KeithAug

Julie I had the same issue with the tight joints. Much filing resolved it. I thought it might be just my kit but it seems like it is a more general problem. Keith

Hi Julie Once you get on to assembling the frames make sure that the assembled frames are "true". On mine their was a slight bow and a pronounced twist from bow to stern. Eyeballing the assembly by looking along the frames from the bow with your eye just above the deck level should reveal any distortion. The kit instructions suggest you temporarily nail the deck in place to control distortion during gluing. This might address the bowing but it does not provide sufficient rigidity to cure twist. You may recall that I found it necessary to bolt an oak plank to the deck to hold it true. Did you resolve what you are going to do about jointing the mast? I bought From "Enterprise to Endeavour" by Ian Dear to accompany my build. You might find it interesting. Regards Keith.

Hi Julie Its a bit late here so this may be a little brief. My concern about the dinghy is that with only the bow and transom secured the planks will have a tendency to spring back to their former flat shape when removed from the frames. I had thought of trying to get a mid section frame in place to prevent this. I thought clinker might be better as the overlapping of the planks would give extra stiffness. I shaped the frames with a small sanding block. It took an hour or so. I think nailing is a bit optimistic as my guess is that the ends of the planks will split. I would be inclined to rely on glue but if you do nail I think pre drilling will be necessary. In my kit the dowels were half rounds and the mast dowels were staggered so the end joint was only ever half of the mast thickness. I had 5 half rounds from which to form the mast (2 half lengths and one full length on one side and 2 full lengths on the other) I found the segmented mast had the benefit of allowing me to get it very straight. I did hunt for a dowel long enough to avoid jointing but the ones I found all had an unacceptable degree of bend. You refer to 3 dowels - is your kit different to mine? I agree end jointing of 3 dowels would be useless. The romance of your dock vision is compelling. Can you build a bar on it please? I often sit on deck after a long day at sea (usually in the rain if its Scotland) sorting through the rats nest of lines that my fellow crew members have abandoned in favour of their gin and tonics. I get a bit OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) about rats nests. The practical point however is that lines dropped on a deck tend to collapse relatively flat to the deck as their weight overcomes the stiffness in the line. At model scale the opposite is true and the stiffness overcomes the weight. The result is that they stick up at odd angles and don't look very realistic. You might want to experiment before deciding which way to go. Goodnight Keith

Hi Grant If you do get round to making the blade lock the most critical dimension is the length of the peg which holds the arm. I measured the distance from the outside of the drive pulley to the wall and added .015 inch. Regards Keith

Hello Julie, I didn't build the dinghy because the refurbished yacht relies on an inflatable. I did assemble and sand the frame and I and may get round to making it one day. I think it might be quite tricky as its planked without attaching the planks to the frame - so that it can be removed. Usually dinghys of this type are clinker rather than carvel built and I don't recollect this being covered in the instructions. As to handling the Yacht I think you will find it very easy until you attach the mast. This can be towards the end of the build and you should be able to get on without worrying about transport until the mast is attached. In my build I did make the mast removable - all the shrouds and stays attach to the deck with bolts and all the sheets etc, are tied to the deck fittings. I didn't explain this in the build, perhaps I should have done. You can see the attachment details in some of the photographs. One thing you might like to consider before starting is how you want to display the model. I quite like having the model sat in a cradle once complete. If you go down this route you can get on with the build and worry about the cradle later (or alternatively use the one provided). Many builders however favour screwing dowels (metal or wood) into the keel. If you go down this route you will need to attach some form of captive nut arrangement into the frame. By the way - very nice workshop. I would have gone into mourning If I'd had to leave it. Keith.

Hi Julie, Very pleased that it finally arrived. I look forward to following your progress. I know 3 rules of workbenches / tables as follows. Rule 1 - The size of the workbench is inversely proportional to the tidiness of the owner. Rule 2 - The bigger the workbench the more time spent looking for the tool needed. Rule 3 - Workbenches larger than needed are ideal places to park tools which are not needed. Keith.

