Endeavour by Boerscht - FINISHED - Amati - 1:80 - J-Class yacht

[Boerscht]

Besides my first ever wooden build, the Goletta Elisabeth and a little side projekct, the Optimist Dinghy I decided to go for the Amati Endeavour 1:80 as my first bigger and more advanced model. I somehow really like the elegance and sporty look of those J-Class ships.

 

Kit was openend and wow this is a whole different story than those other two kits I did. This will be way more difficult and time consuming, but I am on fire for it so checked out the instructions and plans and started constructing the hull right away.

First step was to glue the two kiel parts plane together and adding the frames. Numbered them before and prechecked if they fit well. Needed some sanding first with some parts. To make sure to have them in a right angle to the kiel I and clamp them I constructed two rectangles out of some spare wood which worked out well. 

 

 

Next step was adding the rear and bow reinforcements and one reinforcement in the middle. Rubber bands did their job here.

 

 

Net up adding the first deck and fixing it with the provided nails and again lots of rubber bands. Was a little bit tricky since the deck slightly bends to the right and left.

 

Thats it for now. Net up is sanding of the frames, bow and rear parts to make the first layer of planks fit right. Will probably take some time.

 

[gsdpic]

Off to a good start, I'll follow along. I, and I think most others, also like the "elegance and sporty look" of these boats as you put it so well.

[BobG]

I love these classic, racing yachts so I'll follow along also. They have such beautiful hull lines. Good luck, Boerscht!

[Boerscht]

35 minutes ago, gsdpic said:

Off to a good start, I'll follow along. I, and I think most others, also like the "elegance and sporty look" of these boats as you put it so well.

 

12 minutes ago, BobG said:

I love these classic, racing yachts so I'll follow along also. They have such beautiful hull lines. Good luck, Boerscht!

Thank you! I have once seen one at a harbour in Kopenhagen as a kid, was fascinating. Also like smaller ones looking like that, like Drachen Class, Schärenkreuzer etc..

[Boerscht]

Sanding the bow, rear and support parts in the middle of the skelleton were some good hours of work.

At the bow I used some wood filler to get it in shape. 
Used a Dremel maschine for the most sanding and fine sanding per hand afterwards…

seems like i am ready for the first layer of planking now.

[allanyed]

Love the J Class and I am anxious to follow your build to see how the kit is outfitted.   Looking good so far😀

Allan

[Boerscht]

Let’s start with planking. First time planking a ship for me so i am a little bit nervous.

Last time planking in the gym has also been a while 😅

 

my way to go looks like this:

 

the rear has some heavy bending but works good with rubber band.

 

for the first upper planks the provided strips are not long enough so i split them and make a match in the middle.

Here:

 

so far so good, seems like this will take a while to plank the first layer 

 

[Knocklouder]

Looks like a great start, I remember planking my first hull nervous was an under statement lol. I soon learnt the water and heat from a plank  bender made the world of difference. Everyone has there own way of planking,  but there is lots of info in the databased on planking

 Good luck on your journey,     

Bob M.

 

Edited March 1 by Knocklouder
Typos

[Boerscht]

So planking is going well. Just the bow gives me a little headics…its so sharp, don’t know really how to get it right, but maybe Just try and see how it goes 

 

 

also did the layer of planking the rudder. Small stuff and lots of sanding needed but i think it turned out really smooth.

 

[Boerscht]

Time for an update on the Endeavour build:

The second layer of the rudder planking is done. The edges were tricky and I needed some mini filler parts here and there but all in all it looks fine. Should look good because I will do the original colouring so you see the wood here. Maybe needs some finer sanding before it’s finished…

 

Next up I built the provided stand, coloured it with primer and two layers of black colour.

The anchor design is…lets call it „interesting“.

planking the hull is so far going well but will need some more time to be finished. Puh lots of planks for a small model like this and thats only the first layer. Decided to start from the kiel upwards and meet in the middle. It’s faster like this. On the kiel I decided to add one strip (see first picture) and sand it round later.

At the bow I already tried some wood filler to get a perfect shape. Will fix some small disturbings in the hull with Wood filler later wenn the first layer of planking is done.

