Technique
The technique consists of stitching together plywood panels with some sort of wire or other suitable device, such as cable ties or duct tape. Copper wire is popular because the wires can be twisted tighter or looser to precisely adjust fit, and because it is easy to sand after gluing, and it is suitable in a marine environment if left in place. To join, the cut panels are drilled with small holes along the joining edges and stitched. Once together, the join is glued, usually with thickened epoxy and fiberglass on the inside of the hull.
On the outside of the hull, the wire is snipped and the joints filled and sanded over. The outside of the joint, or entire hull, may be fiberglassed and glued as well, providing additional strength. The combination of fiberglass tape and epoxy glue results in a composite material providing an extremely strong joint.
An alternative is to use dabs of thickened epoxy in between the "stitching" to join the panels, and after it has cured, completely remove the copper wires instead of just snipping them off on the outside. With the wires removed, you can go back and apply a fillet of thickened epoxy over the entire length of the join. Yet another technique is to use heat to remove the wires after the epoxy is cured.
True stitch and glue designs generally have few bulkheads, relying instead on the geometry of the panels to provide shape, and forming a monocoque or semi-monocoque structure.
Read more about this topic: Stitch And Glue
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