maggsl_01

Hello my friends I am back again. Everything was good with my Dads funeral, we had much fun, were sad, had da drink or two in remeberance - and now it's good, I started with the filler block, which I will use in the bow section and at the stern. Here the ship is quite rounded and a good fundament for the planking will be needed.Some pics will show the progress. Cheerio Max

Hi Ron all I can say is FABULOUS Fantastic great You did a wonderful job on this ship :im Not Worthy: :im Not Worthy: :im Not Worthy: :im Not Worthy: :im Not Worthy:

Hi Ron, all I can say is just "WOW" Cheerio Max

Hello my friends, I want to thank you all for your kind words. It is good to see that compassion around. I will dedicate my Berlin to my Dad and thus I will always remember his passion for the Sea and the naval world. CU soon when I go back to my shipyard regulary Max

Hello my friends I haven't been here for a long time now, as my father got very sick and finally died a few days ago. So I am not in the mood for building - and btw even if I would not have any time as there is much to do now. I started with the balsawood filler blocks but I will have a break now. CU - and dont forget to join time after time Cheerio - a little bit sad one Max

Hi Ron, I agree with all the other guys: Perfect build, the sails look FANTASTIC... I wish mine were as well shaped as yours... Looking for the final touch... Best wishes Max

Hello my friends, just a little update I was working on the frame the last days. All bulkheads are glued and additionally fixed with some wooden blocks. The whole frame is quite strong now. There are some "filler blocks" delivered with the kit. But I think they are just worth for the rubbish... I got some balsawood and will make the filler blocks for the bow section by myself. As the Berlin is single planked it is indispensable to fill and shape at least the bow. I am thinking about to make also some fillers for the rest of the ship below the decks. Probalbly it would not absolutely be necessary, but I am convinced that this will strengthen the stability of the hull. I will test the procedure on the bow and then decide. The next days will be full of wood dust and sanding paper. As always - some pics of the current status. Cheerio Max

Hello again - it's just me I started with the first steps on my Berlin. All "pre-cut" parts have to be finished very carefully. Sanding, cutting, widen up the gaps etc has to be done. And I have to be very cautious as I have to take care of all steps coming in the future. Doesn't make any sense to planbk the decks and to build them onto the frames as long as the gaps for the masts are not exactly cut off - e.g.. There are many other things to be thought of so I will not glue anything unless I am sure to have done all important things. On the pics you can see the most important tools at the moment - files, knifes and a rasp. And the pics show that the masts are not dowels but square bars - but they are already tapered. I am sure the build will be great Cheerio Max

@mark yes the bars are already tapered so "only" the round shape has to be done I see this as a challenge as it may lead deeper into the modelling tradition. And - some far day I will build the Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde. All that I can learn before will be welcome to help with this major mission. Max

Hello my freidns, thx for your kind words. I think I will stay another three weeks at home before I will return to the office. A word to the Corel kit: After I had an intense look at the supplied woods and parts I will adjust my estimation: The building time will be longer than a year. There is nothing prepared so far. All parts have to be sawed off by me, only some basic parts like the bulkheads, the keel an some smaller parts for the decoration, the chain wales, the galion and the decks are precut. But they all need detailed finishing - what will be possible as the plans are excellent. I was surprised that the decks should not be planked but only carved with a knife. I will plank them and ordered some maple strips. Anmd I was much more surprised that the masts are NOT from dowels but from square bars and have to be done also by me. I will have to buy a planer to get along with this. I think a rasp and only a knife would not fit to that job. The Fregatte Berlin from Corel seem to be a very interesting model and a quite amazing and exciting build. Keep on living... Next time some pics will follow Cheerio Max

Hello my friends and mates... It is time to come back to the shipyard. I will start my 4th build log now. Actually I wanted to make a longer break after finishing the Endeavour. But I am forced to stay home for some stress-related health problems and my doctor said I should better do some things to get relaxed and come back to the normal life... Well: What could be better than to build a model ship? I decided to build the Fregatte Berlin, 1674, from Corel in the 1:40-scale. As you may know I am german - so I wanted to have a look into the german history. In matter of naval history there is not so much to report about: Most of german naval history is part of the so called Hanse in Hamburg and other cities around North and Baltic Sea. Well known is the model of Wappen von Hamburg. As Germany was devided in numerous small counties, shires etc there was no united state with a big army or navy. Only Brandenburg, the region around Berlin up to the Baltic Sea, had a navy as it was situated in the north of Germany and had a entrance to the sea. And Brandenburg grew up to a important political entity, the later Prussia - and thus the very beginning of the German Empire. After the Thirty Years' War in 1648 Brandenburg became quite important. Passing the years the elector built up a Navy: There where some wellknown vessels incuded like Fleute Derfflinger, Große Yacht, Fregatte Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde and Fregatte Berlin. I think you all know about the history of the Fregatte Berlin. The model from Corel is based on the historical research by Mr Hoeckel, an expert for historic ships in the late 1930's. There is no real evidence how the ship was built in real. There are no documents or drawings and thus the plans Mr Hoeckel made where a summary of the ship building tradition in the midth of the 17th century in Holland. The Berlin was build according to the dutch tradition. The Corel kit is no longer state-of-the-art. The wooden parts are not precut with laser or water-jet but made with the saw. This means to all parts esp the frames and the keel that you have to be very cautious. All parts have to be worked with files and sanding paper. It's a lot of dust but it's more a building-feeling than the perfect prepared parts Occre or CalderCraft offer So I did and will still have to do before I can only think about glueing. I also prepared the metal fitting for the decoration of the stern. I will paint the parts according to a contemporary description I found in Mr Hoeckels book. So I sanded the parts and used some primer. I just did the first parts, the rest will follow. The plans are plans I love them I am looking forward but I am afraid as the model is only single planked with waltnut strips. Well, we will se. I estimate a building time of more than a year. Most of the parts have to be build and are not precut. Thats what I like Cheerio my friends - I am not sure how regulary I will work on the Berlin. Depends on my health conditions. I attached some pics - as usually Max

