Endurance ex-Polaris by John Fox III - FINISHED - ship in light bulb - 1:275 scale

[John Fox III]

This is a log of the building of Endurance I constructed around 2001. A previous series of models were done at 1:350 as ship in bottle models. The first photo shows one of those.  Most of this build log will be photographs taken while building the larger model, which was put into a sodium vapor light bulb with the end cut off. I will be happy to answer any questions.

Endurance

History

The Polar Wooden Screw Yacht “Polaris” was built at the Framnaes shipyard in Norway, possibly in 1899. The Polaris was a 300-ton wooden barquentine, and never sailed under her maiden name. She was 144 feet long, built of planks of oak, and Norwegian fir up to two and one-half feet thick, and sheathed in greenheart, a wood so tough that it cannot be worked by conventional means.

Polaris was built at a time in history when much of the world’s attention was focused on exploration of polar regions, both Arctic and Antarctic, with many expeditions from various countries attempting to reach the North and South Poles. One of the early explorers during this Heroic Age of exploration was Ernest Shackleton.

In 1914 Shackleton proposed an expedition to cross the Antarctic continent, his expedition would require two vessels, one to take the men, equipment and the sled dogs to the Antarctic continent, and one to take men and supplies to the opposite side of the continent where they were to lay supply caches.

Polaris was the vessel Shackleton purchased for the outward voyage, with an ex-sealing vessel, “Aurora” being obtained as the second vessel. He changed the name of Polaris to “Endurance”, after his family motto: “Fortitudine Vincimus - by endurance we conquer”. After much preparation, Endurance left her dock in London on August 1, 1914.

The exact same day war was declared between many European nations, and World War I was begun. Endurance had not yet left British waters when the mobilization orders were sent out, so Shackleton offered his crew and ship for the British government's wartime use. The Admiralty decided that his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition should proceed. Endurance set sail from Plymouth on August 8, 1914 on her voyage into history.

Endurance sailed to Buenos Aires to pick up crew members and sled dogs and then sailed to South Georgia on November 5, spent a month re-provisioning while at this station and left Grytviken’s Cumberland Bay on December 5, 1914.

Endurance sailed only two days before encountering the first pack ice. Endurance worked it’s way through pack ice for two weeks, passing many large ice bergs along the way. The ice and weather conditions worsened from about January 24 onward, and at times the crew would debark and attempt to chisel pathways themselves. By January 27, 1915 the ship was stuck fast in the ice.

The fierce southern winter weather was causing further concern for all, as gales blew the pack ice into moving walls of destruction. The crew watched helplessly as huge chunks of some of the pack ice were moved and shoved into amazingly high stacks. In some cases the buildup of pressure would accumulate for a length of time causing massive ice movements in very little time when the pressure was finally released. For those living aboard Endurance it must have appeared all too clear what the gallant ship’s fate was going to be.

The terrible winter weather continued for many more months. Endurance, and it’s crew, received both a great relief, followed by the worst moment in the voyage so far around the 10th of October. At that time the ice started to break up, and a new lane opened up that everyone thought had a chance of being navigated. This breakup was followed however by a severe wind, which piled the pack ice up beneath Endurance and lifted her above the water. The gallant ship was then heeled over on her port side by 30 degrees, before righting again when the pressure reduced.

On Sunday October 24th Endurance was severely struck in the stern by no less than three pressure ridges of ice. The ship was listed over to starboard 8 degrees, and the stern post nearly twisted out of the hull. The vessel started leaking badly, and the steam engine had to be kept running to keep the pumps working. At 4:00 p.m., October 27, Endurance received a heavy blow, which knocked it’s stern higher, and completely tore away the rudder and stern post, the keel was ripped out and the water poured in.

Shackleton and his crew lived on the ice nearby the Endurance for nearly one month before the ship met it’s final end. This came for Endurance on the evening of November 21, 1915, when the vessel rose by the stern and then slid down into the water. The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition ended with the loss of Endurance, though Shackleton and his entire crew survived and were rescued.

