Cathead

First builds are always a learning process, I cringe at some of my early attempts! You've got the right attitude, keep having fun.

Looks nice so far, glad you decided to start a log. Things like the keel gap can be frustrating for the builder but are rarely noticed by viewers.

No worries, envisioning hull geometry can be really hard until you get used to it (I still struggle at times). Here are a couple more photos to help you envision this. In the bow planking below, look at how the planks butt up against the stem (the part of the keel that curves up to the front of the bow). Those plank ends are actually inserted into the little beveled notch you're forming in the false keel. Without that bevel, they'd just butt right up against the edge of the stem and you'd have a harder time getting them to stay in place and getting a nice smooth joint. In the stern planking below, see how the plank just above the keel (if the boat were right side up) is flush (smooth) with the keel? Again, that's the role of the bevel, it lets the plank slide in there smoothly. Otherwise, you'd be applying that plank to the original outer side of the false keel, and together they'd be wider than the actual keel, giving you a really awkward "step" between the two. All the way along, the bevel allows the planks to sit smoothly against the false keel and each other, giving a nice flowing compound curve to the outer hull. Hope that helps!

EDIT: Oops, looks like you deleted your latest question while I was responding to it, so the content below now seems rather odd! I'll leave it in case it still helps you or anyone else. This clarifies how and where the beveling happens. You are correct, the "bearding line" laser-etched into the false keel is the point at which the bevel starts. From that line, you bevel down toward the outer edge of the false keel (toward the real keel, away from the inside of the boat). So one point of confusion here is that I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "entire" and there are two possible answers. Are you asking (1) whether to put a bevel along the entire outer edge of the false keel, from stem to stern, or (2) whether to bevel the entire keel from top to bottom? I typed up a few different wordy attempts at talking through this before deciding just to draw out what you're supposed to do and hope that makes it clear. So here is the plan image you posted above, doctored to emphasize where the beveling should happen: Dark red shows where the laser-etched bearding line is. I don't remember whether the kit extends this along the whole false keel, but the plan image implies that it doesn't, which may be what's confusing you. You are supposed to bevel all the way from stern to bow (this is clearly stated in the instructions you posted above). In brighter red, I drew roughly where the bearding line should be for the rest of the false keel. Everything below the red line should be bevelled down to the lower edge of the false keel. I also drew two cross-sections to help you envision this. Forward, it's a small and sharp bevel, maybe 45-60º? As you go aft, the bevel gets wider and gentler, so that by the stern it's a very broad surface at a very shallow angle. To put it another way, start beveling at the stern and work forward. Once you get to the forward end of the laser-cut bearding line (where my dark line becomes brighter red), just keep roughly whatever that bevel angle and thickness is, going all the way to the bow. It might help to draw this in with a pencil or even scribe it with a tool. Does that help?

It's a good question, and good to ask before starting work as this piece would be difficult to replace.

I struggled with the same question, and also liked the idea of shrouds connected to knees rather than through the gunwale. I, too, came to the realization too late to adapt my model's existing structure to it. I just went ahead and tied off to the gunwale, but I like your idea of the added knees. Looks good and captures the essence of the idea. No one but the most pedantic observer will ask "hey, why are there more frames in that section?"

Have you looked at BlueJacket's Pirate Brig? It's not a larger ship than the Beagle, but would fit your interest in that realm. Realistically, pirate ships were generally just any ship of the period taken over and converted to that purpose. There wasn't a Royal Pirate Shipyard churning out bespoke designs. So you could also simply decide on an era, then adapt a kit for a likely candidate, for example by adding more guns or something. Could be a fun toe in the water of the kitbashing to scratchbuilding arc. If you want a link to literature, you could always tackle something like Model Shipways' Charles Morgan whaling ship and revisit Moby Dick while you're at it.

We did indeed open a bottle of homemade mead last night, so good call there. This is the third model I've made paper sails for and I adore this method.

Thanks, that helps. Yes, you do need to bevel the entire false keel. At the stern, the lowest plank will be parallel with the actual keel and ideally flush with it (a smooth surface from keel into planking). At the bow, the whole thing needs to be beveled so there's a "notch" into which the butt ends of the planks can fit, behind the keel (called the stem at the bow), helping hold them in place. See if this image from my build helps you see how this bevel looks. See how there's a shadow all the way along the false keel? Without that, the planks wouldn't have much to "grab on to" when you start attaching them. Does that help?

