So the true shaping is well and truly underway now. Everyone will have their own technique for this stage. I sstarted using a belt sanded then went back to an orbital, then hand sanding with a block. The rails have come up pretty well so far. With the bending ply any errors in the curve are very noticeable but it also is quite an accurate guide for my curves because of the lines through it as you sand back. Below are a couple of shots of the board now that the protection of the deck has been taken off. Not far to go now.
You may notice on the second shot some glue up near the nose, this is just filling a small gap between the cork and the ply on the rail. It will then be sanded off when it dries. I didn't unwrap the board until I was ready to sand back the last millimeter or so onto the deck. The tape has protected the deck well, however there are a couple of marks that I will have to try and sand out (hopefully only I notice them)
Below are some plan shots of what the rails are meant to look like. I think I'm close but still want to do a bit more handsanding to get them perfect.
Two layers of the glass has been laid with the fins due to go on by early next week. The grain of the timber is starting to show through and this is where the rewards of choosing the ply decks carefully start to pay dividends. Results speak for themselves....
So we took the boards to the glasser today. Peter Mo, Modecks in Currumbin came highly recommended to us to complete the job. We went with an epoxy resin, with 6 ounce glass on the top and bottom. Peter talked us through the whole process and was great in helping us make the decisions that needed to be made.
I finished the third and fourth fin in bamboo and happy with the two tone effect. The two larger fins are red cedar. Hopefully they will all be strong enough to lay a carve into the face of the wave without snapping. I hope to get them glassed with 6 or 8 Ounce glass for extra strength. This will add thickness to them, but i dont want to sacrifice the strength. Almost ready to be sent off for glassing. Running my eyes over every edge of the board now to finish any imperfections. 
Started sanding the rails this morning and it the fish is starting to reveal itself. Took the protective plastic off so i could admire it in all it its glory. Still got some finer sanding to complete the rails and then finish off the fins.
Made a start on the tail and its slowly starting to appear. The Journey in-wood is near its end. But got a lot of dust still to come...stay tuned
So i finally got around to glueing the rails on. Have fallen a bit behind Duncan so needed to make a solid start on it over the weekend. So glued 4 strips to the tail and went with 3 strips for the rails. This will gve me aorund 21mm rails to work with. The router came in handy to trim off the excess pieces of cork (thanks Ben). Wont be ready for the Fish Fry on Sunday at Currumbin, but will head down to check out the various shapes to get some ideas for my next board.