Superb ☺

Hi Ron, fine work with the sails... Nice progress on your Endeavour Cheerio Max

Hi Ron very nice work on the bowsprit. Go ahead with the sails - I am looking forward to watch your solutions. Cheerio Max

Hi Francis, just take a look at my log - I have done the Endeavour. Yes, it is a nice kit with some traps - but you will not have any problem when you follow step by step - and take a look at one of the many logs here. I found that these guys here are extremley helpful ands nice. CHeerio Max

Hi Ron, the instructions are not that bad - if you undertsand what is the frontside and what is the backside. But I missunderstood resp did not see the difference. Now this will never happen again as I now understood the system and the function of the sails rigging. But a newbie to sails... well... But life is always a ongoing learning so I could learn a lot... I am sure your Endeavour will turn into a proud and beautiful little ship Cheerio Max

Hello again my friends I have now at least finished the Endeavour. I have changed all the sails rigging according to AOTS and now am quite content with the result. Thank you all again for your Attention. I started this log (and the build) exactly one year ago. Now I will have a break before I begin with the Fregatte Berlin. But I will join the MSW regulary. Cheerio Max

Hi Ron, Steve thx so much for the further infos about the rigging of the sails. I change my rigging step by step - is not as difficult as I thought - just a lot of extra thread. But it goes really good. @Steve I like the thread you used for that rigging. Looks very realistic, esp that the ropes are not too much taut. Cheerio Max

Hi all Addition: I just purchased a small used book from a second-hand-bookshop. It is an old german book about rigging... should have done earlier cheerio Max

Hello again I have to do some additional updates... I did some very big mistakes... All sails rigging - clew garnet (?) is wrong. I always thought that something looks strange. But I did not recognize what. But yesterday I found out what was wrong. All the ropes have to be fixed on the backside of the sails not on the front. But I did all acording to the instructions. But the instructions are bad in view of rigging. They do not differ between front and back and they do not show exactly the Details. I can not leave this failure. So I redo all relevant rigging (I estimate about 20 to 25 hrs all in all) I will show some pice when I am through and then really finished Cheerio Max

Hello my friends now this is the last update for my Endeavour I finished the model and created a Gallery in the Gallery section with 22 pics Thank you all for your attention, your comments and all the kind words. I will take a break now, but I will be back with my next project. This will be the Fregatte Berlin by Corel, but sure not before April. Cheerio Max

Hi Denis, really looks great. I like the shine of the deck and the accuracy of the planks. The kit seems to be a neat piece of fun As I don't know Amati so far can you please tell me something about the instructions? On pic shows a booklet - but are there "real" plans too? Looking forward to your next update Cheerio Max

Hello my mates... thank you all for your kind words. I am not so happy with the sails and will probably not use sails anymore. But I wanted to try and see. Both I did, and now I can decide in a considered manner. As mentioned I am quite content with the kit. In every kit there are more or less things to improve - so the effort for this kit was average. I like to have real plans and drawings more than the photo-booklets as plans give more Information about size and shape. So you can better handle with improvements or changes. The book AOTS Endeavour by Mr Marquardt is an enormous treasure-box. The descriptions and drawings there gave me some inspiration on my way through the build. Nevertheless this model is just one Interpretation and I see so much stunning models and logs around. Every modeller has his own sight and his own Level to create a almost perfect model. I always compare my doing with the progress I see in other logs. It is so satisfying to learn from others and to give the own knowledge to others. I hope the parts for the stand will be delivered this week so I can complete the model and take some more pics (esp details) Best wishes to all my friends and followers Cheerio Max

Hello my friends yes - it is done. My interpretation of Mr Cooks famous Endeavour is ready. I finished the build, only a stand (ordered) and a hood will be necessary. But this is just a final moment. It is almost one year that I spent with the Occre kit. The building was always a fun to do although there were some tricky steps to take. Especially the instructions are something to criticize - and here indeed the instructions for rigging and the sails. They are too superficial and do not show the details for many things. Nevertheless - all at all I would recommend this kit with good conscience to a modeller with some expierence. You can improve the model with additional items like the buoys for the anchors, the covers for the windows or additional rigging like the backstays for the topgallants. Therefore it's good to take a look at the AOTS Endeavour. I will later take pics when the stand is done and create a gallery. The next time I will take a break until the next model will be on the desk. I am not sure if I start with the Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde by Euro Model orf the Fregatte Berlin by Corel. Well, let's see CU Cheerio Max

Hello my freinds thank you all for your feedback. I decided not to attach any more sails at the stays. I tried to furl them - but that did not look any good. So the best will be to renounce any further sails. I like the look with the sails quite much - but I think next time (Fregatte Berlin) I will not work with sails. If you give so much attention to the yards and all the fixing of the yards to the masts then it is a pity to hide this work under the sails. Also the view to the deck is restricted. BTW - does anyone know from which time on the crawfeed were used? Thx alot my mates Cheerio Max