Enterprise 1799 by mikiek - FINISHED - Constructo - 1:51

[mikiek]

Sounds a little intimidating already Sam. You're talking with a guy that can turn a square stick round on the lathe but that's about it.

 

Can't speak for anyone else but never worry about posts in my threads. If it can help me or someone else it is welcome here. Whether it's one line or one thousand.

 

Just curious how you figured out the trucks were 0.02 off?

[src]

Mike,

I had a scale drawing from, I believe, the NRG home page. I forget where I found it now, but when I scaled it to 1:51 they came up off. Also the carriages did not sit properly to my eye. As far as being difficult the only thing you need to be prescise on is the center hole and the outer diameter on the tool. I was able to find drill bits that were the right diameter. Once the raw steel was in my chuck I just drilled the center out for both the axle diameter and the truck diameter, then ground it on the sander like I described.

I get that it sounds like a lot of work, if it seems like too much then turning your dowels down on the lathe will work. I might be being overly picky but I was concerned if I tried to drill a dowel out for the axle I would never get it centered properly and would also end up splitting the dowel.That just me, I have seen several builds where the builder pulled it off quite well.

Aww jeeze! I just realized something, I could have drilled the dowel out on the lathe and then sliced them!!!!!

 

Sam

[mikiek]

Dowels are tough to work with when they're spinning. They are never straight.

[Elijah]

Looking very nice Mike! Do you plan on painting the hull? If you didn't do the second layer, how much of a difference does it make to the hull's overall dimensions, taking into account the width of the wood used for the second planking?

[mikiek]

Long time no see Elijah. Glad you checked in.

 

The 2nd layer sticks are 0,5mm thick. Not much.  In this case they could have been left out. The problem was they shorted me some of the 1st layer sticks so I had to use some basswood. A real color clash. The 2nd layer is needed to hide the basswood.

 

Often the 2nd layer is thicker. Then you do start running into situations where you really can't go without it or risk changing dimensions and having some other part not fit.

 

No paint on this guy. Debating whether to oil it all before lacquering. That might look nice but the oil can darken things up quite a bit. I want to keep the reddish tint of the sapelli wood. Maybe just my usual Natural stain first. Or maybe just the lacquer. Still thinking.

[mikiek]

i have been taking my time with the rest of the planking. Was  doing some of the other tasks and getting parts ready but all the pix in the manual show many of the parts contact the hull in one way or another. Of course that doesn't work until there is a hull to contact. So all of that is put aside until planking is done.

 

I've got about 1/3 from the top down finished and about 1/3 from the keel up done. That leaves the toughest part. Lots of stealers and that joint where the deadwood planking meets the transom planking. That has to be a real snug fit - no gaps. So far using 5mm planks as stealers seems to be working. It's just that it requires more stealers than when I used the 7mm sticks for stealers on layer one. Fortunately they are blending together well.

 

 

 

 

Also, it's obvious I have tapered the 2nd layer sticks differently (didn't plan it that way) as you can see layer one curving upwards in places where layer two is straight or curves down. Guess that doesn't matter as long as it all fits. And there's only 6 more strakes to make it all work out.

 

 

Edited June 17, 2018 by mikiek

[mikiek]

With a little hindsight in hand, and for all you future builders - Do that 2nd planking immediately after doing the first. I have broken off both rails, the transom and put a pretty good gash in the companionway shelter during the 2nd planking. As dreary as it sounds, just do it. I should have. And Constructo should have said so in the manual.

 

I'm down to the last 4 strakes. These are going to be pretty wild. At the bow there's really only room for 2 more, and that's with them really tapered down. A the stern the same strakes will need stealers to completely cover the area. I'm trying to decide if I went wrong somewhere or if the boat just has a big stern area. I'm going to end up with 4 strakes with stern stealers (1 going into 2) to make this work.

 

Should have more pix soon.

[mikiek]

Shape planks one for each side. How many times have I heard that? The last 4 strakes are real bears. I finished one side but did not make duplicates for the other side. So those will be custom shaped as well    He's great at handing out advice, but not so great at following it. Should be done planking soon.

[mikiek]

[mikiek]

Dang - almost 2 weeks since I posted. I haven't been goofing off - not too much. Came across this game Naval Action a while back. I find it almost mesmerizing and fun to play. A lot of time spent there lately.

