Endurance by HakeZou - FINISHED - OcCre - 1:70

[HakeZou]

A couple steps closer on the lifeboats! Yesterday, I used woodfiller on the gaps in the hulls, smoothing both the inside and the outside as much as I could. This morning, after finishing my morning writing goals more quickly than anticipated, I sanded down the excess woodfiller and worked on fairing the hulls. They don't necessarily look pretty, but they are very smooth to the touch and should look better once they're painted. Next, I installed the stemposts, sternposts, and keel pieces, using the gunwales pieces to ensure that the stem and sternposts were lined up correctly. The stem and sternposts are laser-cut pieces, while the keel is a piece of 2x2 wood. Once the glue is fully set, I'll sand those down so they run together smoothly. I also sanded the edges of the gunwales; since these will be stained, I needed to remove both the burrs and the burn marks. In the photo, the finished lifeboat is in the back, behind the three that are still in progress; those three are propped up while the glue sets on the stem and sternposts.

 

 

(And of course, now is when I notice that the larger boat's hull and gunwales are pointing opposite directions!)

 

I'm hoping that later today I'll have a change to get the primer on and then to start painting and staining everything.

[HakeZou]

I've made a bit more progress on the lifeboats and have also discovered an error in the kit. I've painted the lifeboats over the last three days and have installed the floorboards for the larger one. The photo shows the current state of all three, along with the stained gunwales pieces. I should have done a better job of filing down the center lines, but that will soon be well hidden under the floorboards. 

 

 

As for the error, the parts list indicates that 17 double-sheave blocks are required (that's part E for those building the kit). As with everything else, OcCre has been generous; my kit actually came with 20 of them. Unfortunately, the plans actually call for 32 of those blocks. I've written OcCre to notify them—though I'm sure I wasn't the first—and have requested replacement parts. The blocks I'm short will be installed on the anchors, lifeboats, and lifeboat davits, so this problem won't interfere with my progress yet. But hopefully they arrive by the time I'm ready to install those last items on the ship! 

[Jeff Titus]

23 hours ago, HakeZou said:

I've made a bit more progress on the lifeboats and have also discovered an error in the kit. I've painted the lifeboats over the last three days and have installed the floorboards for the larger one. The photo shows the current state of all three, along with the stained gunwales pieces. I should have done a better job of filing down the center lines, but that will soon be well hidden under the floorboards. 

 

 

As for the error, the parts list indicates that 17 double-sheave blocks are required (that's part E for those building the kit). As with everything else, OcCre has been generous; my kit actually came with 20 of them. Unfortunately, the plans actually call for 32 of those blocks. I've written OcCre to notify them—though I'm sure I wasn't the first—and have requested replacement parts. The blocks I'm short will be installed on the anchors, lifeboats, and lifeboat davits, so this problem won't interfere with my progress yet. But hopefully they arrive by the time I'm ready to install those last items on the ship! 

Thanks for the heads up on the shortage. I have this kit sitting on my self for building in the near future. I will make a count and see how many I have and contact OcCre if necessary.

[HakeZou]

Happy to help, Jeff! OcCre was really quick to reply to my message and they will be sending the blocks free of charge. So far, I couldn't ask for better customer service.

 

Today I worked on installing the seats on the lifeboats. The seats in the larger boats are pretty easy to manage, since they are mounted in the gaps between the futtocks. The smaller boats, however, posed more of a challenge. In order to be spaced nicely, they need to be centered on the futtocks—that means placing a 4mm-wide plank around a 3mm-wide futtock. After some fiddly work with the Xacto knife and my square file, they went on nicely...though I was working at the edge of my skills, so the work isn't quite perfect. Here's a photo showing one of the smaller lifeboats with seats and gunwales installed, and the other while I was still in the process of preparing the seats. You can see one of the seats off to the side with the futtock-shaped holes cut into the ends (though the left end still needed a bit more filing at this point).

 

  

 

All that remains for the lifeboats after tonight's work session is to apply finish and then to install the double-sheave blocks used for hoisting them on the davits.

[HakeZou]

An exciting day today, since my order of extra .15mm thread arrived (along with the kit for Le Martegaou). As a result, this evening was one of those on which the hours slipped past without me noticing!

