Endeavour 1934 by SaltyScot - Amati - 1:80

[SaltyScot]

Good evening all,

 

Because I have decided to paint the top half of the hull, similar to the original colors, I had to mark the waterline and mask off the part of the hull that is staying as natural wood.

 

 

 

Once that was done I covered the hull with a very fine filler that was sanded down to give me a smooth surface for the paint job.

 

 

 

I won't be painting until tomorrow so I carried on working on the deck. I decided to add small "islands" under the major structures on the deck. I was inspired by this through a similar build to this on the Ships of Scale forum. As well as that, I modified the planking at the bow slightly. I was not happy with having the two center planks go all the way to the bow tip. By adding a small plate I could have them sit nice and squarely at the bow and give the deck planking something to butt up against at that point. It will save a little bit of cutting and shaping I guess

 

The top rail and the front plate I added will be painted the same color as the top part of the hull. I will be masking the deck off and painting before I add any more of the deck planks. I want the paint job on the hull finished before I carry on "up top".

 

 

 

 

Edited January 15 by SaltyScot
Image removed

[SaltyScot]

She has had her first layer of primer. It does look a lot darker in this image than it actually is, a very light slate grey color.

 

 

While I wait for that to dry completely (I will wait the full 24 hours as suggested on the spray can), I am cutting up the strips for the deck planking. I will be coloring the edges to simulate the plank caulking. I had toyed with the idea of adding very thin walnut strips between the deck planks to simulate the caulk but decided against it. If the scale of the yacht was a little bigger I think that would have been the way to go.

 

 

[SaltyScot]

The first coat of the final color is on. I am very satisfied with how this color looks, in my opinion it really accentuates the lines of the boat. Once dry she will be getting another two coats and a white pinstripe before she is sealed up.

 

 

 

[Jim Lad]

That's a beautiful blue you're using.

 

John

[SaltyScot]

12 minutes ago, Jim Lad said:

That's a beautiful blue you're using.

 

John

Thanks, John. I liked the look of the color when I saw the can at the hardware store but when I started spraying it on earlier I got excited about it even more. It is just what I wanted.

[SaltyScot]

The paint job is coming along quite nicely, I am very happy with the way she looks right now. As per the instructions on the can, I have to wait 48 hours between coats. I can do a quick respray, if necessary, if I do it within an hour of the initial coat. I have two coats on there as of this writing and am waiting until Monday afternoon to add the final coat. After that the tape comes off, the wood on the lower half of the hull will be treated with a very weak stain to bring out the red tones (already tested on some scrap walnut strips) and then she will get a clear coat to protect everything.

 

In the meantime I am cutting deck planks, sanding down the mast to the specs in the plans and generally cleaning up my shipyard table  

Edited February 1 by SaltyScot

[SaltyScot]

As so often happens with the best laid plans, things didn't go as I wished they would. I had 3 coats of blue on the hull and was very patient and waited the full 24 hours after the 3rd coat so that it was completely dry (I didn't do that with the second coat entirely and got a scuff mark..... ). I had ordered the white pinstripe (1/8") to arrive today and was looking forward to getting it on. When the package arrived and I saw what was in there I was shocked. The tape was nowhere near 1/8' wide, more like1/16" !! Not wanting to be beaten I masked the hull back up and spray painted the white stripe that way. The lines are not as precise as I would have achieved with the pinstripe and that concerns me. I have been battling with the option of putting a 1/4" strip on there now. Despite masking I did get a little white paint bleed onto my lovely, shiny blue hull  I rubbed it down again with 600 grit and will mask and repaint again tomorrow. The jury is still out on the width of the pinstripe.

 

 

 

[vossiewulf]

22 minutes ago, SaltyScot said:

As so often happens with the best laid plans, things didn't go as I wished they would

If you're not staining the hull, when you lay the tape to do the white again, before spraying the white, seal the tape edge with a light coat of lacquer (or something else clear that's compatible with the paints you're using) first.

 

That should stop the bleeding at the edges, it really helps to seal like that on open-grained wood.