Hello Pat I do have a patent for a liquid distributor!!!!!!....... but not for these modifications that anyone who wants to can copy. Thank you for the interest. Regards Keith

Hi I find soaking wood in container of boiling water is the most convenient method. For anything up to 1/8 inch a few minutes soak will do the job. You can vary the size of the container to match the piece of wood you want to bend and any water left in the kettle can be used for coffee (or tea in my case). When bending long strips I use a steam wallpaper stripper and push the strips down the steam outlet tube. Keith

Tinkering with Table Saw I am between models so I spent a few hours tinkering with my Byrnes saw. Firstly I was finding blade changing a bit of a chore. Holding the shaft across the flats on the drive end (behind the belt guard) while at the same time loosening the blade fixing nut from the access hole in the base was a bit frustrating, particularly as the spanner on the drive end had a habit of falling off. I wanted something that locked the drive end thus allowing me to replace the blade while only working from the blade end . I decided to make the locking device in the attached photos. Its slides in position and locks in place using the knurled wheel for blade changing and retracts (sliding along the slot) to be locked in the disengaged position. I also took the opportunity to cut a viewing hole in the guard to ease location of the locking attachment. Obviously I will need to remember to disengage the lock before switching the saw on. I find that things that don't have their own place get lost. I am forever looking for stuff!!!! In the case of my saw the rip angle gauge and the blade height locking key are both prone to going walkabout. I decided to mount both in the saw body. The angle gauge locates in a clip bolted to the side of the saw and the key locates on pins mounted at the back of the saw as per photos.

Reflections - Overview:- I think the Amati Endeavour kit provides a good challenging option for the competent less experienced builder. The laser cut frames and comprehensive nature of the kit contents, together with good quality plans enables the builder to make rapid progress - always a benefit for those who might become daunted by the size of the task. Seeing the hull develop quickly is good motivator, inspiring the builder to return frequently to the build. Had I stuck to the 1934 kit design I am sure that I would have been more than happy with the result. Instructions:- I found the build instructions supplied with the kit to be rather brief and I am sure that an inexperienced builder would have struggled. I think a more detailed explanation would have proved beneficial. Inadequate aspects of the kit:- 1. I thought the drop keel and its mounting was poor and much too flimsy for a quality model. 2. I thought the spacing of the frames in combination with the thickness of the planks would make achievement of a shapely hull profile problematic. I note other builders have sanded through the 1st planks when attempting to achieve a reasonable quality finish. 3. I wasn't very impressed with the quality of the deck planking. To me it felt too open grained. 4. The suggested method of creating the rudder seemed daft and the rudder profile didn't match the hull lines as well as I would have expected. I ended up modifying the shape to make it look right. Good aspects of the kit:- I felt that the fineness of the hull lines (with smooth transitions between frames) did a lot to make the planking much easier than on my previous builds. My first significant build was Billing Boats Smit Rotterdam and the complex hull curvature made for quite a taxing planking operation. My second build was a scratch build model of HMS Cornwall which was easier to plank but still more difficult than Endeavour. I have included a few photos for interest. My view is that Endeavour provides an excellent challenge for those branching out into hull planking for the 1st time, but i would recommend providing a backing to the 1st planks to compensate for the issues mentioned earlier. I was particularly pleased that the mahogany strips provided with the kit as they gave a rich deep colour once varnished. Although I doubted the segmented approach to the mast it actually worked well. I really liked 1:36 as a modelling scale as it gave enormous scope for creating detail. My previous builds have all been at smaller scales - 1:96 and 1:72. I think my future kits will all be at larger scales although I accept this will limit the scope of what I might attempt. I really liked building a yacht. I have sailed for 34 years and building my own yacht seemed, in a strange way, to connect me more closely with pleasant memories. (I can highly recommend the rum punches, lapping waves and inspiring sunsets at Basils Bar on Mustique). Kit or Scratch? I went down the kit route somewhat in haste. I suspect that at least 1/3 of the expenditure on the kit still resides within the box as I have all of the deck fittings / deck houses left over. Kit building also caused me a few frustrations when I didn't like the materials supplied - e.g. the thickness of 1st and 2nd planks, the quality of the deck planks and mahogany ply (warped). In retrospect I should have gone down the scratch build route based on the Amati plans which can be purchased separately and which are clear and comprehensive. What next? I am being lured in by the grace and beauty of Altair - another British Yacht of the 1930's. A comprehensive plan set is available from a number of suppliers and Santa's bag need filling!!!!! Thank you to all those who have taken an interest in this topic.