 

I have started applying finish to the lifeboats, so nothing much to report on that front. But I made some great progress on the rigging thanks to the new thread. On the foremast, I installed the last of the upper shrouds. There will be 50 ratlines on the upper shrouds (25 on each side), so I'm just going bit by bit with those. After reaching my limit of ratlines, I switched over to the mizzenmast. Although I had attached the two sails to that mast and spars, I hadn't really run their rigging yet. So, I installed the mast and then ran the halyards and boom lift for the gaffsail, as well as all the halyard, downhauler, and sheet for the topsail; all six of those ropes attach to the eyebolts around the base of the mast, so they needed to be done first. I'll come back for the rest later.

 

 

A quick note for those building this kit: Study the mizzenmast rigging carefully. The paths of the ropes are not as intuitive as with the other masts.

 

At the end of my work session, I had reached a really satisfying stopping point, with all 3 masts and all 10 sails on the ship. I showed my wife this photo and she asked, "Is it done?!" No, not quite, dear. My checklist tells me that I still need to run 72 ropes and about 200 ratlines. But, it is exciting to see the final shape emerging!

 

 

Next steps: 1) continue applying finish to the lifeboats, 2) continue installing ratlines to upper shrouds on the foremast, and 3) run the rigging between the fore and main masts (fore gaff vangs and sheets, main headstay, main shrouds; wait on braces until all foremast ratlines are done).  

[BobG]

Nice work, Hake! 

 

I was looking closely at the rigging for the mizzenmast and I can't quite see the just how the lines run for the gaff sail and the topsail. Do you happen to have a diagram that shows how these two sails are rigged and secured to the mizzenmast and where the lines run?

[HakeZou]

5 hours ago, BobG said:

I was looking closely at the rigging for the mizzenmast and I can't quite see the just how the lines run for the gaff sail and the topsail. Do you happen to have a diagram that shows how these two sails are rigged and secured to the mizzenmast and where the lines run?

 

Thanks as always, Bob! Here's a long answer to your short question.

 

OcCre's plans for the rigging are complicated. The rigging for these two sails, the gaff, and the boom, are shown on five different diagrams in the plans. I've tried to condense all of it into a single image. At the top are the diagrams of the six anchor points around the mast, with both OcCre's plans and my solution. At the bottom, I drew a diagram of the mast, spars, and blocks, with dashed lines to show the paths of some of the ropes, as I ran them. Apologies for my poor penmanship, but hopefully this is clear enough!

 

 

Once I realized the scope of this challenge, the mast was already installed and so it would have been very tricky to remove and replace the ropes anchored at the eyebolts around the mast. As a result, the topsail sheet crosses from the starboard side to the port side by running between the mast and the gaffsail; not ideal by any stretch of the imagination. Were I to do it again, I might switch the anchor points for the topsail halyard and sheet, in which case I would also want to really think about the order of the ropes on the port side since none of them would be able to run straight up without crossing. Alternatively, I might replace the double-sheave block on the bottom of the gaff's throat with two single-sheave blocks on either side; this still poses problems for rope crossing, but I think it would be easier managed.

 

The bottom line is that the ropes anchored at the bases of the fore and main masts can run straight up in parallel fashion. Three of the six ropes anchored at the base of the mizzenmast cannot; as a result, anybody building the kit needs to work out how to make them look best on the ship in their hands.

[BobG]

Thanks, Hake. It is complicated!

 

Your have a note that reads, "topsail halyard, runs up through the lubber hole," if I'm reading it correctly. What's the "lubber hole?"

[HakeZou]

Just now, BobG said:

Your have a note that reads, "topsail halyard, runs up through the lubber hole," if I'm reading it correctly. What's the "lubber hole?"

Hi Bob, I *think* I’m using that term correctly…I’m referring to the gaps in the mast top against the mast.

 

Here’s an image I found online, apparently from the 1859 Dictionary of Nautical, University, Gypsy, and Other Vulgar Tongues:

 

[HakeZou]

Well, I got on a roll today and spent a lot more time on the Endurance than I should have. Time well spent, if you ask me, but I do need to get back to work on a project with a looming deadline.

 

The lifeboats are finished now and are just waiting for blocks to be installed (I'm waiting on some of those blocks to arrive from OcCre's warehouse). With those done, I've been digging in on the rigging. All of the ratlines are finished on the port side of the foremast; I still need to do the ratlines on the starboard upper shrouds. I've also installed the forestays for the main and mizzenmasts, as well as what remained of the running rigging on those masts. All that remains for those two masts is to install the shrouds, backstays, lanyards, and ratlines. So, a profile shot of the whole ship and details of each mast.

