Gorch Fock by Mike Hunt - OcCre - 1:95

[Mike Hunt]

Hi there 

 

This is going to be my third build and although I have just started it today It will be a slow progress initially as my first build (and now second build 14/08/21) is still in the works but will flip from one to the other for variety. I have always had a love of training ships, I find them so majestic and alluring. So my first build, the Colonial Brig Perseverance build log is intended to be a stepping stone, as it were, to this build, learning from my mistakes along the way  and in a bid to learn more before fully immersing myself in this, I am starting a new build, the brigantine Matthew Turner.

 

The OcCre Gorch Fock was available from the mob I purchased the Brig Perseverance from at a considerable ransom of $916AU, a sizeable sum by any account. Surfing the web, I spotted one from a model shop in Europe for only $612AU plus $64AU for postage, so in a moment of complete weakness I parted with the hard-earned  and dutifully sat by the mailbox in anticipation of an early arrival. I shouldn't have bothered, the $64AU bought me a six week delivery time, not good enough for that much of my hard-earned. The old "Covid" excuse was peddled to excess.

 

Anyway, it arrived intact and I was suitably thrilled on it's arrival. I promptly started a stocktake. There was a considerable shortfall of many parts and there was one part in particular that should have had 32 pieces but had none. Anyway, I dutifully filled out the online form for the missing parts but have heard nothing from them whatsoever, no acknowledgement, no nothing, not good.

 

Quality at first glance appears to be good, most of the timbers appeared to be uniform although some of the precut ply seemed a little fragile, surface layer on some pieces seem to easily chip away.

 

Anyway, here I go, please feel free to comment or point me in the right direction if I appear to be veering off course.

 

Edited August 14, 2021 by Mike Hunt
Correction/modification

[Mike Hunt]

Incidentally, if anyone knows of any books on the Gorch Fock, in English, I would be most obliged. There are countless books on the subject in German which is of no use to me and although she, with whom I occasionally watch TV is German, would get pretty fed up translating all the captions for me.   It's hard enough getting her to teach me German swear words.

[Mike Hunt]

26/06/21  Laying the keel, as it were.

 

HTD: 1.5

 

Laying the keel

 

The plywood keel sections were laser cut out of square. A lot of filing and sanding in store I suspect.

 

 

 

[Mike Hunt]

05/08/21  Assembling my Hobby Zone building slip and setting the keel in it ready for framing.

 

HTD: 6.4

 

Built the slip.

 

After a seven or eight week wait the big heavy box arrived and no wonder it was sent sea freight. Being of MDF construction I sealed all parts with a sealer so that it doesn't swell up when I spill my coffee on it. I also replace many of the nuts with wing nuts for quicker access to make adjustments. I think this slip is an ingenious design and I'm looking forward to exploring its full potential.

 

This build will continue very slowly as I am half way through my current "Perseverance" build and for the benefit of building experience will start my next build "Matthew Turner" shortly. I think two at a time is enough to be going on with but will slip a few bulkheads onto this one occasionally.

 

[Eurus]

Hello Mike. I am currently building Gorch Foch's cousin, the ARM Cuauhtémoc. Both are based on the same design and blueprints, real vessels and OcCre models. We could probably benefit from each other's experience.

 

I have done a lot of research for my build, which includes the Gorch Foch as well.

 

Be advised, the materials are good, but the instructions severely lacking and sometimes outright wrong. If you are going for authenticity and realism, there will be a lot to do.

 

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Eurus

[Mike Hunt]

22 hours ago, Eurus said:

Hello Mike. I am currently building Gorch Foch's cousin, the ARM Cuauhtémoc. Both are based on the same design and blueprints, real vessels and OcCre models. We could probably benefit from each other's experience.

 

I have done a lot of research for my build, which includes the Gorch Foch as well.

 

Be advised, the materials are good, but the instructions severely lacking and sometimes outright wrong. If you are going for authenticity and realism, there will be a lot to do.

 

 

Well isn't it interesting to see differences in perception. I felt the instructions were easy enough for me to follow, whether they are correct or not is a different matter and I am not qualified nor experienced enough to say. The quality on the other hand I felt was questionable, and I can only compare to one other kit that I started first from "Molders Shipyard", the Brig Perseverance. My observations of small items like the little blocks were of a far better quality and more defined from the MS kit. With this OcCre kit I was disappointed with the false keel, laser cut out of square and significantly warped at either end. That said, the rest of the timber in the kit appears to be of good quality.

 

In any event, I am going to follow your build and learn with interest.  

