Julie Mo
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Everything posted by Julie Mo
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This has been a great experience thus far. I'm happy I took took the plunge. Now that the bones are solid, time to fair the structure for the deck. First, I want to say I tripped upon these Bessey vices that became a godsend. I knew I had some work to do that would require some rigidity in the hull structure. The Bessey vices were rock-solid. This made the following steps so much more enjoyable. I took the limited tools I had on hand and made the best of fairing the top deck structure. Being conscious of the curvatures of the deck, I made sure to always have the fairing tool laying on at least two surfaces so I wouldn't lose the natural shape of the hull. About 46" overall Shooting down the line, it looked pretty good. The bow did have a slight dog but it was easily fixed. Now the deck dilemma. To tack or not to tack? I can see the benefit of tacking the deck when it comes to fairing the tips and gunnels. Then there's the issue of where to begin the gunnel planks? The hull is taking shape and makes my heart skip a beat! I know how Elizabeth Meyer felt when she first saw Endeavour wallowing in the murk.- 562 replies
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Dee Dee, I am posting every photo I can think I would hope to see if I was going into this blind, which I am. I hope you find what you need. My creative photographic skills may not be the best. Sorry if I missed something you need.
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Keith, you may think I am nuts but here goes... Today it's hard to find mahogany planks over 20-24'. Back in 1932-3, they might have been able to get planks up to 40'. (I know Endeavour had an aluminum hull but we'll pretend it was wood.) So for the sake of this "realism", I was planning on cutting the planks to no more than that length, on a 1:35 scale. I will not be using full lengths of the material provided. That may sound like I'm making more work for myself but my love of classic sailboats will not let me do otherwise. No two planks will butt together on the same frame without at least 2-3 planks separation, but if possible more like 5-6 or more. I will create a planking pattern that will convey realism and the aesthetic of structural integrity. Should be fun. Mark, it's 5:15 PM and you're just now sitting down with a cup of coffee?
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Glue-up continues... I haven't yet figured out why those frame additions are necessary (under the black & red clamps). You think they would have put them at the deck joint but that's not the case. The stern fillers. This was a tricky clamp up. I used the friction method to join the three different sized pieces. The centerboard stopper (white arrow) When clamping two parts on different planes, it became a challenge to apply much pressure. The right side of the clamp is barely clinging on to the bottom of the keel, while the left side of the clamp isn't even applying pressure on the other side of the piece. Now that I'm seeing this, I realize I should have inserted wedge shims.
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The centerboard has about 10 coats of lacquer on it. It was easier to do that before installation and the lacquer will help prevent glue from adhering to it when planking. But the lacquer added enough thickness to the centerboard that it required the keel slots to be widened. When trying to figure how I was going to clamp the "cabin sole" in place, I decided to use the punch out pieces as wedges. I cut away for the cabin sole sections and then wedged them in place after glue-up. It seemed to work well enough.
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The bow and stern sections were glued up last night. This morning I begun the task of joining them together. I added the outer deck beams first. I found I needed to clamp one end as I worked the joints together. The Channel Locks have proven to be my savior. I also found being stingy with the glue at the bottom of the joints helped a lot too. Due to the sheer, I found it better to put the amidships on a block so I wouldn't stress the structure while pushing the frames in place. When it came time to link the bow and stern together, I added a second block. The clamps helped snug it all together but weren't a lot of help when it came to fully seating the joints flush. Good ole Channel Locks to the rescue! They made a difficult task easy. I had to stop here because I didn't have enough clamps. There are no stores around here that sell clamps other than Home Depot. They have those little DeWalt clamps in the photo. The next size up would crush the model. Nothing in between. An Amazon delivery is coming today.