 

 

 

Ratlines...ugh. As I've mentioned before, this is the first model I've made that features ratlines. After doing 65 of them, I'm getting better, but there's still a lot of inconsistency. I should be a pro after the finishing the remaining 180 or so, right?

 

 

The wound thread on the mast top and the mast head are the ropes for the braces. I've run them up from the anchor points on the deck to their blocks. Once I've finished the ratlines on the foremast, I'll attach the braces to the yards. The gaffsail sheets are an interesting problem, as they seem to have been on the original ship; once the dog kennels were installed, the sheets don't appear to have run cleanly to their anchor points. For those working on this kit, plan ahead regarding the anchor points for the gaff vangs; space is very tight since these blocks are attached between the dog kennels and the railings. You'll make your work easier if you align the eyebolts perpendicular and the blocks parallel to the center line.  

 

 

There's a lot of rigging on the mizzenmast, but I'm generally happy with how it turned out. The forestay is sagging a bit, so I'm debating whether I should just rip it out and replace it while I still can. Although I rigged the ensign lift, I'm probably not going to use the kit's flag; in the photo I'm using for inspiration, the Endurance wasn't flying her ensign. (Looking back at the photo, the angle of the mizzen headstay is completely wrong...I may need to redo that rope, too.) For those building the kit, another place to plan ahead is with the anchor points for the boom vangs and ensign lift. These three blocks are close to each other, close to the railings (the block for the ensign lift is actually under the railings in OcCre's plans), and they are close to the steering mechanism (regardless of whether you use OcCre's housing or do something like what I did).

 

 

Next steps: decide what to do about the mizzen forestay and headstay; install the remaining foremast ratlines; install the main and mizzen shrouds and backstays; start preparing and painting the anchors and lifeboat davits. There's still plenty of work ahead of me, but the end of this project is in sight! 

[clearway]

getting nearer the finish there 

 

Keith

[BobG]

Fantastic, Hake!

[HakeZou]

A bit more progress this week, bringing my Endurance to a satisfying place to set it aside for a bit while I finish up some writing projects. I've installed the lower shrouds and remaining stays on the main and mizzen masts. I've also finished the ratlines on the foremast and tied off the braces. So first, a shot of the full profile. 

 

 

And details of the main and mizzenmasts, showing the shrouds and stays:

 

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Finally, an overhead view of the foremast, to show the braces. In Ship Modeling Simplified, Frank Mastini writes that the yards should not be set at the same angle to the wind, since the wind gets more aftward as you get higher. So, you'll notice in the photo that the upper topsail yard is set at the shallowest angle, the lower topsail yard in the middle, and the foresail yard (with the yardarm) at the sharpest angle. Given the camera angle, this is easiest to see on the starboard side.

 

 

Next steps, once I get back to work on her: Add sheerpoles and ratlines to the main and mizzen lower shrouds, prepare the anchor and lifeboat davits for painting.

[HakeZou]

I hit my writing deadlines and so am taking some time again to work on the Endurance. The lifeboat davits have been on my mind lately, so I spent some time today working through that problem. OcCre's plans are pretty simple for these: the two pegs on each davit are attached to the hull on either side of the rub strake. And done. But...this doesn't quite jive with the historical photos and I'm feeling ambitious. The davits provided in the kit are too thick and too short. Also, note in this photo, note that the midships davits are mounted on the caprail and that the midships lifeboat is mounted inboard, on cradles. One of the midships davits is turned inboard (which isn't possible with the kit's davits as they come out of the box); the one that's turned outboard is supporting the gangway. I've found three other photos that have good views of the midships davits and the cradles for the lifeboats: first shot from dock, second shot from dock, and view from quarterdeck.

 

I'm going to stick with the kit's davits and am going to leave off the gangway, but I would like to mount the midships lifeboats on cradles. Here's where I'm at on that so far. First, the davits need to be trimmed. For the ones at midship, I'll be trimming them at the top joint. For the ones along the quarterdeck, I'm going to remove the top peg so that the top two joints align with the rub strake and the plank that continues the caprail; the bottom joint, with the peg remaining, will attach to the side of the hull. This will ensure that the tops of all eight davits remain at the same height and, I think, will allow for more secure attachments. 

