Endurance by Tomculb - OcCre - 1:70

[theoracle09]

Excellent write up Tom and one that I appreciate very much as I haven't looked into the anchor situation yet. I installed the eyebolts on the cats and decided to stop there because it didn't make sense to secure the anchor rope to them. I'm interested in seeing what you've come up with, as I think I'll also create a portable davit for the anchor deck.

[Tomculb]

I found some relatively thick but malleable wire that I bent to create a couple of simple anchor davits. Using a drafting compass I determined what I thought would be the right size and location for a davit to accomplish its intended purpose.

Then I used double blocks to rig a pair of “fish tackle” as described in my prior post.  Unfortunately in my excitement to get this done (or perhaps I was half asleep before my first cup of coffee?),  with one tackle I rigged both blocks backwards.  I haven't re-rigged that one yet, recognizing that sometimes stupid mistakes are best corrected after a bit of a cooling off period. 😃

In the photos below, the port davit (with the incorrectly rigged tackle) hasn’t been glued in place yet. I made a bit of a base for each davit by wrapping some masking tape around the davit before painting them. The tackle tails are only loosely tied around the davits, awaiting my determination as to whether I can buy, or need to fabricate, tiny cleats to secure them to.

[theoracle09]

Now THAT is cool as heck. I especially enjoy the black ropes wrapped around the block hooks and the anchors. Very impressive! I have to ask, did you make those hooks? I really like the look of them.

 

Also I've had a burning question for the last week and while I don't want to question your method, I'm curious about the bow pin rail and the 5 pins you have installed. I just belayed that area a couple weeks ago and I have 6 pins there to hold the 3 down haulers and 3 tack lines for bowsprit sails. Do you have a plan for the 6th rope coming from those sails?

[Tomculb]

Thanks Josh. To answer your questions . . . 

 

My last build was Model Shipways cross section of the Constitution, and MS supplied 2 or 3 dozen photo etched brass hooks in two sizes. For whatever reason I only used about half of them. When it comes to left over fittings and supplies from old builds, I tend to keep everything, and these hooks were exactly what I wanted.

 

I initially made a bow pin rail with holes for six pins, but it appeared that many close together would be problematic when it came to belaying lines on them.  I decided to go with five pins instead, figuring I could either double up on one pin or omit one line. Only time will tell whether that was a wise decision.  

[Tomculb]

OcCre supplies at least a couple dozen tiny photo etched pieces to make Endurance’s ladders.  I detached a few of those pieces and tried working with them, then like @theoracle09 decided I would make my own ladders out of wood.  Over 40 steps had to be cut, but that was easy, much easier than cutting them out of the brass plate they came in and then filing down the attachment tabs.  I also decided to make my steps (or treads) about 30% shorter, making the assembled piece narrower and looking more like a ladder than a staircase.

The photo below shows the jig I made from pieces of scrap I had lying around. Although it can't be seen in the photo, the slide in the middle is sloped at the front, so that the individual steps will be glued in place at the correct angle. 

The first ladders I made were the short ones at the stern. Once glued together and I pulled the first one out of the jig, I realized that I hadn’t slid one of the rails all the way forward in the jig, resulting in rails that were misaligned by about a millimeter.  But I also saw that the plans I so often refer to, and the cutaway drawing I have posted previously, show only one ladder back there, just to the starboard of the companionway. It was my good fortune to make my big mistake on a ladder I wouldn’t need!

 

OcCre’s rails are parallelograms, meaning that the top of the ladder meets the wall it rests against at a sharp point.  I cut the top of each rail so that that juncture was a short flat surface.  I then rounded the opposite point at the top, all with a goal of making the tops of these ladders look a bit more realistic.  Somewhat difficult to describe, but should be evident from the one close-up photo below.  The ladders to the roof of the deck house are not glued in place yet since the deck house isn’t glued in place yet.

 

 

[theoracle09]

On 4/7/2024 at 7:34 AM, Tomculb said:

show only one ladder back there, just to the starboard of the companionway

 

Nice progress on the ladders, Tom. I remember having a tough time creating the wooden ones because I didn't use a jig, and it shows if you look at specific angles. Instead of re-doing them I'm banking on other details drowning out that one and it not being as noticeable.

 

For the count of ladders on the aft deck, I have one pic which shows two ladders being employed at some point after Buenos Aires. The port side is odd, the sides extend well passed the mizzen deck. I'm not sure which time period you're representing so this may not be relevant.

[Mike Shea]

Looking fantastic. The jig for those ladders worked perfect. Anchor deck looks great,too.

[Tomculb]

Thanks Josh and Mike.  Josh, I too pondered over the photo you posted and decided that the port ladder was probably a portable one they moved around from place to place.  That would explain the longer than necessary rails.  Of course that's purely speculation on my part.

[iMustBeCrazy]

On 4/9/2024 at 3:59 AM, theoracle09 said:

The port side is odd, the sides extend well passed the mizzen deck.

 

1 hour ago, Tomculb said:

I too pondered over the photo you posted and decided that the port ladder was probably a portable one they moved around from place to place.

As they decked over the bridge deck openings the four forward ladders became redundant. It would appear one was cut down and used to get over the top of the kennels, another had a couple of upper treads removed and used port side aft probably because the amount of stores along the centreline prevented previous access from the starboard ladder unless you went all the way up to the mainmast and back. Just a guess.

[Tomculb]

The funnel . . . The kit includes a 12mm dowel to use for the funnel, but I decided to try to make something that better represents the real thing.