 

Ship In Light Bulb Model of “Endurance - Construction

 

Ship in light bulb models have certain construction differences from static display models. The first consideration for construction of such a model is that the model, or it’s individual parts, must fit through the neck of the light bulb. For the Endurance model the type of construction used by this builder required that the finished upper hull of the model, including all masts, yards sails and all rigging lines, be able to be collapsed small enough to pass through the bulb opening. The lower hull and model base are separate pieces, that can be passed through the neck of the bulb individually. The base is then glued to the inside glass surface, then the lower hull is glued to the model base, the upper hull is then glued to the lower hull.

A laminate block of basswood is made up and used to carve the hull. The upper hull is a single piece of the wood, the lower hull is three separate pieces glued together. The lower hull has a thin piece of wood in the center, flanked by two wider pieces, making the whole as wide as the upper hull piece. The two hull parts are held together by drilling a pair of holes, and tightly fitting bamboo pegs into the holes. At the time of making up this “hull block sandwich”, a sheet of styrene plastic is placed between the upper and lower hulls, representing the waterline of the hull.

The hull shape is then carved out of this sandwich of basswood and plastic, using the thin center strip of the lower hull for the keel location and to mark the locations of the cross sections from the body plan. The styrene sheet waterline is also used as a guide for the templates made from cutting out individual cross sections from multiple prints of the body plan.

This method of hull construction also allows the hull to be separated to make painting of the hull of the model easier. An air brush was used to apply the paint, and a protective sealer coat, to the hull parts. The scale of the model is 1:400, so some of the smaller detail trim was simplified.

In order to make the upper hull small enough to fit through the bulb opening, the superstructure must be built in such a way that it is able to be collapsed. In order to do this, the masts have hidden hinges built into them. This allows them to pivot backwards, lowering their tops and all the sails and yards attached to them. All the square sails, and yards, on the fore mast must be attached to the mast in such a way that they can rotate parallel to the mast along the length of the hull, so that they too will fit through the opening in the light bulb. The Endurance model’s hidden hinges are carved into the masts by making a lower piece that has a two pronged “forked” top that fits around a single center stem on the lower end of the upper mast piece. A simple drawn down bamboo pin is then inserted into a hole drilled through the center of the overlap, where the upper mast piece fits into the fork of the lower mast piece. This allows the masts to break at a point well above the deck of the model, which was critical with the cabin structure directly behind the fore mast.

All the spars for the Endurance model were made from glued laminates of maple veneer. The resulting glued joint helps to strengthen the thinner spars, allowing the necessary rigging line holes to be drilled without splitting them. Pieces of veneers of maple are glued together, then strips are cut from them. The strips are then “spin-sanded” down to nearly their largest diameter, by chucking them into a Dremel moto-tool and using folded sandpaper pinched around the spinning mast blanks. Final sizing and shaping of the spars is done by hand sanding. Any necessary holes in a spar are drilled before the hand sanding, when the spars are a bit larger in diameter. This laminate structure for the masts made it much simpler to carve the necessary parts of the hidden hinges in them.

Most of the rigging lines on the Endurance model are working, or control, lines that are used to bring the masts up into their raised positions. Control rigging lines are also used to pull all the sails, booms and gaffs into correct position after the masts are raised. Most of the control rigging lines are rigged and worked the same as the actual running rigging lines on the real vessel.. All control rigging lines run through holes in the bulwarks, a fife or pin rail, the bowsprit or some other spars, before finally passing through the hull at the deck or other location.

The control lines pass through the hull into a hollowed area carved into the underside of the upper hull. This allows the lines to pass forward from their entry point and out through the hawse holes on either side of the bow.

The model was assembled inside the light bulb, with the ends of all the control rigging lines left outside the bulb. Several rubber bands are then wrapped around the lines and the neck of the bulb. This keeps the lines taught after they are tightened to pull the various parts of the model into proper final position. At every accessible point that a control line passes through a spar, a rail or the deck of the hull, a tiny amount of glue is applied to hold the line in place, once the lines are taught. When all the glue had dried, the excess control rigging lines were cut off as close to the hawse holes as possible. The small amount of these lines that remained were stuffed back inside the hollowed area beneath the upper hull.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2022 by John Fox III
changed title to finished

[Joe100]

Absolutely gorgeous! I built S/Y Endurance in a pocket watch case a number of years ago in 1/1250

[John Fox III]

12 hours ago, Joe100 said:

Absolutely gorgeous! I built S/Y Endurance in a pocket watch case a number of years ago in 1/1250

Thanks! BTW, my smallest scale pocket watch case model was Constitution at 1:2400.