 

 

The cradles should be fairly straightforward. The first sketch is my tentative design. The cradles themselves will be fashioned from 2x5 planks and will rest on 2x2 supports. Those supports seem to have been metal on the original ship, but I'll stick with wood since I have that stock on hand. The second sketch shows that the support for the forward cradles runs from the caprail to the side of the Ritz, while the support for the after cradles runs all the way across the ship, under the catwalks. In both cases, the ends of the support pieces are supported by dowels (or maybe that should be short brass rods?) attached to the caprail. In the second sketch, the davits (acting as paperweights!) are positioned in approximately their correct spot.

 

 

I'm going to keep playing around with this for a bit, but I think that this will work out.

 

 

 

[clearway]

well observed with the skid beams for the forward boats, i will most likely make new davits from brass rod rather than use occres.

 

Keith

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  The view from the quarterdeck has many fascinating details...  The foremast yard is turned a bit to port, showing a pair of blocks that appear to be for the topsail sheets.  The topsail is all wrapped up around the 'automatic furler' mounted below its yard - the mouse ear (some say dog ear) has a sheet line that you can trace down to what may be a pulley inside the main yard, then the line loops over to the aforementioned block.  There is no main sail mounted, but the block for the clew line is at the end of the mast, with the line likely 'stopped' at the block, but it can be followed to the mast to a block concealed by the mast in this shot.  

 

  The foot ropes are clear, and I think I can see a bit of the jackstay on the main yard - likely positioned slightly on the forward side of the yard enough so that just the top (and a couple mounts) can be visualized.  There is great funnel detail for those who want to used a metal tube with added bands (there are several ways of fabricating this).  Note the way the fore stay from the mizzen is terminated around the funnel to deck eyes.  The fore-and-aft sails on the fore and main mast are likely furled to jackstays.  Besides the boat rack, there are fascinating things going on amidships with railings, equipment and some sort of support bar going fore and aft .

 

  Someone seriously 'busting' the kit has a lot of photographic evidence to go on.  BTW, your approach the the davits is a good one.

[HakeZou]

Keith and Johnny, thanks for sharing your thoughts!

 

As I've continued to think about the lifeboat davits, I've come to the conclusion that I have two choices: adapt OcCre's davits or fashion my own along the lines of what Keith is planning. Both involve some significant work to make them pleasing to my eye, so there's no easy way out. At the moment, I think that OcCre's just look too heavy and too out of scale—particularly for how I would like to arrange the davits at midships. So, tonight I made some sketches, did some math, and then fashioned a prototype.

 

Here's my prototype for the quarterdeck davits (right) alongside OcCre's. The eyebolts aren't attached yet, but for the photo are aligned in approximately their final positions. If I end up using this, the top eyebolt would be attached to the quarterdeck caprail (or is it a covering board?), the second to the plank connecting the main and aftdeck caprails, the third to the rub strake, and the bottom one about halfway between the rub strake and the waterline. The crucial dimensions are 34.5mm from the bottom to the quarterdeck caprail, 26.5mm from the quarterdeck caprail to the beginning of the curve, and 29.5mm for the curved portion at the top, plus a bit to form the eye.

 

 

In testing the look, I first held it up to the hull, with gator clips marking the positions of the eyebolts. One of the crucial targets for me was the observation that the tops of the davits were approximately even with the tops of the air intakes (I think that's what those are, next to the smokestack?).  

 

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I also needed to check the clearance for the lifeboats. It's close but I think will work; there are millimeters to spare, which would be inches at full scale. Here are a couple awkward photos...I really needed a third hand here.

 

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If I'm still satisfied tomorrow, then I've got one down and seven to go. Unfortunately, that means I'll need to pick up some more eyebolts and I'm not sure what size to get. Model Expo lists 1/16" x 1/2", 3/32" x 9/16", and .75mm x 6mm. I get that the second number is the length, but is the first number the diameter of the wire, the inner diameter of the eye, or the outer diameter of the eye? 

[HakeZou]

For the lifeboat davits, I've decided to go with my prototype from the other day. Short of ordering eyebolts directly from OcCre (with international shipping, etc), I can't seem to find any that match what's in the kit. OcCre's are .7x10mm, so I could probably get away with .75x6mm eyebolts, which are easy enough to find. But since the goal is a snug fit around 1mm-diameter brass rod, I don't want to go any larger. In the end, I've decided to get some 22-gauge (.64mm-diameter) brass wire and make my own.

