# J-Class Endeavour - America's Cup 1934 - Scale 1:35



## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

We're in between houses and the workshop is packed up and stored in a warehouse somewhere next to the Ark of the Covenant. I won't see my tools again until we move into the next house. So to keep myself busy, I decided to build a model sailboat.

This is a museum quality 1:35 scale of the 1934 America's Cup contender, _Endeavour_. It was believed to be England's first real chance to win the Cup. If you're a sailor, it's hard not to love the J-Class boats.









J-Class _Endeavour_
Length - 39.56m / 130ft
Beam - 6.80m / 22ft
Draft - 4.80m / 16ft 

Some links for anyone interested: http://www.jclassyachts.com/yacht/717 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC0L0oRd1hY ​


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

On to the build...

The model is huge! It's about 46" on deck and about 60" tall. The kit is made by Amati and comes with everything you need to build the 1934 version, including brass winches & turning blocks, a set of full sized drawings and text instructions accompanied by image instructions.



























I started by numbering the pieces according to the image instructions.









All joints had to be filed to a snug fit. This provided a clean surface for the glue and removed the burn glaze from the laser.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The bow frame section. All the frames had to fit at the joints so as to make the deck flush.









This is only a dry fit. The entire bones of the model will be completed first as a dry fit.









This is what I'm talking about when I said the frames had to be flush at the deck. Each joint had to be filed down so the deck sub-surface was perfectly flush. More work required here.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

It may look good but there are still many joints not seated perfectly. The sub-deck plywood is very thin and will show every fault.









Working on the mahogany centerboard. It will be movable and hinged on a brass nail.









Before the gluing begins, they recommend fitting the sub-deck plywood in place to make sure the structure members are straight and true. You also have to check for mast rake (slight tilt toward the stern.)


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Love the J's. I've been sailing all my life. Did Cowes week in 1989. While I was there I stumbled on an antique shop in London devoted to nothing but ships models. They had to buzz you in at the door. Almost all of them were in glass cases and few had a price I could afford. Many had 6 figure price tags. Many were more than 4' long. It was a great experience.

If I ever find myself stranded from my tools I have a small model boat waiting for me on the shelf. 

Al


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

It got a little tricky gluing all the joints at one time. The farther along you get, the better the chance of them popping out of a joint elsewhere. I had made the joints very snug and I found if you leave too much glue at the bottom of the joint, assembly will stop before fully seated. I used Channel Locks to overcome the back pressure.









I had to prop the structure up on blocks due to the sheer (curvature of the hull from bow to stern.)









I bought some Bessey clamps that made working on the model much easier. In this photo, I am fairing the deck.









Another check to make sure the deck fits properly with proper mast rake.


















Sighting from the stern.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The next steps I am taking are not in the instructions. It was recommended to me to fill in the space between the frames with balsa wood. This will allow for some backing with the hull planks go on (2 layers) and make fairing the hull easier and more true.









I bought (2) 2x4x12 blocks of balsa wood. I wish I had bought 1x3 boards instead. Ripping balsa with a Japanese saw is slow going.









To fair the hull, I am using a couple of Lie-Nielsen planes, a violin plane and a convex sole block plane. Some model builders use sandpaper attached to a flexible surface to fair the hull but I find the planes are more enjoyable to work with.









I am fairing close but not to the frames. I'll do the final fairing once all the balsa backing is glued in. I need more balsa!


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## Minnesota Marty (Feb 27, 2015)

Julie, 
Great post!! I too am a lover of sailing, if only on a small J boat on Minnesota lakes. What a great model. Best of luck with the build. 

Mart


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## Bob in St. Louis (Feb 11, 2015)

Wow. Just, wow. 
I'll be watching this one for sure. Very cool Julie!


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## Burb (Nov 30, 2012)

This is really cool. I'm looking froward to how this progresses!! Great job!!


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## Bob in St. Louis (Feb 11, 2015)

Do you have another completed units we could see?


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Bob in St. Louis said:


> Do you have another completed units we could see?


Bob, this is my first stab at model building. I've been getting help at NRG's Model Ship World. There's another of these builds by "KeithAug" there that is phenomenal. He took on this kit because he wanted something "easy". :huh:


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## Bob in St. Louis (Feb 11, 2015)

"Easy"!?!?!??
Yea. We've got different definitions! haha
I've never done models before...well...unless you include the plastic ones from 'back in the day'. I've got a pretty neat Enterprise NCC 1701-D that I painted 20 years ago that I'm pretty proud of, but that's about it. What you're doing is a whole 'nuther level.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

I started working on the balsa backing on the starboard side









I ran out of balsa wood so I faired the sides working from a block plane to a rasp to a sanding block









You can see where the laser burn on the frames was just being touched by the fairing.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Okay, this is cool. Thanks for starting the thread like I asked. I love seeing builds like this and believe me when I say, that I will be glued to this one. Very nice work so far. :thumbsup:


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## Quo Fan (Feb 15, 2015)

Really nice work.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Due to the fact I have used up all the balsa wood, today I sort of messed around with fairing and deciding how I will proceed from here.









