BANYAN

Hi Andy, great job in 'cherry-picking' your photos; that's a great summary of your build. I particularly like your quarter badge window modifications. cheers Pat

Hey John great to see you and this great build reappear. Could I ask that one of your next posts includes a scaling device or ruler so that newer folks see just how small a scal you work with? Popeye - we'll look forward to the when you are appointed cheers Pat

Nice to see this build-log of a very fine model again Ilhan, I hope youu repost some of your other very fine builds also? cheers Pat

Thanks for reposting this wonderful build Chuck; she is a thing of beauty! I have her marked as a future build cheers Pat

Great to see your fine build on dispay again Alex; I have very much enjoyed watching your fine craftsmanship. cheers Pat

Nice to see this fine lady gracing our build-logs again Russ. Such sweet lines don't deserve to be hidden away on some HDD or the like cheers Pat

Great to see the log back Greg; this time I haven't missed it until quite late - will follow this with interest. cheers Pat

Great to see the log being reassembled. Reading for the second time has been instructive as I missed a few great tips the first time through. cheers Pat

Hi folks, If you are a scratch builder, or like to make your own stock timber, then Australian Furnture Timbers in Port Melbourne are also helpful and will allow you to purchase 1 meter lengths. You will need to be able to resaw/mill the large planks into billets yourself (or find someone to do this service for you). They have a wide range of timbers and the staff have always been very helpful (no financial interest etc; just a happy customer ) cheers Pat

Hi Meredith, Brian is referring to me - shoot me a PM and I will pass contact details. It will be interesting to discuss this as I have similar issues. cheers Pat

Anchors I have made but not fitted two of the anchors. These are made from Caldercraft anchor kits that I have modified to suit. I will fit these after the rigging is complete (another sleeve catcher).

Catheads, Fish Davit and Boomkins To determine the correct positioning of the catheads and boomkins, I scanned and overlayed then scaled the Marquardt drawings over a scanned copy of the plan from the kit. By resizing these in Photoshop to ensure I was using the correct scale (1:60), I was able to determine their relative position on the forecastle as shown in the graphic. I also tried to ensure the fixings for these aligned with longitudinal beams (strength). The boomkins are made from Huon Pine that have been reduced to a dowel from square stock, then tapered with sandpaper while spinning the dowel in the lathe. I then bent the completed dowel around a former after soaking in boiling water and leaving to dry under clamping pressure. The fish davit is made from 4mm square walnut stock and is fitted with brass sheaves. The difference in the photo colour and brightness is the result of a change in camera and I am still trying to get the white balance right for the new one.

Belfry The belfry is scratch built from a 4mm square walnut stock with hand shaped shoulders and caps. The small bell was acquired as an after-market accessory. The pawls for the windlass brake, are fitted either side of the aft side of the belfrey post.

Windlass This was an interesting exercise that resulted in acceptable (but not great) result. I have learned a lot from this activity, and I will use a harder wood for the barrel in future efforts. The windlass barrel was formed by grinding/sanding flats along the length at an angle to create the camber; next time I will use a cutter. I did this using a mill with angle table attachment to have a level grinding surface but apply the correct degree of bevel. I am also a little unhappy with the alignment of some of the pawl holes in the finished product. I recut the carrick pieces from wood rather than use the metal versions provided in the kit; however, I did retain the carved heads and refitted them (too lazy to carve them myself ). The pawl notches are a small cog taken from an electric cordless drill (thanks Neptune for this idea and for the cog). I have not fitted the cable cleats yet as they will be too delicate and would suffer during the rigging process. They will need to be fitted before I fit the foremast shrouds.

Armaments Endeavour sailed with 10 x 4-pounder canon, 6 were mounted on deck and four in the hold which were brought up for shore defence when the ship was in Tahiti. The actual positioning of the deck canon is open to conjecture; some depictions have a pair on the quarterdeck. I think this latter configuration unlikely as it would have interfered with the working of the ship, especially during survey. In the following photograph, the canon are shown mounted in-situ with barrels blackened (old photo - before I replaced the breech ropes). Only the breeching ropes have been fitted as fitting the various tackles etc looks a little too 'busy' at this scale. However, I may yet be tempted to have them fitted in a 'stowed-for-sea' configuration. The ship was also fitted with 12 swivel guns, the posts for which I have made from Huon pine and shaped to octagonal before notching to fit against the cap rails, and bolted to the outside of the quarterdeck. I simulated the bolts at the base and cap rails of these posts, and elsewhere, with brass pins for which I had filed the round heads flat and square. I was able to do this using a hand-vice (pictured) and needle files. The swivels will be fitted after completion of the rigging.