A final few photographs. I think I will also do some refections on the build in a future post plus some thoughts on my next project. I also have to make a display stand and possibly a display cabinet. I will cover these as and when I get round to making them. Keith

I have now finished - it took a bit if time to get the sheets and halliards tidy but a couple of simple jigs helped. Here are a selection of photos of the finished model. I will post a few more tomorrow.

Julie You may have seen this. http://www.adamlaystudio.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Endeavour-Boat-International-July-2012.pdf Keith

Julie I don't think anything is unrealistic and on my next build I think I will try to simulate deck hatches. The teak edging to the seating area looks a bit tricky. I have steamed and bent hard woods in the past but I find very tight bends on anything other than veneer (.020") tends to lead to splintering. The up-stand for the well on my build was made out of 3 thicknesses of veneer, soaked in boiling water and then glued over a former turned to the correct diameter. I think if I wanted to duplicate the edge detail I'd form the outer profile in a thin plank of teak and then glue it over the well and then cut out the centre of the sheet to form the inner profile as a final operation, however I can think of a number of options. I experiment when I come across new situations and usually find something that works. Keith

Hello Julie Thank you for the comments. Much of your build will be the same as its only the deck detail that differs to any significant degree. You will find a couple of other Endeavour build logs at 1:35 and 1:80 scale which you might find useful particularly as these keep closely to the Amati 1934 original detail. I started my sailing in 1978 and still manage the odd week away. Prior knowledge did help, particularly with the rigging details. The downside is that I became a bit obsessive about knots, which all had to be correct even though they were too small to be seen in detail. I think you will find the kit a good entry point into ship modelling as it gives plenty of challenge while rewarding the modeller with reasonably rapid progress and pleasing results. My build took 10 months of about 10 - 15 hours a week but this included a lot of time searching for deck details. Your build should be less time consuming. Good luck with you build and may your time pass pleasurably. Keith

Sails A few considerations before starting: I realised that for the mainsail to look good the foot, luff and leach all needed to be fairly taught. This meant that the dimensions of the 3 edges of the sail had to be a little shorter that the corresponding measurement at the boom and the mast. Also the leach needed to be of a length that could be tensioned by the main sheets without the boom bottoming out on the deck mounted boom support. The jibs also needed to be sized to be tight on the leach and not so large that they fouled the shrouds. I decided to template the sails in plastic sheet ( left over from the template used to size a recently fitted kitchen worktop). As a guide I started by making the templates slightly larger than the sail plans supplied with the kit. I then offered them up to the model and marked and trimmed them until I was satisfied that they were ok. The modern sails of the 1989 Endeavour have a much more complex panel / reinforcing arrangement that the 1934 sails. I didn't think stitching was appropriate for creating this degree of detail and I was also concerned that stitching would lead to puckering and distortion of the sails. I marked the sail detail on the templates for later transfer to the sails. I created a frame to stretch the sail cloth over and mounted the templates on a board located temporarily within this frame . Having stretched the cloth I traced the sail detail on to the sail cloth I then used PVA glue diluted 1:1 with water which I applied to the cloth as a stiffener as suggested in the kit. It all went wrong at this stage. Despite the tension in the cloth the application of the fluid caused the cloth to sag considerably. I decided to make the best of a bad job and hung the frame from the workshop ceiling so that the cloth sagged uniformly. Fortunately some tension did reoccured during drying. Next time I think I will wet the cloth prior to the initial tensioning. After drying I applied additional thicknesses of sail material to simulate the reinforcing around the clews. I found the best way of simulating the sail batterns was to cut and superglue glue thin strips of plasticard directly on to the sails. Having cut out the sails I had a few experiments on binding the edges, most of which looked awful. I then remembered a roll of self adhesive sail repair tape that was languishing in my sailing gear bag - bought many years before in Jersey (Channel Islands). I cut this into 3/8 inch strips and this gave an acceptable edge detail. I used dressmakers eyelets to form the clews. I also cut the registration number J/K4 from the sail tape. I am now on the last lap and expect to finish the build over the next few days.

