Endeavour by John Gummersall - FINISHED - Amati - Scale 1:80 - J Class yacht

[Cornhusker1956]

John

I see that you have bored the holes in the deck for the fittings.  I don’t know if this is true for you but I have run into some problems.  First the 2 mm holes for the skylights (part 99) are not big enough to accommodate the skylights.  I haven’t determine the correct diameter as of yet but will be working on that next.  Second the 2 mm holes for the capstans are not needed - that is my capstans (part 102) do not have the protrusion at the bottom that are supposed to fit into these holes (figure 67 in the plans).  

 

David

[John Gummersall]

Dave,

 

Actually, I do not have a 2mm drill.   My metric drills go from .4mm up to 1.5mm.    For the 2mm holes for the skylights I have a bunch of miscellaneous bits that came with the drill I ordered  on Ebay.   I show it below, but see my long on "King of The Mississippi" for my comments on the drill and extra bits.    If you do not have an electric drill, you need to get this one.   It holds bits as small as my .4mm bits and much larger bits than you would need for a model.   It takes all the (shall we say) "sport" out of drilling accurate holes.     I especially like the variable speed control.

 

Anyway, as you can see in the picture, in included was a bag of assorted bits.   None of them are labeled, so unless you have a calibrator, there is no way to tell what size they are.   I tested a few on a spare piece of wood and found one that drilled a perfect hole for the 2mm skylights.   

 

Thanks for your comments on the "2 mm holes for the capstans are not needed".    I did realize that and did not drill those holes.... but I do appreciate you comment.   Always good to have a 2nd set of eyes. 

 

 

 

 

On another topic.... believe it or not I am considering not painting the white water line.   I am too that  point in the build and either need to make a decision one way or the other.   My reason for not painting the white water line comes from the idea that the entire hull is natural wood.    In the real boat world that is not normal.   A real natural wood boat would have some sort of anti-fouling paint below the waterline.    So since is not realistic anyway, I am wondering if a white water line in the middle of the hull (that is natural on both sides of the white water line) would look strange to where the entire hull natural would look better.

 

On the other side of that coin,,,, I wonder if the entire hull (without white water line) would look strange too...      I will talk to the "Commodore"  (my wife) and get the "correct" answer.  🙂

[Cornhusker1956]

John

The drill looks real handy.  Will have to add to my “toys”.  It was a pain had drilling all of the holes.  I am leaning toward not doing the water line also.

 

David

[John Gummersall]

Grand-kids visited us last week and I was tied up all week doing all sorts of grandparent/grand-kid activities.   About all I was able to do on the build was to put together the 20 blocks that require a "tail".    I decided to use very thin wire to make up the tail.   It is much easier to string than with the included tan thread, and I think it might even look better.    Basically held the block in a tweezers and the tweezers in a vise.   From there just wrap the block and start turning the ends of the wire.   After a few blocks the process gets a little old, and after 20 blocks the process gets really old,  but in the end they turned out OK.    When I get ready insert these into the hull, I will cut them to length.   

 

Have not done it yet, but I will probably drill the hole in the block a little larger.  Maybe a .8mm drill bit.   That will defiantly take all the "sport" out of the rigging process.

 

[John Gummersall]

Blocks have been inserted into the sleeves.   Instructions call to insert an eyelet into the sleeve and then tie the block to the eyelet.  I did one that way and did not like the look of it.   With the block tied to the eyelet the block seemed to sit too high on the deck.

Instead I glued the block into the eyelet.  That way the block will sit more or less on the deck and not stick up so high.  I do not know if later on this decision will come back to haunt me, but for now anyway, I liked this look better.

 

The hole in the block was re-drilled with a 9mm bit.   That seemed to be a good size to where the rigging would easily be inserted.

 

[John Gummersall]

Deck Fittings complete,

 

The blocks inserted directly into the sleeves turns out pretty good.   Looks a little more to scale to me.      When adding the deck fittings, I strongly suggest putting in the hand rails before you put in the cleats and  brass winches.    Putting in the winches before the had rails main issue is with the winch at the bow.   If that is glued in before the brass forward brass rails, it will be challenging getting the forward brass rail strung.   In addition, with the brass rails installed, makes it much easier to locate the brass winches and cleats. 

