kramer

Thanks again for your offer of help understanding the Shakleton story, Joe. Good info on the South book. I expect that at the rate I work on the ship this project will take me about 2 years. I hope to have an inkling of the knowledge of the Endurance as you have when I complete it. 

Thanks Snug Harbor Johnny! I'll check out Hake Zou's Endurance build log for some more tips. And thank you for the tips. I definitely figured out that rigging up was the way to go. I'll have to save this post and refer back to it when I get further along.  

Excited to be a part of the Endurance club! And thanks for the info, Joe. Great to know, I had no idea. You can see in my pics that I bought the book "South" with the kit, but haven't started reading it yet. I just dove in without doing much research, although I know there's tons of literature out there. 

And here are some pics of the boats...

Hey shipmates! I started my second build, the HMS Endurance by OcCre, after completing the Albatros. I learned so much from MSW the first go around, I'm excited about this ship and adding in some of the detail I learned about by posting and following other awesome builds. It was a couple of months after I finished the Albatros that I started the Endurance, so to slow-roll into my new build, I started with the boats just to get going again. Also, the metal boat supplied by OcCre for the Albatros was very uninspiring (I understand as the Albatros is a beginner build), so I really wanted to build some nice boats. I've finished the boats and am ready to move on to the ship. Summer is not the best ship-building time, as we end up spending a lot more time outside, but I've gotten some done and am looking forward to working on it more in the fall. Here are some pictures of the Endeavor unpacked and my progress with the boats. The builders on this forum were extremely helpful with my first build, so please offer pointers and recommendations when you see me about to screw something up. Thanks shipmates!

Thanks Phil! Great minds think alike...already bought the Endurance. I'll start a build log soon.

My Albatros is done! Well, according to the instructions it's done. I'd like to add a couple of modifications that aren't in the kit. Im going to add some coiled line to the belay pins. Also, I was hoping someone could help me fabricate my own tender (I think that's what they're called...the boat used to go back and forth to shore from the ship...sorry, I'm new). After reading posts I wanted to up my game a bit before I mount her on a shelf. I'm not crazy about the metal tender they provide that I painted brown and black. I saw a post where someone build their own tender out of scraps and it looked great! Any instructions out there to help me build my own?

Next step is to make some modifications to my work bench and mount a shelf I can display my Albatros on. I really enjoyed this build and I'm excited about my next. I learned a lot doing and reading this site. I'll provide my list of lessons and recommendations later. 

I'm going to stick with OcCre for my second build. I liked the quality and the customer service was excellent. I have it narrowed down to the Endurance or the Terror. Any votes?

Sails and rigging are coming along.

Foremast sails are up! Coming along, it's starting to look like a ship.

And again, sorry the pics are coming in sideways. I have no idea why it's doing that or how to fix it. I haven't had this trouble before.

Ratlines are done! Probably my least favorite part of the build so far. And by least favorite I still enjoyed doing it. I guess I never got into a methodical rhythm of tying the knots and clove hitches, and I never got consistent with the tension I wanted; not taught but not too much slack. I'm glad I tied them though and didn't just glue the ratlines to the shrouds.

And apologies for the pictures, I don't know why they're importing sideways. 

Finally got my brown thread from OcCre so I started the ratlines. I think the darker thread was the right call aesthetically. I got half way done with the first shroud and realized I did the ratlines backwards. The larger holes are supposed to be on the bow side according to the diagram, not the stern side. But I figured since this is not going in a museum, I can get away with it, this time. Quite a monotonous process, but coming along. I need to develop the right technique to make the ratlines taught enough but with a little sag. 

Another thing for the future, I've seen people talk about making their own rope. And I've seen some pictures of some really nice rope. I don't like the fuzz on the .15 raw thread. Doesn't seem to be an issue with the brown .5 thread. For my next ship I think I'll try and get some better thread. From the pictures I've seen it makes a big difference.

Fore topmost staysail is on, my first sail. For the fore and mail sails, I think I'd like to billow them slightly. Nothing too dramatic. I've seen a few techniques. I think I'm going to drape them over a coffee can and spray them with starch. 

The details in this hobby are infinite! Here's some updated pics. Still waiting on my brown .15 thread from OcCre so I can do the rat lines. The plans call for raw colored thread but I thought the brown would look better. 

Hey OldSalt! Thanks for the info. The masts are in and I did rake them slightly, but I couldn't tell you the degrees. But they are raked the same, didn't know that the fore and main masts could be raked at different degrees. For my next build (not finished the Albatros yet but I'm already thinking about my next!), I will do some research as to the raking. 

But while I've got you, I'm going to start the sails soon and I'm not sure how I should make them look. I've read boil them in tea or don't do anything to them. I've seen people apply a watered down glue mixture to the sails and roll them over a cylinder to give them the appearance that they have caught wind. I've also read some folks say the sails could be furled. Any opinions? 

Thanks for the advice. And brown thread is on the way.

I made a template so I could start the rat lines but I have a question. Can't start yet anyway. OcCre calls for raw colored thread at .15mm for the rat lines and .5mm brown for the shrouds. I'm ordering brown .15mm for the rat lines, I don't like the contrast. But to attach the rat lines I saw a video where the guy put a dab or CA on the shrouds and just laid the ratlines on. Seemed easy enough, but I tried it and it didn't really work. I saw another video where a guy tied a simple overhand knot on the first shroud and clove hitches on the rest. Any recommendations on attaching the rat lines to the shrouds?

My first lanyards! I'm sure some of you have done literally thousands, but this feels like a milestone in model ship building. Only have time to work on a couple a day, but already learned a lot. Enjoyed this very much and hope the rest of the rigging goes as well.

Masts are up! I decided to attach the gaffs, yards, and booms after watching a video on OcCre Mania https://www.occremania.com/. Good step-by-step videos for some OcCre kits. I figured it would be easier to get them all attached and tight before I mounted the masts. Hope this wasn't a mistake and everything isn't in the way. Worst case I can cut the lines and reattach the structures later. 

Fore mast is ready. I'm going to assemble the main mast, main gaffs, and main boom before I move forward. Should I attach the fore yards and fore gaff to the fore mast before I attach the fore mast to the deck or after? I want to think ahead. I don't know what will be more difficult, attaching gaffs, yards, and booms after I mount the masts but before I rig everything. Any opinions?

That's interesting, I didn't know the masts could be adjusted at all. I think I'll rake them slightly aft. I don't want to rake them too much and mess up any measurements from the directions, but I like the look of movement with the masts slightly raked. 

Can the rake be adjusted while the ship is sailing?

Ready for the masts! I've seen pictures of the masts perfectly vertical and pictures where they angle aft slightly. Any opinions? The OcCre instructions don't say anything and there are pictures and drawings in the booklet both ways.

Here's my progress! I've learned a lot with the decking and have bought quite a few new tools. MicroMark has a model building tool for just about everything I could have imagined. 

Haven't posted my progress in a while. I've been finishing all of the deck accoutrements. 99.9% done until I broke one of the anchors trying to fix a mistake. Didn't realize the stock and the shank were supposed to be cross ways to each other. Replacement parts on the way, OcCre has been great about sending replacement parts. 

All great advice! Much appreciated. Working on the bowsprit now. Not sure if I'm going to varnish the deck. I'll do the hull first and see how it looks.