Starting on the Keel....

Looking at the plans, build articles and other's build ~ Noticed that the keel extends past the hull and the bottom planks are butt against the keel, sanding the keel profile after the planking to match the profile. This method is different from what I'm used to and will try this method with this build instead of planking over the keel as usual.

1) Plans showing the keel's around 5/8 inches wide plus/minus 1/16 - 1/8 inches in different spots as shown on the plan. So decided to cut the keel 3/4" wide to work with. (1/4" thick)

2) Got 1/4" thick balsa sheet to cut the keel out of. Note, balsa sheets almost never have a true straight edge in my experience. See in the picture below how much its bowing when butt against a straight edge.

3) Cutting off about 1/8" using straight edge. Other way is to sand the edge but only need to do one sheet so this way is much quicker...

4) Now checking the edge and its true to the straight edge...