Endurance by theoracle09 - OcCre - 1:70

[theoracle09]

Hello MSW! This post serves as an introduction to yet another build log for the Endurance kit by Occre. First, a little about me: I started this wonderful hobby as a teenager and kept at it when I could as I was traveling all over for the US military. This made it difficult to set up a permanent workshop (or table as it were) so my first and second ships stayed on standby for most of this time, with small bursts of productivity here and there. Unfortunately, the San Fran in my signature was lost to rough handling by a shipping company (yay army movers!) many many years ago, when I got out of the military. The Newport is currently on my newly-setup work table and I have been making slow progress with it and will need to update that log soon. I've built a dinghy and a skipjack on the side, which I don't necessarily count as "wooden model ships" in the class these vessels are in. That being said this kit will be my 3rd model ship kit.

 

Anyway, we're here to log my rendition of the famous Endurance. She needs absolutely no introduction, and I'm going to point anyone who wants more information to the numerous and great build logs from others, as they've done a remarkable job documenting the ship's beginnings in their logs.

 

First thing is first, my kit is currently in the mail on its way to me. While waiting for the kit to arrive I have already read through every Endurance log on this website and will probably read them all again for good measure. While making my way through the logs I took note of every bash and scratch build people have done to make this model more historically accurate. I'm not going for 100% accuracy, but perhaps somewhere around 90% accurate, to the extent my modeling skills allow.

 

There was great advice given to focus on a particular 'load out' as this ship seemed to change a little here, a little there over the course of her voyage. I am particular drawn to the very beginnings of being stuck in the floes, so I imagine I will gravitate towards this set-up. I don't have all of the details nailed down yet in my notes for this period of the voyage, but over the next few weeks as I work on the obvious structures, I'll continue research and make decisions as we go.

 

Things I already plan on changing (so far): Under the forward deck will be open (I have a question on this at the end of this post). All belaying pins replaced with brass. Stanchions will be 3D brass with brass wire rod, soldered then painted white. 2-Blade brass prop (someone in another forum said it was 25mm. I could only find 30mm, so I hope it's not too big). Coal loading covers instead of the o1 stacks on the aft main (lower?) deck. Probably scratch capstan. Steering gear with chain (thread as backup). Anchor cats shaved down towards deck. Deck planks 2.9mm wide (for 8" planks). Portholes are too small, so either fill and drill new or drill bigger (and not using the brass inserts). I'm sure I'm missing something else but you get the idea.

 

That sums up where I currently am at: the very beginning. I've always enjoyed curating a log on these forums and is why I keep coming back after so much time has passed. I appreciate anyone and everyone stopping by and offering suggestions, thoughts, concerns, and motivation. Please feel free to post any historical data you might have that's relevant to the ship's configuration as she entered the ice floes. I'd be eternally grateful!

 

I have a few questions to start off with:

 - Area under the anchor deck. What was it used for? What did it look like? Are there any images that show this area? @Tomculb has a great interpretation of this at this post, and I'm inclined to do the same.

 - In this picture it appears the ritz has a chimney coming from the port forward side. Is that correct? If so, I'll be including it in my model.

 - Was the steering gear exposed when they first entered the ice floes? OcCre has it covered, but I want to model it. However, since I'm going for a particular time in her voyage, I'm not sure if it was covered in the beginning of the floes or not.

 

Until next time!

 

---------------------------------------------------------------

Edit 3/31/24 - Over the course of this project I have created a handful of .STL models that can be 3D printed which replaces some of the items in the kit. I'm editing this post and including a link so it can be found easier by anyone building this kit in the future. Click here.

Edited March 31 by theoracle09

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  You've chosen a great kit to build, and appear to have some good plans in mind.  As for the 'configuration' of the vessel, that kept changing as they preparations for the expedition progressed.  Thats why a set of random pictures of Shackleton's Endurance can be confusing.  There is the way it looked after initial modifications in England - which appears to be about how the kit is set up (except that the steering gear was still exposed at that time - the wooden 'shed' to protect the steering gear from ice accumulation near the pole was added when more changes were made in South America).

 

 In South America more modifications/changes were made, including enlarging the Ritz (thus increasing the run-out of deck amid ships) ... one has to sort the available photos as to location and time to see what they did and when.  Once on polar ice more changes were done, but they were stuck for good at that point.