Boat Stowage The boats are mounted to the gallows rails which are lashed (still to be done) to the spar gallows in the waist, as shown in the following photograph. One of the perils (or advantages depending on how you look at it) of close-up photography is that it shows blemishes much more clearly than viewed by the naked eye under ambient light. One further touch-up job I have is to put another coat of blue on the upper strake of the longboat and then add the yellow ochre rubbing strakes. The Cutter and the Yawl are yet to be made and will be nested on/within the existing boats using chocks sitting on the thwarts. Gripes and sea lashings will be fitted on completion.

Pinnace: The pinnace was made using the more traditional method of a plug (or mould) to build the shell (planking) into which subsequently the ribs were added. Chuck was kind enough to reduce the plans for his pinnace design for me to build from. However,, this tie I was not able to use his construction techniques, as unless the sacrificial bulkheads are cut by laser, they are too fragile to use at this scale. Chuck's pinnace design with the false/extended transom removed, was an almost identical fit to that proposed by Marquardt, so these plans were a great start to this mini-project.

Boats Longboat: After several unsuccessful attempts to build a plug (see picture) on which to build the boats, I was fortunate to be offered a 1/64 scale version of Chuck's 26 longboat templates. I have included photos of some of these plugs which were designed for the cutter; I may still use one of them. These are all sandwich constructed with two of them using vertical slices ('sliced bread loaf') and the other the more tradition 'bread and butter' horizontal slices. When I received the smaller laser cut template from Chuck (many thanks), I did not have intentions of using it; rather, I was more interested in the larger 1:48 version he had created. However, when I looked more closely at the smaller scale version provided by Chuck, I noted that, with very little modification, it fitted nicely to the dimensions of Endeavour's Longboat as described by both Ray Parkin and Karl Marquardt. Both authors agree that a shorter and fatter (in the beam) design would have been required, with the shorter length to allow it to be stowed without interfering with the workings of the ship. The wider beam allowed the boat to carry the required cargo, especially water casks. By removing a couple of the middle frames from Chuck's design, the length and beam of the resulting longboat was correct to 1:60 scale for Ray Parkin's version for the construction of the longboat (94 mm x 35mm x 20mm). However, I used Marquardt as the reference for the most likely fitting-out of the boat. According to Parkin, the longboat would have been clinker built rather than carvel to provide a more robust boat that could be used to conduct the intended close-in coastal surveying (which I am assuming Cook would have wanted). I have also adopted the two mast design with a sliding gunter rig, as this is what was clearly shown by the embarked artist, Sydney Parkinson (expedition artist/illustrator), in his sketches of the ship's boats. The following photographs show the construction process for the longboat using Chuck's sacrificial bulkhead system to create the skeleton/ribs of the boat. The following photograph shows the near completed longboat; I have still to complete the oars, grapnel, masts etc. I have painted the longboat mainly white as I believe it would have assisted with temperature control in the tropics, and provided higher visibility for the Endeavour's crew to monitor her movements during survey and coastal work.

Pumps and Bitts The pumps are made from accessories I purchased and modified slightly; overall I am happy with the result. The bits and rails are made from walnut and fitted with after-market belaying pins (walnut). Although not very clearly shown in these shots, I have fitted brass sheaves (2 per riser). I just hope I have fitted all of the deck bolts required as it will be an nightmare trying to place them around the mast in the future. There is a big colour difference shown in the photos here as I have just bought a new digital SLR camera and I am still trying to get the white balance right.

Capstan The capstan is a heavily bashed version of the kit supplied accessory. I have enlarged and squared the capstan bar holes and added the ratchet pawl slots and pawls. There is a pawl fitted on either side to create the 'brake' for controilling movement in either direction of rotation. I am not sure yet whether I will make capstan bars for this build.

Binnacle The binnacle shown is my second attempt as the first was a little oversized. It is based on the design shown by Marquardt but with some modifications. This will be secured to eyebolts when the rigging to the mizzen mast has been completed so as not to damage it.

