usedtosail

I started gluing the bulkheads to the keel, using Legos to align them while the glue dries.

Thanks Eric. I downloaded those pictures a while ago when I bought the kit. Thanks for posting them.

Thank you Chris and Dan. Dan, I think your Speedy will be great.

This will be the second Beagle model that I will build. I built the Mamoli Beagle model many years ago and gave it to my son. Since the Ochre kit is fairly new and is supposed to be a better representation of the real ship I was intrigued enough to buy it and build it. I am a retired engineer and scientist so besides the fact that this ship was so important because of Charles Darwin, it was also a survey and hydrographer ship which I think is really cool. I have the Anatomy of the Ship (AOS) book for the Beagle, which I used for the previous build and will use for this one too. I opened the box today and at first glance the contents look OK. After building a few modern kits from companies like Vanguard, I realize how these kits from older European companies are really lacking in the realism of some of the smaller details. I will try to improve them as I go along. This kit comes with sails that are way too thick but I haven't ruled out using them yet. Maybe I'll use them as patterns for more appropriate sails. I may be starting this model this week, but don't expect to really get into it until after the holidays.

Just a couple of last photos of the model going into its case and the final result. I will hold onto it for a few years until my grandson is old enough to care for it and then move it into his room at his house.

Those are bow lines.

TBlack - I couldn't agree with you more. Chris? Gregg - If you haven't figured it out yet, that is one of the magnetic arms removed from the yellow base and stuck to a 123 block as a base.

Here are pictures of the completed model. I will set up a gallery with more photos in it.

Welfalck my model is finished. I could do all the research I want now but I can't change it without undoing almost all the running rigging and I am not going to do that. SO future builders of the Vanguard Speedy kit, don't do what I show, but completely redo the belaying plan that comes with the kit and build new a whole new fore bitt with lots of belaying pins or add a lot more pin rails along the sides or put many lines on each belaying pin that is there now. Or just cut the lines at the bitts and be done with it. Your choice.

Gregory - these bowlines are from the main sail so they go forward to blocks on deck before the fore mast then back to the fore bitts on this model.

Thanks for all the great responses here. First of all, I agree that this whole arrangement of lines on the bitts is not historically accurate. BUT if one follows the plans as they are shown, can we still come up with a more realistic representation of the lines on the bitts. I set up a simple test rig and tried some different ways to add rope coils. Here is the test rig. I first added rope coils like you would put on a belaying pin to each line before tying the line to the bitts. I alternated the sides that the lines were tied so the rope coils on adjacent lines were on opposite sides of the bitts, providing room for more coils. You can see this on the two right lines of this picture. My rope coils suck so don't judge me on them, but I think this looks pretty good. It does require that the coils are added as the lines are tied, not after like with belaying pins, so some planning is needed before rigging is started. Then I tried adding a rope coil to a line that was already tied to the bitts, which is the line on the left in the above photo. I just ran the excess line through the rope coil and tied another knot. This worked OK too but would probably have to be done before fixing the first knot so the line is still flexible. I then looked for a way to add rope coils after the lines are all tied on the bitts and maybe even cut off flush with the bitts. I tied a single line to one end of the row of lines, then wrapped it around the bitts between each line. For each wrap I slid a rope coil onto the line. Then when the wrap was tightened, I adjusted the coil to one of the sides of the bitts, again alternating sides with each wrap. I tied off the last wrap back to itself. Again I think this looks OK but could be pretty tricky depend on how accessible the bitts are. I am not going to try these on my Speedy at this point but I hope this whole discussion helps future modelers.

In the rigging plan for this model, which is spread out over 4 different plan sheets, there are 23 individual lines attached to the fore bitts. I'd have to go back to the plans to identify all these lines, but for sure they include all the sail lines - buntlines, clewlines, some of the bowlines, sheets for the topsails and topG sails, and braces. There are no belaying pins associated with any of the bitts and there would not be enough room for 23 pins on them anyway. So I'll break this down into a couple of questions. If, as many models do, there were just 2 lines tied to the bitts, with no belaying pins, how would the working end of the line be shown? Maybe a coil that hangs on the ends of the bitts? The other question is what to do when the instructions for the model show many lines on the bitts like this one? What is more incorrect, showing the lines cut off at the bitts or showing rope coils on the deck? Both seem wrong to me. If the model tried to include enough belaying pins along the rails for all these lines there would not be enough room by a lot. Would having multiple lines on individual belaying pins be acceptable? There would have to be three or four on each pin for this model to fit them all. Getting philosophical here, I guess it all comes down to resolution and fidelity of the modeling process. We can only show a depiction of the real ship at whatever scale we are working on and have to make choices about what to show and how to show it. The model designer gives us a starting point, but it is up to us to work out the best depiction at the modelers skill level and comfort zone.

Captain Cochran has joined the party so this model is now finished. I finished up the anchors and added the swivel guns too. I used a straw and gently blew the dust and other crude from the deck. Here are some quick photos but I will take some decent photos soon. Thanks for taking an interest in this build.

Here is a photo of how David Lester finished these lines on his beautiful Speedy. I must say it looks much cleaner than mine by not showing the extra line for the lines on the bitts. This is the only photo I could find of this area of a completed Speedy build.

Thanks guys. Henry - I just followed the plans that came with the model for these lines. There are belaying pins with other lines on them but not enough for the lines shown on the bitts.