Pat Lynch

A milestone reached! After a few days intermittent work, the hull planking is finally done A lot has been learnt, mistakes made and ideas sorted. I had decided at the outset that I'd make a painted model using the Australian replica as a guide (with some limitations) so the finish didn't have to be perfect in many areas but a lot of work needs to be done as the model is built - hull must be painted while things are accessible, what areas can be masked off while others are painted or details that need to be added before/after painting. It all makes for interesting thinking times! The timber veneer planking has been given a coat of sanding sealer/grain filler before any cracks or gaps were filled with water-based dark wood filler. All was sanded back, given another coat of sealer, sanded again and the lower hull is ready for paint (white). I should also make and fit the rudder as it will be mostly white too as are the rudder hinges. And so a few small details on the lower transom need to be fitted and then the water-line wales and lower transom can be painted a black colour. I will use Tamiya acrylics because I have them (I use them a lot on rc aircraft). So that's the plan - I may even stick to it (after a good bench tidy-up) Pat

Thanks Chris - I had wondered about contact adhesive but its consistency makes it a little messy to work with. I'll trial it on something simpler one day. The joy of gel CA is no clamps or other temporary fixing devices BUT it has a lot of drawbacks - particularly if the planks is not accurately placed first time , I also spray the rear of the strip with CA accelerator which makes life exciting at times. I use CA almost exclusively on my rc model aircraft and am used to its peculiarities! On with the planking - Pat

Learn by trial and error! My long-passed Dad always said "the man who never made a mistake, never made anything" - I have made plenty of mistakes here but am learning fast The second veneer skin is about 3/4 completed - quite a steep learning curve but good fun never-the-less. Since I am experimenting with CA as the adhesive I had and extra bit of learning to do. The very porous 'mahogany' soaks up the CA very easily and transfers some of it to my fingers - makes for interesting language at times. But we are getting there. The lower hull below the main strakes will be painted white and the strakes themselves, black. As per the replica ship. So some gap-filling is permissible. Whew! I added the strakes now to help define the areas and provide a little 'bench rash' protection. Just the second side to finish and the most challenging part will be done. Until I start the rigging........ The bottom wood has been given a coat of lacquer-based grain filler - shows up the bits that need attention! Pat

It's been a few days since my last post - exactly the time taken to get the first planking layer fitted. Almost to my satisfaction! It was a great learning curve - about trying to get the flow of the planking right, the importance of having the frames well prepared and learning a few things that would have made life a little easier I hadn't bothered shaping the moulded wood bow part to match the stem part and so had a lot of laborious filing and Dremelling to get the groove to match the supplied Walnut parts - but all is now done amid much muttering..... I made a handy tool for the concave areas, from some 120 grit belt-sander paper stuck to a piece of !.5" tube with double-sided tape. Worked a treat. It would be a good idea also, to pre-cut the rudder post holes perhaps slightly undersize - it was not an easy task afterword. But everything else went mostly as per plan. I have not used any filler anywhere so something must have worked! Still to be fine-sanded but most of the smaller inconsistencies of the planking have been removed and it is almost ready to ponder the critical final .6mm Mahogany veneer. Scary I'm wondering if a neater job might result if the stem, keel and rudder post parts might be better fitted now so the finished planking can be carefully laid up to these parts for a better fit.....more pondering. Time for some gardening now but all seems to be progressing OK - sometimes in spite of the written instructions. Thank heavens for MSW foruns and the wonderful builds I can consult Pat ps. As usual, I got the photo sequence back-to-front! I'll work it out one day!

Yeeehaaa! The planking has been started. It's great having looked at so many builds on this and other forums and knowing that despite the apparent roughness of the first planking layer, it can always be cleaned up ready for the final veneer layer. I did lots of trial runs with the pine strips to identify uneven formers and make sure the pre-curved strips could be coaxed arounf the tight bends - esp. around the rather confusing transom area. I think I have it sussed out now. I ploughed on get the first run of 11 planks in place with only a small amount of muttering......each plank had a thin bead of Titebond brushed along it edge and was attached to each frame with a drop of med CA plus a temporary nail. The CA had cured by the next plank and so one line of nails slowly worked its way down the hull - all to be removed after I paused for a break. It will be dead easy to sand as the hard CA is only between plank and frame - sanding should be easy(ish). Now I'll do the other side to the same level...... Pat Pic #3 shows the various test runs to identify wayward frames Pic #2 is my rather crude pre-curving 'jig' after soaking in water for 10 minutes' Pic #1 is the current status

