Lining the gunwales, part 1

Close up: the exterior lining must be trimmed down to follow the
contours and details of the gunwales.

With the dog walked and my wife painting a friend's condo, this afternoon was opportune to work on Albatros. I did a round of sanding the hull, but stopped when I decided that really I just need to lay out the lining and do some dry test-fits. That'll probably happen this week or in January.

Today, though, I hit step 33 of the directions sheet: line the gunwales. This got off to a delayed start when I realized I had dried glue thoroughly stopping up the nozzle and no spares. Plan B: use a toothpick. This worked pretty well, especially when the toothpick was used as a slender roller to completely but thinly coat a small piece (look at the tiny sliver at top left in the picture below for an example).

The gunwales are all completely lined, but the lining needs to be trimmed down to fit their contours. Additionally, I need to cut out the gunports. Cutting the gunports was delicate but not difficult when I did the interior lining, but this will take a few adjustments. I'm kicking myself a bit, really: although I remembered to do it for the interior lining, I completely forgot today to put a bit of glue on both sides of each gunport to make the subsequent cutting easier. Good thing I have plenty of toothpicks.

On the near side: a bunch of lining, prettying up the exterior look.
On the far side, the contours to which both sides must be trimmed.