Dreams of rudder cheeks and boomkins danced through my head

I guess by the title you can tell I dream of boat projects even at Christmas time! I picked up the new mahogany rudder checks and boomkin from H &L Marine on 12-21-12.

 Took them to the boat and checked the fit. All seemed well so I brought them home to put many coats of protection on them. (H&L always does a great job! Plus they are nice to deal with.)

The very top of the rudder cheeks get s a small block across the top. The one I took off was just a rectangular piece of wood with square edges. It really didn't look right sitting on top of the curvy cheeks! I thought that the new piece should have a bit more flare to it and match the cheeks. So I clamped the rudder checks to the stainless steel rudder housing and screwed the top piece on from the bottom. (The original was glued on.) I grabbed my rasp file and plane and went to work. The reason I needed the plane is that the new piece was about an 1/8" longer on one side. I could have cut it with the table saw but wanted to try the plane. I haven't really used a plane before but really want to learn how to use one as I think it will be a good tool to have when we take off cruising.
Any way below are a few pictures I took as I filed and shaped the top piece by hand. Let me know what you think. Like it or no?

All in all I think it came out nice and it looks so much better than just a rectangular piece of wood sitting up there.
Now I get to coat them all with 2 coats of penetrating epoxy, two coats of cetol light and 3 coats of cetol clear....stay tuned!

P.S.
I will be taking the unfinished boomkin to the boat for a complete test fit. I will figure out where the stern pulpit will be mounted, the not-yet-bought main sheet hoop and the monitor wind vane.