 

  So there are easily three 'versions' than can be modeled, as changes were made in stages.  Fair Sailing !       Johnny

Edited August 4, 2023 by Snug Harbor Johnny

[theoracle09]

11 minutes ago, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

the wooden 'shed' to protect the steering gear from ice accumulation near the pole was added when more changes were made in South America

 

Thanks for stopping by Johnny, I've seen your vast knowledge strewn across several Endurance logs and am happy you have found your way to mine as well. Hmm, a decision will need to be made then as I really do want the steering gear to be exposed. Perhaps this falls into the 10% that's not particularly accurate!

 

I have been googling Frank Hurley's Endurance photos for several days now and have put together a folder of reference material. Including the under water footage from last year. You're right: it can be difficult placing the photos to a particular stop in the trip. This will be where my need for historical accuracy will diminish and some artistic freedoms will probably be taken.

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

    We're all free to build any configuration so desired.  I like the look of the detailed steering gear that some have modeled, and don't forget, once ice-bound the shed over the gear was removed and put on the ice flow for storage.  So a build with late modification without the shed is just fine.  And the deep-sea photos of the ship as she rests do not show the shed.

 

  The book 'Endurance' (available in paperback) is a thrilling read and adds greatly to one's knowledge and appreciation of the expedition.  There is also a 'boat in a bottle' build showing the Polar configuration with the extended Ritz with decking above.  The "T" shaped roofing/dog run is gone (as seen in polar photos), and so are many of the stanchions/railings in that area.

 

  I'm with you on the Polar version simply because simplifies some of the build ... and I'm one for taking the path of least resistance.  The 'rolling yard' seen on a recent build is intriguing ... and then that eliminates bunt and clew lines for that sail - another simplification.      

 

  Looking forward to your build !      Johnny

[clearway]

Welcome to the Endurance club- there are photos of her in the ice floes before she was beset in the ice with the steering gear uncovered. Under the forecastle (anchor deck there are small rooms port and starboard as mentioned in tomculbs log. Regards the smokestack forward on the ritz it is for the galley cooking stove.

 

Keith

[theoracle09]

9 hours ago, clearway said:

Welcome to the Endurance club- there are photos of her in the ice floes before she was beset in the ice with the steering gear uncovered. Under the forecastle (anchor deck there are small rooms port and starboard as mentioned in tomculbs log. Regards the smokestack forward on the ritz it is for the galley cooking stove.

 

Keith

 

Thanks Keith, I appreciate you dropping in! I've been reading over your log and thoroughly enjoy the upgrades you've put in, which are inspiring me to go the same route. You've done a great job so far! The galley smokestack is definitely needed, so I'll be including that, thanks for confirming!

 

While the Endurance kit is making its way towards me (should be late next week!) I decided to begin. First off, I found clearway's funnel and realized I just came across some aluminum stock that I accumulated at some point. Luckily OcCre's instructions for this kit are able to be downloaded from their website and I saw they have a 1:1 plan for the funnel. They say to use the included 12mm dowel, so I measured the aluminum tube and coincidentally enough it's 11.1mm. Not quite 12, but close enough to experiment with until the kit arrives. I took care of the flare by using the tail stock on a lathe to press a cone into the end, stopping once the size looked right. The bands are heat shrink tubing cut to 1mm (or so) wide and heated.

 

 

Speaking of eye bolts, I'm deciding to hand make and blacken all 110 (according to the instructions, there may be more) that are needed. It's been a while since I've done this, so it was slow going at first but speed picked up and quality improved. I detailed how I do this in my Newport log, here. It's a tedious task, but I absolutely love the look of enclosed eyes, and they're mostly enjoyable to make. It should also add to the security of the rigging as well. As for blackening, I plan on painting the hull a weathered black (no anti-fouling paint) and I think blackening the eye bolts would really blend into the color scheme (along with blackened 0.5mm rod for ratlines).

 

The long bolts will be used for placement on the decks with the tails bent and secured underneath, as suggested in other logs. I'm not going to make all of them in one go, but rather here and there while taking breaks on planking, or decking, or whatever.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

[theoracle09]

I spent some time yesterday and today building a copy of the Syren servo-matic machine because it looks cool as heck and I had everything on hand to build it. I also wanted to upgrade the gear shafts to include bearings I purchased many years ago and had to buy 10, but only used 2. I used 1/2" cherry and 3D printed the gears, after modeling the entire thing in Blender to get the measurements right. Full credit for the design goes to Syren though. Other details include a 5mm bobbin holder, and 8mm gear shafts. I don't have a scroll saw, so to make the handle I used some forstner bits.