[Eurus]

1 hour ago, Mike Hunt said:

Well isn't it interesting to see differences in perception. I felt the instructions were easy enough for me to follow, whether they are correct or not is a different matter and I am not qualified nor experienced enough to say. The quality on the other hand I felt was questionable, and I can only compare to one other kit that I started first from "Molders Shipyard", the Brig Perseverance. My observations of small items like the little blocks were of a far better quality and more defined from the MS kit. With this OcCre kit I was disappointed with the false keel, laser cut out of square and significantly warped at either end. That said, the rest of the timber in the kit appears to be of good quality.

 

In any event, I am going to follow your build and learn with interest.  

 

True, the instructions are easy to follow. However, the main problem I see is twofold: process and authenticity. I cite two examples.

 

Photos 51 and 52 (text on page 18) tell you to paint the inside faces of the bulwarks, and then glue and nail them to the hull. This is a huge oversimplification. You can do exactly this, but there will be large, unsightly gaps between the bulwarks themselves and with the hull, that we can assume will never be corrected because they instruct you to paint and glue them right away. The instructions suggest, perhaps for the sake of simplicity, to do this, but the model will look ugly and amateurish if you follow suit.

 

In terms of precision and autenticity, look at picture 80 on page 47, and its explanation on page 18. Then look at the result in pics 116 and 117 (page 52). that's not how the stem should look. Now take a look at the very sharp prow of the real ship:

 

(taken from: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/german-windjammer.html)

 

In general, the shape of the hull is not correct. If you follow the instructions to the letter, the ship will end up looking "fat". I am correcting all these problems in my Cuauhtémoc build, and that is why it's taking me so long.

 

The wood in general is acceptable, and the Zamak parts are decent--at least most of them. Not great, but passable.

 

 

 

[Mike Hunt]

On 8/9/2021 at 11:22 PM, Eurus said:

 

True, the instructions are easy to follow. However, the main problem I see is twofold: process and authenticity. I cite two examples.

 

I am subscribed to a YouTube channel model ship builder from Greece who almost exclusively builds OcCre models and he is constantly highlighting examples not dissimilar to your own observations of errors, inconsistencies and sometimes things that are quite simply wrong. Unfortunately, not having a nautical background  whatsoever, I will be eagerly glued to your build progress. Mind you, I did complete two years as an apprentice shipwright nearly fifty years ago, interrupted by a stronger desire to learn more about the fairer sex. But it was perhaps from these early days of boat building that I developed an appreciation of sailing vessels. 

[Eurus]

On 8/11/2021 at 8:49 AM, Mike Hunt said:

I am subscribed to a YouTube channel model ship builder from Greece who almost exclusively builds OcCre models and he is constantly highlighting examples not dissimilar to your own observations of errors, inconsistencies and sometimes things that are quite simply wrong. Unfortunately, not having a nautical background  whatsoever, I will be eagerly glued to your build progress. Mind you, I did complete two years as an apprentice shipwright nearly fifty years ago, interrupted by a stronger desire to learn more about the fairer sex. But it was perhaps from these early days of boat building that I developed an appreciation of sailing vessels. 

 

Yes, it would seem like it is a common issue with OcCre. For me it helps that I have personally been on board the Cuauhtémoc on several occasions. I know the ship and also have a lot of pictures, but also this means that I sometimes get bogged down with the details. So far, I have accepted that it will be extremely difficult to exactly replicate every single detail, so I will settle for the middle of the road: there are issues that I find unacceptable, like errors of shape or scale, and others that I can live with.

 

I have no experience in real-world shipbuilding, like you, I wish I had. However, I have a degree in mechanical engineering, which is always useful in these projects. For me, tall ships are attractive in a way that a modern warship is not--as awesome as they are. Perhaps it's the complex rigging or the adventuring sense they convey. I find them extremely beautiful.

 

 

[Mike Hunt]

25/08/21  Installed first bulkhead BH 14

28/08/21  Removed BH 14 and proceeded to straighten false keel.

30/08/21  Installed BH 16  Added aluminium angle to help straighten false keel

31/08/21  Installed BH 15

01/09/21 Installed BH 14 

02/09/21  Installed BH 13

03/09/21  Installed BH 12 & 11

04/09/21  Installed BH 10 - 6

05/09/21  Installed BH 5 & 4. Also installed stern frames 17 & 18 and bowsprit deck 19 & 20 as well as lower deck.