I flipped the hull so I could access the deck









A close-up shows where I messed up with making the backing flush with the deck edge









Looking down, I am considering balsa backing for the deck too









Without the balsa backing, fairing the stern would have been more difficult.


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## was2ndlast (Apr 11, 2014)

Now that you are getting this practice done I look forward to seeing your full size build. ☺


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Having some time while waiting for the balsa shipment to arrive, I decided to make a fairing tool.








I used a cheap ruler, drilled some holes, countersunk the holes and screwed in handles I made from a dowel rod. Then I used spray adhesive on the back of a strip of 80 grit sandpaper and took it to the hull for testing.








Of all the methods I have used thus far, I think this will be the best for final fairing. The small block planes work great for removing high spots quickly. The Microplanes are good for very rough work in certain places. Rasps have their place in the process too. But for final fairing, the fairing sander I made works best so far.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I may be wrong but .....*

Some of the techniques you are using here would make a lot of sense on an acoustic guitar build. I remember some pretty nifty guitars from your previous builds, but I think they were all electric... wrong? 

I find it so interesting that folks post up many different types of projects, including a truck restoration of mine, a treeless treehouse, a great table made from steel and wood. This is a great place to learn a lot about a lot....:yes:

Thanks for posting your thread!


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Yes, the guitars were all electric, (2) Strats, (1) Tele and (1) Ric bass.

And you're right about most of us having a wide span of types of projects. Sometimes you don't realize it until someone points it out. I look at the projects as something to keep me going in hopes it keeps the Grim Reaper at bay. :laughing:


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Life got in the way and took me away from the build. I did manage to get a little work done though.









The red outline is a piece I just fitted and glued. It took me about 15 minutes to get it fitted so that it seats fully on all four sides. There are no 900 angles in that piece. The piece sitting on the hull is what I started out with to fit into a similar void, like what the arrow is pointing to. I'm fooling myself into believing I'm building a real boat. :smile: It's therapeutic.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*therapeutic... LOL*

Good thing it's Balsa not Rosewood ... :yes:


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Maybe pick up a micro angle square from Rockler? I'm sure they have one. 

Al


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Al B Thayer said:


> Maybe pick up a micro angle square from Rockler? I'm sure they have one.
> 
> Al


Al, you got me on that one. I actually looked! :laughing:


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Photo op. The real heroes want recognition.









Several Auriou rasps, a Japanese kataba saw and a couple of marking knives.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The balsa backing is done. The fairing begins.









I'm fairing the hull to the point there will be a thin burn mark left on the plywood frames.









Profiling around the centerboard took some delicate work.









With the hull mostly faired, I fitted for the rudder.


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## Al B Thayer (Dec 10, 2011)

Looks great. I guess I didn't know they had a center board keel. Hate to be on the winch hauling that up.

Al


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## buggyman1 (Nov 16, 2011)

Cool build, i'll be watching this one. I'm wandering if you could make all the pieces out of solid wood?


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

buggyman1 said:


> Cool build, i'll be watching this one. I'm wandering if you could make all the pieces out of solid wood?


I bought the kit because I had no idea how to make the pieces from scratch. Now I do. Yes, you can make the pieces from solid wood but the pieces for the skeleton would need to be very stable.

There are model ship plans you can buy but you could also create the plans from boat line drawings you can download for free. It just takes a lot of time.

We're moving in a couple of days and the boat is packed away now. When I get the shop set up and the house organized, I'll get back to working on the model.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

I guess I am remiss not keeping this up to date...








All the balsa fill is done. And I'm in my new shop here.

This gives you an idea how big this thing is









Starting the first planking


















Working on the port side









I made my own keel out of laminated mahogany. It wasn't in the instructions









The custom keel shaped









Toying with how I will lay the 2nd planking.









The kit came with a dark "mahogany" plank that is for the 2nd planking but I just didn't like the way it looked. I picked up some mahogany veneer and ripped a bunch of 2mm planks. The veneer is about .005" thicker than what came with the kit and looks better, to me anyway. I have three planks laid diagonally on the bow, trying to decide what angle to use.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

While waiting for the glue pot and hide glue to show up, the lifeboat won over my attention.

