HM Bark Endeavour 1758-61 by DaveBaxt - Caldercraft - 1:64

[DaveBaxt]

More work completed on the lower mast tops. Although I used some of the parts within the kit I tried to make the tops a bit more realistic and shaped the ribs. I also used the milling machine to get a more accurate holes for the crows feet. All in all I am quite happy with the final result and made sure that the tops were on the same plane as the water line and keel. The stantions for the hand rails are at 90 deg to the tops but this did not look quite right on the mizzen due to being stepped at quite a large angle so  rightly or wrongly I set the handrail stantions inline with the mizzen mast. Here is a few photos of the process.

 

 

 

I also used the black card supplied with the kit cut into srtips to form the iron hoops on the mast heads and 1mm suare walnut for the battens.Sorry but once this is painted it is difficult to make out in the photos.

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2022 by DaveBaxt

[DaveBaxt]

Its been a while since I last posted but not much to report regarding my Endeavour, however I have been planning for the future for when I build the HMS Diana. In the past I have used both my garden sheds as workshops but starting to find that as I have accumulated a number of machine tools it was beginning to be a bit cramped. As the HMS Diana is a a larger model I thought I would convert my garage into a workshop for the above said machine tools. Therefore leaving one of the sheds for garden equiment and the other for working on the model ship.( hand tools etc} I also have twice as much storage as I did before the upgrade. The most expensive part of the project was getting rid of the rubbish which had accumulated in the garage and loft for over 30 years. A job well done.

           I can now go back to my Endeavour but now that the finer weather is here, no doubt the Admiral will find some more distractions but hopefully I will be able to at least get some work done.

               

Edited May 18, 2022 by DaveBaxt

[AJohnson]

Very nice Dave, was wondering where you’d got to!  Very nice set up. 👍

I also work in the garage but find I need heating and I had an insulated door fitted to replace the old Henderson crinkled metal one. 

[DaveBaxt]

6 minutes ago, AJohnson said:

Very nice Dave, was wondering where you’d got to!  Very nice set up. 👍

I also work in the garage but find I need heating and I had an insulated door fitted to replace the old Henderson crinkled metal one. 

I too think I will have to think about the door although it is electric and seals quite well. Also my shed which is where I will mainly be working is totally  insulated and with a very small heated is nice and warm even at the coldest time of the year. I will just have to see how things go. Thanks again Andrew for the input.

[SIDEWAYS SAM]

Hi Dave,

North East England and working in a garage  ???

Hardy folk up there.

I prefer the palm trees down here.

 

Nice set up and looking forward to HMS Diana.

 

Best regards,

Sam.

[DaveBaxt]

3 hours ago, SIDEWAYS SAM said:

Hi Dave,

North East England and working in a garage  ???

Hardy folk up there.

I prefer the palm trees down here.

 

Nice set up and looking forward to HMS Diana.

 

Best regards,

Sam.

To true Sam and thank you

[DaveBaxt]

Unfortunately work has continued at a snails pace due to other comitments including gardening and other things non modeling activities. I have however managed to make a start on the yards but have come to a halt regarding the Fore, Main topgallant yards and whether or not they are round or are the same as the Topsail yard and the centre being left octagonal as are the lower fore,main and crossjack yard for the period of1758/61. According to James Lees book the Masting and rigging of English ships of war, page 15 it does say that the topgallant yards followed the pattern of the topsail yards so i am hoping this means that the centre section is left octangonal.

                     Regarding the Spritsail yard this too is of the same as the topgallant yards ie 8 squaring but does not have the eyebolts on the ends.The centre of the Sprit Topsail Yard is also 8 squared . 

                                          Regarding the the Crossjack yard for the period up to 1745 the yard was made round for its whole length and afterwards was of 16 sided and wondered if this is even possible to accurately make and have since found from the AOTS Endeavour has it as 8 sides octagonal. The Mizzen yard is to be left round for its whole length  but not sure if this or the crossjack yard is fitted to the Endeavour . I clearly need to do a bit more research regarding the above yards. However if anyone has any thoughts or can enlighten me, it would be much appreciated. Best regards Dave

Edited May 17, 2022 by DaveBaxt

[DaveBaxt]

I have made some progress with the yards. Making the stunsail boom irons out of brass tube and 1 mm brass wire for the lower main and fore masts. I still need to fit the blocks, stirups and flemish horses to them for completion. I used strips of black card supplied by the kit for the boom iron staps. I still need to   fit the lower stunsail booms to the outside of the main mast channels. Unfortunately still slow progress due to other comitments.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2022 by DaveBaxt

[SIDEWAYS SAM]

Hi Dave,

Smart work on the yards.

Using brass tube and wire for the boom irons is my preference too.

Soldered joints are stronger and neater.

Would it be possible to find out who's book you are referencing

for yard development please ???

 

Best regards,

Sam.

 

[DelF]

Good work Dave, especially those very neat boom irons.

