Endeavour by Bill97 - OcCre - 1/54

[Ian_Grant]

Bill, I assume that you carve the balsa flush with 1st planking, then plank over the balsa with 2nd planking?

[Bill97]

Yes Ian. I am sorry just saw your comment. I will attach a couple OcCre instructions photos to show process. 

Edited April 2 by Bill97

[Ian_Grant]

That's some bend in those 2nd planks but that's why they're thin.

 

Off topic Bill, but have you seen Occre's wood/metal locomotive models? They look great but I don't know if I'd have the skill to build one, having downloaded instructions to see what they're like. I'd need to buy an airbrush and learn how to use it.

[Bill97]

Yes Ian I have looked at them. They also hav a great line of street cars/trams. 

 

I bought an airbrush kit on Amazon back when I started building the Victory. With a little practice you would have no trouble. I use Vallejo Model Air paints with it. They are designed especially for use with airbrushing. 

[Bill97]

Finished the upper 1st planking on both sides of the ship now and will now start the bottom area. OcCre had me do the section from the lower deck up to the top of the bulwarks first and then start at the false keel and work my way up to meet. This next section will require numerous pie shaped pieces to fill in between planks as you can see in the last example photo.  Looking to reuse, with modifications, the base I originally made for my Soleil Royal but now have in a diorama. 

Edited April 2 by Bill97

[Bill97]

Progress continues on the planking. Pace is slower now that I am at the area where I need to put it together like a puzzle. Before I completely close up the hull I decided to use some scrap wood to reinforce the seat for the three masts also added some scrap material to widen the false keel where my the screws from my display stand will penetrate the keel up into the inner hull. 

[Bill97]

Little by little closing up the hull with the 1st planking!  

[Bill97]

Port side of hull fully planked!  About to close up the starboard side. 

[Bill97]

1st planking complete. Bow and stern reinforcements added. After allowing ample time for glue to dry I will begin the sanding process that will shape the hull. Wish me luck my friends .

[wvdhee]

Good luck 😉

[jpalmer1970]

It is interesting to see how Occre want you to progress with this planking and shaping of the bow. Most kits have some sort of central false keel and bulkheads going all the way to the bow into which you might add filler blocks, but I have never seen this before where the first planking terminates well before the bow and the bow section is instead carved from blocks. Endeavour is a very bluff bowed ship and so perhaps that is the reason for this?

 

Good luck and I'm interested to see how it turns out. 👍

[Ian_Grant]

Bonne Chance avec les planches secondaire, mon ami! 

 

She sure was a chunky little ship.

[allanyed]

You might want to study planking tutorials in the MSW data base as well as the four part video series by Chuck Passaro before tackling the second layer.  Learning good planking techniques can be a big help on future projects.    Allan 

 

 

 

 

[Bill97]

Bow and stern reinforcements sanded and shaped to make a smooth transition from the sides of the ship. Also sanded the planking to achieve a smooth surface keel to bulwarks.  Let me advise anyone getting ready to do this to work outside or in a room you don’t care to get dusty. Wow sanding the two ends left a lot of sanding dust all over my workshop! Spent a little time with my ShopVac after I was finished. I then took a piece of the veneer strip and slid it over the two different reinforcements checking for any high or low spots that need some extra sanding. Once I was satisfied with the shape I coated the entire hull with wood filler putty to fill the nail holes and spaces between planks.  Tomorrow after the wood filler drys and hardens I will sand the hull again with a fine grit sandpaper to remove the unnecessary dried putty. 

[Bill97]

Second planking underway. Stained the planking strips.  Following the OcCre instructions I established the starting position for these strips and began working upward toward the bulwarks. As with the 1st planking, various planks along the way will need to be custom cut to fill where a full plank is not used. I discovered after a few failed attempts and some non-church words I found push-pins to be the way to go. 

[Bill97]

Finished the middle section second planking. A dark stained planking will go from the keel up to this planking and top area will be finished off with a dark blue stain. 

[Bill97]

It has been a little over a week since my last update. I am continuing the second planking which is just a slow price of putting a jig-saw puzzle together and making the pieces at the same time. I decided to add the sections of the keel that goes down the front of the bow and behind the rudder early so that I could but the planking right up to those pieces. Instead of cutting and trimming the planking pieces later when I installed the keel sections as OcCre suggests. 