The gears are attached to the shafts with 5 minute epoxy, the same for the bearings to the wood. The shafts were pressed into the bearings using the lathe. I seem to be using it more to press stuff than turn anything lately! I didn't have washers that fit the 8mm rods, so I used a playing card cut to shape to provide a little standoff and so the gear isn't rubbing on the wood.

Does it need bearings? Absolutely not. But is it cool? Yes!

 

Next my attention turned to the engine funnel. I've been poring over expedition photos and keep noticing the shape of the funnel. It's a rounded rectangle, and the more I considered it the more I knew I'd want that shape. I spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to figure out how to shape the aluminum tubing into that rectangle while retaining the rounded corners. Then I thought, 3D printing it might work. I have an FDM printer (Ender 5 Pro), not resin, so there's a limit to how small I can print, and the flare at the top might be too small. I modeled the shape I thought looked similar to this picture and this picture and gave it a shot. Lo and behold, I think it worked out nicely.

 

The base is also 3D printed. The bands are copper tape (slug repellent or doll house conductivity tape, same stuff) and the tube is a 1.5mm brass rod. I primed it with Vellejo surface primer, several coats. For the color I didn't want a "brand new" white so I mixed 10:1 Vellejo Model Air White and Vellejo Bone White. Then finished up with matte finish.

 

Boy, zoomed in pics really bring out the lumps and bumps eh? Compared to the aluminum tube with heat shrink tubing I very much like the result of the new funnel. I'm not sure if it comes through in the pic, but it is raked back according to the OcCre plan. The eyebolts are soldered and blackened (assume every eyebolt shown from here on out is soldered and blackened). I'm missing the whistle, and I'm still considering what I can use to suggest it. Or I may leave it off.

 

Thanks for reading!

[clearway]

Certainly looks the part- i hear you on the flattening the aluminium tubing with the flare- why mine is still circular😁.

 

Keith

[theoracle09]

Hey everyone! I have received the kit and begun construction. Yay! I need to count the blocks and see if I'm short as others have reported. Otherwise, everything is in good order and I was fortunate during the shipping process nothing happened to the MDF false keel as others experienced.

 

First steps of course are to remove the false keel and the bulkheads from their sheets and file down the connection points. Everything has been dry-fit and adjusted, and then I started planning for the open space under the forecastle. After making the cuts and assembling two false closets, I was left with the below image. I also drilled out the portholes to 1/4" using a forstner bit. I centered it the best I could and used a drill press to slowly, very slowly, start cutting through the bulkheads. I didn't experience any tear out (there was wood behind the bulkheads. which the bit went in to) and used the same method after planking 3 bulkheads to cut through the planks once the glue was dry.

 

Unfortunately I sanded it too good apparently because when I applied paint, the plank lines pretty much disappeared, which meant the few hours it took to cut and glue them on don't really account for much.

 

On the above bulkhead I added an extra strip to support the deck. Note here as well the planks disappeared when I airbrushed the paint on. I am probably going to find a way to sand, cut, mark, or otherwise suggest the planks. Off the top of my head I imagine using a dental pick or something similar to indent the wood, but not scratch the paint. I'll deal with that tomorrow. Maybe just mechanical pencil would be enough, too, but rather light.

 

I didn't sand this aft bulkhead's planks due to what I learned from the first two and it shows. After enlarging the portholes here there is a mere 2-3mm for the vertical planks to stick to, so there was definite tear-out on the left two portholes. Admittedly, I should have waited another few hours to drill out the portholes, as I don't believe the wood glue I used was hard at all. Just set up. It's all good though, there will be trim that covers that up.

 

It doesn't look like much, but there's a lot going on that I didn't picture. I cut out the propeller box because the half-moon shape doesn't make any sense. I made sure there was about a 30* angle on the top cut, but it doesn't really come through after I sanded. I'll have to adjust it anyway as the 30mm Amati 2-bladed prop I bought doesn't fit in this space as-is, but enlarging the box will change the shape of the hull. I need to decide to buy a 25mm prop or make the 30mm work.

