get them out of the way.
The front panel must to trimmed to approximate shape so the forward part can be curved to shape. This is done by trial and error, a little at a time. Once close, I clamped the piece along the keel and screwed the piece at the chine and worked forward toward the front. I used longer drywall screws through a plywood washer to spread the pressure.
There is a transition joint just forward of the frame 4 which is marked with masking tape in this picture. From this point forward the panel must butt against the side panel, not overlap. The trick is cutting it to shape. The directions suggest you keep marking and trimming until it fits. This seemed like a lot of mounting and un-mounting of a tricky panel. I used another approach that utilized the Harbor Freight multifunction tool. I used a thin plastic piece like a depth gauge to know where the joint line is located. Removing one screw, I cut a small section and then replaced the screw and moved forward to the stem. The tool cuts pretty quickly and was pretty easy to trim and angle the cut as necessary. Here is the first section trimmed.
This is the tool in action.
(I don't know why the picture rotated. It's correct in my folder. )
After trimming to the stem, The panel was removed and used as a template for the other side, giving it a little slop to ensure it is large enough. After the panel was glued and screwed I released the wire on the batten and let it return to the panel. Here is the panel attached.
This is a closer look at the transition joint. When the epoxy sets the plywood to the rear of the joint, which is overlapping the side, will be sanded flush with the side panel.
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