Dean77

Many, many thanks for the help so far!

The blood chit is in great condition has a few holes in and creases from being folded.

As far as I'm aware he was a wireless operator on a fishing trawler converted to a minesweeper.

I'm hoping I can make some kind of display along side my HMS Beagle when I finish it.

I think a museum is a great idea and thank you for the link to the Genoa maritime museum.

Below is a frame we've had made of his medals, picture, hat ribbon etc.

Thanks Bruce, I am trying to looking after them best I can all though it is in a bit of a poor state!

Yes it does seem it could just be the italian city of Geneva It refers to rather than a ships name.

Dean

Hi all, 

My Grandad served in the Royal Navy aboard a minesweeper during the 2nd World War, i used to love, as a child, listening to his tales of life at sea. Sadly he passed away 14 years ago, recently my Mum gave me a pack containing loads of old photos he took during the war. 

It also contained two things that I find particularly interesting and would love to know more about if anyone has any ideas about them I would be most grateful!

I will attach some photos.

The first is what I believe is something called a blood chit, it is a piece of silk with the union Jack on and asking to assist the service person in many different languages. Did all military personnel get issued these i thought it was just aircrew?

Second is a huge plan of a ship it has the name Genova with the date 9/11/28 in the bottom corner, it appears to have had many lines drawn on it, im guessing representing some kind of electric cable. Does anyone have an idea what the plan was used for and why he had it?

My guess is some kind of training aid maybe? To add he was also a wireless operator sending and receiving morse code messages.

Many thanks Dean

Hi all,

I've been slowly making progress on the Beagle.

Made a few mistakes along the way, I didn't really want to post the pictures up of the 1st layer of planking! Little bit embarrassed to be honest.

2nd plank I didn't quite line up correctly so instead of fitting the 3rd plank in the correct place I lined it up with the 2nd one, so come the 6th plank I had a huge error. I left it overnight to decide what to do. Redo the planks or use filler.

I went for the filler option as I thought I would cause a lot of damage trying to remove them.

2nd layer went well overall I'm pleased with the results, considering my error and it is my first go at planking!

I am making some progress with the Beagle, I have made a couple of errors but nothing I wasn't able to correct!

Deck planked and fitted.

Bulwark fitting, In the process of bending them to shape I snapped one of them! Probably due to being a bit impatient and a bit heavy handed, lesson learned there!! I did manage to repair it and think it is certainly passable now.

The other side I took more care and it bent lovely with out snapping.

Getting closer to planking the hull 🙈

This is my first wooden ship build, as mentioned in my introduction I used to build and fly radio controlled planes, I much preferred building them to flying!

I decided to build HMS Beagle by Occre, the subject ships history is really interesting plus I think it is a beauty!

Occre have step by step YouTube videos of the build which I'm sure will be invaluable.

I have definitely jumped in with both feet but feel I'm up to the challenge!

Instructions appear to be very detailed and walk you through step by step.

I have made a small start on the false keel 

I am currently planking the false deck.

Thanks for looking.

Well I may be running before I can walk but I have ordered an Occre HMS Beagle, this was after a lot of thought and research plus I narrowed down what I actually liked the look of.

The review on here, by James H, I read was great.

Occre literally have a step by step guide of the build on Youtube. 

I really like to be challenged and I work shifts so have plenty of time to build her, so no rush. If it really does get too hard I will put her to one side!

Hopefully I can build something that I will be happy to put on display.

46 minutes ago, mikeaidanh said:

Greetings Dean from MIKE in Milton Keynes. Once upon a time I serviced aircraft on the old Grey Funnel Line.

Hi Mike,

I'm ex RAF, but had the pleasure of a couple of cruises on HMS Invincible with the Harriers about 16 years ago. 

Thanks for the welcome! 

What a great friendly forum.

I did have the odd mishap (with the models thankfully!) Only had one that had to be collected in a bin bag.

I enjoyed building the model aircraft more than flying them. I am now itching for a new challenge and having visited the Historic Ship Dockard in Portsmouth this year and being blown away by the experience model ship building is now my new challenge!

Hi, I'm a new ship builder based in the UK.

I have read through so so much on this forum, so many helpful articles, reviews and build threads!

My background is 12 years as an aircraft engineer followed by 10 years as a maintenance engineer in a factory.

Hobby wise I used to build and fly r/c planes, building from kits and plans making my own modifications as I saw fit, hopefully this will be of some assistance in my ship build.

Thanks Dean