 

Anyway,,, that is my novice opinion on the topic.

 

If you notice, there is no main (coffee grinder) winch or the correct steering wheel post.  Either I lost them at this point or they were not included in the kit.   In any event, I never really understood in the plans why the binnacle (that includes the compass) was not closer to the steering wheel.   To me, In the plans it is located way too far forward to be seen by the skipper.   Since I was missing the steering wheel post I used the binnacle (that includes the compass) as the steering wheel post.   That way skipper can actually see the compass.    Do not have any red or green paint on hand to paint the binnacle steel balls, but I can add those two minor details later on when I have the paint on hand.

 

Tomorrow plan to step the mast and add the rigging....  

 

[John Gummersall]

Prior to the rigging I decided the Rigging shrouds really should have turnbuckles.   Just tying the shrouds to a ring on the deck did not seem to have the right look.   I looked around for some pre-made turnbuckles, but the smallest ones I could find were 15mm - and about $6.00 (us).  UGH.    15mm (in 1/80 scale) would be equivalent to about a 5 foot turnbuckle.   A little large.

I decided to go the cheap route and make what some would call a turnbuckle....  I can at least pretend...

 

Taking some 1/16 inch tubing I cut it about 8mm long (still huge in 1/80 scale), that was the smallest my hands could deal with - and inserted two rings in to each end.   

 

 

I think I will need six turnbuckles to hold he main rigging.    Below is the final result.    The idea is the makeshift turnbuckles will be attached to the ring in the deck and the shrouds will tie to the turnbuckle.  Not a working turnbuckle by any means, but I think the look will be OK on the hull.   

 

If not I can always go with just tying the shrouds to the deck as the plan call for.   We will see what it looks like when I get to that point.

 

 

 

 

[John Gummersall]

Next up is starting the shrouds.    I started on the two main port/starboard shrouds.   Attached each shroud to a turnbuckle on each side of the hull.   Then strung the shroud up the mast.   Below is a shot of the shroud attached to my "makeshift" turnbuckle.

 

 

At the top of the mast I would temporarily run the shroud through the ring and clamp it.   That way the tension on the shroud can be adjusted on each side to make sure the mast is straight.     Once happy with the mast angle, put a tab of CA glue on the shroud (at the ring) to hold it.   When that dries you can permanently tie it off.   Not sure that is how an experienced builder would do it, but with my novice skills, that seemed to work for me.   To make stringing the shrouds easier, before stringing each shroud, coat the last inch of the shroud with CA glue.   When that dries, it will be stiff and much easier to string through the mast rings.   Once tied off, the stiff part of the shroud can be cut off.

 

[Cornhusker1956]

John

Hopefully you have had a chance to do some work this past week.  I am looking forward to seeing your progress.  I copied your idea for the turnbuckles and they turned out beautifully.  I am a little ambivalent about putting all of the blocks and cleats on the deck.  I have seen others that have done them all (even if they are not needed for the rigging) and included the coiled ropes for the rigging.  While realistic I think that it detracts from the view of the deck and the fine work that has been done.

If I remember correctly you had previously posted that you were not going to add the sails.  Is that still the plan?  

 

I have added some pictures of my progress so far.  Working on the sails now.  Going with a different sail material than provided in the kit.  Also included a picture of the bronze cleats.

 

David

[Cornhusker1956]

John

Now that I am placing the cleats and the blocks I wanted to comment on the plans and some of the very close tolerances on the placement of some parts for those who try this next.