 

Work is continuing since the completion of the hull. There are a few deck items and hull trim going in and the next step is the masts. I'm starting the channels and preparing do drill out the holes for the masts. That's always a troubling exercise for me. That and the hawsers. The plans show the main mast at no angle, flush with a frame piece. The foremast is angled although there is nothing stating how much. The manual - " drill mast holes per plan".  Well thank you.

 

This kit has had it's ups and downs. I've been shorted several more sizes of sticks but then there will be some good technique for doing something. I'll try to do a short eval when it's all over.

 

Here's a few shots:

 

I did an initial wipe down of the hull with linseed oil but all the pieces added afterwards are still unfinished.

Trim at the bow (head). Camera sure makes it look rough.

 

In the plans those rails are set almost 1/2" higher. Way too high. Took them down some.

 

 

 

In need of a cleanup for sure!   Thanks for reading......

 

Edited July 15, 2018 by mikiek

[src]

Mike,

Any progress on this?

Sam

[mikiek]

Hey Sam - thanks for asking. I have been distracted by some other things and neglected Enterprise. That said, work has continued sporadically. The hull and all the trimmings are done except for the posts/webbing that mount to the handrail. This is in progress. Most of the spars are done and the main & fore masts have tops and shrouds.

 

I will post pix this weekend

[mikiek]

Man this is gonna be a challenge. Been so long I dont remember how to post pix. Here goes....easy enough. Lets get them here...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My pix have always sucked and I have told myself it must be the camera. Well these are from a brand new DSLR and I must say - they still suck! But I do see some things that might improve them.

 

Anyways here's Enterprise - hull & deck completed and dressed. I have started the shrouds (not shown here) so rigging has officially started. Hope it doesn't take another year to post pix of that 😜

 

[src]

Mike,

Thats looking good! Dont worry if its another year, you will most likely still finish before I do.... LOL!

Sam

[mikiek]

Thank you Sam.  You know i started rigging - lower shrouds are done - but the order of rigging here is quite different than my last project. Seems to go against common wisdom. They want all masts stepped first. Then shrouds go in with the rats. Stays next, but everything done on the boat. '

 

I will say the rigging doesn't look too difficult, I guess the schooner rig was simpler than 3 sectioned masts square rigged. I'm gonna follow the guide as best I can and see how this method pans out.

 

I do have to say the kit rope is hideous, very frayed & fuzzy. So I'm going with a combination of Syren  and some leftovers. My next picture milestone will be after the deadeyes are all laced up. I'm figuring a week or so for that. Only holdup might be the channel deadeyes seem very loose - I didn't care for how the guide tells me to put them in but I went for it anyway. I'm hoping all those deadeyes don't have to be reinstalled.

[src]

Mike,

I took the last of the kit parts, including the instructions and threw them in a box somewhere. Everything is new lumber for masts and new rope and blocks from Syren.

As far as the order of rigging goes I downloaded a copy of the Syren instructions from Model Shipways and I have TFFM vol4, Rigging as well as Lees Masting ad Rigging that I am using for inspiration. It has got me on trouble in a few places but I think I am getting a better education that will pay off when I finally get around to a more adventurous build.

Looking forward to your photo updates.

Sam

[mikiek]

Getting some progress made on the rigging. Shrouds & ratlines are in. Got a few more stays to put in. The instructions are getting worse - the book is just too general for rigging steps and the rig plan is very inaccurate and incomplete. Shrouds & stays are pretty much common sense - not too hard to figure how they should run. Running rig is a different animal however. The thing i don't like is the plans say to drill holes in the upper masts to run the stays thru. IMO drilling 3-4  .35mm holes in close proximity in a .5mm stick is not a wise thing to do. I have elected to seize all shrouds & stays instead.

 

I'm thinking ahead to the sails also. I was dreading having to stitch a hem around each of them like I had to do the last time I did sails. Lucked out here. I guess I ordered the deluxe sail kit with the boat. I have to say these sails look quite nice and come already hemmed with the rope (dont know the proper term) stitched around the edge. All very professionally done! That saves a month or more of work and I doubt I could have matched the way they came. The only additional thing I'm doing is inserting a piece of wire into the hems. This will allow me to shape the sails somewhat and they will hold the shape. I'll post pix of that as I get more serious with the sails. At the moment I'm just inserting all the wire.