Parallel to planking I decided to start with the beam. The small parts and drilling 0,5mm holes needed calm fingers. To get the shape of the beam a lot of sanding was needed since an triangle part is provided and the beam should get smaller towards the back.

After applying all the parts to it added a layer of primer and two white colour layers with a spray can colour.

 

After the beam comes the mast, which has to be glued together out of 9 different parts. Turns out easier than I thougt to get it straight. Clamps did their job.

Wow this mast turned out huge! 

 

next up was drilling a lot of holes with 0,5mm and 1mm into the mast around 50 holes I guess. The provided 1:1 plan was a big help to so some fast markings and don’t need to measure every hole.

Added the 50 rings and the mast is finished. Just needs some white painting, primer is already applied.

 

also sanded down the spi beam and primed it

 

thats it for now…planking continues. I will probably build one or two of the cabins parallel to planking and colour the mast and spi beam.

[Boerscht]

Mast is painted white now and looks great. After painting I remembered i forgot to sand the top thinner so now the mast is straight and doesnt get thinner to the top. Hmm too late to change now sadly.

also the planking is going well and the first layer is done. Some parts around the rudder were tricky. I only needed one filler strip at the end othetwise the planking is straight forward.

Added wood filler, which needs a lot of sanding next up.

 

On the side I started the deck buildings. They are really small and hard to glue together in a good angle of the parts.

Stained them in mahagony before glueing together 

 

[Boerscht]

Yeaha the hull is now in shape. Needed a lot of sanding and it is still not totally perfect but the second layer of planks will cover some small cracks.

sanding with a view

the final hull…what an ellegant shape those J-Class boats have. Need to do the stern…

All the deck buildings are finished as well as the steering wheel. Small stuff. Decided not to apply glass at the inner side of the windows behind the cages. You will not see it anyways…

[Boerscht]

 

Today I started planking the second layer. Wow this is going somewhere and is looking great! Seems easier than expected…but the harder parts will come later around the rudder and the stern to get a good shape without fillings there.

Counted the planks it’s 31 per side, 62 in total and one at the kiel. Puh seems like a lot compared to some other models here? 
for the two layers this makes 126 planks in total 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Boerscht

[Boerscht]

Again some sanding needed for the stern. Interesting shape and not the proposed fishbone pattern but i think it is ok like this.

[Boerscht]

Planking Update:

 

[Boerscht]

Had some productive last days.

The second planking of the hull is finished and looks awesome. This shape is just looking so well.

Decided to plank the difficult area around the rudder with some small strips otherwise used long strips for the whole hull. In the end I only needed 4 small filler strips.

 

the filler strips needed:

 

not much material left. If you brake one or two planks it will not be enough provided material:

 

Area around the rudder is done:

 

For the stern I had sadly need to use some filler, just couldnt figure out how to get the shape good there…that also made my decicion clear about painting half the hull blue with white water line.

 

 

added the rudder:

 

the final shape of the hull (will need some 240 sanding):

 

 

 

 

also started the deck planking and already half way finished it:

 

 

[Boerscht]

Bought an Occre preshaped plate and stained it in mahagony for the Endeavours stand. Added the with the kit provided one on top

 

The deck planking is now finished and needed lots of sanding to remove all the glue. Next time I have to use less glue and remove it earliy…

 

From the 1:1 plan I took the deck plan, fixed it on the model and predrilled the lot of holes with a small 0,5 mm drill. Then the 1,5 and 2 mm holes afterwards. 

 

The plan seems a little bit too small:

 

the finished deck with all the drilled holes for the deck fittings and rigging 

 

next up is painting the deck with clear coat and afterwards the hull and waterline which gives me a little headics right now 

[Boerscht]

Lots of progress since my last post. So lets start with the painting of the hull. 

Decided to go like the original half half with blue colour and a white water line. At first I painted a layer of primer, than painted everything with three layers of white out of the spray can. The wood strucrure was still visible here and there. 

After the white layer covered the waterline and sprayed three layers of blue. Around the deck there should be a line of 5 mm also covered with paint. 

The outcome had some failures around the water line with some blue on the white stripe. But that was easy to cover with a brush and white acrylic paint.

Removed all the tape and covered everything with two layers off clear acryilic gloss paint.

