Endurance - OcCre - 1:70 (Dog Kennels)

[Mike Shea]

Hello all,

 

As I get ready to start my build of the Endurance I have been pouring over all the photographs from my personal library and the archival info that's available online. With that being said, and what OcCre supplies in the kit for the dog kennel builds, I'm thinking on some kitbashing - either building on the supplied OcCre kennels that come with the kit, or - foregoing the supplied kennels altogether and building them entirely from scratch. I really want to capture that beatup weathered as well as that scrap lumber look that ships carpenter, Harry McNish, seemed to use in their construction based on the photographs I've seen. The OcCre kennel bits look great and will certainly pass if used, however, they seem a bit out of scale on thickness and if I add on strip wood for that added scrap look they will be way out of scale. Regardless of the route I take my question is what material was used on the roof? One photo taken at the stern shows what appears to be overlaped shingle-like material running lengthwise (stern to bow) on the kennel roofs while another photo seems to suggest just wood; it's hard to make out as the kennel tops are smothred with tarps, rope, and gear (another great modeling idea!). The tar paper shingle-like roof seems logical to keep these dogs as dry as possible and while these dogs weren't by any means pampered their survival was probably a key focus for the expeditions survival. Any suggestions will be graciously appreciated. Thanks!

 

Mike

[Keith Black]

 Mike, you can look at Keith's build log and also his Terror build for a some great ideas.

 

 

 

[Mike Shea]

Oh that's awesome! I'm heading over there now. Thank you.

 

Mike

[iMustBeCrazy]

1 hour ago, Mike Shea said:

I really want to capture that beatup weathered as well as that scrap lumber look that ships carpenter, Harry McNish, seemed to use in their construction based on the photographs I've seen.

Mike, I've always seen the dog kennels as recycled packing crates, pretty rough and ready. Built in sections of 3 and 4 dogs, sometimes the gap between two sections is roofed over for an extra dog. Probably 1/2 inch planks roughly sawn to length, butt jointed (I think that shingled look is just warped planks). Those forward seem rougher than the rest, possibly they used the best material aft?

 

The 'Bovril' shot probably the best guide to their construction.

 

 

 

[Mike Shea]

1 hour ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

Mike, I've always seen the dog kennels as recycled packing crates, pretty rough and ready. Built in sections of 3 and 4 dogs, sometimes the gap between two sections is roofed over for an extra dog. Probably 1/2 inch planks roughly sawn to length, butt jointed (I think that shingled look is just warped planks). Those forward seem rougher than the rest, possibly they used the best material aft?

 

The 'Bovril' shot probably the best guide to their construction.

 

 

 

Fantastic input, Craig. Upon closer inspection I do believe you're correct about the roofs. On the bottom photo, where a crew member appears to be stepping up from below and just above the dog where the rope is strewn atop the kennel that definitely is 1/2" planking as you state. It appears to be overlayed giving it that "shingle-like" appearance. Good catch on the fresh lumber aft - something to consider it I go the scratch built option. Btw, the difference in height in those two ladders in the same photo will be modeled as well. Thanks again for your comments and for posting those photographs! Big help and much appreciated. 

 

Mike

[theoracle09]

Craig hit the nail on the head here. To be honest, I didn't consider changing the kennels so I never researched or thought about it. Here's another pic to toss in, though.

 

One thing which has been extensively discussed in my build log would be the deck extension when they refit in Buenos Aires. Which is also when they added the kennels. There are several pics, including a video on YouTube, which shows the kennels not just on the mizzen deck, but on the quarterdeck house (or bridge deck) as well.

[Mike Shea]

On 3/25/2024 at 2:59 PM, theoracle09 said:

Craig hit the nail on the head here. To be honest, I didn't consider changing the kennels so I never researched or thought about it. Here's another pic to toss in, though.