 

I've been plugging away on the lower ratlines and have finished the portside mainmast. It sure is easy to install these when you have room to maneuver and when the line of sight isn't crossed by so many ropes! I'm moving a lot of faster on these than I did on the foremast. They still aren't perfect, but look a lot better than the ones on the foremast! I'm starting to wonder if I waited too long to tie off the foremast shrouds and install the ratlines there, but that's just second guessing myself; doing that sooner would have made something else more difficult. You'll also notice the sheer poles at the bottom and the top. These are tied into place with a very simple square lashing. The upper one is only lashed to the outer shrouds, since the futtock shrouds will be lashed to the middle of the sheer pole. (Note: in this kit, the futtock shrouds are the same rope as the upper shrouds. It just runs through a hole in the mast top.)

 

 

 

Next steps: install the remaining ratlines on the main and mizzen lower shrouds, finish painting the anchors, fashion the lifeboat davits.

[HakeZou]

(Moderators: sorry for the ridiculously large size of some of these photo files. I ran into the dreaded Error Code 200 and could only get around it by changing those photos to PNG format.)

 

Back at the Endurance after an intense couple of weeks working on writing projects. I haven't made much progress during this time, but have accomplished a few things. I'm slowly making progress on the remaining ratlines, lifeboat davits, and the anchors. Not much of interest to show on the ratlines, so on to the lifeboat davits. I've now fashioned all four quarterdeck davits. This has been a pretty frustrating process, since I've never done anything quite like this before. But at this point, I'm mostly satisfied. They are all almost identical in shape and size, though the loops at the top are pretty inconsistent. I got better as I went, so I may redo the one on the right...at the very least, it'll be hidden on the backside when the ship is displayed. I still need to fashion the eyebolts to mount them on the hull.

 

 

For the anchors, I've spent quite a bit of time studying this photo of of the foredeck, along with the photos of the ship under sail. Of particular interest is that the anchors seem to have been stowed on top of the cathead davits, a task that appears to have been accomplished, in part, by using a portable davit with a pedestal base. In Frank Hurley's photo, the davit has been laid down between the port bollard and the capstan, while the pedestal base is still next to the starboard cathead davit. I've decided to install the anchors in similar fashion. (I also need to touch up some paint after handling the anchors so much...)

 

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I also decided to get ambitious and make that portable anchor davit. I started by rounding the end of a 6x6mm piece of wood (1st photo). Then I used a three-square file to angle the corners and to carve channels in the middle of each side (2nd photo). After trimming off the ends and drilling a hole, I tested the fit and shape of a piece of brass rod, both on the cutting mat (3rd photo) and on-deck (4th photo). Finally, I glued on two pieces of brass wire to function as the eyebolt loop and the crank that's visible in the photo of the foredeck; again, I took photos of it on the cutting mat and on-deck (5th and 6th photos). Once the glue is securely dried, I'll paint both the davit and the base with the same matte (metal) black paint that I used on the anchors. I'm not attaching the davit and the base to each other, though, and instead will replicate Hurley's photo.

 

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Next steps: paint the anchor davit and base, prepare the eyebolt mounts for the quarterdeck lifeboat davits, continue working on the ratlines.

[Cathead]

A question occurs to me regarding that anchor storage arrangement: did they have to take down the lines running through the stanchions every time they deployed or stored the anchor? Otherwise it doesn't look possible to thread the anchor in there.

[HakeZou]

On 12/24/2021 at 7:37 AM, Cathead said:

A question occurs to me regarding that anchor storage arrangement: did they have to take down the lines running through the stanchions every time they deployed or stored the anchor? Otherwise it doesn't look possible to thread the anchor in there.

As I study the photo carefully, I notice that the stanchions immediately forward of the catheads have a bit more wear-and-tear than the others, particularly near the bottom. Those same stanchions, and possibly the ones just behind the catheads, also are seated differently than the others; there's a bit of a gap at the bottom. From this, I would guess that they pulled out those stanchions, rather than taking down the lines.

 

Based on the equipment visible in the photo, I'm assuming that they first drew up the anchors using the capstan. Then, using a combination of the portable davit and a block hanging down (from the mast top? See right side of the photo.), they brought the anchor over the side and under the rope. The stanchions closest to the catheads might have been pulled out and slid down the lines to be out of the way. Purely conjecture, of course...I wish I could find film footage of a crew stowing their anchors in this way!

