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Building the HMS Queen Elizabeth
I decided to build the late-war version of the HMS Queen Elizabeth (the fiberglass hull I received already had the added double-bulge). The dual torpedo bulge has a wider lower bulge that should be 1" below the waterline and hence act a little like a solid protrusion (limiting accidental ram damage - it reduces the penalties I can call on others, but I am more interested in staying in the game and playing with my friends) and the double-stringer (note: in MWCI ships with two stingers must use a thinner 1/4" subdeck) should be along the water-line and offer some extra protection. Some club captains of this ship like to do a slightly earlier version with all the casements, but I wanted to keep sheeting this easier and I also believe all the lower close-to-the-water casements are just going to be places to leak water when underway.
The Subdeck:
The first thing I wanted to do was cut and install the 1/4" subdeck (reduced from the 3/8" usual subdeck due to having two stringers). I wanted to get this wood installed to help hold her shape once I started cutting on her for ribs, rudders, drive, etc...
I did a separate stern and bow subdeck (since there is a step-down) and will glue them together with a vertical (for strength) later. Below you can see that I actually cut two 1/8" aircraft-grade plywood decks (the bottom was was tapered inward in bow and stern to slide lower along the hull).
The bottom sheet was cut out to allow access to underneath but leaving port-to-starboard beams in areas to hold the sides and add strength. It also acts as the lip to hold the deck up.
The top sheet is actually the deck, but I cut evenly about 3/8" from along the entire edge to leave a strip along the edge to glue together and make a strong 1/4" thick total subdeck.
The blue tape that you see is to seal along the hull underneath so that the runny marine-grade epoxy can flow into all the gaps along the hull but not run down and puddle in the bottom of the hull while it sets.
the funny texture on the deck (above) is from where I squeezed wax paper over the epoxy and the set the deck in place to keep the top strip from moving in. The wax paper kept the cut-out deck pieces from getting permanently glued down.
Overall you can see that it worked alright. The picture (at right) shows the QE after the epoxy dried (I pulled out the wax paper and the decks are just sitting in place.
Note: one problem I had in our southern heat. I traced and cut the deck, then a few hot days before I had time to glue cause the flared knuckle in the bow to flare slightly more, leaving a little gap. I ended up slipping pieces of glass cloth into the crack and epoxying them in place (that much straight epoxy is brittle for taking bb impacts). I will trim and sand smooth later.
On to Cutting Out the Ribs
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