First attempt at splicing long panels

I spent about an hour "punching" out the bottom, side, and top panels.  Then some time scratching my head about the best way to clamp the splices together.  Below is the scheme.

I took one set of the one side of the bottom panels and slathered on some epoxy mixed with silica.  I got all the fingers in alignment and pressed down.  When I was happy with this piece I placed a plastic divider on top of it and repeated the process with the same pieces that form the mirror image.  Once the fingers were all glued and in line I placed plastic and then a board on top and then ran a clamping board under the table and clamped the two boards together at each end.

Then I placed weights (batteries) on top of the plank to evenly distribute the pressure.  The end result is that the two panel assemblies and the table are sandwiched between the two boards and the batteries provide extra clamping pressure.

Incidentally, these bottom panels turn out pretty long and wide.  It's the first real feeling I've gotten for the scale of the boat.

Hours this session: 2
Hours total: 56
Hours remaining: 346