 

[Joe100]

Oh that’s yours? That’s a legendary model indeed. I have some photos of it permanently saved in my “awesome models” file.

[KeithAug]

Beautiful work.

[John Fox III]

22 hours ago, Joe100 said:

Oh that’s yours? That’s a legendary model indeed. I have some photos of it permanently saved in my “awesome models” file.

Thanks Joe! I am flattered that a model of mine is considered legendary and saved in anyone's awesome model file!

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

[John Fox III]

22 hours ago, KeithAug said:

Beautiful work.

Thanks Keith! I do try! <Grin>

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

[John Fox III]

Greetings All,

 

Previous photos of my Endurance light bulb model build showed the basic hull construction. The hull parts were made from basswood, with maple veneer bulwarks and forecastle extensions. The newest photos show further construction, including adding sheet styrene plastic inner bulwarks with frame extensions. The fore deck was made from thin paper with lines drawn on it. Additional sheet styrene detaling was added to the midships and stern, as well as forecastle bulwarks and keel, stem and stern posts. The prop was made from sheet brass, as well as the pin rails around the masts. The last photo shows the pin rail, and looking closely you can see the hidden hinge in the mast, which allows it to fold backward during insertion into the light bulb opening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

[KeithAug]

Beautifully done.

[John Fox III]

12 hours ago, KeithAug said:

Beautifully done.

Thanks Keith! I do try! <Grin>

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

[Hashir]

Hi,

 

New her. Actually new to model ship building. Absolutely loved your work.

[Hashir]

Just now, Hashir said:

Hi,

 

New her. Actually new to model ship building. Absolutely loved your work.

here*

 

[John Fox III]

On 3/11/2022 at 9:39 AM, Hashir said:

Hi,

 

New her. Actually new to model ship building. Absolutely loved your work.

Greetings Hashir,

Thanks! We all start, started, in the same place. It's worth remembering that when you are a beginning modeler.

[John Fox III]

Greetings All,

Since I showed the mast with the hidden hinge in my last posting, I will now show how those are made. The photos show the process pretty clearly. But happy to answer any questions. The wood used here is maple veneer, 1/32" thick. The last eight photos show an alternative method for a portion of the hinge. The hinge pin is made from drawn down bamboo skewer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

 

[John Fox III]

Greetings All,

 

Thought I would add here the process used to make the ship's boats for my Endurance light bulb model. I use the same basic technique to regularly make these for my of my models, at different sizes and scales. The materials used are cigarette papers and thinned white glue, 50/50 mix. The basic process is t make a wooden plug of the interior hull shape, sealed multiple times, with a brass shim glued to the top surface, where the top of the bulwarks would be. The brass is used to keep the top edges of the wooden plug from being cut down as one cuts the paper to form the bulwarks top. A hole was drilled and a toothpick glued in to have a handle. The great thing about this method is one can make many copies of a boat, and have them all the same size and shape.

 

To form the hulls, the cigarette paper is dipped into the thinned glue, excess glue scrapped off, the the paper is carefully draped over the plug. The paper is very delicate when saturated, so tears easily. A well sealed round toothpick is used to mold the paper tightly to the plug, doubling it over itself where necessary, usually at the bow and stern. Once the paper has dried, usually after 24  hours, the paper is carefully cut along the brass. Multiple layers of paper are used, depending the size/scale of a particular boat. When the paper is thick enough, trial and error are used to determine how many layers are needed for a given boat.