[wvdhee]

Is that second planking really thin? like veneer?

[Bill97]

Yes it is. Exactly like veneer. The ends can be a little brittle so I soak them in water before doing any bending. Similar to how I did the wood for the first planking b

[S.Coleman]

Great work!. Looks a treat. I love the light and dark timbers on the final planking layer. I'm building g the Endeavour but it's a tad smaller at 1:60 scale. What strikes me most about this is the bow has to be shaped from balsa. Interesting approach. Loving your build. Keep up the neat work.

[Bill97]

Thanks S.Coleman. I appreciate your comment. What will really be interesting is adding the timbers that I have stained blue. They will finish up to the top of the wales. 
 

How is the bow shaped on your model?

 

Thanks again for following. 
 

Bill

[Bill97]

Starting the addition of the blue stained planking that finishes the planking up to the top of the wales. Anxious to see how it will look once I add the semigloss topcoat which will further enhance the three colors. 

[Ian_Grant]

Looking great, Bill.  Wood hull? No Problemo for Bill97!  👍🤙

[Bill97]

Thanks Ian. It has actually been quite enjoyable employing my years of woodworking experience. There have truly been some challenges so far but I hope I have overcome them successfully. Now once I get into making everything that goes on the deck, and above the deck, we will see if I still feel the same!

[Bill97]

Continuing along with my OcCre Endeavour build. Finished the second planking and working on the rubbing strakes. The 3 different stain colors will be touched up, the strakes painted black, and a semi gloss clear top coat of varnish will be added later. 

[Bill97]

It has been about a week or so since my last update. Some nice progress since then. Completed the planking and painting. Then I repurposed the base I previously made for my Soleil Royal. Had to change out the center cradle since the Endeauvor has a much more flat bottom. I discovered one glitch, I guess, since I cannot see where I made a mistake fitting the decks. The upper deck does not meet flush with the stern plate. I assumed there was going to be a filler piece here but the instructions do not show such. Instruction picture show the inside of the stern flush to the end of the upper deck. Hope my upper deck is not off a bit in lining up the mast holes. 

[Bill97]

Question for you guys that are more nautical than me. The rubbing strakes at the side of the bow. The replica of the Endeavor in Australia shows the strakes as a natural color. The model photo and other builds show them black. A number of people viewing the progress of my model have asked what color I planned to paint the stakes. They assumed since the strakes were a lighter color wood I just had not painted them. I explain that the replica shows them a lighter wood. What is correct?

 

I have made a great deal of progress since my last update. Stern is complete. I added plastic windows behind the metal frames and drapes. No doubt CPT Cook at times wished for less sun light in the cabin. I made fold down shutters I have yet to decide if I am going to attach them or not. You may notice a little discoloration in the palladium part of the far port window. If you are like me you are sometimes your own worst enemy. I had the stern pretty much finished perfectly. But of course, as I am guilty of doing, I thought one little touch up would make it even better. I decided I needed to touch up a couple spots inside the window frames. And of course I got a small bit of gold paint on the top of the window plastic on that window 😫.  My only recourse was to clean it up best I could. I think a bit got behind the plastic. As I said, sometimes my perfection is my enemy. 

[Bill97]

My Endeavour can now be steered with the addition of the rudder. Also added the hawse holes at the bow for the future anchor ropes. Since it has caused several questions, and I have no definitive answer, I decided to paint the rubbing strakes black instead of leaving them the natural wood they were. Slowly but surely I am completing the bow. 

[Bill97]

Carved and shaped and stained all the wooden Sampson post and rail columns. Different when one decides to build a wooden model vs a plastic is that there are very few molded or preshaped pieces. Most everything, except for very specific pieces, are left to the builder to carve and shape. 

[Bill97]

I have been not completely satisfied with the upper haul staining I did. I did not feel the grain in the planking showed as much as I had hoped. Finally I bit the bullet and decided to sand it down and redo it. After much work I got all stripped. I then stained the upper section again. It will still receive a satin clear top coat and I will genes to touch up the black on the wales. But I am much more pleased. I also added pins to the bottom of all the pieces I have made that will line the rails. The pin will hopefully reinforce the strength of the glue attachment.