The instructions show to just lay the planks on the form and glue them edge-to-edge. No keel or frames. That didn't seem like a good idea so I took some of the planks designed for the 2nd planks on the hull and laminated a keel. Instead of using the same dimensions as the form, I extended the keel out a bit on the bow and took the bow a little out of plumb.









Then I took an X-acto knife and cut a small dovetail section out of the keel and shaped one end of a plank to fit in it. The dovetail holds the plank in place nicely. Much better than nailing the planks to the form as the instructions call for.










The keel scales out to about 4.5" x 4.5". The lifeboat scales out to a little over 13'. I do not know if that keel is the right dimension or not. I'll have to go with what looks good unless someone sets me straight.

FWIW, here's what the instructions called for:


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## Bob in St. Louis (Feb 11, 2015)

Yip. In my book, you are officially cool.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

Today I chiseled off a few chunks of lumber in what is still a purely experimental process. On the keel of the lifeboat I routed a rabbet to accept the garboard planks


















Then  it was time to address the frames of the lifeboat. The instructions didn't call for this but how can you make a 13' boat without a keel or frames?

I took some strips that were supposed to be for the 2nd planking and thinned them out with a L-N inlay thicknesser









I then soaked pre-cut planks in boiling water (easier than firing up the steam box) but they weren't pliable enough so I nuked them for another 2 minutes. The tannins bled out. So this is how that went








Three out of five. Some of the fibers broke but I should be able to work with it.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

I tackled the next two frames. The first one went like the others but the one at the bow wasn't so cooperative. It finally broke in two. So I had to start over. This time I took the frame out of the boiling water and pinched it tightly in my fingers and gradually began to bend it. As soon as I felt resistance, I put it back in the hot water. I repeated this several times until it was pliable enough to make the bend at the bow.

I also made top forms for these two pieces to hold them in place while they dry.








I didn't need to clamp them. They were tight enough to hold on their own.










I also made up another form section so I could shape a 6th frame in the wide gap toward the stern.









Here's how the five formed frames look so far. The sharpest bend came out the best.









I have another frame being formed on the new form section. Then I can dado the keel section and glue that on before beginning the planking.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The glue pot arrived so it's time to set the lifeboat aside.

Now it's time to see just how well, or how poorly, hot hide glue works...








All I can say is I am impressed. Had I been using PVA glue I might have 4-6 planks on by now. (Since this pic was taken I added 4 more.) 

If I stuck with it I could probably finish the entire hull in a day. But I have other irons in the fire so I stored the glue for another day. I think hot hide glue and I have already become good friends.


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## m.n.j.chell (May 12, 2016)

Many, many years ago (decades, actually), I worked in a chrome plating shop. We used hide glue to put fresh grit on the cloth "grinding" wheels each night (preparing for the next day's work). It's a great adhesive, but I never considered it for home use.

The first time you leave the pot on and it starts smoking ... you'll know the worst thing about hide glue. It stinks horribly.

Hopefully, you'll never make that mistake.


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The heater I have is set for 140-145 degrees. I had the glue pot sitting on it for a couple of hours with no problems. There is a smell but it didn't bother me, but I have heard if the glue goes bad, the smell will tell you.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

I have a British-trained violin lutheir friend.
She uses 4 different kinds of hide glue, the standard for the violin family of instruments.
But, she's a little too sly to reveal the lutheir supply source.

Thanks for this thread. Most of your remarks near the beginning are of great value to me
in the assembly of daVinci models, based on his drawings.
Would have helped with the Ornithopter, for sure.

http://www.pathfindersdesignandtechnology.com/


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

One well respected luthier only says hide glue should be 192 gram strength. Gram strength ranges from something like 50 to over 500, with the highest number being the strongest. It also sets up faster. Luthiers Mercantile International (LMII) sells the 192 gram strength variety. I purchased mine (also 192 G) and the glue pot from Music Caravan.  Stewart MacDonald, a luthier supply store, sells Behlen hide glue but it is only 168 G. I would think any secrets one has about hide glue would come from the mix and temperature. It's all animal hide based but maybe there are certain sources that are better than others. I'm not quite A. Stradivari yet. :no:


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## Julie Mor (Feb 10, 2013)

The planking has given me some challenges with all the curves and long plank lengths but I think I've got it now.









The planking was beginning to buckle so I had to make up a spile to fit in the void below.









Can you see it?









I needed to see the direction I was going so I drew lines to simulate how the planks would lie if I followed the angle between the rail and waterline. The blue lines are where I inserted a couple more spiles.









With all the plywood in the keel, it made using the push pins difficult so I had to make up something that would hold the planking in place.


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## Bob in St. Louis (Feb 11, 2015)

Wow, your craftsmanship is amazing!


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