Endeavour by Bill97 - OcCre - 1/54

[Bill97]

Been a couple weeks since my last update. Was away from the ship yard on a little family vacation. Back to work on deck pieces. Built CPT Cook’s skylight and the two hatch “houses” (I guess).  Not sure of their nautical name. 

[Veszett Roka]

Very nice Bill, i personally like her colors.

[Bill97]

Thanks Veszett. That has been a struggle deciding on what stain colors I want to use. I am trying to avoid paint when possible. There are a few places where it can’t be helped but otherwise I am using various stains. It will be just a couple colors once I move up into the masts and yards. 

[Bill97]

Ok gentlemen here is a curiosity. The Endeavour has the single capstan positioned between the skylight and the companionway.  In Marquardt’s Anatomy of the Ship he addresses it saying “The capstan was not moved during the refit, and the newly-fitted companionway afore it and the skylight aft of it interfered with the easy operation, as the men on the bars had to step aside when the bars passed the obstacles.” It seems as if this would have been very inconvenient and inefficient. Of course I will build my Endeavour accordingly and accurately but it seems very odd the Endeavour would have been refitted this way. 

[Ian_Grant]

Yes, that is certainly odd ....... must have relied mainly on the men pushing at maindeck level below?

[Hubac's Historian]

Really nice progress, Bill!  I’ve had a lot to catch-up on.  You were correct to paint the rubbing strakes black.  This anchor lining would see plenty of hard use and was likely routinely re-painted.

 

It is hard to tell from pictures, because the apparent sheen varies from one picture to the next, but I think a final coat of spray matte varnish would bring the sheen down in a pleasing way.

 

That capstan makes little practical sense, where it is currently situated.  What did they do on the replica?

Edited June 15 by Hubac's Historian

[Bill97]

Hi Marc. Hope all has been going well with you. Thanks for your confirmation about the color of the strakes. That was my exact thought about the capstan. As I mentioned I referred to Marquardt’s AOTS and his explanation. I have scrolled through pages of pictures of the replica in Sydney but have not been able to find one showing this section of the deck. 

[shipaholic]

Hello Bill

Yes the capstan issue is intriguing. I made my Endeavour with that cover over the quarterdeck stairs, and your comment made me think about it, so realistically it would seriously impede the use of the capstan as you point out. Marquardt's AOTS has a lot of assumptions, many of which are false, unfortunately. For example, If you read H.M. Bark Endeavour by Ray Parkin he refers to a document from 1768 describing some of the works done during Endeavour's refit, it describes the companion (skylight) as having a sash (windows) all round with a grating on top. Nothing like Marquardt's drawings. I believe the ladder hatch, forward of the capstan, probably didn't have that raised cover, but instead just an opening to the stairs that could be covered with a flat cover or grating that could be walked upon when the men were using the capstan.

Just some thoughts.

 

Cheers

Steve

[Bill97]

Steve I expect your idea may be more correct. May give some thought to changing mine 

OcCre provides a metal bell tower of sorts. It is to be painted a wood color. I decided to cover it with wood veneer and stain it instead. 

[Dr PR]

Bill,

 

The AOTS Endeavor book, page 25, has two photos of the model showing the capstan and surrounding area. The drawing on page 54 shows this in profile. In the model and drawing the capstan head is significantly higher than the skylight and companionway. From your photo it looks like the companionway may be a bit too high, or the capstan too low.

 

The profile drawing on page 41 and the capstan drawing on page 70 both show a thick support piece under the capstan. That would raise it a bit. I don't see it your model. I think it was pretty common for capstans to have a thick base that rested directly on the deck beams, with the deck planking fitted around it.

 

While the skylight and companionway are obstacles preventing the men from simply circling the capstan, they could still operate it. Two gangs of men would work the capstan, one on each side. A man could start pushing a pole as it cleared an obstacle and take it about 1/4 way around. Meanwhile, as soon as another pole cleared the obstacle, another man would start pushing it, and so on. When the first fellow reached the second obstacle he would just step back to the end of the line and push another pole. The bars are quite long. It looks like three men on either side would be pushing at any time.