 

Derek

[DaveBaxt]

1 hour ago, SIDEWAYS SAM said:

Hi Dave,

Smart work on the yards.

Using brass tube and wire for the boom irons is my preference too.

Soldered joints are stronger and neater.

Would it be possible to find out who's book you are referencing

for yard development please ???

 

Best regards,

Sam.

 

Thank you Sam. Actually I tried to solder the joints but for some reason I could not get the solder to take to the brass tube even sfter using wire wool and pickling. I can only assume I did not get enough heat using a small gas torch using lighter fuel. Butane I think. So I ended up using epoxy cement which seemed to work fine, although I am disapointed I could not getthe soldering to work. Perhaps I need a larger torch or perhaps a different type of solder.

                        The book I referenced all my sizes throughout this build has been James Lees 'The masting and rigging of English ships of War' Although for general layout I have used History of Ship models by Mondfeld as well. Hope this helps Dave

[DaveBaxt]

40 minutes ago, DelF said:

Good work Dave, especially those very neat boom irons.

 

Derek

Thank you Derek. I always appreciate your input.

[SIDEWAYS SAM]

Thanks for the information Dave.

I have Lee's book  but not Mondfeld's.

Are you using multicore solder or silver soldering ???

A low melting point solder sometimes helps

but you do need a good source of heat.

 

Again thanks for the info.

Sam.

 

[AJohnson]

Nice work on the yards and booms Dave, very neat. 👍

[DaveBaxt]

15 hours ago, SIDEWAYS SAM said:

Thanks for the information Dave.

I have Lee's book  but not Mondfeld's.

Are you using multicore solder or silver soldering ???

A low melting point solder sometimes helps

but you do need a good source of heat.

 

Again thanks for the info.

Sam.

 

Cheers Sam I am using a general purpose solder and flux paste which came with the torch . I think it has a very low melting point as as soon as I touch it to the work surface iit is melting but not running around . The solder is sticking to the 1mm brass rod but not the brass tube. I am not sure where I am going wrong. Perhaps the brass tube is at fault. My torch worked fine when I soldered the chain plates using silver solder paste. 

[DaveBaxt]

11 hours ago, AJohnson said:

Nice work on the yards and booms Dave, very neat. 👍

Thank you Andrew

[SIDEWAYS SAM]

Hi Dave,

Sounds like you are not getting the brass tube hot enough

before applying the solder.  The brass wire will heat up quickly

local to the joint but the tube will have more mass and take longer

to reach the required temperature.

Thanks for the info ref. the Mondfeld book.

This was difficult to find but eventually managed to locate

a cheapish hard backed version from a bookseller in York.

Estimated arrival this Saturday so I might as well cancel

the weekend papers.

 

Thanks again,

Sam.

[DaveBaxt]

Thank you Sam for helping me out with the Soldering and I agree that is what I origonally thought and perhaps I should spend a bit more time trying to heat up the tube a bit more before adding the solder as hopefully I should have a big enough torch as it is made by Dremmel and I understand is a good make. I have still got a couple of more to make ( for the lower stunsail booms attached to the main channels) so will have another go as I would much prefer to solder them, although using the appoxy resin made a fairly strong job.

                 Regards the History of model ships by Mondfeld ,I believe is a pretty decent book for all parts of the ship and has some fairly good drawings and was one of the first books I bought and wouldn,t be without it. However since then I came across the Lees book annd got it second hand. It comes highly recommended by a number of people on here and understand it is the go to book for measuremnets and other matters concerned with masting and rigging. The Mondfeld book has also been suggested by other modelers on this forum and I am sure you won,t be disapointed. Thank you once again for your input and help which is very much appreciated. Dave

 

[DaveBaxt]

Sorry I have not been able to update my Endeavour for a good few months over the summer but have been busy elsewhere . I am now ready to progress and have been taking stock of the progress I have made. One thing I am still not happy with is the final ships boat which is the Skiff 107.22 mm which would make the scaled up version, just over 22 ft. I have been looking at Chris Wattons from Vanguard Models 22ft cutter and I wonder if I could use this instead? I have looked at Vanguard models website to see if Chris has added the boats for the Endeavour, please forgive me if I am incorrect but as yet this doesn,t appear to be the case.

         I still need to carry out a number of things to the yards ,masts and bits and bobs etc before starting on the rigging but hoping to make a start on the rigging  soon.

Edited September 28, 2022 by DaveBaxt

[chris watton]

I do have all of the parts for the four Endeavour boats, including the PE. I am waiting for the boats to be built for the mini instructions, but this will not happen until after Indy is finalised.