Main Boom (a short post this time) I really over thought this - working out various schemes for setting up the milling machine to taper the boom accurately. In the end I marked out the taper on the triangular wooden dowel provided in the kit and shaped it with a block plane - finishing with sand paper - simple is often better!!!!!. The hinge to the mast works in 2 planes (side to side and up and down). The topping lift configuration is copied from relevant photographs as are the fittings for attaching the main sheets and reefing points. Next i will cover sail making - something that I have not done before and something which I approached with a degree of trepidation. I have seen too many models with limp, ill fitting sails and I was concerned that getting something that looked ok was going to be beyond me.

Thank you to all of you still prepared to follow and comment on my build. Following up earlier comments - it is correct that the 1989 Endeavour should not have a drop keel - unfortunately I hadn't made the decision on the version I was making at the time I installed the drop keel. As it is hidden from view when retracted I thought I'd leave it. As for the 1989 version having a motor - I offer the same excuse - although I agree this is more noticeable. I must do better on my next build. Finishing the mast:- I used the plastic channel section provided with the kit to simulate the mainsail track running up the back of the mast and for the spinnaker track. The main track runners are loops of brass wire. I turned a brass cap for the head of the mast onto which I soldered the extension which carries the wind direction indicator. The anemometer was made/ from brass wire and copper sheet. I made a die for the anemometer cups and pressed them from thin copper sheet which I annealed to prevent tearing during the pressing / punching operation. The reinforcing straps at the various mounting points for the shrouds and stays were cut from thin brass sheet. The radar was turned from dowel and mounted on a brass wire frame. The mast was sprayed matt white to finish. Shrouds and Stays:- I wanted to make sure that the shrouds and stays remained taught and therefore decided not to use the string provided with the kit. Instead I used very thin (.004") copper wire (recovered from an electric shaver). Each shroud / stay was made from 8 strands of wire which were twisted (circa 500 turns). The collars (brass tube) at the end of the shrouds were useful in that they allowed the wire to be tensioned, held and adjusted prior to gluing. The photos of shrouds show some untidy tails which were not glued until the sails were mounted.

The Forming The Mast The kit provides a number of half round dowel sections which need to be glued together to form a composite round dowel of the right length - about 56 inches. I was a bit dubious and spent some time sorting through the shed to find a straight dowel of the correct length. Having failed I went back to the kit supplied material and glued them together as instructed. I held the assembly with elastic bands which worked well and the result was surprisingly good and straight. I wanted to get all the holes for cross trees, sail and shroud attachment points etc accurately positioned so I decided to drill them prior to tapering the mast. I cut a location slot in a sheet of MDF mounted in my milling machine and attached a "sighting card" over the slot so I could rotate the mast to the correct drilling angles. The slot allowed me to move the mast along its length while maintaining its position relative to the centre line of the mill. This worked well. I wanted to get the taper on the mast uniform along its length. The protrusion of the mast above the deck is 52 inches so I marked off 4 inch lengths and calculated the diameter of 13 cylinders from mast base to top. I then progressively turned the cylinders on the lathe. The diameter change between successive cylinders was circa .015 inches. The stepped cylinders were then lightly sanded in the lathe to remove the steps. I had to improvise with the lathe to accommodate the length and this involved stripping out the tailstock to use as a steady and supporting the overhang in a piece of wood mounted in my Black and Decker Workmate to prevent whipping. The cross trees for the 1989 version of Endeavour are somewhat more complex than featured in the Amati kit and to get them uniform I made a simple jig. The cross trees were made out of brass wire bent and soldered to form the correct shape. I was careful to get the correct angles when glueing the cross trees to the mast. I used quick drying epoxy to give me some time to fine tune the angles. And here is the mast part finished.