 

The photo on page 29, lower right, shows the framework for the skylight and companionway on the Freemantle replica. The companionway framework looks temporary, perhaps just for safety to prevent workers from falling down the hatch.

 

Seems to me the most awkward part of the capstan's position would be routing lines to it. Everything would have to come through runner blocks outboard of the capstan.

[Bill97]

Thanks Phil. So if that is the case with a support under the capstan, OcCre is not completely accurate in the model design. I can fix that. The skylight, companion way, and capstan are made from laser cut pieces from the kit so their height is predetermined. The second picture above in my comment is actually from the instructions, not my model (not my fingers 😊) .  As you said that will raise it to a logical level. Thanks. 

[Bill97]

Ok so I started looking at the decorations that go on the sides of the stern. Not sure if I maybe did not curve the wale up high enough. The wreath decoration seems way too short to cover the area needed. I decided to making a resin cast if the wreath to make it longer. I then painted both the casts and the sculptures gold and guided them with gold leaf. Once dry I will attach to the stern. 

[Hubac's Historian]

Nice save, there, Bill!

[Bill97]

Thanks Marc. Going to attach these pieces then tackle the capstan issue. After reading Phil’s comment I see there are corrections needed in the model design. In keeping with the AOTS photos I plan to (hopefully with no damage) pry loose the companionway and the capstan. I want to cutdown the height of the companionway to match the skylight height, and place a round spacer under the capstan to raise it above the height of the other two pieces. The model does not call for poles to be added to the capstan. Would they have been just inserted when needed? Where close to the capstan would the poles be stored when not in use?  I may add that detail. 

[Ronald-V]

That is indeed beautiful, wonderful solution and love the gold leaf onto it!

[Bill97]

Thank you so much Ronald-V. Appreciated you looking in and your compliments. 
Whenever I see a comment from someone new to my post I find it fun to check the profile to see how far MSW reaches around the world 😊!  How are things in the Netherlands?  Been to several of the cities west if you (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, etc) but never Joure. No doubt it is as beautiful as the rest of the country. 

[Ronald-V]

6 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Thank you so much Ronald-V. Appreciated you looking in and your compliments. 
Whenever I see a comment from someone new to my post I find it fun to check the profile to see how far MSW reaches around the world 😊!  How are things in the Netherlands?  Been to several of the cities west if you (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, etc) but never Joure. No doubt it is as beautiful as the rest of the country. 

Yes it's quite special we are in contact with so many around the world. I can imagine you've never been in Joure....it's a small village of 13.000 people in the North, not really a tourist attraction, but nice to live in. It's good here in the Netherlands, thanks for asking!  

[Bill97]

My daughter and her husband lived in Belgium for quite a few years. When we visited we would often go up to the Netherlands. 

[Bill97]

Got the stern trim added today and fixed the capstan issue. I also made 8 capstan poles which I will rack somewhere. 

[Bill97]

Continuing the building of the on deck pieces. The windless was an absolute woodworking dream shaping the 8 linings to fit accurately around a tapering cone. Also starting the davits by carving out the slots for the rope wheels. The opposite end of the davits will get anchoring hardware. 

[Bill97]

Davits, windless, and belaying pin rail added. Also a couple figure heads on top of windless. Coming along beautifully I think.

Edited July 6 by Bill97

[Bill97]

Added the side stern windows. The kit came with metal windows with the pane part filled in with metal. I wanted to duplicate the way I did the stern plate windows with a plastic clear window pane backed up by the appearance of a window curtain. So I drilled and cut out the metal window pane. Then I painted the inside portion the same blue as the area of the bulwark. I then added clear plastic for the pane and a small piece of the same fabric as the stern windows. I then attached it to the matching wooden piece in the kit and then to the hull. Finally I fine tuned the black rubbing strake to match the edge of the window. 