 

The final hull:

 

 

 

The deck with the small painted stripe on the sides:

 

So after the most scary part of building this model I really like the outcome. The colour of the blue might be brighter than the original darker blue but I still like the look of it. In some pictures of the original boat there is a second, thinner waterline just below the deck. But I decided not to overload it with this line.

 

Next up is adding the deck buildings and fittings which was kinda easy. Except the blocks of the rigging. Puh I still dont know how to do them. The instructions are unclear and the wooden blocks are really small. Dont know how to do that with the privided realatively thick rope.

 

Main cabin fits perfect:

 

Already most of the stuff attached:

 

 

 

Added the missing deck parts and went already on with the rigging:

Mast is set and the first 6 lines to the front and sides are in place. Still dont know how to do the blocks…

 

The endings I will glue together as doubled rope and coil a thin black rope around it…

 

First try of that was not perfect but I will get better with the next ones…

 

 

 

Looking ok now.

 

 

The mast is huge! 

 

Thats it for now. Lets see how the rigging goes on… I dont know if I will attach sails. The provided ones dont look good I think.

 

 

 

 

 

[Boerscht]

Puh that rigging is harder than I thougt it would be…finally know how to do the blocks

 

28 of them to do. That will take a lot of hours I think.

 

 

rigging is going on:

[allanyed]

The build looks great.  Two suggestions, hope you don't mind.    I have used automobile pin striping for the white stripe with success.  It takes covering with clear finishes without degrading or lifting, and lasts at least 13 years at last count on one that I built back in 2010.  It has been literally at sea since October 28, 2010 so unaffected by ocean conditions.  

 

I really am not trying to nitpick but thought you might want to know that your blocks are upside down. 🙃  

 

Allan

[Boerscht]

13 minutes ago, allanyed said:

The build looks great.  Two suggestions, hope you don't mind.    I have used automobile pin striping for the white stripe with success.  It takes covering with clear finishes without degrading or lifting, and lasts at least 13 years at last count on one that I built back in 2010.  It has been literally at sea since October 28, 2010 so unaffected by ocean conditions.  

 

I really am not trying to nitpick but thought you might want to know that your blocks are upside down. 🙃  

 

Allan

Thanks a lot for your hints! 
 

oh I See what you mean with the blocks..the hole where the rope goes through should be in the opposite direction of the tension? 
if the tension of the rope goes downwards the rope should go through the upper part of the block? 

[allanyed]

Picture and a thousand words and all that.....😀   I realize most do not include an actual sheave, but I show it as if were there.   The first picture shows how the line ran and how you ran yours.  The first two pictures show old style rope stropped blocks akin to those most commonly used up to the middle/late of the 19th century and the third photo shows internally stropped blocks.  I THINK the internally stropped blocks would more likely have been used on the J Class Endeavour unless they had already gone over the blocks with metal shells.  Hopefully some member will have that information if it is of importance to you.  Those in the last photo are from the Syren Ship Model Company.   

 

Edited September 27, 2023 by allanyed

[Boerscht]

25 minutes ago, allanyed said:

Picture and a thousand words and all that.....😀   I realize most do not include an actual sheave, but I show it as if were there.   The first picture shows how the line ran and how you ran yours.  The first two pictures show old style rope stropped blocks akin to those most commonly used up to the middle/late of the 19th century and the third photo shows internally stropped blocks.  I THINK the internally stropped blocks would more likely have been used on the J Class Endeavour unless they had already gone over the blocks with metal shells.  Hopefully some member will have that information if it is of importance to you.  Those in the last photo are from the Syren Ship Model Company.   

 

Thanks a lot for the explanation and pictures! Thats really helpful for my next model. What you have shown in the first pictures was what I thought my mistake is. Anyways i will not change the already installiert blocks but will do it correctly in the upcoming ones.

with the provided really small blocks by amati it’s really hard to see where the hole exactly is. The drilling is not always on one side sometimes in the Middle of the block sometimes even not in line so it will be on the rigt side on top left side downwards. Not too happy with the quality. Those syren blocks are looking georgeous! 

[Boerscht]

The boom and mainsail line is now in place. Also did two tope coils, not the best ones…

 

[Boerscht]

Now I have a question to you. If i don’t mount the sails, which is my plan, do I still do the running rigging? 
Or just the standing rig. But without the running one lots of blocks, clamps and stuff will be unused which looks off I think.