Before getting on to the mast and rigging I thought I'd post a few pictures of the final deck fittings. The spinnaker booms are made from dowel with brass end fittings. They were tapered in the lathe by sanding. The mooring cleats were cut from solid aluminium bar on the mill. The life ring was turned from ply sheet on the lathe and the ensign staff was turned from dowel. The pulleys at the base of the mast were a bit tricky.

It has been some time since my last post so apologies to those following this build. Fortunately summer is long gone and I have returned to the build. For this post I thought i would concentrate on hand rails and cleats - both being similar in construction. I wanted the rails to be both robust and uniform. This led me to making the rails from nesting brass tubes and utilising simple jigs. The following photos show a series of jigs as follows:- Jig 1 - makes sure the rail fixing collars are all identical length - the collars are cut from tube which passes through the jig. The slot is the length of collar required - the tube being cut to length with a razor saw. Jig 2 - is made by milling grooves in a nylon cutting board - it positions the collars on the tube which forms the hand rail. The collars are held in place by super glue. Jig 3 - is a slot cut in hard wood which locates the assembled rail and collars for drilling in the milling machine prior to attaching the mounting pin. Jig 4 is a guide for soldering in the mounting pin. And here is one of the rails assembled. That of course is the interesting bit - the hand rails and cleats combined consist of over 600 individual parts which was somewhat tedious. Here are a few photos of the result. the brass rails have been painted to simulate wood. I'll be covering other bits of deck furniture in my next post within the next few days. Regards Keith

Yves I did drill holes for the first 6 (the ones at the bow end) but I then tried 1 without and decided they looked identical so didn't bother with the remaining 18. Keith.

Deck port holes. My last post for several weeks - annual holiday. The kit features 6 deck port holes however the 1989 rebuild features no fewer than 24. A lathe production run was therefore required. A brass bar was turned down to the required outside diameter and then drilled out to the correct window size. I ground a turning tool to have the correct bevel angle on the leading edge - and this allowed me to complete forming and parting off in a single action. I initially cut teeth in the end of a tube to make a hollow drill which I used to cut the circular windows out of blue plastic sheet. I then realised that a hole punch produced the required diameters much more easily and I reverted to this form of manufacture. Positioning / glueing the port to the deck was assisted by the use of a template cut from card. The card was marked with correct port hole positions and then used to glue one side before being flipped to the other side. Goodbye for now. Keith

Tracks and pulleys The tracks were machined from a scrap piece of brass sheet 1.5mm (.060") thick. The holes were drilled first before 3mm (.120") slots were milled either side of the holes. The tracks were then parted off along the centre line of the slots using a 0.5mm (.020") slitting saw. This produced the "T" profile required for the 3 tracks. The Amati kit generally features blocks rather then the pulleys used in the 1989 refurbishment. The pulleys were turned from brass bar and mounted in frames made from bent sheet which was formed and then drilled to take the spindles. The deck attachment was made from wire threaded through a turned disc. The twinned pulleys are mounted in square hollow section brass tube.

Winches and grinders Hi Jeff - my advice is "never burn your boats"! The Amati kit includes 9 winces and the picture on the box shows these correctly installed with 2 arms extending from the base. These arms allow the winch to be cranked by 2 crew members employing a rowing action. The 1989 rebuild features no fewer than 23 winches which are geared to the the 3 grinders. 6 large winches are for jib and main sheets while the remaining winches (in 2 sizes) are for track adjustments, halliards etc. I made the winches in 2 parts - the bases being turned from aluminium and the winches themselves being made from stainless steel. Three grinders are mounted along the centre line, 2 forward of the cabin and one towards the stern. The column of the grinders was made in 2 parts - the turned stem and turned / milled top. The handles are fabricated from brass strip, wire and tube.