[Bill97]

Time for opinion question. For the various hatch covers around the hull OcCre instructions have me cut various sizes of wood for the hatch covers (picture 154 top left). Then attach the needed hardware. Pictures 155-157 show simply gluing the covers to the hull at the designated locations. Covers are not set in and flush with the side of the hull. This of course is different from any of the plastic models I have built where the hatch opening is molded into the stock hull halves. My options seem to be:

 

A:  Do as the instructions say and don’t ask any more questions about it. 
 

B:  Attach covers slightly open about 30 degrees and paint a flat black square behind the cover to give the appearance of being open to inside of hull. 
 

C. Try to cut a square hole the size of the hatch cover in the hull at the various spots and actually inset the cover into the hull. Opened or closed. This would entail attempting to cut cleanly through two layers of planking. My beautiful planking! 😫

 

Your thoughts?

Edited July 16 by Bill97

[Ian_Grant]

Bill, you kind of answered yourself regarding option (c). I wouldn't risk it.

 

As for flush ports, I don't know really, but Endeavour was not built as a warship but was converted from a merchantman I believe. As such she would not have had the thick wooden sides to let the port lids into. Perhaps Occre shows the right thing?  I thought you have the relevant AOTS, which probably has the answer.

 

My two cents.

 

Love your build!

[Bill97]

Thanks Ian. I realized after I sent my question that option (c) would not work on the bow. I have about 3” of solid wood there forming the  distinctive bow shape. Will see what ATOS has to say. The photos of the replica appear to show the covers flush. But I am not sure. May just stick with the way OcCre tells me to do it. 

[Veszett Roka]

Hi Bill,

 

i would vote for option (D), which is to cut some veneer squares and attach them to the appropriate positions. Then glue the needed hardware on top. This will give a slightly protrudient hatch cover, but not as thick as the original wood hatches.

If you want to flush the wood (or veneer) covers into the hull, you should use a precise chisel - you might fabricate one from a cheap small screwdriver for instance, the only thing is that it need to be very sharp.

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Is there any scope for an (e), similar to (d)? Simulate the hatches by directly cutting fine outlines and planking into the hull with a modelling knife? Might require a bit of puttying to cover the real plank lines in that area, which would be a shame. Otherwise, definitely the veneer, for me. If the US is anything like here, you’ll get samples off eBay for a token sum.

 

You seem to be having a lot of fun with this model Bill, and I’m enjoying watching this come together.

[Hubac's Historian]

I like Veszet’s solution best, Bill.

[Ronald-V]

4 hours ago, Kevin-the-lubber said:

Is there any scope for an (e), similar to (d)? Simulate the hatches by directly cutting fine outlines and planking into the hull with a modelling knife? Might require a bit of puttying to cover the real plank lines in that area, which would be a shame. Otherwise, definitely the veneer, for me. If the US is anything like here, you’ll get samples off eBay for a token sum.

 

You seem to be having a lot of fun with this model Bill, and I’m enjoying watching this come together.

That was something what I thought also simulate by cutting fine lines, and sounds easy. For the rest...nice build!  

Edited July 17 by Ronald-V

[Bill97]

Wow guys I like your help on this!  I think I am going to look at doing it Veszett’s suggestion. Kevin your suggestion is a great option as well. I will of course review what AOTS says as yo mentioned Ian. As I initially mentioned I was working around the idea of having a few partially open to give some realism but I think that could result in more problems then it is worth. 
 

I have found it very interesting that there is very little conversation on my build from other wooden model ship builders. You guys continue to follow along with me, and I you. But really no opinions, advice, or recommendations from builders of this wooden ship or others. I simply could not have made it through my Victory or Soleil Royal without you guys. Thanks again. 
 

Oh, and Kevin, I really am having fun with this model. I love woodworking and this enables me to employ some of the skills I have learned over the years. Will definitely be a well thought out decision where I go next, plastic or wood?  Still many great plastic models out there and I have learned a lot about building them. Many great wooden as well. Just what medium do I want to work in. Wooden models certainly strain the budget. OcCre recently came out with their wooden HMS Victory.  There are numbered kits. You guys should check it out on their web site. It is beautiful!  Will set you back a bit of your budget!!!! Wow!