Enterprise Maryland 1799 1:51 [COMPLETED BUILD]

Rowboat said:
Turns out one can make there own eyebolts, lol.
I did find a small number of the eyebolts in the kit, well not exactly in the kit, I had previously moved them when inventorying the kit.

I will still try to make some, just for the experience.


Currently though I'm building the masts.

Happy to see that my emblem has gained a new stripe, private to corporal :) !
Click to expand...

Two mast items I didn’t do right. I didn’t add the sail hoops to the masts before I assembled the masts and I should have rigged the rat lines etc. before adding the top mast.

Jan
 
Just a note,

The manual and the blue prints do differ in some parts, which I need to become more aware of as the build continues.
The manual was not part of the kit but was gifted to me Thumbs-Up.

One example is the cannons, the blueprints do show how to put together the cannons using the pieces supplied with the kit (found this out yesterday).
As I have discussed, the manual has a completely different cannon and carriage.
Even though I have the blueprints for assembling the cannon carriage, it still looks underwhelming to me.
So, I'll work towards a rebuilt.


Another example is the trestle trees, the blueprints show 1 of the 3 spreader pieces shorter whereas in the manual all 3 pieces are the same length.
Initially I followed the manual till I realized the issue. Ended up rebuilding the 2 trestles.

Investigating I do see images of aft spreaders shorter than the others.
"Aft" implies the spreader would sit behind the main masts, but in the blueprints for my build it looks as though the short spreader is in front of the main mast, a "fore spreader" . That's how I built mine.Cautious
[ ref: https://suburbanshipmodeler.com/2017/05/28/trestle-trees/ ]
I assume the shorter piece is there to allow unobstructed passage of some of the ships lines.:confused:
I'm hoping I got this right and won't have to pull it all apart later .....
Will not really know till I get further along in the build.

There are measurement differences, but I suspect most builds have variances between the manual and blueprints.

I suspect I'll find more divergences as the build continues, hopefully nothing that will interfere with the placement of pieces, lines , ect...

One silly mistake I made was that I thought "the top mainmast and top foremast sit behind their respective main masts".....
So when I began tapering the top masts to fit the trestle trees I sized them incorrectly. The main mast is thicker and the foremasts are thinner and that's how I tapered them to fit the trestle trees.

After checking the blueprints I came to realize that my initial thought was incorrect, actually the "topmasts sit in front of their respective main masts".
Thus, the masts did not fit through the trestle trees!
I learned something knew from the School Of Hard Knocks. I'm working on fixing that ;)

All this to say one (by one I mean me, lol) needs to spend the time going over the blueprints with a fine understanding before building a piece.

Later,
Rowboat
 
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It's a learn as you go thing, we learn more by mistakes we have to correct, because we have to work harder to fix the errors. I have made a few on my current cross section build, but way to far in build to go back and fix, just put bad side to wall on display.....
 
I guess some pictures would have been nice to see which show the discrepancies I discussed above.

Here's a cut of the plans for the trestle trees.
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Below is a picture of the plan, manual and my finished product.
Notice the image in the manual shows holes drilled in the spreaders whereas my plans call for eyebolts placed in the ends.

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Those were some tiny holes to drill, only split one spreader :eek:, nothing some glue couldn't fix.
 
I've been working on the masts.
I attempted to use my lathe for the bottom foremast and it took a while.

For the main mast I decided to just use a drill, definately the right choice.
The drill and 60 grit sandpaper took less than 15 minutes to get the job done.


DSC01426.JPG

Obviously I don't know how to use a lathe ...... :confused:


The wooden rings that go around the masts where they meet the deck only had 2 in the kit, so I made 2 more.
This is good experience for if/when I make carriage wheels for the cannons.
The lighter colored rings were the ones I made.
Initially I tried to cut them to the same width as the originals (2mm) , on the table saw, but they just blew away in parts.
The key was to cut them 4mm thick and then sand them down to the correct width.
I used the same technique of drilling out the center as I did earlier; mark the cutout using the original ring, drill a bunch of holes around the marking, use xacto knife to cutout the center, then sand the center smooth.

DSC01428.JPG

Of course the masts need a place on deck, so decided to take the plunge and drill out those holes (pun intended) .

I will be leveling the ship in it's new dock as that's where I intend to keep it.


First start from a level surface.
DSC01433.JPG

Then add a ship, may be hard to notice but the level is now on the dock.

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Then cross fingers and start drilling....
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The finished look with the masts just stuck in place.
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Right or wrong this is acceptable to me. How do others center the masts and when do they drill the holes?
Should this have been done earlier?

Anyway, pleased with my progress these past few weeks.

Next up is to mill some wood needed for the poop deck ......
 
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Thanks Konrath and Pathfinder65,
I see that Konrath is working on 4 ships concurrently , oh my.
That's quite a handful.
Do you have a shop for this or or you just making room in the home?

Row, Row, Row your boat .... Rowboat out.
 
Work on the model continues but a bathroom remodel may slow things down.

I finally installed the rudder and rudder handle as well as some other poop deck work.

I used brass nails (cut off) on the rudder hinges, I've seen others do this and I like the look.
The rudder sustained a little damage but not to bad.

DSC01456.JPG DSC01457.JPG

Also cut out the deck rails and railing and prepared the poop deck for installation.
DSC01446.JPG DSC01449.JPG

Getting the railings exactly vertical was problematic, so some a little off.
I'll write these off as a repair after a battle where some cannon balls busted up the poop deck Pirate Flag

DSC01450.JPG DSC01455.JPG


Also attached the rear of the poop deck, all work was straight forward enough. Measure, cut, sand and glue.
DSC01453.JPG

Onto the ships beakheads next....
 