 

Let's see, what else:

• Inside portholes painted black
• Walls painted with a 10:1 mix of white to bone white (Vallejo) [All white paint will be this mix moving forward.]
• Bulkheads faired to sit flush on false keel
• Nothing is glued right now which is why the decks are bowed up and look strange

As for the deck, that's pretty much the next step. The kit comes with 5mm wide veneer, which is entirely too big of a size for the Endurance. Seeing as the deck is one of the major things we tend to look at while observing these models, and I passionately want this to be historically accurate (95% at least!), I attempted to cut the strips in half using a metal ruler and fresh xacto blade, to no avail. I cut the main strip down to the length of the main deck extending into the space under the anchor deck and after several attempts wasn't able to cut straight down the middle length-wise. The grain moves the strip ever-so-slightly, which when stacked next to other similarly-not-straight strips the result is definitely not something I'm after. As for cutting it took 5-8 strokes, as I applied the lightest pressure I could to try and mitigate the side-to-side movement.

 

So, I don't have anything 3mm wide (or rather, I don't have enough of it) so I may try to think up a jig to attach to a table saw cross cut sled. If the strips can be taped down over the kerf line in the sled, and the blade doesn't rip it to splinters, it's possible I can cut them down that way.

 

Finally, I've always been curious on the raw time spent at the desk per model. So I'll be tracking every hour spent, with a very small description of what happened. I think it'll be cool to be able to say "yeah, this one took 8,000 hours" and mean it. So far (including the work done on the funnel before the kit was received) I am at 23 hours.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

[clearway]

Nice to see the MDF bulkhead survived (i was lucky with mine too)- regards the prop, could you not file the blades down as my billings prop was too wide and had to trim that down? Regards the planks ,after sanding you could use a scriber to clear the gunk from between the planks before painting (i get a similar problem when painting model railway goods wagons (freight cars to our brethren across the pond).

 

Keith

[theoracle09]

On 8/11/2023 at 11:21 PM, clearway said:

Nice to see the MDF bulkhead survived (i was lucky with mine too)- regards the prop, could you not file the blades down as my billings prop was too wide and had to trim that down? Regards the planks ,after sanding you could use a scriber to clear the gunk from between the planks before painting (i get a similar problem when painting model railway goods wagons (freight cars to our brethren across the pond).

 

Keith

 

Thanks Keith, I appreciate your pointers, keep 'em coming if you don't mind! The prop is bronze, and the blades actually clear. It's the shaft that's ~2mm too long. Here's a pic:

 

The blades are flaired aft as well, and would hit the stern post if rotated. Normally I'd just lop off some mms on the right side of the prop box but I really don't want to change the shape of the hull. It'd be worth it purchasing a smaller one and keeping this in the spares box. Your plank solution would work had I not painted it already, and I'm just lazy enough not to strip it, gouge it, and re-paint. So I used an xacto blade and it worked to my satisfaction. However moving forward I'll do that!

 

I spent a good portion of yesterday attempting to find a way to split the deck planking in half, or even in strips of 3mm with 2mm cut-off, all to no avail. So, the admiral approved new deck timber but it seems my two US sources are out of stock of 3mm wide planks in the quantity I need. I haven't found a source yet, but I can't bring myself to use the 5mm wide strips for the deck. It would certainly be a beautiful ship (my skills depending) and others have produced amazing Endurance models using it. I think I saw a link to a few timber yards advertised on these forums so I'll do some searching and hope to secure a stock of it soon.

 

Since the deck planking is on hold, the entire hull is pretty much on hold. I started looking at and planning for the deck superstructures. One thing I planned on changing from the beginning were the eye-bolts on the deck for the mast rigging. The rigging just terminates into the rings, with no coils or way for the sailors to actually use the ropes to hoist or stow anything. After spending too much time on Getty and Google images and not finding a picture of the deck where the masts are, I took some 5x2mm mahogany strips (I have a ton from the San Fran 10+ years ago) and glued 4 together to get a 20mm x 20mm square. With 4 planks glued together I then glued an additional 4 planks into a square and glued both panels together, with the strips turned 90*, for strength.

 

The squares were turned into circles using hand sanding blocks, I flattened the panels to 3mm thickness (instead of 4, that was too bulky and thick), then drilled for the mast, then drilled for the belaying pins. I'm using 8mm brass belaying pins throughout the ship which will be blackened before final installation.

 

The fore and mizzen mast pin rails are complete. I'm not confident a rail of the same size will fit between the main mast and the bulkhead aft of it, so once things are a bit more built up I'll have a better idea of spacing. For now I'm planning on a U shape, but if there's room I'll do a circle.

