After a brief interruption in the project due to the need to install my new home theater system (woohoo) it was back to work on the Launch.

We left off with the molds securely attached to the false keel. Before going any further, the molds have to be faired, that is, their outer edges need to be shaped so that the planking, when applied, will make contact against the full thickness of the frames (which will be situated on the molds... be patient.) If this isn't done, contact will only be made against the edges — not a particularly sturdy way of building.

By way of demonstration, I'll re-borrow an image I stole borrowed from Keith Julier when I described the process for the Black Prince.

I used a Perma-Grit sander to shape the molds, checking my progress frequently with a strip of basswood.

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Next, tabs were spot-glued to the jig's false keel — they're there to align the keel with the false keel for the framing process. The keel was set onto the jig between the tabs, and secured at the bow end by a dowel inserted through a sandwich of the stem and a pair of alignment blocks, and with pins through the alignment tabs.

The transom was then attached. A pair of spacers were glued to the last mold, then the transom carefully aligned and glued to the stern post — not to the spacers. The idea is that after the planking, the launch will be removed from the jig. In aid of this, small holes were drilled and nails were driven through the transom and into the temporary spacers.

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We now come to the first really difficult part of the construction: bending on the frames.

The frames are fabricated of 3/32" cherry strips; they have to be bent to fit the molds. Cherry tends to bend better than basswood, but it's not a sure thing. Strips were cut to length — about 4½" — and given a good long soak in freshly boiled water to soften them up.

I had acquired (via eBay) a long out-of-production plank bender made by the now-defunct Italian ship model producer Aeropiccola. It's pretty much just a soldering iron with a fancy head. Wet strips of wood held against the hot iron are [relatively] easily bent; the steam generated by the heat loosens the wood fibers.

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Nevertheless, wood being wood, I had a breakage rate of about one in three during the bending. Fortunately, the likelihood of this happening was taken into account by the kit manufacturer, and a surplus of cherry was provided.

The frames were bent and clamped, with no glue at this stage, to the molds and left overnight to dry. I expected a fair amount of "springback," but after drying, they retained their shape quite well.

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The edges of the molds were then waxed — I used beeswax — to help prevent the frames from sticking to the molds in case of some misapplication of glue. The bent frames were then glued into the notches in the keel, and spot-glued to the molds below the sheer tabs (where they will eventually be cut off.)

After letting the glue cure overnight, all the clamps were removed, the outsides of the frames lightly sanded, and the transom faired in line with the frames. (No framing is needed on the transom — the planks will attach directly to it.)

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Coming up, the most daunting task yet: planking. Wish me luck.

On the healthcare reform "Slaughter option":

We've gone from passing Bills w/out reading them to passing Bills w/out *voting* on them?

John Thune, on Twitter (via Michelle Malkin.) You'll see this one all around, I expect.

I have an extremely bad feeling that if this monstrosity of a bill passes in such a shady manner, there will be turmoil in this country that will make the Tea Parties look like a mere tempest in... well, in a teapot.

Last week, referring to the government healthcare takeover scheme, Nancy Pelosi infamously declared "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."

Really.

Instead, I would suggest that we can get a much better view if we kill it and perform an autopsy.

I think I've brought it up before, but if you haven't seen the greatest movie review ever done, I most highly recommend the seven-part brutally funny takedown of George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace.

"Brutal" is an understatement.

"Funny" doesn't come close to describing it.

And Language Warning should not be ignored by the sensitive.

While scanning channels yesterday, I noticed that the movie was airing on basic cable, so on a lark I recorded it, and watched it after work.

Wow.

It had been several years since I'd seen it. Holy cow, it really is awful. The creator of the above review could easily have gone another hour shredding the idiocy of the script (written by an eight-year-old, indeed) characters and action ("Infantry tactics? Never heard of them.") not to mention some of the ludicrous design elements. I literally laughed out loud at some of the inane things gracing the screen that hadn't been detailed in the review.

Two words: Midichlorian conception.

Fortunately, my time wasn't completely wasted. I spent the duration of the movie working on my ship model and making good progress at it; details soon.

Do be sure to watch the review above in its entirety, all seven parts. Set aside a hour or so — it'll be worth the time.

You'll never again be able to watch the movie without thinking "What is wrong with your face?"

When your car begins runaway acceleration, as has apparently been happening with some Toyotas, isn't the immediate solution as simple as taking the car out of gear, or switching off the ignition? I fail to understand.

In any case, Toyota's going to have some massive legal bills.

In other news, I'm utterly shocked that a Prius can reach 94 MPH, even with the accelerator welded to the floor.

At what point do we begin to see politicians hanging from lamp posts?

I don't know... but surely this [Flaming Skull alert is in effect] would take us one step closer.

I am tempted, when my actual census form arrives, to answer every question* with "none of your damn business."

I do intend, however, to follow Michelle's advice.

My race is American.

* Other than the "how many people live at this address" question, of course.

Seven years — 2,133 posts — 2,893 comments — a bit over 210,000 visits.

I'm not a big fish in the pond. I'm not even a medium-sized fish. I'm not even sure I'm a multi-cellular organism.

But I like it here. I'm not going anywhere.

Some "greatest hits" and personal favorites:

A promise.

In 2007, the beginning of a long, long journey.

A historic yet topical rant.

John Kerry and his long lost brother?

A film review.

Hallucination.

Fame.

A dirty word.

One reason to watch the Winter Olympics.

Naked chicks with guns.

There's no knowing what the future holds... but I hope it's more ranting and less neurological stuff.

Today in the mail, something that made no sense whatsoever: a form letter notifying me that the Census form will be coming a week hence. Surely they could have saved the postage and just sent the Census form.

Oh, wait, no... since it was the government sending the form letter, it didn't really cost anything to mail it... right? Right?

I was only slightly more disturbed by the fact that the letter was printed in six languages.

Going by the manual, the building process for the Launch is broken down into six major stages. The first stage consists of assembly of the keel/stem/sternpost, and construction of the framing jig.

The first thing one does, though, is to ensure that everything that is supposed to be included in a kit is, in fact, included. In this case, the kit contains sheets of laser cut parts, bundles of strip materials, sailcloth, fittings, accessories, sheets of plans and the manual.

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