Aft Deck Furniture The tiller arm was made from 4mm square walnut soaked in hot-water and bent n a fomer to provide the curvature. This was not easy and I had several attempts at it until I understood I needed a curved former rather than pegs in a board to use as the shape former. The horse-shoe extension provides clearance for the 'charlie noble' for the Captain's cabin stove. The 'iron horse' rail abaft the rudder is for the mizzen boom sheet tackle block. As a test of my metal working, I made the Ensign staff bracket to open and close (at scale 1:60) - a complete waste of time but very self-satisfying . All metal work in this build has been blackened using Brass Black which I have described in a Tutorial located here; however, in some places I have needed to touch-up with a bit of black paint, where I have damaged the finishin while fitting the part. I have mostly shown the deck furniture arrangements as depicted by Marquardt, but modified it in some places as built for the replica. Some items in particular that differ are the rudder head house, the platform over the tiller, and the bowsprit arrangement between the knightheads at the stem. The ship's wheel is a mix of the kit provided metal support posts and wood barrel, and a modified after-market accessory (boxwood) wheel to which I thinned down and added the brass shim circular trims. I have punched the brass to simulate the screw fastenings. I really should have used a scale device or object in some of these photos as the size (at 1:60) caused me some difficulty which sometimes proved very disheartening. The circular 'quadrant or rim straps' were cut by sandwiching the brass shim between two very thin pieces of Medium-Density Fibreboard (MDF), cutting the circles with a coping saw, and filing to finish the edges and then punched to simulate the screws. And yep, I got a little carried away, even put a fancy rope work on the centre or 'king' spoke of the wheel. Whether the skylight protective bars looked like the ones I have built, or in the more popular/traditional vertical bars will never be known. I went with this option as this design would allow for more light through the windows while still protecting against falling spars etc (and to be truthful, easier to solder . The skylight and companionway would have been removed when working the capstan, with the companionway adjusted as required to maintain the entry doors aligned to leeward.

Lantern This was an accessory I purchased (Amati I think) and assembled and painted. I chose it as it was relatively the right size. This proved a bit fiddly as I had to edge glue the wired frames between the edges of adjoining plastic panes. I am thinking of rebuilding this from scratch.

Stern Work There is still some debate as to whether Endeavour's central window was a fully-functioning window or a dummy placed for aesthetics. The shape of a window is definitely shown in contemporary drawing; however, it is very unlikely it was a functioning window due to its proximity to the Rudder post trunk in the main cabin. The stern windows were made from beech wood and glazed with Liquid Gloss. This is a two part compound comprising resin and a hardening agent. There are several types of this product; I used Craft Smart which is available at Spotlight in Australia (see picture). The mixture has a slow drying time so allows some time to fill/flow into the window panel spaces. The mixture heats as it is mixed forming some bubbled. These can be removed by using a straw to blow across the surface of the compound after pouring. As with similar compounds, it contracts slightly as it dries tending to leave a hollow in the middle of the area. This can be filled with a second application. The figurines and counter decorations between the windows are the white metal versions provided in the kit, but cleaned up and painted. I had enough on my plate (as a first build) learning all the other skills yet alone trying to carve. This is something I will need to attack in the future though. The stern decoration is not representative of Marquardt or the Endeavour Replica and reflects my attempt to try something different to the metal (nasty) looking decoration provided. The base design was ordered from Double 'O' laser cutting service, I then made some further alterations to provide a stylised version of what I thought they may have looked like, rather the very heavy look of the decorations on the replica vessel. The quarter badges are the white metal version provided with the kit; however, I carefully removed the cast window frame and replaced it with wood which I then glazed.

Rudder The rudder is made from three pieces of walnut glued longitudinally and shaped to conform to the pattern depicted in Marquardt's drawings. The following picture shows the rudder fitted; however the chain rudder pendants have yet to be fitted. I'll do this after the rigging as they will be quite prone to damage. The collar for the rudder is made from calico cloth which will eventually be treated with a diluted PVA solution stained a very pale/light grey and weathered to simulate canvas. In the following photo you can see where I am starting to clean the edges and touch-up the paint. This will all be second coated to give a uniform deeper colour.