 

Rather than round, Endurance’s funnel is more like a rectangle with rounded corners. I took two 1/4” square strips, and two 1/8” x 1/4” strips, laminated them together to form a 3/8” by 1/2” column of the height of the funnel, and sanded the edges round.  I suppose if I had metric dimensioned wood strips, the column would have fit better in the laser cut hole in the deck. I had to use my  Dremel tool to enlarge the hole a little.

To simulate a hollow funnel, I cut about 1/2” off one end of this wood column, and then wrapped the column in paper.  It took me quite a while to find paper that was stiff enough for the top but didn’t crease when bent around the corners. What worked pretty well (even though it was orange) was a divider page in a very old spiral bound notebook.  Frank Hurley photos show flat bands around the funnel, which OcCre simulates with brass wire.  I used Tamiya’s masking tape for curves instead, each strip being wrapped twice around the funnel.

I painted the funnel white; more than one coat was required to hide the orange. I then painted the hollow inside at the top black. At least with my aging eyes, it's hard to see that only the top 1/2” is hollow.

 

Obviously the kit’s laser cut round base wasn’t going to work.  I made a base gluing together several short 1/8“ x 1/16” strips, then sanding to get the desired shape.

OcCre shows a bent pipe on the forward side of the funnel . . . I’m not sure what it is, but I decided to include it anyway. I used spackling paste to fill in the inside corners of the base, the same stuff I used in great quantities as filler when finishing the hull. The small intake funnels in the pictures below are supplied by the kit.  OcCre shows them facing aft, but they face forward and out in the Hurley photos I looked at. Finally, those photos show cables leading from the funnel down to the deck.  I attached eyebolts on the funnel for that. I won’t rig them until I have installed the dog kennels, when I’ll have a better idea where to attach the other ends of the cables. I also finally got around to gluing in place the previously assembled large skylight.

 

[iMustBeCrazy]

1 hour ago, Tomculb said:

when I’ll have a better idea where to attach the other ends of the cables

Tom, it looks like after the kennels were fitted the guys were attached to the top of stanchions so as to clear the kennels.

 

 

 

 

[theoracle09]

Now that's a nice funnel there. I've really enjoyed seeing your scratch builds for Endurance, it's really cool to see your interpretation of each assembly you're bashing.

 

4 hours ago, Tomculb said:

OcCre shows a bent pipe on the forward side of the funnel . . . I’m not sure what it is

 

I'm not sure why OcCre decided to make it a bent pipe. I have this reference pic though which shows the pipe to be a whistle I believe.

[clearway]

Dang i will have to straighten out the pipe for the whistle on mine! - good fix with the funnel Tom- one pipe is the whistle, the longer pipe is the steam vent for the boiler.

 

Keith

[Tomculb]

What bent pipe??  😀

Thank you Josh for the inspiration and the picture.

[Tomculb]

On 4/20/2024 at 7:06 PM, iMustBeCrazy said:

it looks like after the kennels were fitted the guys were attached to the top of stanchions so as to clear the kennels.

Craig, as I look at the second photo you posted, it looks to me like the guys may be attached to the boat davits. Which makes no sense since the plans I have found online and OcCre position the davits aft of the funnel.  Maybe sometime late in the journey the davits were moved forward to be in line with the funnel?  All of this assumes I have my shipboard geography right.  As I look at that photo, it is facing aft from just forward of the main mast, and the sort-of-round things in the middle are, moving aft in the picture, the mainmast forward gaff, the main mast, and the funnel.  Further aft you can’t see the mizzen mast, but you can see its ratlines.  This assumes that the intake funnels have been rotated to face aft, unlike the first photo where they face forward and seaward. Any thoughts?

[iMustBeCrazy]

3 hours ago, Tomculb said:

it looks to me like the guys may be attached to the boat davits. Which makes no sense since the plans I have found

I thought they might be for a while but the davits are just in the wrong place and moving them would have been very difficult.

Anyway, this shot shows the aft starboard guy just wraps over the rail and attaches somewhere down the side of the cabin ??? Not a stanchion, not the davit. The forward one I think does the same but attaches to the chain plate. Maybe.

 

3 hours ago, Tomculb said:

As I look at that photo, it is facing aft from just forward of the main mast

I would say further forward, starboard side of the forward binnacle?

 

3 hours ago, Tomculb said:

the mainmast forward gaff

Crane jib? But yes.

 

Edit: This shot shows no sign of them running down the side so I guess they go to the top of the side of the cabin.

 

 

Edited April 25 by iMustBeCrazy

[iMustBeCrazy]

https://digitaltmuseum.no/011024193055/modell-av-fartoy

 

This model looks like it got it right to me except they were later put over/outside the railing.

 

[Tomculb]

Thanks Craig.  Like you I have assembled a pretty good collection of photos, mostly bookmarked, some downloaded, and some in a Frank Hurley book I bought. But I have never taken the time to organize or catalog them, so it takes me forever to find what I'm looking for (if I find it at all).  I really appreciate what you have shared.

[iMustBeCrazy]

4 hours ago, Tomculb said:

But I have never taken the time to organize or catalog them

I'm extremely organised (HAH, heehee, hah heehee, mmmph. giggle, giggle) mine are carefully filed dumped in a folder labelled 'Endurance'.

 

4 hours ago, Tomculb said:

I really appreciate what you have shared.

No problem, luckily I like puzzles.