HM Bark Endeavour by rvchima - FINISHED - Caldercraft - scale 1:64 - yet another

[rvchima]

Please consider this to be my application to join the Endeavour Builders' Club, although I'm not sure that I'd want to be a member of a club that would have me as a member. (Groucho Marx)

 

I realize now that there are many members of this club with works in progress or completed, so I will start by linking to some of their beautiful work, mainly so I can find it easily when I update my own build log.

HM Bark Endeavour by Dashi - Caldercraft - scale 1:64 - 1768-71 - bashed kit
HMB Endeavour by Captain Slog - Caldercraft - 1:64
H M Bark Endeavour by Mindi - stopped build resumed (Caldercraft / Jotika)
HMB Endeavour by shipaholic - Eaglemoss - 1/51 - Bashed partwork

HMB Endeavour by DaveRow - Corel Amati - Scale 1:60 - First Build Kit

 

HMB Endeavour 1768 by Cabbie - Artesania Latina - 1:60 - Kit Fiddle
 

HMB Endeavour by BANYAN - Artesania Latina - 1:60 - circa 1768 - FINISHED

 

Please let me know who I've missed so I can steal borrow ideas from those builders as well.

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by rvchima

[rvchima]

Here's the Story

 

In November of 2016 my wife was bugging me about what I wanted for Christmas. I was in the middle of my build of the Arleigh-Burke guided missile destroyer, and didn't really need a new kit, but she kept asking and I started shopping. After building the Syren I had sworn that I would never build another tall ship. I loved the Syren kit, but the biggest problem was that it is a relatively unknown ship. I started looking at more recognizable kits - the Charles W. Morgan, the Cutty Sark, the Constitution, but I fell in live with the HM Bark Endeavour. The Caldercraft kit looked especially nice with the walnut planking, metal fittings, etc. I ordered the kit from Cornwall Model Boats, had it in a few days, wrapped it up, and gave it to my wife to give to me.

 

Well the Arleigh-Burke took time to finish and other things got in the way, so I didn't actually start until August of 2017. I fully planned to start a build log. I even took "What's in the box pictures." There is plenty of that on MSW already, so I will not post those after all.

The hull construction started on 22 Aug. 2017.  The first layer of planking with limewood (basswood) was going OK,

or so I thought. You can already see a major SNAFU here, but I didn't realize it until recently. I FORGOT TO BUILD THE BULWARKS!!!!

And the bow looked terrible. Eeew, I am not proud of this. The curvature was so blunt and the bulkheads are so far apart that the planks just bent abruptly at the first bulkhead. So I quit on 07 Sep. I decided not to start a build log until I fixed this mess.

 

I resumed construction on 19 Dec. I cut off everything forward of bulkhead number 2 (as Dirk would call it "deconstruction"), and replaced it all with solid balsa. I shaped everything to the match the first layer of planking. I was pretty unsure of myself at this point and didn't take any more photos.

 

Then we took road trips to New York, Boston, Connecticut, and North Carolina. Then Christmas. In January I finished the first planking, sanded for ages, filled everything with Beheln's wood filler, and sanded some more.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 13, 2018 by rvchima

[rvchima]

Second Planking

The second layer of planks is walnut, slightly thinner than the first layer. I love walnut - it's my favorite wood. I started planking at the main wale as shown on the plans, and worked up to the bulwar... Arrgh! There were no bulwarks!

 

This was when I came back to MSW and started paying serious attention to the other build logs. I had misinterpreted my plans but could see immediately what the bulwarks were supposed to look like from other builders' logs. THANK YOU ALL!

 

So I built temporary bulkhead extensions, put on a first layer of planking, then the second walnut layer. I worked down from the main wale until the curvature became compound and the planks just wouldn't bend that way any more.

 

Then I worked up from the keel. I worked upwards until the bottom planks hit the top planks at the bow, but there was still a gap amidships. So I put in some stealer planks as needed. Not correct, but the result looks good.

 

The Caldercraft parts are cut with numerically controlled machining and seem quite precise, but I have already run into several situations where the parts just don't fit.  Now the keel was not nearly deep enough and barely showed below the planking. I had to build it up an additional 6 mm or so to make it look right.