 

Finally, some questions to those who have researched the Endurance. Clearway, I noticed on your log here there was discussion on why you're including a hatch on the roof of the ritz. You reference this picture:

Then I ran into this picture:

Note how the hatch is facing port in the first image, and aft in the second. Are these the same ships? Can a hatch be easily rotated?

 

Additionally, I'm not convinced the hatch pictured in both images is over the ritz. It looks more to me the bridge was enclosed to the bulwarks, so the quarterdeck was completely enclosed. The hatch pictured would then lead to the skylight on the quarterdeck between the aft bulkhead and the aft wall of the ritz. Here's my interpretation of the above two pics:

With it drawn out, I'm inclined to agree with HakeZou here when he says there was a skylight over the ritz and no hatch. Especially because we have photos from inside the ritz and none of them show ladders or stairs coming down into it. For these reasons I'm not going to model the hatch over the ritz, but change it to a skylight which looks more like the picture HakeZou provided in the post I linked above.

 

Alright I think this is long enough...thanks for stopping in!

Edited August 13, 2023 by theoracle09

[theoracle09]

After searching for a couple of hours on the skylight above the ritz I came across this link of a Tehnoart kit built by Ken Greenwood. In the pics at the link it shows the quarterdeck enclosed aft of the ritz, and has the main mast and hatch as depicted in the images in my last post. With this confirmation I'm changing the hatch on top of the ritz to be a skylight. I'm not going to be decking over like the model in the link, rather I'll stay with the gangways as represented by OcCre.

[iMustBeCrazy]

Why is it that vessels after the invention of the camera pose the toughest questions?

 

 

 

Given that the above two photos are taken from almost the same spot, it would appear that during the voyage the area between the 'ritz' and the cabins was fully decked in. It would also appear that the 'ritz' skylight was rebuilt (note that the man in the small pic in post #11 has his foot on the old roof of the skylight (he is also carrying or passing down a piece of wood suitable for making a ladder). Compare that with the following pic. So it looks like the roof was taken off, the glazed panels removed and the roof re-fitted.

 

 

 My guess is that it was getting difficult or dangerous to access the Bridge Deck using the external companionways.

 

[clearway]

8 hours ago, theoracle09 said:

After searching for a couple of hours on the skylight above the ritz I came across this link of a Tehnoart kit built by Ken Greenwood. In the pics at the link it shows the quarterdeck enclosed aft of the ritz, and has the main mast and hatch as depicted in the images in my last post. With this confirmation I'm changing the hatch on top of the ritz to be a skylight. I'm not going to be decking over like the model in the link, rather I'll stay with the gangways as represented by OcCre.

I must admit i am thinking the same way which is why i havn't actually glued anything in place regards the roof of the ritz- what threw me off is the base of the hatch does look like a covered over skylight that has been re-purposed. Also note the companionways sit on top of the decks and are not an integral part of the structure that occre have them.

I will most likely replace the hatch with a skylight as i am modelling her before the kennels and antarctic mods were made- if modelling in the ice configuration don't forget the homemade pointer to assist the helmsman on the ritz roof.

 

Keith

[theoracle09]

On 8/13/2023 at 9:50 PM, iMustBeCrazy said:

Given that the above two photos are taken from almost the same spot, it would appear that during the voyage the area between the 'ritz' and the cabins was fully decked in. It would also appear that the 'ritz' skylight was rebuilt (note that the man in the small pic in post #11 has his foot on the old roof of the skylight (he is also carrying or passing down a piece of wood suitable for making a ladder). Compare that with the following pic. So it looks like the roof was taken off, the glazed panels removed and the roof re-fitted.

 

Thanks for stopping by Craig! I appreciate your post. I'm inclined to disagree, however, because the distances don't add up. What I mean by that is in post #11, the two pics I included show a man in frame of the picture. If he were to lay down between the main mast and this hatch we're discussing, it looks like he'd fit and touch both the mast and hatch. This puts the distance of that hatch from the main mast at ~1.8m (or closer).

 

Using your 4th picture, the tan one of the drawings, take a look at the fore starboard lifeboat. It fits between the skylight over the ritz and the main mast. Alfred Lansing, in his book Endurance, noted two sizes of lifeboats: 21 feet 9 inches, and 22 feet 6 inches (putting both at 22' would be ~6.7m). I believe this distance to be too great to reliably say the ritz skylight was converted to a hatch, in the same position where it's noted on the plans.

