With the gouge cut out the run and entrance in the bottom of the piece of wood, beginning a little forward of the middle for the run; and at same time cut away so much of the bottom as will leave in. for the keel, by wide. The next diagram shows one side, with entrance and run cut out.

Having cut out the other side to correspond exactly, and rounded the sides and bottom with the plane and rasp, taking care all the curved parts are in keeping with the curves of the deck diagram c, saw a slanting piece off the cutwater, about in. at bottom to nothing at top, measure 36 in. from the middle of

the cutwater towards the stern, and cut out the piece of keel in the run, so as to leave the counter (projecting of the stern); thus (the dotted lines show where and how to cut)—

E

α

The counter must not project more than 3 in., and therefore the ship will be 3 ft. keel, and 3 ft. 3 in. over all. Now smooth and model the ship to your best ability, see the keel is quite straight, and the sternpost perpendicular to the stempost or cutwater (a a is the sternpost in above diagram E).

If the vessel is now exactly equal on both sides, and not lob-sided, as sailors call it, you can finish it with the rasp, scrape it with glass, and polish it with sand paper, making the outside look perfectly ship-shape.

The sectional views here shown enable the model ship builder to judge of the correctness of his work; they represent the hull when finished, if cut athwart or across

into four pieces of equal length, and by holding the vessel in the required position the builder can see if his model present these or nearly these outlines exteriorly; if so, it is right.

It is not at all necessary to adhere exactly to this outline of the midship section (although it governs the outlines of the other two); it may be cut somewhat flatter on the bottom, as indicated by the dotted lines, and this would of course slightly vary the other sectional outlines, but I do not think it should be made more angular, nor do I advise it, as the vessel would lose too much buoyancy.

The next thing is to scoop it out with the gouge and mallet. Leave the sides everywhere or in. thick,

and be careful not to scoop thinner, or leave the sides thicker in one part than another.

The gouge is the principal tool for this work, but a centrebit, to bore holes all over the inside, is a great assistance, it saves half the hammering; however, when scooped out and the inside smoothed, your vessel should look thus

Next make the sheer by planing out the gunwale (gunwale a a), beginning at nothing forward at the stem, gradually increasing to in. amidships, and again decreasing to nothing at the stern. The diagram G below shows clearly what is meant by the sheer, and how to fashion it: the dotted line is the sheer

G

Now give the inside a coat of white paint, and then the deck can be put on. The deck must be made of one piece of deal plank, without splits or knots, † in. thick at the sides, and in. in the middle; this gives the deck a slightly rounded appearance, and, besides, greatly strengthens it. Mark the shape of the gunwale on the plank by turning the ship bottom upwards upon it, and marking it round with a pencil; draw a middle line from end to end, and cut it to the required shape as near as possible.

A beam must now be put across the middle of the ship, exactly level with the gunwale on both sides, to support the deck and strengthen the sides of the ship; the beam should be in. square; thus—

Screw the sides of the ship to the ends of the beam; then put on the deck, and screw it to the gunwale all round with -in. brass (everything must be brass except