I sanded for ages (again), filled all the gaps with Timber-Mate's walnut colored wood filler, and sanded some more. I stained everything with Watco walnut penetrating oil stain. I love that stuff. I also added the wales and painted them black. I have no plans to show scale planks or tree nails.

 

So I finally corrected all my stupid mistakes and am proud to show the results. The walnut planking couldn't be prettier. I know that there are a million fiddly pieces to go on this model, but it's all stuff I've done before and can do again.

Here I have started to plank the decks. The Tanganyika strips supplied with the kit are very rough and require a lot of sanding, but they finish up beautifully with linseed oil. I am currently about a week beyond this and will try to get some photos up soon.

 

 

Edited April 13, 2018 by rvchima

[rvchima]

Workshop

Does anyone care what my workshop looks like? I live in a house built in 1933 in an old mill town (Chagrin Falls Ohio - is that a great name for a city?), and I have the only not-scary basement in the city. I enjoy woodworking and have as many tools as I can handle. My shop is small but I have a band saw, table saw, drill press, and planer and jointer (out of the photo). Plus lots of other smaller stationary tools on the opposite wall. Most of my ship-building tools are in the oak tool box left of my work bench in the panorama. Ship plans typically get spread out on my table saw. Not the most convenient location, and may explain how I overlooked the bulwarks.

I am a retired NASA rocket scientist (well almost - I mostly worked on jet engines) so that explains the posters.

[RGL]

Welcome to the Endeavour club, great workshop mate! 

[Thunder]

Hi,

 

Probably one of the hardest ships to plank at the bow so wouldn't get so worked up as come good in the end.

 

I wish I had a workshop like that.

[AntonyUK]

Hi. 

Making a nice job of the hull. As Thunder said it' "Not a easy Bow to plank."

Gonna follow along on your build as it's a nice ship model.

2 hours ago, rvchima said:

So I finally corrected all my stupid mistakes

No you got that bit wrong. Should be" I corrected my learning errors"

 

Regards Antony.

[rvchima]

Hull Painted, Rudder Completed, and Deck Planked

I painted the hull trim a perfect painter's tape blue. It's actually French Blue, and it sure makes the ship look proud.

The rudder was fun to make but hard to attach. I broke 3 of the pins off of the cast metal hinge pieces and had to drill in tiny brass pins. I used a patina chemical for stained glass (another hobby) to darken the photo etched brass.

The decking pieces were cut as long as possible, then notched lightly every 2.25 inches (12 feet scale) to look like separate planks. When everything was planked I covered the deck with a thin coat of light colored Timbermate wood filler. When that was dry I sanded it off and stained everything with linseed oil. The filler stains a little darker than the wood and makes the individual planks stand out.

[rvchima]

Pre-Cut Parts Don't Fit Together

 

Here's another example where Caldercraft's  pre-cut parts look great but don't fit together. The lower rail is notched for 34 timberheads and numerous other upright pieces. Unfortunately the holes are smaller than the thickness of the timberheads (left - support tab has not been trimmed off yet). Before I noticed the problem I had already glued 5 of the 6 rails in place. I couldn't file the holes larger, so I had to cut tiny tenons on all 34 timberheads (right), and the other uprights as well.

[rvchima]

Railings Completed

 

I stayed up late last night and finished the rails. Just for fun I did a test fit of the masts.

 

I now have 160 hours invested in my Endeavour (pun intended) over almost 8 months. However, because of the long gap with no work early on, I have only worked on the model on 39 separate days, averaging about 4 hours/day.

The bumpkins and tiller arm are not permanently attached yet.

And here's a look at the stern.

[donrobinson]

Very nice so far, that blue really brings life to her. Great work!

[DaveRow]

Hi Rod,

Welcome, as others have said to the Endeavour Club.

Doing a great job on the hull.

Will follow with interest.

[rvchima]

Hawse Holes

 

I ran into the same problem with the anchor hawse holes ending up below the deck that DaveRow and Banyan did. It's amazing to me how much DaveRow's Corel kit at 1:60 resembles my Caldercraft kit at 1:64, and now both kits end up with the hawse holes too low.