[allanyed]

Even the old masters often rigged models without sails but they all still included the running rigging.  Your choice in the end, but you already have running rigging in place why not do the rest.  There is no good way to install the booms without the lifts and such, which is running rigging, and already installed.

 

Is there a reason you ran tarred lines through some of the blocks (your last photo of the boom tackle)?  I would guess that they would gum up the sheaves in no time.   It may just be the photo but those lines look black, thus my question. 

 

Very nice looking model Boerscht!

 

Allan

Edited September 28, 2023 by allanyed

[bridgman]

Boerscht has realy crafted a beautiful and finally crafted model, and has moved on to the world of

larger models! 

Unfortunately, the Amati kit, and others, are  inaccurate in the depiction of J class yachts and other America Cup racers.

The Midest Products kit, 2003, is much closer to realaty. The Endeavour''s owner T.O.M. Sopwith, aiecraft designer, had 

all Endeavour's rigging repalced with stranded wire, and the "latest" high tech electronics installed. Most o fthe deck layout is close except for the brass 

hand rails at the deck edge, they would have been some type of wood. These were competive racers where money was no object, Endeavors hull

was made of steel.

I had a similar problem in building the Mamoli kit of the 1885 cup racer, Puritan,  where the entire deck furniture had to be reseadched and replaced.

 A beautiful model Boerscht.

Bridgman Bob  

[Boerscht]

1 hour ago, bridgman said:

Boerscht has realy crafted a beautiful and finally crafted model, and has moved on to the world of

larger models! 

Unfortunately, the Amati kit, and others, are  inaccurate in the depiction of J class yachts and other America Cup racers.

The Midest Products kit, 2003, is much closer to realaty. The Endeavour''s owner T.O.M. Sopwith, aiecraft designer, had 

all Endeavour's rigging repalced with stranded wire, and the "latest" high tech electronics installed. Most o fthe deck layout is close except for the brass 

hand rails at the deck edge, they would have been some type of wood. These were competive racers where money was no object, Endeavors hull

was made of steel.

I had a similar problem in building the Mamoli kit of the 1885 cup racer, Puritan,  where the entire deck furniture had to be reseadched and replaced.

 A beautiful model Boerscht.

Bridgman Bob  

Thanks a lot Bob, appreciate your comment! Indeed its my first „bigger“ model with a planked wooden hull and lots of details so I am learning a lot while building. I don’t mind the historical and 1:1 accuracy of the model in detail. I have some books of the great yacht photographer Franco Peace which include the endeavour and other classic yachts. Indeed the brass wires are incorrect and should be wooden.

But that might have changed in the last years, in this Video 

you can not see the wooden rails anymore and it looks more like brass.

 

But it looks beautiful with the brass anyways on the model so I don’t really care.

4 hours ago, allanyed said:

Even the old masters often rigged models without sails but they all still included the running rigging.  Your choice in the end, but you already have running rigging in place why not do the rest.  There is no good way to install the booms without the lifts and such, which is running rigging, and already installed.

 

Is there a reason you ran tarred lines through some of the blocks (your last photo of the boom tackle)?  I would guess that they would gum up the sheaves in no time.   It may just be the photo but those lines look black, thus my question. 

 

Very nice looking model Boerscht!

 

Allan

 

Yes I will complete the running rigging. tarred lines are nowhere to find in those j Class boats. Today they have high end dyneema ropes. I chose black rope for the running rigg to make contrast to the grey standing rig which in the original is steel cables so the grey is accurate. 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Boerscht

[Boerscht]

Added some rope coils and the rolling rigging in black for the mainsail halyard line and the two fock sails halyard lines.

For the mainsail line I added a small copper ring to look like a shackle.

 

and sadly my LongCovid sickness is still not getting better and I am still not able to work or do sports or even go for a walk, so two new projects from Occre came in the post today:

the bounty launch boat and the Polaris. Which one should I do first after finishing the endeavour?

[Boerscht]

Finished my first real wooden model ship today with the beautiful Endeavour J-Class 1:80 by Amati.

Did some mistakes and learned a lot during the build for my next models.

some pictures of the final Endeavour: