olliechristo

I have a fetish for all things history.. I have a hobby of finding old relics. yesterday i found an interesting coin...  it will go well next to my mermaid as she was made in india also.. India straits ONE CENT 1862. Minted in calcutta India..  http://www.obsoletecoin.com/2013/02/straits-settlements-india-straits-coin.html#ixzz391mlEvLk I find all sorts of things.. Ollie

I have a fetish for all things history.. I have a hobby of finding old relics. yesterday i found an interesting coin...  it will go well next to my mermaid as she was made in india also.. India straits ONE CENT 1862. Minted in calcutta India..  http://www.obsoletecoin.com/2013/02/straits-settlements-india-straits-coin.html#ixzz391mlEvLk I find all sorts of things.. Ollie

I have a fetish for all things history.. I have a hobby of finding old relics. yesterday i found an interesting coin...  it will go well next to my mermaid as she was made in india also.. India straits ONE CENT 1862. Minted in calcutta India..  http://www.obsoletecoin.com/2013/02/straits-settlements-india-straits-coin.html#ixzz391mlEvLk I find all sorts of things.. Ollie

I have a fetish for all things history.. I have a hobby of finding old relics. yesterday i found an interesting coin...  it will go well next to my mermaid as she was made in india also.. India straits ONE CENT 1862. Minted in calcutta India..  http://www.obsoletecoin.com/2013/02/straits-settlements-india-straits-coin.html#ixzz391mlEvLk I find all sorts of things.. Ollie

I have a fetish for all things history.. I have a hobby of finding old relics. yesterday i found an interesting coin...  it will go well next to my mermaid as she was made in india also.. India straits ONE CENT 1862. Minted in calcutta India..  http://www.obsoletecoin.com/2013/02/straits-settlements-india-straits-coin.html#ixzz391mlEvLk I find all sorts of things.. Ollie

Yes.... I'd love to have a look at the maps included........I have a bit of a fetish for an early map..

I am going to have to add this to my "wish list" at Amazon!  Sounds like a good read!
 
Tom

excellent sapphire, you are right, what a man.. i am getting a loan of the book from a friend who scored it for like $20 in obscure bookshop, he said it cost 600 on ebay, cheers for reply mate..

I just went through all 56 pages and I was very impressed. Great job !!

Oliver,
 
I came across this site following a google search on the Mermaid, which in turn lead me to your build blog. Over the past 5 or 6 years I have spend a lot of time travelling the Australian coast especially the from Morton Bay to TI , the Kimberly's and Tasmania. For those who have spent time in those waters know the dangers that exist . This lead me to study the early explorers and those who charted these waters. The one who stood head and shoulders above all was Phillip Parker King....the mans a legend. If you haven't read the book " King of the Australian Coast" then I recommend that all should. Anyway....... As I said this lead me to researching his boat... Mermaid. I learnt more from your build log than any other resource.... Thank you. It has even inspired me to get the kit and give it a crack.

Thanks for the wise words guys.. I fell a little dissapointed in myself. But all good.  I may just shelve the kit for later down the track..  Thanks so much for the support and interest gang

Dude, I started my Endeavour in 2000 when I lived in Cairns, I get annoyed, and I put it away. I did the frames when my youngest boy was born in 2005, it's now 2014, I've started on the yards. NSW finally beat Qld this year. It's the process, not the finish. It's that bloody cold here in Canberra, you cane toads can do it!

Hey There Ollie.. sorry to hear that, but there is no point in continuing if you aren't going to enjoy it !! I completely agree with Alistair above, it is easy to move to bigger builds which will inevitably take soooo much longer (years even) I like my smaller boats for this reason, though it isn't the main one.. I just like smaller boats, see the list under my signature on the bottom of this 
BTW have you seen the Bounty's Launch ? that is smaller and appropriate for your neck of the woods too (well near enough anyhoo ;)) but the Longboat is a doozey too as is the Pinnace ! I also think I saw a rather nice Whale boat kit somewhere too (same manufacturer as the Longboat I think )
 
Stay Well Ollie
 
I look forward to seeing what you come up with, it will be deadly whichever kit you choose.
 
Eamonn
 
BTW 'Deadly' is an Irishism for Brilliant as opposed to Lethal  :rolleyes:

That's a shame Ollie but good on you for admitting it.
 
I feel a big struggle with the lift from the AVS to the Fly but I also feel one step at a time will get me there. Your work on Mermaid should be good enough for anything but...big but...build what you want and what gives you joy. Endeavour is a hard one and I will, if I ever finish Fly, next head towards smaller ship kits at a larger scale.
 
There are so many people here who start something and then disappear. I guess they have attempted something beyond them. That is a shame too as there are plenty of kits that they could hone their skills on. Those that leave often never say why. Again, good on you for saying so.
 
Your Mermaid is brilliant and I hope you find a new model that can reflect your skills and keep you in touch with the craft.

Top rails on time for paint.Samson posts took some glueing,if someone sneezed they fell off.Well and truly into the deck work now my favourite part.

Hi Again Folks... It's Photo Time Again.
 
The wee doghouse is almost finished, just a little tidying up to be done, oh and attach the doors of course (not forgetting the various handles too)
The rope hand rail ring (where it attaches to the sides of the doghouse will be painted black.. they were painted black to begin with but it seems to have rubbed off in the fitting process !!
The steps are glued in place but no other deck fitting is permanently in place as yet (I threw in a close up photo of the 'L' shaped Anchor Rope reinforcing brackets on the forward hatch coaming)
 
By The Way I had one of those slow motion 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO' moments earlier as I was gluing the roof arrangement onto the Doghouse.. Clamps were being used to secure the whole affair when suddenly a clamp slipped causing the near total collapse of the doghouse.. there were doghouse sides, sliding roofs, rope hand rails & coamings flying through the air just like Cirque du Soleil !! How I kept my cool I'll never know ^_^ I just calmly reassembled the whole thing.. very Zen moment
 
Stay Well Folks
 
Eamonn a.k.a. Mr. Keep Calm & Carry On..

Hi All.. Little wee update type thingy..  at last eh?
 
A friend of mine stopped by a few days ago to ask me a question about his camera.. so to help him out I took some close-up shots of the latest bit of Ballahoo work (this killed two birds with one stone as my own camera is away again leading it's own life taking wedding/studio photos with a friend.. bad news when ones camera is having more fun than you are !!    ) 
 
Anyhoo.. I actually have some photos so Woo Hoo!!.
 
I had to shorten the Doors to allow for the little Coaming to be fitted, I can't imagine any boat with a companion-way not having a coaming of some type to stop sloshing deck water finding it's way below deck !
By The Way .. I have at last worked out how I am going to proceed forward with the Doghouse (thanks to Ollie's Mermaid build) which should speed things up substantially
Those are the little doors sitting on the deck, they had to be separated as they were in one piece originally.. not being meant to open, if you follow..
Oh! and the Gratings aren't glued in place yet so don't worry about them not being in line!
 
Photo Time (has been so long I hope I remember how to do this    )
 
Stay Well Folks
 
Eamonn
 
PS I'll be painting the Doghouse too.. probably Red sides/doors, White inside & Black roof, and installing a kind of full width 'Door Stop' on top of the doghouse coaming to stop the doors swinging in too far.. you know the type of thing!! which may well require a little sanding to reduce the coamings a little!
E.
 

Hey there Bud.. How did I miss this ??? I wouldn't mind except that the link is actually attached to the bottom of every post you make !! Nice bit of observational skills on show up here in Ireland eh  
Sorry for not dropping by sooner mate.. but sure I'm here now and can offer all kinds of assistance in recognising various bits -n-pieces (as you know already I can recognise Masts pretty easily!! so can be a huge help there as Endeavour has a few of the things! )  
 
Stay Well Ollie
 
Eamonn 

This kit came with a letter stating that people had complained about he wood supplied for hull planking, it was originally single layer planked.. This says that it now has limewood 1st plank (which i plan on still using) and walnut strip for final layer..
 
Instructions still say it has one layer.. This could help me establish the date of manufacture... perhaps someone knows? 
 
i am open to suggestions for the best suited timber for this ships hull... And for the deck for that matter.. (the supplied deck timber looks very yellow, may be the age) The hull walnut looks ok..   Regards Ollie

My model room can accommodate her, Mermaid under final rigging on right.. 
 
So i may start building a building board or slipway to help construction go straight and forward..

Some of the kit getting checked over..  length 790 mm, height 620, beam 160

Hi everyone. Although I generally like to tread the less trodden path, I can't help but want to build the famous Endeavour.. I was born and live not far from Cooktown.. This is what ship came to mind at first, way back..  But i needed a warm up kit..
 
I wanted to scratch build without caring about time, but i no longer have a shed at home, and i want to complete this one in a matter of years not decades.. i also realised that severe kit bashing is almost scratch building anyway.
 
First I decided that this is the ship i want for my second build, this could be my last until i retire..  I heard that Artesania Latina's version of this ship has fairly accurate hull lines etc... 
 
I am a bargain hunter and quite frankly I think most model ships are very expensive considering what is really provided.. And i will rebuild most of it anyway.. I just need all the vital parts..
 
So I found a ebay auction I liked the look of and won a shelved kit from the 80's I'm told...  ($160 incl postage from Florida) I was a little dubious about what it would look like in the flesh (my last cheap shelved kit wasn't much good)
 
I inspected it all today and all is well, all parts seem to be there, plastic still around planks etc...Impressed at the way its held up over the years of sitting.  And the original quality looks good.. Walnut dowells look good and other walnut profiles..
 
The saving i have made allows me to replace all the deck and hull veneers and replace any other fittings i like..
 
 
 
 
The FIRST question I had to answer..... Was the keel straight ?!?
 
Looks good, thank the lord of decent plywood, this is manufactured before laser wood cutting, most parts seem machined in some way..
I laid it down on a piece of glass and sits flat
 
 
 
I hope you all can help me with tips for wood that will suit best and learn a bunch more along the way. I hope to meet some new friends on the journey as well as the amazing folk from my HM Mermaid build.. 
 
It's a BIG model and it's going to be a BIGGGER journey!!       Ollie
 
 

Definitely all around wonderful job Ollie.  I'm overjoyed with how well she came out ... LOVELY!!!
 
Tom

Hey Oliver.  Looks like your fun is very successful.  So much precision and innovation has to be rewarding.  Thanks for the pics.  And I admire your workspace so organized and tidy.  My space is still evolving (i.e. it's a mess!)   I'm just starting the Willie Bennet skipjack but aiming to do a Mermaid soon.  Anyways, thanks for sharing your thought process and outstanding results.
Rick

Leanne,, I"m glad i can return something, for all the help i have had is what has made this build what it is.. The whole MSW forum is a godsend..
 
I look forward to seeing your build log surface
 
John thanks for the compliments, i have a tendency towards wanting perfection, which can be a downfall at times, i came to the conclusion that ratlines were probably not perfect anyway..
 
Anyway the second time they have come up neater, although i did redo a few to get it right, too much sag on some.. also had a flame up and two rungs burnt out that was exciting/scary..  one has gotta be quick with the flame if burning fuzz..
 
When i stand back and look at it all, the ratlines and shrouds are really making it look close to done..      Onto back stays next..  steady as she goes, as i want to soak up the last parts of this marvelous journey..   Ollie