The hawse plates are supposed to sit below the tan colored rail, but then the holes end up below the deck. My solution was to remove part of the rail and move the plates up. Doesn't match the plan but the ropes will end up on deck.

[rvchima]

Anchor Linings

Seems like everyone else had trouble with the anchor linings too. Dashi and I both found that the kit parts were way too small, and wouldn't bend through the compound curvature of the hull if they were the right size. Here's what I came up with.

 

First I cut a paper pattern to the correct shape. Then I covered the hull with some nice, adhesive food covering. It wasn't adhesive enough, so I laid a strip of double sided tape down the middle. 

Then I planked the hull with strips of basswood (limewood) left over from the first hull planking. I copied the paper pattern on top of the wood.

I removed the plates, trimmed them to shape, Dremeled out a little of the inside so they would lay flat, and finished the outside with linseed oil. Except then they looked like, well, basswood, so after a few days' thought I painted them the same tan trim color that I've been using. See next post.

[rvchima]

Channels and Chains

The channels were fun to make - not too tedious and a big effect on the look of the model. Here's a top view with the channels in place.

Then I looked at what was involved with the chains themselves. OMG - 24 chains for large deadeyes. 22 chains for small deadeyes. 3 or 4 photo-etched parts per chain. It took me a couple of hours to make a table of all the different combinations of deadeyes and photo etched parts that I would have to make.

 

I started by making 4 chains for large deadeyes on the main mast, and it took 2 hours. I was ready to quit. But then I switched to assembly line mode:

Put patina on all the brass.

Strop all the large deadeyes.

Rotate deadeyes to proper position and CA in place.

Solder joint closed.

Attach 2nd & 3rd link.

Solder 2nd link.

I was done with 24 large chains in 5 hours.

Yesterday I built 22 small chains in 4 hours, and attached the fore starboard chains.

Today I attached the rest of the chains.

Total for chains about 17 hours in just 3 days.

Here's a photo of the completed deadeyes and chains. I started to line everything up for a nice photo, but it was taking too long. After the photo I dumped everything in the patina again to cover the solder joints. I also put patina on a bunch of nails.  And here's a photo of the fore and main chains. You can also see the painted anchor lining on the left. I like it a lot better than the stained basswood.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I built the ladders. It took a while to sand the zillions of little pieces, but everything went together pretty smoothly.

 

So now I get to start building cool stuff that goes on deck. I'm psyched.

[BANYAN]

Hi Rod, you are making good progress with your build of Endeavour; I'll pull up a seat and follow-along also.

 

As you noted the anchor linings are not well covered in most kits.  For mine I dry fitted the anchor to the cathead then traced the arcs the anchor flukes followed as they were catted or lowered in preparation for dropping.  that gave me the 'real' arc the lining had to follow.  

 

The deck fittings were the most enjoyable for me and you have several good options in the various plans, books and replicas to follow as to how they looked.  

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Jobbie]

Looking great, Rod. I’ll follow along as well. 

[rvchima]

Bitts and Pieces

 

I've been busy building a winch, several bitts, two gallows, a small hatch, two ladders, a companionway, a capstan, and a skylight. Here's a look at the lot.

I am very tight on space between the main and mizzen masts, so I think I'll have to remove some material around the base of the capstan.

 

The aft deck of the Endeavour has quite a slope to it, and that leads me to an important question. What things should be vertical and what should be perpendicular? The plans show the bitts and buildings vertical, and the wheel and capstan perpendicular. That seems almost backwards to me. The capstan almost has to be vertical so the shaft can extend to the deck below, and the captain would probably want to stand up straight at the wheel. Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this.

 

I couldn't stand the thought of using the photo-etched brass wheel supplied with the kit so I ordered a wheel kit from Chuck at the Syren Ship Model Company. While I was at it I ordered a kit for a grate for the main hatch, and kits to make four pumps. It all looks like fun.

Edited May 6, 2018 by rvchima

[rvchima]

Honey I Shrunk the Binnacle

 

There has been some controversy about the binnacle for this model. Marquardt's book Captain Cook's Endeavour, Anatomy of the Ship (AOTS) shows a tall, bridge-like structure that sits in front of the wheel over the skylight. The kit has an identical design. I'm not a sailor but I am an engineer, and nothing seems right with that design.