 

Finally, I have two non-empirical thoughts: as HakeZou mentioned in a post I linked above, had there been a ladder coming down from the ritz skylight, we'd see it in pictures from inside the ritz. I've only found 3 or 4 of such pics: hair cutting tournament, eating dinner, and tinkering with scientific devices. No ladder. My second thought is based on the following image from a museum-quality Endurance model (donated to the South Georgia Island Museum by Ken Greenwood):

With the measurements and the museum's model, I'm going to opt for building the skylight above the ritz as a skylight. Certainly anyone can build whatever they want! But for me, I feel comfortable explaining why the skylight above the ritz was never a hatch, and thus would not be historically accurate to the degree I'm aiming for.

 

On 8/13/2023 at 11:48 PM, clearway said:

Also note the companionways sit on top of the decks and are not an integral part of the structure that occre have them.

I will most likely replace the hatch with a skylight as i am modelling her before the kennels and antarctic mods were made- if modelling in the ice configuration don't forget the homemade pointer to assist the helmsman on the ritz roof.

 

Good points all around Clearway, thank you! I didn't think of modeling the homemade pointer and will definitely be planning on including it.

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  As the soldier hiding behing a plant said on the TV show 'Laugh-in' ... Veeeeery interesting ....

 

[iMustBeCrazy]

2 hours ago, theoracle09 said:

Thanks for stopping by Craig! I appreciate your post. I'm inclined to disagree, however, because the distances don't add up.

Nothing adds up at first glance, that's what makes it interesting (think of the Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times").

 

First up Getty has a larger version of 'the small pic'

 

And I can see my piece of wood is actually a ski, oops. But note that the new structure is made from salvaged pieces, where did they come from? It also seems obvious in the second pic in my post above that the structure has been very roughly assembled, then presumably rebuilt opening the other way. It is also sitting on a curved 'something' proud of the deck, where did this come from? Note the join between it and the new structure.

 

Now lets look at this photo taken inside the 'ritz'

 

We can see the skylight spans more than one pair of beams (probably two, the beams, windows and tables are shown on the plans in my post above). It would appear that during the fit-out it was extended to twice the original length. As to why no ladder, this photo was obviously taken during the fit-out.

 

Now, this opens another can of worms. The new structure sits on a square base but the skylight is a rectangle. Either the square base is new or the skylight has been modified. If the square base is new why bother with it? Why not build the new structure directly on the deck?

If the skylight has been halved in size (keeping the aft half as shown in purple in the plan in my previous post) it could have provided materials for the new structure (maybe).

 

Lots of questions, few answers so far.

[theoracle09]

4 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

Lots of questions, few answers so far.

 

You're not wrong! Another curve ball to add to the pile is a youtube video I came across which shows the bridge having dog kennels on both sides, and seemingly no hatch OR skylight to boot. As the man moves you're able to see the main mast behind him. Additionally, in the same video, there's an opposite angle for a few seconds where neither can be seen. It really is unfortunate a lot of the negatives couldn't be retrieved. I imagine if those had been saved these types of questions would be more easily answered!

[iMustBeCrazy]

1 hour ago, theoracle09 said:

which shows the bridge having dog kennels on both sides, and seemingly no hatch OR skylight to boot.

 

Unless he is standing on the skylight? Maybe maybe not. Whatever, the kennels would get in the way of accessing the new structure. Why don't the 'ritz' kennels show up in the other photos?

 

1/ there is a lot of foreshortening in these shots

2/ he is standing on the now decked in area between the cabins and the 'ritz', his back is against the mast, but why does the planking run port/starboard instead of fore/aft?

2a/ the skylight is under the white canvas cover between the dog and the binnacle.

 

What it certainly does show is the difficulty of access to the bridge deck.

 

 

I am currently thinking that the area in green was fully decked (maybe):

 

[clearway]

3 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

I am currently thinking that the area in green was fully decked (maybe):

That is what i have been thinking- especially after seeing the pic of the model Hakezou found with the altered deck abaft the ritz. 

 

Keith

[iMustBeCrazy]

1 hour ago, clearway said:

especially after seeing the pic of the model Hakezou found with the altered deck abaft the ritz.

The model is a clue but we don't (yet) know why they built it that way, so it's interesting but not definitive.