[SaltyScot]

2 hours ago, vossiewulf said:

If you're not staining the hull, when you lay the tape to do the white again, before spraying the white, seal the tape edge with a light coat of lacquer (or something else clear that's compatible with the paints you're using) first.

 

That should stop the bleeding at the edges, it really helps to seal like that on open-grained wood.

 

Thank you for the info there sir. Sadly I stained the hull earlier on this afternoon. That being said, I will definitely take your advice and use it if I come across a situation like this again. There will be a way round all this  

[SaltyScot]

I am almost done with the deck planking but have run into a bit of an issue. I find now that I wasted too many of the strips while I was stain testing before I began laying the planks, rookie mistake I admit. I literally need only 10 more 3" strips to complete the deck. I do have some maple blanks out in my wood shop and tomorrow I will go and see if I can get some of that down to 1mm x 2mm x 75mm or there abouts to finish off the deck  

 

 

 

Once complete I aim to "bleach" the deck planks to brighten them up a little before I go on to the next step of finishing the paint job and sealing the hull. My original intention was to have all that done before I did the deck but, as I have said, I had to handle the hull too much during the deck planking that it got scuffed a little. Live and learn.

 

[Jim Lad]

That deck looks really good, Mark.

 

Hope cutting down the extra plans isn't too much trouble.

 

John

[SaltyScot]

6 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

That deck looks really good, Mark.

 

Hope cutting down the extra plans isn't too much trouble.

 

John

 

Good morning, John,

 

I will be heading out to the wood shop in a few minutes. I am hoping the maple won't give me any trouble. I used to shear off veneer strips with my table saw when I was making cutting board edges. I am planning on using the same technique to fabricate the 2mm thick strips and then slice them to 1mm width with a straight edge guide and a sharp Exacto knife. We will see  

[SaltyScot]

I have finished planking the deck, the maple milling was a success  I masked off the top rim and wiped some chlorine onto the wood to whiten it up a little and bring a bit of uniformity to the wood tone. As with any moisture that is applied to finished wood, it will raise the grain so the deck will need a light sanding with 200 grit before I do anything else. Depending on the results, I may apply another coat of chlorine, it all has to dry thoroughly first. After that the hull will get its final coat of paint and then, once dry, a clear coat over the whole thing.

 

 

Edited January 26 by SaltyScot
Text added

[GrandpaPhil]

The Endeavour looks great!

[SaltyScot]

11 hours ago, GrandpaPhil said:

The Endeavour looks great!

Thank you, Phil. I will be working on her today before taking a 2 day break because I will be up in DC helping the mother-in-law get her house ready to sell 😐

[Jim Lad]

That deck looks really nice, Mark!

 

John

[SaltyScot]

5 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

That deck looks really nice, Mark!

 

John

 

I appreciate you dropping by, John, it is truly appreciated. I managed to finish painting the hull this afternoon and really had to restrain myself not to remove the masking off the deck to see the contrast between the deck and the hull. I am out of town for two days as of tomorrow morning so everything will have a chance to dry nicely. I have decided to use wipe-on poly to seal the deck and the hull.

[Jim Lad]

Quote

really had to restrain myself not to remove the masking off the deck to see the contrast between the deck and the hull.

I know the feeling, mate! 🙂

 

John

[SaltyScot]

The hull is complete. She has had 3 layers of paint and 3 layers of wipe-on poly to seal it all up. Once everything is completely dry I will be starting on populating the deck. While I am waiting, I will begin assembling the mast and the last deck fitments.

 

 

 

 

[SaltyScot]

The boom has had its final coat of paint as well and will be stored away safely once the wipe-on poly has been applied.

 

 

 

 

[Jim Lad]

Very neatly done, Mark.

 

John

[SaltyScot]

6 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

Very neatly done, Mark.

 

John

Thank you, John. I was pleased with the way it turned out (despite my self criticism, but that is a healthy thing  ). I am excited to begin populating the deck next.

[SaltyScot]

We are up on deck now. The kit provides a nice template for drilling the numerous holes in the decking that accommodate the deck railing supports, the winches (the "upgraded"ones I am fabricating are still in production), the boom tackle slider (literal translation from the Italian instruction  ) and so on.