• It would be 6 feet tall and block the captain's view ahead.
• It would shade the beautiful skylight and prevent it from opening.
• You would have to reach through the wheel to open the little drawers along the top - very dangerous in rough seas.

Photos of the replica show a little cupboard that seems to be used in port for display, but this photo shows the real binnacle in use. Note the horizontal compass on top right. The binnacle is about waist high and sits to the port side of the wheel. Other photos show a similar cabinet to starboard.

 

I Googled binnacle and found this photo of a binnacle for the Nonsuch, a British ketch that sailed into Hudson's Bay in 1668-1669, 100 years before the Endeavour. A replica of the Nonsuch was built in 1970 and now sits in the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg, Canada. That binnacle looked perfect to me. It is about the size of the cabinet on the Endeavour replica, has an enclosure for a lantern, and a window for the compass.

The photo shows almost a perfect front view so I printed it at 10 percent, traced it, and built one from balsa right over the tracing. Here's a photo of the kit binnacle (front only) with my first build in the center. The box came out about 22 mm high, a little over 4 feet scale, and it just seemed too big. I showed my wife and asked her if my binnacle was too big, and she told me it wasn't big enough. I'm not sure what she meant by that. Anyway I reduced my drawing 75% and built the second one on the left.

I added some paint, a window, a tiny paper compass inside, and some hardware, and here's my final binnacle. I'll tie it down on the port side of the wheel.

I probably spent 10 hours on this fiddly thing. I never do stuff like this, so don't expect to see any more heavy detailing on this build.

[BANYAN]

Hi Rod, see my response to your PM for some answers, however, a couple of clarifying points for you to ponder.  A ship is steered by a helmsman using a compass and is 'conned' on to the course to be steered by the deck officer (Officer of the Watch in RN terms) or the Captain (whomever has the control of the ship).  I think it was this way even back then also. The helmsman does not need to see ahead but does need to see the sails (to keep them filled) and have a clear view of the compass - seeing ahead is a bonus   So a large binnacle would be okay.  The style, design or size of the one used in Endeavour will probably never be known.  I went with the larger one (Marquardt) as this being a ship of exploration and, when being refitted, potentially for survey as well, I believe the availability of two compasses a necessity. That does not mean your interpretation is incorrect and may well have been one a possible fit.  I only raise my point for consideration.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[DaveRow]

Great progress there Rod.

The Australian Replica of the Endeavour has had some modern "Safety" features/adjustments incorporated.

Their are "vents" on the deck where pumps were fitted. A Diesel Engine was installed.

The Binnacles to either side of the steering wheel, appear to house the diesel motor instrumentation, the compass etc.

I as you have found out, very tight "fit" for all the items between the Main and Mizzen Masts.

 

This picture shows a "on shore" binnacle for visitors to to imagine what may of really been on deck. 

Pic compliments Greg Shard, Endeavour at Darlington Harbour, Sydney at the Maritime Museum. 

 

[rvchima]

I'm Still Building! 10 months, 77 work days, 305 hours

 

I haven't posted for awhile, not because I've given up but because I've been having too much fun building. You can see in the photo below that I've completed a lot since the last post: cannons, hatches, pumps, wheel and tiller, eyebolts, and even the stern window covers. Everything is permanently attached. Some detail shots follow. 

I know there is some controversy about the boomkins but I don't know enough about ships to worry about it, so I just built what's in the plans.

I bought the curved hatch gratings from Chuck at the Syren Ship Model Company. They were a little tricky to align but they came out beautiful. The cannons are straight out of the Caldercraft kit. Here's another case where the cut parts didn't fit. The cannon frameworks had interlocking slots that all had to be filed to fit. The axles all had to be filed round. The wheels were more or less round but all different sizes. I mounted a bunch on a mandrel, spun them up in my rotary tool, and sanded them to size. In the end the cannons look pretty good.

I also ordered pump kits from Chuck but they were a different style that the Endeavour. I ended up using the kit pumps.

The wheel that came with the kit was 2 layers of photo-etched brass. The PE parts are beautiful but just don't look right for a wheel, so I bought a wheel kit from Chuck - 15/16" diameter and about 30 pieces! But the pieces are cut to a precision of 0.1 mm and fit perfectly. If you're curious you can view the wheel instructions here.