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Hi Styrmann, I have found the members here very helpful. I don't think any would laugh at anything posted, unless getting a laugh was what was intended. The great thing about creating a build thread comes in posting pictures. Sometimes you don't know enough to even ask an intelligent question. If you post pictures, an experienced member may see something you are doing that needs correction. If it is not corrected, it could lead to worse problems down the line. Personally, I think the Endeavour kit warrants a little extra caution if just for the fact that it is an expensive kit (to me, anyway). I went into a minor panic yesterday when a frame wouldn't fully seat and I couldn't budge it one way or the other. Images of losing the whole thing were horrifically dancing in my head and I could see hundreds of dollars going down the drain. In that panic, I was wondering if anyone here could help save the project if I the glue locked the frame in the wrong place. The other part I like about creating a build thread is that one day someone, who is as new to the hobby as me, might see the thread and decide to give model making a try. Pictures can help in that sense, too. It seems like a win-win.
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Complex glue ups (where several joints are glued and joined simultaneously) are my least favorite task in woodworking. My experience tells me to do whatever is possible to avoid them. But with this build, you can minimize the number of joints you are gluing but you can't avoid complex glue ups completely. What happened in the first round was the glue in the bottom of the joint had nowhere to go. The joint was too tight and didn't allow for excess glue to escape. Not good. I created snug on the dry fit because so many of the joints presented difficulty in clamping. Plus I didn't have the right clamps for complex angles. I managed to separate the pieces and cleaned them up. When I reassembled them, right or wrong, I used a pair of Channel Locks to complete the final seating. I could feel a 'pop' as the last of the glue was squeezed out. Most important was to make sure the joints were fully seated and the deck joints were flush. The Channel Locks accomplished that.
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Well that was unexpected! I started gluing at the stern. First two pieces have only one joint. Third piece had three. Using a brush to distribute the glue, I coated all the contacting areas. When I put it together, the frame froze before it was fully seated. Short of beating it with a hammer, nothing moved it. Titebond III is supposed to have a long set time. I'm guessing the open end of the plywood soaked up the glue and the joints swelled. Back to the drawing board.
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Styrmann, if you start a build log, let me know. I'd love to see how you are doing on the build. Keith, thank you for confirming what I have been thinking. I've been taking my time, making sure everything is right, but how do I really know what's right? I have to put some faith in the company that makes a not-so-cheap model sailboat kit. Part of why I chose this model was in the hopes you get what you pay for. So far I have been impressed with how everything has gone together but some of that probably was the result of making sure all the joints fit snug and flush. It looks like if you do that, the results will be very good. At least that's been my experience so far. I also try not to create any unnecessary work for myself. 35 years in construction taught me to work smart, not hard. You do less work in the same amount of time and the results are better. Tacking down the deck seems unnecessary. But this is my first model and I may be completely wrong. I know I still have a lot to learn. Now, on to the glue up....
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Thanks, Keith, The way I see it, the only parts of the framing you can pin to the deck during the gluing process is the longitudinal deck beams - fore & aft. All the frames have to be removed, glued up, and installed. Part of my question comes from the fact the skeleton, when dry fit, looked fine from all the visual angles I sighted. When I dry fitted it, it needed no adjustment. So I'm trying to understand the need to tack the deck down during gluing and add all that extra work. I took another look at it just now and I can see tacking the plywood deck down creating problems when it comes time to remove it. The plywood deck is so thin I'm imagining it getting torn up during removal. The strong back seems the better option, best if one side matched the curvature shown on the plan. That would be rock solid. But with the tools I have here, I don't see me making that. The shims will have to do. Back to the store!
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Very classy and beautifully engineered stand, Keith. You never cease to impress. You've also given my some ideas for my stand. I think I mentioned I was going to display the model as if she had just returned to the dock from a race. I picturing morphing your stainless steel post concept into dock and pier pilings. The back side of the display will have the have the planked pier, with those pilings doubling as a stand. The front side of the display will have just the pilings. Then maybe some dock lines to cleats on the pier and to the pilings on the front side of the display. Thank you again for sharing.
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Am I missing something in the directions? The way I see it should go is I use the deck to check alignment then remove it, disassemble the dry fit and begin the glue up. Table 2 - Fig. 13 Or am I supposed to keep the deck beams attached to the plywood decking for alignment purposes? If it's the latter, I can't see the logic but I can see it creating a lot of seemingly unnecessary work. Which is it? Or should the decking be attached only for the purposes of keeping alignment while planking? Keith, I know you said you used the strong back, but wouldn't that needed to have the same curvature the deck has from bow to stern? You couldn't use a flat board or it would take the shape out of the structure.