 

On the philosophical side. I've always used Syren rope for every build. None can argue it's quality or the extra bang it adds to a build. I use tan for running rigging and black for standing. A while back Syren made the decision to discontinue black rope and offer a dark brown instead. I didn't think much of it at the time except that I like to seize my black rope with a dark brown fly line. I liked that there was enough contrast to see the seizing but it didnt stick out like a sore thumb like seizing black with tan does. Unfortunately, my brown fly line becomes invisible on the dark brown rope. So I guess when I make the switch to brown rope I'll have to find a new seizing color. Now for the philosophy - if you think about it Syren has a lot of influence on how our builds look. Granted using Syren products is totally the builders choice, but I think many, many of us do. I try to imagine all the builds that must be on display with Syren ropes & blocks. And we have used black rope for standing rigging almost as a best practice. Now just like that, black is out, brown is in. Within a year, there will be no more boats built with black rope - at least black Syren rope. Brown is the new black and just like that black standing rigging disappears.

 

I will say, after my soapbox rant, that this is not an indictment of Syren or Chuck in any way. Obviously they are free to offer what they choose. I will continue to buy Syren products (brown rope included) and support them. It was just an observation I had that I wanted to share.

 

Now for a few pix. All the new camera gear and photography research I am doing is beginning to make me think in a different way as I take boat pix now. There's a lot more to it than just snapping away. Lens, light, distance, depth of field all must be considered. These pix may be a slight improvement over previous ones, but I think I am seeing the light on what it takes to produce something better than a snapshot. To me the photo side of our hobby is overlooked but is critical. A good photo can make a crappy build look good. A bad photo makes the best build look mediocre. This was my first attempt at a shoot of Enterprise. I think things will get better. One thing I haven't worked out is size, so I apologize if your viewer makes you scroll around to see it all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mikiek]

Geez - can't believe it's been this long since a post. For those following I apologize.

 

On a side note - don't know how many of you play online computer games. I allowed myself to get sucked into one called Naval Action. First online game I have ever played. I was attracted from several angles. The fact that it related to ships we build didn't help. But I went way overboard in my involvement. Many things got pushed back in my priority line including finishing this build. It was almost an addiction that I could not resist. People and things that should have been first in my life got relegated to lesser importance. Again, I went way overboard in my involvement.   Finally realizing this mess I am attempting to put the games aside and get back to business. And while this build doesn't take #1 in priorities I am returning focus to it as my "passtime".   So much for the personal note.

 

Looking at the last post, I was surprised. Coulda sworn i had some more recent pix. And I recall that was my last endeavor, working on some real images of the build instead of "boaties" from a cell phone. Will recheck my photo folders to see if there is something more current. If not will produce some soon.

 

The build progresses. Most of the sails are hung and I have learned some tricks along the way. Hope to pass them on soon.

 

Hang in there guys, Enterprise will be completed. Honestly it may be sooner than I think. Although there are a few more sails to hang, that's about the last of it.

[Elijah]

No way!! I can understand getting too involved in that game, I recently got it, and I find it hard trying to get on with my build because of an issue with stropping blocks that I haven't gotten resolved. Anyway, good to see you back to building, I think I need to do the same and bite the bullet with my own.

[mikiek]

Hello Elijah - it is an interesting game, but I have found (just as I always knew) the internet can bring out the worst in some people. Hiding behind their monitor with no accountability. No wonder it sometimes seems like the whole world is headed south.

As to your problem, sometimes you do need to walk away for a while. I have confidence that you will work things out.

 

Thanks for checking in.

[mikiek]

Have been caught in one of those Catch 22 situations. I'm down to the last sail but I wanted to shoot some pix before I put it in. Been trying for almost 3 weeks to get some shots but everything came out really crappy. So tonite I went back to the point & shoot and below is the results. Still pretty crappy. Anyway, here's the story.

