Stitching the Duck

After the epoxy sets up there are four long panels that make up the hull. ( The other two called the sheer panels are part of what will become the deck.) They all require beveling of the edges. Skills and tools involved are planes, scrapers and sand paper. This was a four hour job and I hoped I was doing it right. There are lots of opinions on just what is the right angle or if you need to do it at all. I obviously decided it needed to be done and took a middle of the road approach on the severity of the angle. After they are beveled you match the bottom panels up like a book and start stitching them together with copper wire. Then you add the sides and the temporary forms. The forms are just that. They are what you bend the wood around to form it into the shape of a kayak. You start stitching it together in the middle and working in both directions leaving the ends for last. There is a lot of wiring, tightening, rewiring, tightening. Most of the holes are pre-drilled, however, as you approach the ends more are needed along with shrink wrap and anything else you think will help pull it together. Spraying the wood with water helped with bending to the right curve. The stern of a Wood Duck has a transom and that adds a challenge that other models do not have.
I was not very happy with the looks of either end after the first wiring. The bow is all out of alignment, the side panels and bottom panels do not match up. The tail is all out of joint. This is what I get after 20 plus hours of work?

This needs a nose job! The tail's too high!