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The dinghy doesn't have one of those thingys protruding at the bow so the clothes pin won't work. But if someone walked in with Limburger cheese, I might find another use for it.
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Funny how that happens. But I have thus far refused to purchase anything I already have sitting in storage. So I have to convince myself I really don't own "that" before I can buy it.
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Right now I have to temporarily nail the plywood deck sheet to check alignment, etc. before beginning the frame glue-up. The kit also comes with a dinghy and the instructions show using nails to hold the planks at the bow in place. They have to be removed to free the boat from the planking form. I don't see that turning out very pretty. I want to form the planks so the nails aren't necessary.
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I haven't played with the rudder yet but, and you'll probably think I'm crazy, the round mast bothers me. It looks too much like what you'd find on a ship built in the 1800s. Ranger, the defender of the 1934 America's Cup, had a aluminum spars and rod rigging. I know Endeavour had rod rigging and since Thomas Sopwith, her owner, was an aeroplane magnate who was very hands-on, she probably had aluminum spars also. And the mast would have been an oval shape, not round. Anyway... I took everything apart and re-checked each joint, then reassembled it dry. The instructions say to nail the deck temporarily and check the fit everywhere, making sure the cockpit and mast holes align. I can't see any way I can drive nails the way it is. If I had my shop and tools, I could make a cradle, but I don't. I picked up that Bessey vise on Amazon and it's pretty handy. I would probably need 2-3 more to stabilize the structure enough to drive nails and keep the structure rigid. The way the instructions read, they say to attach the deck, check the fit, then begin the glue-up. It doesn't say anything about removing the deck first but I'm guessing they just assumed the model maker would know. I don't know how Amati intended the mast to stand but I'm going to rake it back a touch. I'm thinking of picking up a long dowel larger than the mast holes and see if I can create an oval shaped mast. I know I will never be happy with a round mast. As for trying to create rod rigging, has anyone used silver solder for stays and shrouds?
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I found that article. The man's name is Bryan Gittins. Here's the article: http://www.channelcutteryachts.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Cruising-World-article.pdf
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Thank you! Now another newbie question - Where do you find a drill and bit that small? This?
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I took a pair of needle nose pliers and tried to drive a small brass nail. It slid to the side and bent the head end of the nail. I can't see hammering them working. What tool is supposed to be used? Thanks, Julie
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Dry fit - Centerboard The mahogany parts sheet is very thin. The centerboard is attached by a tiny nail. I can see it breaking off very easily. With the three pieces in the picture in place, I find the centerboard fitting in snugly. There will be a finish on the CB so, before I glue any of it together, I am applying several coats of lacquer to the CB. There is a tiny piece not in the picture that acts as a stopper for the CB but it fits loosely and falls out. That will be tricky to glue in place. CB down in approximate position. Piece L47 and the other pieces along the keel bottom will need some work after glue up. There is no piece between the CB and rudder. I can see why Keith filled in the spaces between the frames. It could be a challenge to fair them as is. Fortunately, the plans show you right where to drill the hinge holes.
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Thank you for the photo, Keith. I can see how you followed the lines at the gunnels and also at the bulb and allowed them to join where the hull meets the keel. This is very appealing visually. The idea of starting at the bottom and working up didn't work for me. As I am looking at the rudder, I find myself wanting to make it movable. There seems to be very little "meat" in the frames where the rudder hinge would be. But this is a model that can be modified for RC so there must be a way.
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Michael, Your build reminds me of an article I saw in Sail or Cruising World or some other sailing magazine from several years ago. It was about a man who built beautiful Bristol Channel cutters, in the range of plus or minus 30', by himself. It was both fascinating and educational how he managed to do this. When I saw your build, it brought me right back there. I only wish I could remember his name because I believe you two are cut from the same beautiful cloth.
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