Hi all,

I’m a raw newbie. I bought a Billing’s Monterey boat kit for my 9 year old son Matthew for Christmas & so far we have built the hull without planking & fitted the initial deck.

 I do not know what to do re the hull planks and would really apreciate some advice as follows:

1) Do I need to steam them to bend them to approxiately the correct shape before fitting?

2) Billings suggest pinning them in place while the glue is setting, but the plywood bulkwarks (or whatever you call them!)  seem to split easily and I am not happy to try and start inserting pins into them. Should I use this method or do you have other suggestions? e.g. clamps of some sort (strips are not very deep)…

3) The glue I was advised to use by the model shop is Titebond ‘original Wood Glue’. However I am not convinced that this is waterproof and indeed managed to steam two incorrectly glued compenents apart with the kettle.. Does this matter once all on the outside is painted? (I am worried about water getting inside too). Should I be using a different glue??

4) Billings also suggest finishing the hull with a putty to seal it. What sort of putty should this be?

 Thanks for your help,

 Brett & Matthew Pritchett