Made lots of progress on the sail, on a cold blustery rainy day that feels very appropriate for this Irish-Norse ship. Here's a step-by-step of what I decided to do. I cut paper panels to represent bolts of sailcloth, making these wide enough to allow for overlap (I decided to mimic the "lapped fell seam" in the link Steven shared above): I then colored each strip yellow or red using pastels rubbed in with my fingers. Do each color on its own and don't mix them, or you'll get all orange panels! The sail is taller than an individual sheet of paper, so I cut the bolts to join under one of the reinforced reefing lines so the seam would be hidden. I marked an overlap at the end of each bolt, gently applied wood glue, then pressed the joint together: Completed yellow and red bolts; these needed slight edge trimming where the joined bolts weren't exactly the same width: I then marked the overlap along the edge of each bolt, carefully brushed on glue, and carefully overlaid each alternate-color bolt: The next step was to start overlaying the reef point and edge reinforcements. I decided to make these grayish brown, as either red or yellow would look odd and I didn't want to try to match color along each bolt. This highlights the structure of the sail and my story is that they're a different cloth or maybe walrus hide. Artist's license. So here's where the sail stands this evening: And here's the other side, which doesn't have reinforcements yet: My current thought is still to do the diagonal reinforcements. Anyone have any idea if these were on both sides or just one side? I'd sure rather only do it once, it's going to be delicate and difficult. Hope you all like it, 'cause I don't want to redo this! Constructive feedback is, of course, welcome, as I can still learn from any mistakes for a future build. Thanks for your support.

Welcomed! Have fun with your first build and don't sweat the details, there's so much to learn just by doing. To start a build log, just go to the main MSW page, scroll down until you see Members' Build Logs >> Build Logs for Ship Model Kits and click on the era your chosen kit fits into (such as 1851-1900). Then, just above where all the build log links start, you'll see big black button labeled "Start New Topic". Click that and it'll prompt you to fill in a title, after which you just start entering your first post. Be sure to read the rules for naming your build log as the site has standardized conventions. Sounds scary but it isn't. One other bit of advice, try to be as detailed as you can in your build log and use photos, especially when you have questions. We can only see what you share with us!

I don't have my instructions anymore. Any chance you can post a photo of the step you're asking about?

This is a good general rule of thumb for all materials. Glue can hold things in place, but ideally should not have to hold much tension. You're making great progress!

Bigpetr, thanks for that! I'm aware that shields may have been leather-covered, but explained my reasoning for emphasizing the planking earlier in this log: In a model setting, a plain face might BE more accurate but could LOOK less accurate as it won't necessarily be obvious to a casual viewer that a leather covering is WHY the face is plain. In theory I could have played around with some kind of fabric covering to suggest the right texture, but frankly I just didn't want to, and getting that stretched tight enough without the rims being rumpled could have been very difficult. Maybe in a future project. This falls under modeler's license for me, as will whatever choice I make for the sails. Regardless, I'm grateful for all inputs and opinions because at worst I learn from everyone's knowledge even if I make a different choice.

Nice work! You're welcome.

Sorry for the late response. I would have advised painting straight across, which you ended up choosing, so no worries there. As for the missing gunport, my favorite way to do that is to mark out the square and drill small holes just inside the boundary, essentially perforating the wood. This makes it easier to use a small knife or saw to cut out the port. The reason to ensure the holes are just inside, not right along the line, is that you'll end up with an uneven cut no matter how careful you are, so you can use a file or sandpaper to finish it out to the right size. You could also try to simulate a closed gunport lid by using a file to scribe the boundary into the wood, then adding hinges and other details, maybe even a very thin piece over it. You're making good progress and should be proud of your work so far.

Thanks!

Lots of these builds ongoing right now, so there's an active community for you to share with! Looking forward to seeing how you make this one your own.

Hey, don't sell yourself short. I'm only 41 but more jaded than a Chinese emperor's statuary collection.

This is the right decision. Vaccinations or not, worse variants are still developing and spreading, and it's simply too hard to predict what fall will look like. Could be great, could be far less so. And the NRG is being responsible in not putting anyone's lives or money at risk for an event that, personal interest aside, is far from essential. I was greatly looking forward to attending the 2020 event, which would have been my first, and I fully support holding off on that until 2022.

What a fascinating and inspiring project. I'm so grateful you shared it.

How long have you been on the internet? Seriously, though, I've definitely been thinking about other details like barrels, sacks, etc. This was a warship, not a trading vessel like the one above, but it still would have carried stores for a voyage. So you may be right that I could mess around with shields layered over that stuff. So much to think about.

And look at those nice cross-hatched sails! This trading vessel has a small crew and only a few shields and weapons, I'm still not sure how a crew of 60+ would have stashed their gear in a secure but easy-to-deploy manner.

Jack, those are great photos, but the basic point is I didn't want to hang them off the gunwale, whether by lashing or shield rack, because they'd block the oars. Looking closely, it seems like your vessel actually extended the gunwale upward where the shields are hung to get them high enough to block the oars, something not present on this model. But I'm pretty certain vessels didn't operate with the shields slung over the sides like that, except in very sheltered waters or for short distances, so I want to work out a different way to store or display them.

Have fun! This was an early kit for me (see link in my signature) and I learned a lot. There are certainly lots of build logs to peruse. There are also lots of ways to make it "your own". Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.