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  From the 'kinking' seen on the right side rope, it must be wire rope.  My guess it that they pulled the rope through the stanchions as far as the space where the anchor goes over the cathead.  'Can't imagine them trying to pass the anchor under the rope.  I'm almost certain that I saw another picture en route to the arctic where that section had been altered so that a piece of regular rope went between those particular stanchions (clipping on an 'eye' on the wire rope, the eye preventing the wire rope from passing back through the hole in the stanchion) - which is how I'd have ordered it modified ... but I can't lay hands on that picture right now.

[HakeZou]

Happy new year, everybody! Thanks as always for following along. After a lovely holiday season, I'm back at work on my Endurance. I've finished up all of the ratlines on the main and mizzen lower shrouds. All that remains in terms of rigging are the ratlines on the main and mizzen upper shrouds. I've also been working on the davits for the quarterdeck lifeboats. The challenge this week has been figuring out how to attach them to the hull. As I have observed before, there are four attachment points on each davit, so I needed to figure out how to 1) fashion the posts and brackets, 2) fashion cleats, and 3) line everything up correctly on the hull.

 

For the posts and brackets, I used some 18-gauge brass wire. After a bit of experimentation, I ended up using a jig...though that may be too generous of a term here. Since the davits are made of 1mm brass wire, I drilled a 1mm hole in a spare piece of wood, then inserted a spare piece of 1mm brass wire. It's nothing fancy and certainly isn't pretty, but it got the job done. I began by double-wrapping the 18-gauge wire around the jig, trimming the short end off and using needle nose pliers to tighten the wrap as much as I could.

 

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After sliding the wire off the jig, I double-checked the shaping.

 

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Next, I arranged four of these wire pieces on each davit. I carefully positioned the top and bottom ones 34.5mm apart and secured them in place with a dot of CA glue. The middle two were not glued into position. I left the posts long for now—I eventually needed to trim the top one, but the lower three all can go deep into the hull for a more secure fit.

 

 

Next up was the cleat. I decided to make these out of two straight pieces of 18-gauge wire. The shorter piece is glued directly onto the davit, while the longer piece is glued onto the shorter piece. A bit of a blurry photo here, but you can see the two starboard-side davits resting in clamps and pointing opposite directions. The posts look pretty wild because the middle ones are just falling haphazardly. I still need to trim the ends of the cleat on one of these, since they're a bit too long.

 

 

My final challenge was working out where to drill the eight post holes on the starboard side. First, I measured the distance between the shelves for the deadeyes—a 111-mm gap. Then the distance between the blocks in the lifeboat that will hang on this side—a 70-mm gap. Armed with this information, I trimmed two strips of painter's tape to 20mm wide and 50mm long (the width being more important than the length!) After aligning these on the hull, I could use the edge of the tape strips as guides for drilling.

 

 

The top three holes were easy to position, so I did those first. Then, I dry-fit the davit by inserting only the middle two posts into their holes. Since the top and bottom were glued onto the davit and I was still working out the position of the bottom hole, I just turned those to the side. Once I aligned the top post with its hole, the position of the bottom hole was easy to locate. (Though I messed up on this one the first time due to a dumb mistake; you can just make out the extra hole at the bottom of the first photo below.) Once the last hole was drilled it was time to dry-fit the davits.

 

      

 

Given that this is more complicated than anything I've crafted on my previous models, I'm pretty pleased with how these davits have turned out! They certainly aren't perfect, but I've made some big steps with my metalworking skills and the ones on the port side should look even better. 

 

Next steps: Finish the ratlines on the main and mizzen upper shrouds; finish the port-side davits for the quarterdeck lifeboats; start working out the details for the midship lifeboat davits and cradles.

[Jeff Titus]

Nice work!

[HakeZou]

Thanks, Jeff! 

 

Last night I made the port side davits for the quarterdeck lifeboats. Today, I turned to the cradles for the midship lifeboats, since they are the most challenging problem that remains. The first step was to shape the cradles themselves. These are made of 2x5x18 basswood. There's a bit of inconsistency in the sanding/filing, but I don't think this is very noticeable once the lifeboats are in place.