 

The plans indicate that a 2mm wide plank should be used for the outermost deck planking and a double 2mm plank for the center line plank.  Once the deck is completed then a 1mm wide toe rail is placed just inside the outermost plank.  Per the plans there are many blocks to be placed on this outermost plank.  The holes are 1.5mm and the brass collars are 2mm wide.  This means that the holes need to be bored exactly in the center of the outermost plank so that the brass collars don’t bind with the toe rail or overhang the deck.  As you found out this placement can cause some problems depending upon whether you bore the holes first and and place the brass collars before or after the toe rail.are placed in the outermost plank. I used a 3mm wide plank for both the outermost plank and the two center planks.  While this made the placement of brass collars easier it did cause some other problems.

 

The space between the toe rail and the brass rails is also very close.  Per the plans there should be 3 staggered cleats between them at amidships.  Using the 2mm outermost plank with the 1mm toe rail there is room but with my setup of a 3mm outermost plank I don’t have the room to stagger.   The use of the 3mm planks for the centerline also caused some problems in that the placement of the innermost holes/brass collars (of the six) near the mast is difficult. 

 

David

[Julie Mo]

On 5/21/2020 at 7:08 PM, John Gummersall said:

At this point, I think I am going to keep the hull natural and not paint it

I agree.  That planking is too pretty to paint over.  Nice work!

[John Gummersall]

Julie Mo

 

Thanks for your comments...  Prior to my building the 1:80 J Class I looked at your build of the 1:35 J Class boat.   You are a true craftsman in every sense of the word.   The detail and customization you put into your ship was outstanding.   A true masterpiece.   I got the feeling you were building a real J Class boat - not just a model.  Anyone wanting to build either J Class boat (1:80 or 1:35) has to look at your log.   What a beautiful ship.

 

Thanks for sharing your build and the detail you put into your log.

[John Gummersall]

In the below diagram, it shows the shroud rigging going from the block directly down to a cleat on the deck.    That to me seemed a little strange as most boats I have been on lines go parallel on the deck to a cleat.   Lines to a cleat do not go directly up to a block.

 

In the diagram, the line goes from the block on the shroud to the deck block, back to the shroud block and then directly down to the cleat on the deck.

 

 

A little hard to see on the picture below, but I changed the line to go from the deck block up to the shroud block, down to the deck block and then on to a cleat.   To me that seemed better...

 

 

 

Also of note, I did not put the 2nd block/tackle to the back shroud.    For some reason it with the small scale a boat, I felt it would look a little "stringy" if I added the 2nd block/tackle between the 1st and 3rd block/tackle...   Not sure that was a good decision, but that is how it ended up.

 

Rather than have line just go to each cleat and then just stop or lay on the deck, I added some coiled rope to each cleat.   Especially since I do not plan to add the sails, to me it looks more like a ship at mooring with the lines coiled.

 

At this point I am going to "call it"...  This ship is ready for it final home in the case.     Below are some final pictures of the completed build and a short video.

 

From here I am moving on the the USN Picket.   Kit just arrived the other day and I am anxious to get started on it.

 

[Cornhusker1956]

John

Just saw this post and am happy that you have completed the build.  I believe that your final result is much better than mine, especially with the hull and bow.  I will post pictures of my finished build in another post.  Like you it is time to move on to another.  I would still like to get some more experience with the hull and bow of these types of boats before I attempt the 1:35 version of the Endeavour.

 

David

[Ryland Craze]

Congratulations on completing your Endeavour.  You did a nice job on building this model.

[John Gummersall]

On 9/30/2020 at 11:03 AM, Cornhusker1956 said:

John

Just saw this post and am happy that you have completed the build.  I believe that your final result is much better than mine, especially with the hull and bow.  I will post pictures of my finished build in another post.  Like you it is time to move on to another.  I would still like to get some more experience with the hull and bow of these types of boats before I attempt the 1:35 version of the Endeavour.

 

David

 

David

 

I too would like to someday take on the 1:35 version of the Endeavour....  Originally I wanted to take on the 1:35, but my wife felt we did not have a place to fit such a large model and thus talked me into the 1:80 version.    But after building the 1:80 version, I really want to build the 1:35 version.   The Endeavour is a really neat model.

 

If you ever decide to build the 1:35 version,,, let me know,,,,  Maybe by then we will have found a place for the 1:35 and I could build one too along with you..   We'll see,,