 

The 'Bovril' photo has a stanchion in the lower right which I initially thought was at the corner of the 'ritz' roof. However it is about two 'man lengths' from the mast which likely makes it the corner of the cabins roof . The same photo shows the area in front of the mast decked in at least as wide as that stanchion. It might extend forward either side of the 'ritz', perhaps as far as the bows of the boats as the model depicts (heck, perhaps even as far as the wing bridges) since they have chosen to store the boats outboard on the davits and there is 'stuff' stacked outboard of the 'ritz' kennels.

 

Something like this perhaps:

 

[iMustBeCrazy]

I said above that there was a lot of foreshortening in these photos, in the following shot the dog has it's paws on the 'ritz' skylight roof and looks to be just in front of the binnacle but the plan shows the skylight to be 'half a boat length' (about 11 feet) aft of the binnacle. Some of this is shown in the second photo. Not also that the binnacle was changed at some point.

The first photo also shows kennels running from the skylight past the binnacle blocking access to the wing bridge companionway helping explain the need for a new way to access the bridge deck.

 

 

 

 

[theoracle09]

3 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

in the following shot the dog has it's paws on the 'ritz' skylight roof and looks to be just in front of the binnacle

 

I agree as well. Whenever the aft of the ritz was decked over would be when those changes were made I imagine. I found this pic, and if we're saying the skylight is under canvas, directly in front of the binnacle, I believe there would have to have been a hatch between the skylight and the main mast.

It also appears the kennels on the bridge (the ones in the video) were removed? But at least this pic clearly shows it was decked over. On the main mast, where the boom connects, there's a white strap around it. That's also seen in this pic:

 

It appears the "polar configuration" that I'm going for would require the same decking-over. This is where I'm deviating again from historical accuracy, as I quite literally picked this kit because of the gangways above the quarterdeck. The detail stood out to me, so I bought it and then started researching. It's awesome to continue to research it though, as every time I zoom into the pics I find new details.

[iMustBeCrazy]

2 hours ago, theoracle09 said:

I agree as well.

Actually what I was saying was that although the dog appears to be next to the binnacle it's actually about 10 feet closer to the camera ('D' in the images below).

 

2 hours ago, theoracle09 said:

and if we're saying the skylight is under canvas

It's probably under the tall canvas but I'm not sure.

 

2 hours ago, theoracle09 said:

I believe there would have to have been a hatch between the skylight and the main mast.

It could be or it could be through the skylight, again I'm not sure. Note the 'X's.

 

2 hours ago, theoracle09 said:

It also appears the kennels on the bridge (the ones in the video) were removed?

Man, they kept moving everything didn't they. I suspect the 'small pic' was taken after they offloaded the dogs on to the ice which would explain the skis.

 

2 hours ago, theoracle09 said:

On the main mast, where the boom connects

Crane for the main hatch?

 

2 hours ago, theoracle09 said:

as I quite literally picked this kit because of the gangways above the quarterdeck. The detail stood out to me

Yeah, they're a nice touch.

 

That last pic shows the foreshortening by the camera again, the beam under the gangways is about half way between the cabins and the 'ritz' or if you like, the middle of the gangways.

 

 

[theoracle09]

12 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

Yeah, they're a nice touch.

 

They're nice, but not accurate it would seem. That's alright, I'll still enjoy building and displaying her.

 

As far as progress goes I have a stock of 1/32 x 1/8 x 24" Basswood Strips arriving next week and can continue on to the decking. This gives me a plank width of 3.2mm, or 8.75" real width. In the mean time I've made progress with two of the skylights by planking the sides with walnut veneer from the Newport (second planking wasn't used).

 

I stuck the veneer strips to upside down masking tape and then glued the laser cut ply to it. The roof of the skylight is picture in the top left using the 5mm veneer meant for the decks. After cutting the excess off I used an xacto knife to cut every 2.5mm, then drug a dental pick through the cuts to provide a noticeable gap. This same technique (thanks again Clearway!) was used to plank the sides of the ritz.

 

Comparison of the "fake planks" and the regular 5mm planks. It's a really nice effect without having to glue individual planks. Just have to make sure the lines are straight, which I messed up 1 or 2 here and there. With everything else to look at once it's all complete I'm not too worried about it looking off.

 

Next up was paint. I still need to paint the inside of the portholes black. Also to note the frames are not glued in yet. I'm going to plank the decks first and make sure all aligns well before gluing those.

 

The skylight will have a dark-stained wood as trim but I haven't decided on what I want to use yet. Instructions call for Sapeli or something like that, which looks to me like a mahogany. I do have red mahogany, but it's pretty darn red. I may experiment with an Espresso stain (can't remember if it's Verathane or Minwax), as that's relatively dark but allows grain to show through. Not sure yet.

