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 Saturday at 11:38 PM 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.