I had to disagree with the manual on installing the sails. Don't know what common wisdom has to say, but the instructions wanted me to start with the lower sails and work up. This didn't make a lot of sense to me as all the ropes from the sails go down and many fasten to the pin rails on the masts. If the lower sails were there - with all their ropes installed - it would have made the upper sails a real bitch to do. Trying to take all those ropes down, working in between the lower ropes and sails. It made no sense to me. So I started at the tops and worked down. The main mast is all fore/aft sails so those went fairly easy. The fore mast has both fore/aft & square rigged. I am left with the main sail to do there. I'm planning on completing all sail rigging beforehand while there is still room to reach in.

You may see from the pix a lot of loose ropes and rope ends still around. I did not glue any of the masts in place, so I decided to leave all the seizings  loose until the very end so that I could adjust the masts & spars and tighten/loosen ropes as needed to keep everything straight. I like this approach and it paid off as masts & yards moved around quite a bit while putting up the sails.

As I have mentioned before, there is a minimal amount of paint on this build. While the color of materials do not give a realistic representation of a sailing ship, I found them to be very attractive so I'm going with not much more that lacquer on most surfaces.

So here's a few - well more than a few - pix of Enterprise before I put in the last sail.

 

 

 

 

 

I hate coiled up rope on the deck. Just looks too contrived for my taste. I worked on making neat piles of extra rope instead. Looks better in person.

 

 

 

 

These brass rings were a bitch to put into the sail and then close them around the stays. So I opened them up, stuffed them thru a small hole in the sail leaving the open ends pointing up. Then I put a dot of CA on the rings to hold them in place on the sail edge. It was then very easy to put each ring over the stay and close it up.

 

 

 

 

Now I can get on with finishing this thing up.........

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

Hey friend,

 

I have been lost at see for a while, but found my way back to my Niagara and catching up on my friend's builds. Your Enterprise looks great. I admire your courage to include sails. 

 

Now that I am working from home, I will find time to finally get my ship finished.

 

Looking forward to chatting with you.

 

 

[Bhill]

Good Day All, I just stumbled upon this blog, thanks for posting your experience with this model. I too am embarking on this build and have come to discover there were 2 different kits? I think mine is the older Constructo kit, as the manual is very lacking in directions and in a version of "Portuenglish" that is hard to decipher. From reviews of the newer kit, folks are stating the manual is well written. Is it possible to get a copy of this version somewhere?

 

Very nice build BTW!

[mikiek]

Geez no posts since April. With this stay at home thing I am completely losing track of time. Don't know what day it is most of the time. Or maybe that's old age setting in.

 

I have slowly been fastening up all the rigging loose ends. Still got the fore mainsail to hang but it was a very good idea not to do that until all the other running rig was pinned and coiled. It would have been awful trying to reach in around that sail.

 

Speaking of reaching in, I came across a tool I had never seen before, although apparently it is very common at the ear doctor. They are called alligator forceps. I won't even try to describe them. Just Goggle. If you are like me, the second I saw them I knew they could be very useful. They come in various sizes, I'm finding the longer ones are the most useful. They have helped with rigging quite a bit for reaching thru rigging and across deck to grab something on the far side. The beauty of them is the jaw is just at the tip so you are able to open them up without having to spread the other end 3-4". 

 

I'm really struggling with getting rope coils to hang over the pins. The rope just isn't heavy enough so that it hangs naturally - pulled down by gravity. I have tried putting Elmers at the loop end and then holding it bent until it dries. The idea being one end of the coil is angled slightly. That end goes over the pin and lays on the pinrail and then angles downward at the edge of the rail.  This sort of works but still doesn't look natural.

 

Sad thing is almost all the coils are in place and I'm liking the look less and less. Would hate to have to redo them all - would be a big waste of rope. If I do I may make a mock up pinrail to hang the ropes and get them shaped before they are installed. I think they do need some glue on them so that they will hold their shape over time.

 

Matter of fact I may head out and give that a go now.

 

No new pix. The last ones I posted are pretty much what she still looks like. Later.....

[mikiek]

Have still been trying to do some tidying up before putting in the fore mainsail. And I have come to one conclusion when doing rigging with sails. OK actually several. As I was bringing rig ropes down to the pins I glued some of the pins in place. VERY bad move!! Suggestion - take some time when making your pin rails. The holes for the pins should not be oversized. The holes need to allow the skinniest tip of the pin to fit in easily but should show some resistance when the fat part of the pin is inserted. If you do that you should not have to glue any of the pins in place.