[DaveBaxt]

13 minutes ago, chris watton said:

I do have all of the parts for the four Endeavour boats, including the PE. I am waiting for the boats to be built for the mini instructions, but this will not happen until after Indy is finalised. Thanks Chris for that update. It is much appreciated. Regards Dave

 

[DaveBaxt]

I have not posted for sometime as I have taken a break during the summer. I am now working on  the yards and the fitting of the various blocks including the yard tackle on the lower main and fore yards. I have however come to thinking about the lower fore stunsail booms and wonder where these are fitted or are they also stowed away as is the stunsail yards. I have already fitted the lower main stunsail booms to the main channels but unable to fit the lower fore stunsail boom to the fore channel as this is where the one of the 4 anchors are fitted. I have read somewhere in the past that these can be attached to the hull but unsure exactly where. Any help would be appreciated. 

Photos of my progress is soon to follow. 

Just purchased a 22ft clinker built cutter  and 16ft Yawl from Vanguard Model together with oars. The 22ft cutter is the hull only . These are the nearest replacements for my origonal kits which I feel didn,t turn out too well. and will fit on top of the oars. Hopefully  I make a better job of the boats which came with the kit. Good to see that Vanguard are selling so many different products since I was last on here and the 3D printer stuff is amazing including the Cutter I have just purchased.

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by DaveBaxt

[AJohnson]

Good to see you back in the shipyard Dave! 👍

[DaveBaxt]

23 minutes ago, AJohnson said:

Good to see you back in the shipyard Dave! 👍

Thank you Andrew. If I'm honest, I have been away far too long and have forgot way too much about the rigging. I am currently going over just about everying I had previously learned during building the Bounty. Fortunately I have since then aquired a good few decent books including Lees, Anderson and Mondfeld to name a few so plenty to be getting on with. My wife has told me if I am not working on my model ship ,I am reading about it and its a good job I am not talking in my sleep Ha ha.

[SIDEWAYS SAM]

Welcome back Dave.

 

Sam.

[DaveBaxt]

Whilst waiting to figure out what to do next with the ships boats and other bits and pieces I thought I would make a start on fitting the various blocks, foot ropes, stirrups and flemish horses  to the various Yards.

                                       After reading several different accounts as to what and where to fit blocks I eventually decided to stick with ' The masting and Rigging of English ships of war from 1625-1860' by James Lees. There are several differences between the plans supplied by Caldercraft and James Lees book but mainly the Jeers on the lower and topsail yards and the topsail lifts acted as the topgallant sheets.The jeers instead of the 4 blocks ( 2 on the yard)suggested by the plans I have gone with a 3 block system 2 single and one double on the yard as explained in Lees book page 64 for 5th and 6th rate and smaller.I  think the picure on page 64 around about 1640 ad looks like what he might be getting at and with only one fall I also understand that the Endeavour replica is different to this aswell, with a few modellers going down this route. As I have started with Lees book for the rest of the masts yards and rigging, I thought it would make sense to continue with Lees book for the Jeers and top sail and topgallant Tyes.

       

 

 

           I also found that the blocks suppled by the kit are way to big so I have used smaller blocks where ever I can, but still trying to maintain a difference where ever I could between the lower yards, topsail yards and the topgallant yards.

          I still need to add the blocks to the Spritsail and Sprit topsail yards once i have figured out what rigging is required for these yards. Assuming they will be the same as the Fore and Main topsail and topgallant yards but will need to double check this

 

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by DaveBaxt

[SIDEWAYS SAM]

Welcome back Dave.

Agree with you about the block size.

I think tht they all need to go down one size.

 

Best regards,

Sam.

[DaveBaxt]

18 minutes ago, SIDEWAYS SAM said:

Welcome back Dave.

Agree with you about the block size.

I think tht they all need to go down one size.

 

Best regards,

Sam.

Yes I think thats pretty much what I did . According to Lees book I  think they needed to be even smaller but I had to think about the sizes of rigging too as this is also limiting due to using caldercraft instead of making my own. However I now have some rope from 'Ropes of scale' for the larger sizes ie the stays etc. 

       Thanks to everyone for there likes and support it is much appreciated.

[DaveBaxt]

The blocks on the Gaff still to do but there is some confusion as to what is actually fitted to the Mizzen on the Endeavour. Here is an artists painting of the Endeavour which clearly shows evidence  https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135273911/view of a driver boom as well as the gaff fitted to the Mizzen. This has been supplied by Dashi for this great blog and I would like to thank him for bring this up.

            However I do have a few photos of the Endeavour model made in 17 68 in James Lees book which clearly shows that a driver boom is not fitted so will continue to use this version.

              I still need to double check throughout as I still need to fit the Leechline and Buntlines to the various topsails. I believe these are not necessary on the smaller topgallant sails.

                        Here is a recent purchase to help me with the rigging. Something I wish I had purchased on my last build. It is making life so much easier. So would just like to thank the people on here you recomended this to me.

 

Edited December 22, 2022 by DaveBaxt

[AJohnson]

Hi Dave, those multi-hand clamp thingies are very useful, don't know how I got on without one before!  🤦‍♂️  You are making fine progress once more.  Hope you have a great Christmas and New Year!