 

Once the final layer is added, a thin coat of CA glue is applied over the outside of the hull, to harden it. At this point the hull can be "popped" off of the plug, usually use the tip of an X-acto blade to pry the hull at the top of the bulwarks to help get the hull free of the plug. Then the interior surface is also coated with CA glue. Finally the outside surface of the hull is sanded to remove the thickened areas at bow and stern, where the paper was overlapped to conform to the hull shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The interior of the boats are then added. One method for adding framing was to cut a floor piece of sheet styrene plastic, then glue thin strips to the underside of this floor piece. The floor piece was then pressed down into the boat hull, while a fine wire was used to apply a tiny amount of CA glue to the strips, to hold them against the inside hull surface.  Thwarts and other details are added, made from styrene or thin wood strips. Finally the keel, stem and stern posts were added, also of plastic strips, and the hulls painted to suit the model.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

 

 

[druxey]

Just stumbled across this log - very impressive open boats at this small scale!

[John Fox III]

21 hours ago, druxey said:

Just stumbled across this log - very impressive open boats at this small scale!

Thanks! I do try! <Grin> BTW, bet one of the moderators could provide a walker if you keep stumbling around! <Grin>

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

[druxey]

Yeah, I'll soon be ready for one! Thanks, John.

[John Fox III]

Greetings All,

 

First a few shots of additions to the hull of my Endurance model. Added masts, temporarily, plus waterways on upper deck. The fore pin rail is brass, painted white. I used brass for pin rails as at this scale wood often splits, plus the additional strength come in handy when one has to tension the rigging lines from outside the light bulb after insertion. Additional styrene plastic trim pieces and maple veneer chain plates.

 

 

 

 

Next I have the finished yards and masts, with styrene plastic tops, cap, etc..

 

 

 

 

And finally today the air brushed hull. The propeller is brass, plus added the catheads.

 

 

 

 

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

[druxey]

Remarkable work at this scale!

[John Fox III]

12 hours ago, druxey said:

Remarkable work at this scale!

Thank you! I do try! <Grin> Been doing this kind if miniature work for 40 years, good to know I did learn something in all that time! <G>

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

[KeithAug]

I loved the method of adding frames to the miniature open boat.

[John Fox III]

5 hours ago, KeithAug said:

I loved the method of adding frames to the miniature open boat.

Thanks! It doesn't always work out, especially at the bow and stern areas. It does make adding most of the ribs pretty well though.

 

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

Wasn't there more weather deck behind a free-standing forward cabin (apart from the dog runs overhead) and a smaller stern cabin?

 

[John Fox III]

5 hours ago, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

Wasn't there more weather deck behind a free-standing forward cabin (apart from the dog runs overhead) and a smaller stern cabin?

 

There was on the original Polaris, however from Hurley's photos it appears that from the forward cabin to the stern it was completely covered over with decking. I think it was done to keep the lower deck amidships covered to keep in heat. There were many, many changes made as the expedition continued, including adding a covered area over the wheel, with a walking deck completely over the stern area. I did not add the dog sheds, or the walkways over those, which included raising the pin rails on the mizzen, as they were added after leaving South America with the dogs, and I didn't really like the way that all looked later.

 

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

[FriedClams]

Wonderfully precise work John, and so small.  The Constitution watch case model is extraordinary.

 

Gary

[BANYAN]

I have also just stumbled on this incredible work - take a bow John, simply impressive detail at this scale.  The pocket watch model just blew my socks off.  I won't complain about working at 1:72 again .

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Jim Lad]

Absolutely delightful work, John

 

John

[John Fox III]

11 hours ago, FriedClams said:

Wonderfully precise work John, and so small.  The Constitution watch case model is extraordinary.

 

Gary

Thanks Gary! It took a very long time to figure out how to make ship models as tiny as the watchcase Connie model. The masts and yards were the hardest to make, until I found insect mounting pins. They were steel covered with an enamel coating that was black. There are many sizes, and with a little work, one can even taper the yard pins, and later color them black with magic markers.

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III

[John Fox III]

8 hours ago, BANYAN said:

I have also just stumbled on this incredible work - take a bow John, simply impressive detail at this scale.  The pocket watch model just blew my socks off.  I won't complain about working at 1:72 again .

 

cheers

 

Pat

Thanks Pat! I guess the moderators left this one out in an isle, as people seem to stumble into it! <Grin> I have actually been accused of having a team of trained spiders to do my rigging work! <Grin> I don't know how impressive it all is, I only hope that by showing what CAN be done, it might encourage others to think out of the box a little, and try things they might think won't work.

Anchor's A Weigh!

John Fox III