 

Lastly I put together a homemade ropewalk with 3D printed gears. It works extraordinarily well, and I'm now waiting for some Mara thread to come in. I practiced with some black and even the very first rope made looks awesome.

 

The 0.3mm was made with black thread (came in the Newport kit...no idea what it actually is) with 1 thread per strand. The 0.5mm rope is made from the same thread, but 2 threads per strand. The 0.5mm has a total of 6 strands in it. I tried using beeswax (high quality) and really rubbing it in. Creating heat between the rope and my fingers to get the wax to melt and smooth over. I was left with splotches of gloss, where it almost looked white where the wax took and then black where it didn't. None of the ropes in the above pic are waxed.

 

Thanks for reading!

[theoracle09]

The capstan leaves a lot to be desired and from seeing it in other logs I knew I wanted to find a way to change it. Modeling it isn't a problem, and was complete in a couple of hours.

 

Reference:

Model:

Print:

This was printed by @Hunt270 on his resin printer. I think it'll be a marked improvement over the bit of wood the kit provided! Thanks again Will for offering to print it out.

[Hunt270]

4 minutes ago, theoracle09 said:

The capstan leaves a lot to be desired and from seeing it in other logs I knew I wanted to find a way to change it. Modeling it isn't a problem, and was complete in a couple of hours.

 

Reference:

Model:

Print:

This was printed by @Hunt270 on his resin printer. I think it'll be a marked improvement over the bit of wood the kit provided! Thanks again Will for offering to print it out.

It turned out great, you are a master 3D modeler!

[iMustBeCrazy]

2 hours ago, theoracle09 said:

Model:

Makes my 3D work look very amateurish (which it is ).

 

2 hours ago, theoracle09 said:

They're nice, but not accurate it would seem. That's alright, I'll still enjoy building and displaying her.

The were accurate at one point in time, note that they should overlap the roofs though.

[theoracle09]

HI folks, I finished up the dog kennels yesterday. All in all it took quite a while to complete them as sanding the laser char off of everything that faces the viewer was a pain in the butt. It always gums up the sand paper which has to be changed frequently. I'm extremely happy with the result though and it makes all the time spent on them worth it.

 

First step was staining the inside of the kennels. I used Minwax Red Mahogany for this. The "Espresso" color I was contemplating seemed to be too dark as the hull will be painted black. It would've been too much black all over the ship. The red mahogany isn't actually as red as I initially remembered/thought, so it worked out.

 

Once the stain was dry everything got glued together, and I began to line the outside of the kennels with the 0.6x5 strips used for the decks. The instructions call for the dark sapelli veneer but after staining the skylights, which are lined with walnut (a darker wood) I found out the red mahogany gets almost too dark. Had I lined the kennels with the darker veneer like it calls for these would've been entirely too dark. I laid the strips out on upside-down tape again and glued them to the kennels that way.

 

The instructions don't call for lining the top of the kennels, which would have looked strange had I done it that way. I think it looks better lining the tops as well. After sanding everything down in the last picture, I added the final bits and then final coat of stain.

 

I really like the striations of the wood coming through the stain. I think it'll be a nice dark color to contrast against the deck once it's all installed.

 

Thanks for stopping in!

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Nice staining job.  I've used Minwax for a long time, and even the relatively new 'reformulated' version (lower VOCs) gives about the same result.  To lessen 'over absorption' (as the grain changes - especially end grain).   I've often applied a light amount of colorless pre-stain wood 'conditioner'.  This lets the wood 'drink up' some vehicle so that light application of the colored stain goes on without over-coloring.  One can always go over the wood again after some drying to darken, but once over-stained you can't lighten it except (perhaps) by sanding.

 

  Your rope looks good, and will further enhance your model.  Thanks, so much for the great photos and diagrams of the 'Polar' decking.  THIS is just the sort of information I've been hoping to see at some point, and will definitely influence anything I do in future on this ship.  Also, that's a GREAT capstan ... and I wonder if the maker would be willing to sell some to members of the 'Endurance club'.  So far, I've assembled some of the items that might be considered a 'kit enhancement' set that include things like brass 3D stanchions, a two-bladed prop, tiny jackstay eyelets, home-made rope (can always be bought), better deadeyes (of scale size out of walnut), etc.