 

I rigged up an assembly line in order to put the handrail stanchions together. The cotter pins had to be glued and inserted into the supports. The plywood was drilled with 1.5mm holes to stabilize the supports so that I didn't have to hold them while I glued the two parts together:

 

 

 

 

Once they were all dry I dropped them into the holes I had drilled in the deck:

 

 

The brass railing was then cut to size, filed flat at the end so that I didn't have a pinched look where it was cut and then fed through the stanchions:

 

 

 

This process will now be repeated at the bow.

 

Edited February 5 by SaltyScot
Text correction

[SaltyScot]

I decided to take a break from the deck for a while and start stropping some of the 40 odd blocks that are required for the rigging etc. These things are 4mm in length and VERY interesting to handle! I followed Keith Black's method of stropping that he adopted in his 2021 build of the USS Tennessee. It worked well once I had the system under control. Having never done this before, it took me a few tries to get the feel of it. Now I am getting along rather well but, despite my well lit magnifying glass, I can only do a dozen or so before I have to rest the old peepers. The wire I am using is 34 gauge so I have to be careful not to over tighten it.

 

Edited February 5 by SaltyScot
Text edit

[SaltyScot]

I didn't get into the shipyard until after 3 PM today. Nevertheless, I did manage to get a few things done on the deck. The bow has its cleats and now the trim can be added and the edges finally get their coats of wipe-on poly. I also started adding the blocks at the mast and finished the railings at the bow end of the boat.

 

 

 

[SaltyScot]

Today I tackled the mast. I went ahead and fitted a brass washer at the mast base. I had seen this done on an Endeavour build on the Ships of Scale forum and quite liked the look (although that builder had painted his black to match the boat's theme).

 

 

As anyone who has done this build knows, there are A LOT of the small eyelets to be attached to the mast, 26 alone running down the stern facing side for the sail. It was certainly interesting drilling all the holes and cutting the eyelets down to size. The plans recommend cutting them down to 7mm in length but I found this to be too long. I adjusted mine to 5mm and they fit just fine. The only ones I had to make a little shorter were the few at the top of the mast. The taper up there required shorter eyelets so that they didn't protrude out the back.

 

 

 

Once everything was assembled, I did a dry fit. This is one tall mast!

 

 

The mast was then primed, left to dry and another fit was done. This really gave me a good idea of how the final colors will work together. I will be applying two more coats and a clear coat before all is done. 

 

 

I do have one small spar still to add at the top, I wanted to wait until everything else had had its first coat and dried because it sticks out at the rear of the mast. It will soon be time for the rigging  Before that happens though I must finish the deck completely. I have a bunch of cleats to add and a few blocks still to make.

Edited Sunday at 10:06 PM by SaltyScot
Spell check

[SaltyScot]

Afternoon all,

 

House renovations have kept me (us) busy over the last few days so minimal time in the shipyard. I have a question for those who follow this blog. I have put together a display stand for the Endeavour:

 

 

I have brass/copper covers for the pins and a nice nameplate that will be mounted to a block once the base has had its edges rounded:

 

 

My question to you good folks is, should the stand be as long as the model or does it look OK as it is? Any feedback would be very much appreciated.

[vossiewulf]

As long as the shorter base is reasonably stable, I see no reason to lengthen it. And lengthening it would just draw the eye away from the boat, where you want it.

 

Well wait only thing that I'm questioning about this base is it seems the overhang of the model on the base is longer on the bow than the stern, although that may just be parallax in the photo. If the overhang is not equal, I'd suggest making a base with the overhang symmetrical, as that would be most pleasing to the eye.

[Jim Lad]

I like the neat simplicity of that base.

 

John

[SaltyScot]

5 hours ago, vossiewulf said:

If the overhang is not equal, I'd suggest making a base with the overhang symmetrical, as that would be most pleasing to the eye.

 

Vossie,

 

After sharing my thoughts with the CEO it was suggested that I centralize the base under the boat. I will not be making it any longer, just moving the holes to, as you so rightly said, balance it out a little better.