 

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Next, I attached the cradles to their support beams, which are made from 2x2 basswood. The after support beam runs all the way across the ship, under the catwalks, while the forward support beams attach to the sides of the Ritz. I rounded the ends of the support beams to match my observations from Hurley's photos (this one for example). Then a couple test fits to make sure I hadn't shortened the support beams too much when I was sanding—I was particularly concerned about the after one, so I took photos of that one. (You'll have to look closely in the second photo, which is an overhead shot from the top of the mainmast.)

 

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Locating the postholes proved to be a challenge. I ended up laying strips of painter's tape on both caprails, with pre-measured markings for the davits and the support beam posts. The posts themselves are brass pins with the heads removed; I still need to trim some shorter, but they're all close enough for now. I also inserted brass pins into the ends of the forward support beams, to provide more strength where they attach to the Ritz.

 

 

Finally, I took the opportunity to check the strength, fit, and overall impression with the lifeboats in the cradles. The structure is actually stronger than I expected! Even without glue, there's no issue at all with the lifeboats weighing down the cradles/support beams. (I won't glue these into place until the davits are ready to be installed.)

 

     

 

Next steps: Install the ratlines on the main and mizzen upper shrouds; paint the lifeboat cradles; make the midship lifeboat davits.

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  'Really like your brass work ... my thoughts were that brass might need soldering, but glueing seems to work fine !  I take it that you used CA glue?  Perhaps the railing through the stanchions might look better with brass wire opposed to the rigging rope.  I'm favoring the use of brass anywhere on most ship models, since brass will form a natural brown patina over time all on its own ... and it looks sharp besides.  The view from above  over the life boats is way cool, and I'll continue to pay close attention to both current Endurance builds for tips and ideas to use when I get to mine.  Thanks mate!       Johnny

[HakeZou]

Thanks, Johnny! My rope railings look kind of wonky in several spots, I think because some of the stanchions have bent a bit out of position. As I finish up, I'll be going back to touch all of those up...hopefully the ropes will look better then! And I think you're right about soldering the brass being better. I neither the equipment nor the skills to solder anything, so am relying on CA glue as the next-best solution.

 

I hope you'll do a build log once you start working on your Endurance. I look forward to seeing how you approach yours!

[HakeZou]

With the new semester dawning, work has really picked up for me. So, just a quick check-in. My checklist for the Endurance is growing even shorter now. I'm still working on the upper ratlines for the main and mizzen masts. I've also started painting the cradles for the midship lifeboats. Nothing interesting to show on those fronts, though.

 

Today, I finished the last bit of crafting I needed to do—the davits for the midship lifeboats. These are made in a very similar fashion to how I did the davits for the quarterdeck lifeboats. The big difference is that these are mounted into the caprail. I'm toying with the possibility of adding a small ring around the base, but otherwise these are done and ready to install once the cradles are installed. (Since they aren't firmly in place, they aren't quite straight in the photo. They're also rotated outward, since they showed up better in the photo; once installed, I'm planning to turn them inward, over the lifeboats.)

 

 

 

Remaining steps: finish the main and mizzen upper ratlines; finish painting the lifeboat cradles; install the cradles, lifeboats, and davits; add the finishing touches.

[HakeZou]

Some more slow progress over the last week and a half. I'm continuing to chip away at the ratlines—only 68 more to go! I've also been working out the details of the lifeboat davits. And, since I've finished the starboard upper ratlines on the mainmast, I decided I might as well install the midship lifeboat and davits on that side. The first photo is a full shot of the lifeboat, resting in its cradles, with the ropes tied off to the davits.

 

 

Next, a couple detail shots to show my solution for the davits. While studying the photos of the Endurance (for example this one), I noticed that there was an eye or a channel or something that the rope passed through, allowing it to clear the lifeboat's gunwales. So for each davit, I popped a link off the chain that came in the kit. After rounding that link, I used CV glue to attach it to the davit. (Again...that lack of soldering skills. But a friend of mine who's a jeweler is going to teach me!) Since I'm out of eyebolts, I decided to try wrapping the blocks in wire, with a loop on each end. I'm getting better, but at this point it's a slow and often frustrating process for me...and the camera angle in the next photo isn't doing me any favors! Both photos show the forward davit, from opposite sides. You'll notice that the rope is tied off to the upper block, runs through both of them, then through the eye on the davit, then down to the cleat I showed in my last post.

 

 

1 lifeboat down, three to go. But first, I need to finish off another section of ratlines.

[BobG]

Lots of wonderful detailing, Hake!