A few steps forward! The various Walnut Gun'wales were added after chamfering the underside to match the deck camber. I also tapered them to very close the shape they will need to be later. The frames have had their first heavy shaping using 80 grit sandpaper on long sanding bar and with a piece of flexible wood to verify the planking lines, things are looking OK (albeit a bit rustic at this stage. The rather crude moulded wood-fibre block at the stern is a bit lacking in accuracy but I added a couple of balsa sides to give me a better feel for the required shape - I am getting a better understanding of the flow of the planking even though it is only the underplanking I dealing with. A length of the pine first layer was nailed in place to verify the all-important sweep of the hull lines - it's almost right - I'll do some adjustment tomorrow. Even an ex-collier had some aesthetic charm I did the planing/shaping of the gunwales by sticking the wood to the bench with double-sided tape while shaping. The tape holds things perfectly without clamps etc. Pat

Back again after some serious research (of other people's work) plus a look at the deck of the replica. I noted others who had been unhappy with aspects of their experiments and then devised my own methods using the best of what I could find I made up a simple jig to help me cut planks to length and square - a wood guide and a square guide for an Xacto 1/2" chisel blade. I liked the caulking effect that some have used but wanted it fairly subtle so tried some Artists spirit-base makers until the shade was as desired - a light grey. Each plank was cut and the edge given a VERY delicate wipe with the pen. The result suits me but for some maybe a bit pale. After setting a centre 'board' down the centre, the shorter planks were glued in place using a series of fictitious deck beam positions marked on the ply base. The medium CA glue was run as a narrow bead down the centre of where the plank fitted using just enough so nothing squeezed out from underneath - no mess and a few seconds held in place then on the next one. The whole deck was done in about 3 hours. After cutting the various holes, some 180 W&D paper got it all smooth and the decks received a coat of sanding sealer and rubbed back again.I'll give it one more before any staining later. Now I get to see about the dreaded Gunwales which need tapering to match the lines of the hull......after the lower hull is planked. Hmm. Can it be made easier? Pat

Hi Mark and thanks for the words of encouragement! Although I was born NZ, I had lived in Oz for nearly 50 years, returning to my home town after my wife's passing a few years ago. So, I have a foot both sides of the ditch I had a day off (it is Sunday) and got stuck into the Endeavour and now, after barely a day's work, am ready to study the plans and other build logs to get my head around the deck planking. Importantly I must differentiate between Boxwood, Walnut, Mukali, Sapelle, and Samba ! I think Samba is the light-coloured strip intended for the first hull planks and Mukall is a fine-grain pale strip for the deck planking. Maybe there is a resource guide somewhere showing these woods? The hull at deck level got a very thorough sanding to bring everything the required level and the ply deck panels were glued/nailed in place. All good. I show the box contents - all parts are laser-cut and very tidy and well-fitting (so far) so I'm fairly happy with the progress. For those wondering, I have used CA (med) almost all my aeromodelling life and am a strong advocate of it. Titebond is used sparingly when parts need some fudging time to get aligned. Whether CA is OK for finish planking remains to be seen - it my soak through the .6mm strips? Anyway, enough for tonight while I study a book on planking and try and recognise a gun'wal or waterway, nibbing strake or wales..........etc Pat

Hello from New Zealand - my first post although I've been a casual browser for many years! I recently decide in my older (wiser?) years to build a tall ship and as the Endeavour is a well known vessel in NZ and Australian history, decided this was it. The A.L. kit was available locally (NZ) and here I am. I'm a reasonably experienced modeller (scratch built rc scale aircraft - mostly WW1) and have a fairly well equipped, but untidy, workshop. My hope is that I can ask questions of the vastly more experienced crowd here on MSW. My hope is that this model can be completed, unlike my previous attempt (another story). So, enough waffle - I scanned the kit's contents, found the expected generally OK quality, have read a few builds on other forums and decided to perch here and share my stumbling beginnings. First, a base was built to secure the 6mm ply keel to while the 6mm frames were all fitted squarely, and the decking pondered. I also marked out and pre-drilled the mast holes using card angle guides and my small drill-press to ensure the lower mast sections were all lined up! I'm looking forward to some relaxing fun! Pat