 

 

 

 

HTD: 19

 

Vertical curvature in false keel fore and aft

I countered the curvature by fitting some aluminium angle braces

 

Using my little steaming machine I steamed those areas around the braces that were badly curved.

 

First couple of BH's fitted

 

Movin' on down the line

 

All BH's in place as well as bowsprit deck

 

 

Straighteners

Showing lower deck fitted.

 

 

Well! Where do I start? I thought I had mentioned earlier that when I first did a stock take I had noticed after cutting out the false keel that it had a significant warp. I put the two pieces in a shallow bath of hot water and allowed to dry under the weight of a few dozen floor tiles for a couple of weeks. When I removed the tiles I saw that the warp was far less pronounced than at first and I wondered if it would straighten as I proceeded to insert the bulkheads.

 

Anyway a week or so passed and I glued the two sections together along with the strengtheners at the join points. A few days later as I was preparing to fit the false keel in the building slip I noticed that a significant curve had developed vertically on both the fore and aft sections (see above pics). I thought or hoped that fitting the bulkheads would straighten it out so I proceed to fit and glue the first BH14 and waited a day or so to find that it mad no difference.

 

I cut BH14 out and got some aluminium angle and bolted the pieces through the false keel which worked a treat. I fitted several of these pieces of aluminium to the worst affected areas (see pics above). Obviously some of them will get in the way when it comes to planking etc but I will adjust or remove them as needed  otherwise I will just leave them there. I also tried to place these angle pieces against the BH's so as to give further strength to those joints.

 

And so, in terms of the quality of the material and laser cutting, I am less than impressed. A lot of the laser cutting is not square as I think is illustrated in a previous post and I was not happy with the way the keel curved and warped.

 

Anyway, all the bulkheads are in place along with the lower deck and when removed from the build slip everything is straight as a die and all BH's are square. The only other area of concern I have is there seems to be a little inconsistency with the checkouts for the beams on the mid section BH's. These inconsistency's were more apparent when a straight edge was held atop them.   Anyway, I will have a closer look next week as I believe that is one of the next steps.

 

 

 

[BobG]

3 hours ago, Mike Hunt said:

Using my little steaming machine I steamed those areas around the braces that were badly curved.

I never seen one of these steaming machines before. What things have you found it useful for?

Edited September 5, 2021 by BobG

[Mike Hunt]

14 hours ago, BobG said:

I never seen one of these steaming machines before. What things have you found it useful for?

Hi Bob,  well I bought it years ago from KMart or Target or one of those, the equivalent to WallMart in your neck of the woods I guess. Just a cheap domestic appliance that appeared on one of those infomercials and in a moment of weakness, well.................  It only cost $30 or $40 AU and it is virtually a steam iron in Darth Vader clothing. I purchased it to try and remove mould/mildew from hard to reach areas and it has sat in its box since then. But your comment made me think about it and I might try using it when it comes time to persuade some planks to bend.

 

[BobG]

9 hours ago, Mike Hunt said:

But your comment made me think about it and I might try using it when it comes time to persuade some planks to bend.

That's what I was thinking also. 👍

[Mike Hunt]

06/09/21  Installed beams on BH’s that support mid deck also installed 2 sections of mid deck.

07/09/21  Installed last section of lower deck

02/10/21  Cut and prepared planks for lower deck

07/10/21  - 19/10/21  Continued on and off planking this lower deck.

20/10/21 Completed planking, trimmed edges and started sanding. Applied sand n seal and sanded some more. Applied faux nail holes to planks. Applied first coat of varnish

21/10/21  Sanding and varnishing of lower deck

22/10/21  More sanding and varnishing of lower deck

23/10/21  Started work on deck houses. Sanded and gave first coat of primer.

 

 

HTD: 33

 

Bit of a gap where BH meets deck

 

Final section of lower deck about to be installed

 

Lower deck complete.

 

Getting planks ready for lower deck

 

Lower deck planking complete

 

 

Started to prepare the deck houses

 

So making a bit of progress here. Looking forward to getting the deck houses finished so I can complete the two upper decks as they protrude out over the deck houses. I didn't come across any issues or hassles  in this last bit of progress other than where the deck did not come out to be flush with a bulkhead so I built up the deck edge with some scrap planking wood and bobs your uncle, or aunt, as may be the case in this crazy world of gender misappropriation and confusion lol.

[Steve47]

Hi MIke, it says in the instructions to cut the decking planks to 65mm. This can't be right looking at the pictures. I reckon they should be 101mm or thereabout. Any advice will be very welcome.

Regards,

Steve47