 

One thing which has been extensively discussed in my build log would be the deck extension when they refit in Buenos Aires. Which is also when they added the kennels. There are several pics, including a video on YouTube, which shows the kennels not just on the mizzen deck, but on the quarterdeck house (or bridge deck) as well.

I recall reading that the expedition had originally obtained somewhere in the order of a 100 dogs (hence the extra kennels), and in his book, Lansing documents that quite a few of the dogs succumbed to various ailments leaving 65 (?). With that being said it seems to make sense that the extra kennels would have been dismantled through their attrition to make room for other gear and supplies. Which leaves me in the dilemma of what stage of the expedition I want to model. Like you, I really like the two gangways that lead toward the main deck, however, I also want to stay as historically accurate as possible which might include the deck extension and foregoing the gangways altogether. The issues with going that route is what did it look like underneath? Was it fully enclosed or was it just simply a open deck overhang (exuse my lack of better terminology)? One interesting photograph of the recently discovered wreck seems to show the entire deck extension missing as if it was never there. It could be possible that it was either dismantled for lumber suppplies when she was trapped in the ice pack? Or, perhaps it was ripped away as she sank to her final resting place. I have to say that even though these differences can it present a headache to us modelers, it's still fun to play detective and eventually make our modeling decisions based on what we find through research. Plus, I am getting quite the history lesson!

 

Mike

[theoracle09]

6 hours ago, Mike Shea said:

Like you, I really like the two gangways that lead toward the main deck

 

This is what started my entire journey into researching Endurance. I was just browsing a catalog to buy my next project and immediately zeroed in on those gangways. What a neat detail, and one I haven't seen on any other ship (mind you I'm not well versed in ships. I'm sure other ships have gangways I just don't know what they are!) So with the kit in hand and after reading other build logs I decided I wanted to be historically accurate. I wanted to model her as she was in the ice, but that included the deck extension, thus removing the entire reason I purchased the model to begin with. A decision had to be made and I chose to keep the gangways and not deck that space. Keeping the gangways but including the kennels is representing a hybrid configuration of sorts, as I don't believe she would have had the kennels until after the extension were in place. 

 

This pic isn't under the extension, but does show a little detail from the quarter deck:

This image seems to line up with Ken Greenwood's model, pictured below. I believe the cook to be standing on the port side, so we're seeing under the wing of the bridge, including the ladder. However it doesn't really show if it was decked, sheeted, is there a door, etc. But also note the square porthole on the quarter deck house, which is not in OcCre's plans.

In the pic of Ken Greenwood's model above, the starboard wing is missing. That also lines up with @iMustBeCrazy 's post here in my log that shows this picture:

 

So there are an absolute ton of details to upscale and kitbash with Endurance. It's been an amazing and fun adventure researching and building her.

 

6 hours ago, Mike Shea said:

One interesting photograph of the recently discovered wreck seems to show the entire deck extension missing

Do you have a link to this photo? I was able to download the entire released video of the wreckage found that's 1:33 long. I emailed the expedition company and asked for (at the very least) a still frame of the area around the main mast and they told me I had to wait until they've put something together for the media. I didn't get a timeline on when this would be released, but I'm on their email list. I suspect when it is released though, it'll show us more details and can hopefully answer more questions.

 

Back to this photo though, I don't see anywhere in the video that a still frame could have been taken that shows this deck extension missing. The closest I can find is this:

However, this looks more to me like the port side mizzen lower deadeyes, showing a deck transition from mizzen to aft decks. There are three portholes behind the lanyards, and the main mast had two portholes. The below pic is when she was stuck in the ice, starboard side.

I count 8 portholes as well, and the plans seem to match up with this number too.

I went a bit off topic from the kennels, but hopefully this helps demystify that deck extension. There are definitely many routes to go when modelling her that's for sure.

[iMustBeCrazy]

2 hours ago, theoracle09 said:

I believe the cook to be standing on the port side

Correct, outside the galley door.

 

2 hours ago, theoracle09 said:

However, this looks more to me like the port side mizzen lower deadeyes

Again correct.