The beakheads consist of various parts, broken down they are ;

cheeks - knee and rail
head rails - upper, lower, middle
head timbers

For my model I need cheek knee and rail, upper head rail and head timber.

I did find there is a variance between how my model shows these and how the manual shows them.

Here's a picture from the model box.
looking closely you can see that the head rails (upper and lower) are made from metal.
Looking even closer on the stem, the cheeks are made from thick wire.
DSC01494.JPG

They are very brittle and break easily (how do I know, you ask :rolleyes:), so I decided to support them with wood.
I also added a straight timber for strength.
This design is from the manual not the picture above.

I think it's better as the cheeks (from the manual) will support my stem much better, and we know how bad I am with stems :eek:.
The manual only calls for one head rail per side, here is what i put together.
DSC01492.JPG

The metal part will be towards the ship and wood is what will be displayed. This should add the extra support I want.

Building the cheek knees was basically measure, cut, sand and glue as usual.
DSC01467.JPG

Before adding the cheek rails I fixed my broken stem.
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The stem is not complete as I need a part filled in so the top cheek knee can connect to the cheek rail.

My attempt at making cheek rails started with making some nail jigs.
DSC01479.JPG DSC01480.JPG

This did not work as the wood had dents in it at each nail point.
I think the wood is balsa.

I cut some wood jigs.
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Here's how I plan to run the cheek rails, marked in pencil.
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The jigs seemed to work fine but the wood did not bend smoothly. Here's what i ended up with.
Also you should be able to see where I filled in the stem to hold the top cheek rail.
DSC01489.JPG DSC01491.JPG



There was a battle going on and some blood was spilled, not for squeamish...
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The actual cut was on my leg and there was more blood spilled :eek:

Still waiting for the head rails to dry before installing.

Learned quite a lot about beakheads.

Another good day(s) Thumbsup.

row, row , row your boat, out.
 

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Aua that looks like a pain with your hand! Get well, Rowboat...

If you look on the work you invest into the kit - would you say it is worth the money?
I do think about kits that the newer kits are often more worth the money than the old ones.

You pay a lot less for a set of good plans (with a monography) than for a kit - so here you threat does look like a half-scratch. If you do buy new gun barrels (in 1:50) this would give a bit progress.

So you are on a good track with your build - like to see more progress.
 
@Iterum

I purchased this kit along with 1 other one on ebay.
These were my first model ship kits ever so I didn't know what to look for as far as manufacturer, quality, customer service, ect...
I did not start work on this one for a few years, I did work on the first one Dos Amigos Baltimore Clipper.

The Enterprise kit is missing pieces, inferior quality, no manual and so on....
I still decided to move forward on the build and thanks to sites like these I have been able to make progress.

I don't think I would buy model ship kits from an Ebay site again.

The Enterprise 1799 is my first plank on hull build.
 
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I had never given model ship building any thought. My primary hobby or so I thought was Model Railroading. My 1799 Enterprise was a surprise Birthday present. I dived right in, bumbling my way through, making mistake after mistake, getting frustrated time after time. The Forum was a great find and I found that the help and encouragement of the members helped immensely.

I guess you could say I’m ”HOOKED”, since I’m working on my fourth build. :D

So keep on building, inventing and general enjoy your build.

I’ve been delighted that in some small measure I could give you some help. But without the Forum and Donnie, Uwe, Zoly and the rest of the Forum Staff and members we probably would be looking at two Enterprise Kits sitting on a shelf.

Jan
 
I must say that my build is much better than it would have been without this site. I've learned from many examples and try to make as good, if not better, a model as the examples I study.

It's funny how my standards and expectations have increased only because I want to meet or beat an example's build.

For one example, that darn Stem gave me
"HE double L" . But now, I'm proud of it and no "stems" in future builds will be as daunting as this one :).
 
Working on the catheads.
First measure, cut, drill the two pieces.
I wanted a more secure bond at the joints so I make a hole for a wooded pin.
The single hole on the left will be used for that.
DSC01472.JPG

A blurry picture .
DSC01474.JPG

Finally I attached the cathead to the ship. The long stick piercing the cathead will be cut off to make the wooded pin i discussed earlier.
DSC01473.JPG

Also worked on the channels. I trimmed the edge of these to match the hull of the ship where they will be placed.
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Notice the two small pins extruding from the channel.
I drilled corresponding holes on the ship where these will fit.
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Added glue and attached.
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Only three more to go ......
 
Rowboat said:
Working on the catheads.
First measure, cut, drill the two pieces.
I wanted a more secure bond at the joints so I make a hole for a wooded pin.
The single hole on the left will be used for that.
View attachment 155110

A blurry picture .
View attachment 155111

Finally I attached the cathead to the ship. The long stick piercing the cathead will be cut off to make the wooded pin i discussed earlier.
View attachment 155112

Also worked on the channels. I trimmed the edge of these to match the hull of the ship where they will be placed.
View attachment 155118

Notice the two small pins extruding from the channel.
I drilled corresponding holes on the ship where these will fit.
View attachment 155119

Added glue and attached.
View attachment 155120

Only three more to go ......
Click to expand...
Looking good - good progress

may I make a small suggestion..... with a small additional work you will get a better appearance of your cathead.
the two pairs of holes are representing in reality two slots in which two wheels / sheaves are installed - with this they could lift the anchor out of the water
Here f.e. the cathead of the HMS Victory
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If it is too much work, and in the scale you are working hard to do, you can make some slight adjustments to your drilled holes, to get a better impression of wheels in a slot
DSC01474.JPG

Take a look at the bitts (in principle the same like a cathead) I made for my Bonhomme Richard
65ea.jpg

It is only some minutes work with a chisel or a sharp knife and later on your rope for the anchor lifting will lay much more realistic - just an suggestion
 
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