And I finally made up the covers for the stern windows. Nothing too fancy.

 

Two Questions about Rigging

1. It is tempting to put a drop of CA on rigging threads to hold them in place, but the CA changes the texture and color of the thread. Do you use CA or something else?

2. Do you use beeswax on the thread? I know it cuts down on fraying but does it collect dust?

 

 

 

[rvchima]

Anchors

I won't be able to attach the anchors until the rigging is done, but I built them just for fun.

[rvchima]

Ship's Boats

The 4 ship's boats are built just like the full model - double planked over a frame. Here is a photo of the 4 boats in various stages of construction with comments. From top to bottom:

• Yawl The frame pieces don't match up very well even after everything has been sanded a lot.
• Skiff The first layer of planking is covered with a layer of Timbermate wood filler that needs to be sanded. A block of wood is attached to the inside of the boat with double-sided tape. It is used to hold the boat in my vise during construction. The yawl and skiff are supposed to be clinker-built, but I don't know if I can do that cleanly on these tiny boats. They may end up with smooth hulls. Pat Banyan built a beautiful longboat and pinnace for his Endeavour . Mine won't be that nice
• Pinnace This has 2 layers of planking and is ready for a second coat of filler.
• Longboat I put several coats of Krylon gloss enamel on the hull and it looked perfect, until I glued on the wales. The CA just lifted the paint right off the hull. I got everything together without too much damage, but now I'm worried about the interior pieces and the other boats. I guess I'll experiment with other paints.

The frames have to be removed after construction. The instructions say to twist them off with needle nosed pliers. This seemed unlikely but worked perfectly. However this leaves a very rough floor in the boat that needs to be planked over. That's the next step.

Edited June 20, 2018 by rvchima

[BANYAN]

Great progress and glad to hear you are having a lot of fun with the build.  looks great!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[DaveRow]

Hey Rod,

I used to use a lot of CA glue on the rope rigging. But it does dry brittle. Can be dissolved with Acetone, but tricky to use.

I now use mostly a 50/50 PVA/water mix. It tales a little while to dry, but looks better. Still can dissolve with water later if needed.

 

Build coming along nicely.

 

[rvchima]

Thanks Dave. I did one anchor ring puddenning with CA and didn't like the way it looked. I started over with PVA and it looks much better. I'll try it again when I get to the real rigging.

[rvchima]

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

 

On this date in 1776 Captain James Cook had an honorary retirement from the Royal Navy, with a posting as an officer of the Greenwich Hospital; he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, and awarded the Copley Gold Medal for completing his second voyage without losing a man to scurvy.  Nathaniel Dance-Holland painted his portrait; he dined with James Boswell; he was described in the House of Lords as "the first navigator in Europe".

 

In the US we celebrate with hotdogs and beer.

[rvchima]

Ships Boats Completed

 

The instructions said that the ship's boats should take a couple of weeks. That was a little optimistic - they took about 60 hours over 19 days, but I build fast. The only problem with the plank-on-frame construction is that the floor ends up too close to the side rails. The poor sailors would have to sit with their knees to their chins. The clinker-built construction of the yawl and skiff came out better than I expected.

[rvchima]

Oars

 

The kit came with a lot of photo-etched brass oars in 2 lengths. There is no mention of oars in the instructions or plans, but they obviously go with the ship's boats. The p-e brass parts in this kit are beautiful, but flat oars just didn't look right because they stack up flat. I briefly considered carving 24 oars out of basswood, but only briefly. Instead I decided on composite oars with brass blades and wooden handles.

 

The handles on the brass pieces were 1.2 mm across. I thought about buying a draw plate to make the handles, but our friends at Bluejacket Shipcrafters had 1.2 mm dowels sold as treenails. Besides, the 10 mm dowel supplied with the kit for the mainmast was misshapen and Bluejacket had that too. I ordered 2 of each and had them in 2 days.

 

I cut the 1.2 mm dowels to length, spun them in a rotary tool and shape the handles, and split the other end. I cut the blades off the p-e brass oars, glued them to the handles, painted my composite oars, and tied them into little bundles for the boats. You can see them in the previous post.