 

The reason here is pretty simple - I have had the need to constantly adjust the tension of the running rigging as more is added. Big fat hands push against ropes already in place - and those will loosen. You need the ability to adjust the ropes all the way to the end of the build. I'm sure the more experienced of you are just going DUHH.

 

Another gotcha I just concluded tonite. The coils that hang on the pins are separate from the ropes that are actually pinned. As usual, I wanted to finish out sections as I worked on them so after I pinned a rope I would add the coil over the pin. IMO this is a terrible idea. The coils are only fluff, they serve no purpose for the build. And if you need to tighten/loosen a pinned rope you have to take the coil off to access the pin. I'm thinking those coils should be almost the last thing you do in the build. With those alligator forceps I mentioned earlier, adding the coils later is not too big of a task.

 

I did actually start to hang the fore mainsail tonite. That immediately pointed out several blocks that I did not install when making the mast. I did get them in tonite but with all the rig & sails in the way it was a real bear.

[Rowboat]

Hello mikiek,

 

Glad to see you are still posting here. 😀

I've been watching and initially thought you were done posting, happily I see you are not.

 

I'm building the same ship though there are some changes in my model.

Currently at the point of building and attaching the cannon carriages and hardware.

 

I am trying to figure out how you wrapped the rope that connects the 2 blocks on each side of the carriage to the hull.

Did you just wind the rope around and glue it or is there a special knot to achieve that look.

 

Keep posting lots of pics, and close ups, they are beneficial to us newbies 😁

 

Also your work looks amazing. The quality of the build 👍👍. I hope to achieve that level of detail and quality..

I actually like the extra hanging ropes you put on your model, I'm going to use that idea on mine.

I'll follow your suggestions and add them near the final build.

 

I'll keep watching your posts for more input.

 

--Rowboat

 

 

[Rowboat]

Hello again,

 

I have another questions, this concerns the sails.

I see lots of sewing on those sails, mine have none.

 

Did you sew all the sails are did the kit come that way?

 

Thanks,

--Rowboat

[mikiek]

Hello Rowboat - regarding the gun tackles - the technique is called frapping. It is not something recently made up, they actually did that back in the day. The other option is to coil the excess rope on the deck - a look I don't really care for. There's lots of ways to do it. The easiest is to use some sort of third hand tool - something that can hold a few alligator clips. Assuming you already have two blocks laced up, clip  blocks in two alligator clips, get them the distance you want, take in the slack rope. At the block where the free end of the rope comes out, stretch the rope to the other block and tie a half hitch right at the block. You can put a dot of CA on the hitch to hold it. Then start winding the rope towards the other block. You might check my Niagara build log for details. I may have posted pix there.

 

I don't remember for sure, but I think I bought the sail upgrade kit for this model. I remember dreading having to hem all the sails and then being quite surprised that the hem was already there. If the hem is not in your sails you will want to add one. My Trajta build has some notes on that as those sails did need a hem and I did them all by hand. I'm not sure if it is possible with square rigged sails, but the lateen sails for my Arrow build I just double folded the edges and glued with CA. The I ironed the heck out them to smooth it out. Be careful, a hot iron can scorch the material.

 

Good luck...

[mikiek]

Maybe my first real stumper. The rope pointed out in the pic - hope the pic will scroll . I I read it correctly it would be siezed to the yard then run down the front of the sail to the corner then under and back up the back side to the block? Seems like a rope running down the front of a sail could keep it from filling properly.

 

These dang instructions don't give you the names for the running rigging ropes. I will probably post this in the rigging forum too.

 

[Rowboat]

Hello mikiek,

 

Spent some time on your Niagara build log and I am wowed!

I spent some time reading through it and very impressive.

I need to step up my game, lol.

 

I know, it's not a competition 😁.

 

You have so much information in that build it will take me some time to consume all of it.

Now I will also have to read up on our Trajta and Arrow builds.

This will push my build back a few weeks 😅 !

 

I did see some examples of the rope wrapping (frapping) technique though I didn't find "the how to" on it.

No problem, I just did the ole "google search" and that filled in the missing pieces.

 

I also liked your technique of "stroping" a block that you show in your log.

I am going to try that, it looks much better than my current process.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Rowboat