Planking a buff bow - J Class Endeavour 1:80

[Cornhusker1956]

Looking for some information on how to plank the bow of the Endeavour.  I have attached some pictures from other members that shows an overlapping/alternating planking technique that I have not been able to duplicate.  Is there a video or set of instructions for this method somewhere?  My attempt was not satisfactory (see photo) - very uneven .

 

Picture 2 is from John Gummersall’s build and Picture 1 is from Henry James’s build.

 

David

[Cornhusker1956]

So I guess that no one can assist me with this question?  I am very hesitant to start my Endeavour 1:35 kit without knowing a little bit more about how to plank the bow.  Any assistance would be appreciated.

 

David

[Bob Cleek]

I'm not sure of your question. That's a relatively easily planked bow shape. It appears the model builders pictured simply ran their plank ends forward of the stem line and then cut off the excess to the bow rabet. The practice then is to glue a strip of wood bent to the leading edge of the bow and sand it to a fair rounded leading edge.

 

As for planking, read up on what Chuck Passaro has shared about planking. It's the best tutorial on the subject I know of. https://modelshipworld.com/forum/98-planking-downloads-and-tutorials-and-videos/

 

As the original vessel hull was built of steel, I doubt you will be finishing the wooden model planking bright, so the good news is that fairing compound will cover a multitude of planking errors as long as you get the basic shape right.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Bob Cleek

[Slowhand]

Hiya David,

 

I think part of your confusion is that your Yacht Endeavour is certainly not bluff bowed. Capt Cooke’s Endeavour has a typical blunt bow which is amongst the hardest of hull types to plank well. Many build logs showing planking are on this site,

[Gregory]

As David says, your hull is quite sharp.

Not sure from your picture how you feel you went wrong.    I'm not really sure which picture is yours.

 

Here is a picture from BobG's Pen Duick which is a similar type bow.

 

[allanyed]

David,  Assuming you are building the J Class yacht Endeavour 1934 racing yacht  which was 129 feet long, definitely not a knock about.   I would guess that the planking does not meet at the bow but rather rests in a rabbet.   There are  plans of J class yachts on the net that you can research.  I did a quick look and found  drawings of Shamrock and Cheveyo which I think are similar to Endeavour in construction.  I had some luck about 10 years ago to get into the NYYC and they had a LOT of model yachts, including many J boats.  Perhaps you can contact them for sources on more detailed plans.   You can also search the Library of Congress and Mystic Seaport as they have a lot of photos, and perhaps some detailed plans that are accurate as far as how the vessel was actually constructed.

Allan

[Roger Pellett]

If Cornhusker’s  question refers to building a J Boat Endeavour kit it may not follow the actual practice of planking landed in a rabbit cut into the stem and he will have to follow the kit designer’s system.

 

If on the other hand, if he wants to build a J Boat from scratch two books have recently been published that warrant his attention:

 

The first is “No Ordinary Being” by Llewelyn Howland.  This is a biography of W. Starling Burgess.  Burgess designed three J Boats; Enterprise (1930), Rainbow (1934) and Ranger (1937 in collaboration with Olin Stevens).  The book contains small scale lines drawings for two boats- Enterprise and Ranger.  A large scale lines drawing for Ranger is printed on the endpapers but the book’s center crease runs thru the body plan.  Unfortunately no structural drawings are included.

 

A more useful book is Volume I of Roger Taylor’s biography of L. Francis Herreshoff.  Herreshoff designed one J Boat, Whirlwind, an unsuccessful contender for the 1934 cup and the book’s chapter on the selection of the American Defender makes interesting reading.  The selection committee wound up choosing Rainbow that was generally considered to be slower than the British Challenger.  Despite sailing a slower boat, the Americans narrowly managed to keep the cup.

 

One could probably build a model of Whirlwind from the information contained in Howland’s book.  Mystic Seaport, the publisher has chosen to print a lines drawing and a construction drawing as large fold out plates.

 

The second volume of Howland’s two volume set deals with Herreshoff’s subsequent career designing cruising boats and writing for the Rudder Magazine.  This is my favorite as it includes his Prudence (H-23) sloop, a boat that my father built right after WW II.  There is a brief quotation from a letter that my father wrote to Herreshoff about building the boat.

 

Roger

[Gregory]

I'm pretty sure he is building a kit, probably the Amati.

 

Nice build here.

 

J Class Endeavour by KeithAug -

 

Fairly standard double plank with simulated rabbet.

[MMcWilliams]

David I hoping you can help,  just purchased the J Class Endeavour 1:80 model from Amati,  had to source this from a French supplier so i now have instructions in both Italian and French i was wondering if you can send me a copy of the English version

Here's hoping

Michael