The Gimps Chimp

I guess the chemical reaction doesn't scale to 1:60. How easy would it be to achieve the result using paint?

I'm I right in thinking the Beagle was copper bottomed in the later part of it's history? Chimp

Hi Pete, You are making fantastic progress with this model, at this rate you should have it finished in a couple of weeks time. Mine by comparison is taking much longer as my time is very limited unfortunately. I like to think I'm building it in real-time I found the work on the small boats quite a challenge in their own way too. The quality of your workmanship is excellent and when finished you should have a mighty fine model of the Beagle, which you can be rightly proud of. I continue to watch with much interest as it's providing me with knowledge, ideas and inspiration for my own work. Keep up the excellent work! Chimp

That second planking is looking nice and neat and clean. Excellent work

Excellent progress, looking great!

Hi Gixli Good to have you here watching on Chimp

Time for another update. Progress has been slow for the last couple of weeks but I'm not too worried about that. It's due to the change in the weather. As it warms up the garden starts to come back to life and there is so much to do to keep on top of it. With regard to the Beagle, all I've managed to get done is the second planking on the starboard side and the stern. For some reason the starboard side was more demanding than the port side but I think that was down to how I progressed and the order in which I chose to plank. There will clearly be an optimal order but I have no idea what that is. Starting with the bulwarks is probably the best as these are consistent and lay flat and even, without any tapering to be done. When you drop below the bulwarks things become more demanding and shaping of the planks is required. The instructions show what looks to be a fairly random sequence and random length to the planks but I'm sure there's some logic to it. Whatever you do I think you end up cutting small pieces of veneer and making it fit. Luckily it cuts easily and with a bit of practice you can get a good close fit. And where it doesn't fit perfectly there is always filler Chimp

Remember the first planking only needs to be smooth and is a base for the second planking. Adding wood filler will increase the height of the low plank edges. The high edges can then be sanded down. This should leave plenty of material for the second planking. Here are a couple of photos of mine which look bad to start with but turned out okay after filling and sanding. Chimp

Hi Krupi, The planks are 2mm thick so you will be able to give it plenty of sanding without it getting too thin. It's looking smoother than mine did and I managed to get that smooth with a combination of wood filler and sanding. I'm sure you've got nothing to worry about. I guess you plan to remove the pins holding the planks in place. I never used the pins in the kit but used a combination of notice board push pins and foldback paper clips. Chimp

No worries . It took me way back to my school days when my reports would have "could try harder" written on them. That was a long time ago now. I thought I had got better. I guess it doesn't hurt to keep trying a little harder. Chimp

Excellent progress, looking fantastic Chimp

Just a quick update on other parts of the ship I've been working on with a couple of points to watch out for. Before cutting out any parts I number them in the sheet so I can easily tell which parts they are. When working on the skylight deck structures I found that two different but similar parts had the same number. This isn't a major problem but might save you a bit of hassle modifying both parts to fit. They are both the roofs of the two skylights. here they are assembled: The other thing I just caught in time was the bases for the cannons. I hadn't realised they are very slightly wedge shaped (wider at one end compared to the other). I think I'm right when I say the narrow end is for the muzzle and the wide end for the breech. Even after I decided that was the way it should be I still nearly assembled them the wrong way round Regards Chimp

Hi Tom, The wood filler I use is Everbuild Multi-Purpose wood filler. Probably the cheapest wood filler there is

Hi Krupi, Looks like you're making good progress. I'm glad you decided to make a build log. It gives others some insight into your experiences with the kit and might give them different ideas on how to do things. I'm also currently making the same kit so I'll follow your progress with interest. Keep up the good work Chimp

Hi guys, Here's an update on where I've got to: After being quite pleased with how the hull had filled and sanded well, I thought I would progress with the second planking. The hull isn't perfectly smooth but I considered it smooth enough. After preparing several lengths of the 0.5mm Sapele veneer I tried gluing a couple of short lengths on a block of wood first to see how it handled. I started with using just PVA along the entire length and it worked well so I moved to the hull. The first few lengths went on well and were full length as they were mostly flat and straight. I then realized that I would have to put them on in shorter lengths as the curve of the hull made the lengths deviate from a straight line. This wasn't a problem but it did make me plan out a bit more how I would progress and how I would finish off. Using just PVA made progress quite slow as I had to wait for the glue to dry a little between planks. So I changed my technique to using a blob of CA at each end of the PVA. This would allow the CA to hold the plank in position while the PVA hardened. What I hadn't considered was that the CA would easily bleed through the 0.5mm Sapele veneer. After sacrificing a couple of finger prints I had the technique sorted and progress was much quicker. Finishing off was interesting as I had to cut the veneer into carefully measured lengths and shapes to fill in the gaps between the full width planks. I was surprised how easy this was as I had been fearing this part and thought it would be so difficult. There were a couple of very small gaps but I filled these with dark wood filler and they are nearly invisible. I've now finished one side and sanded it down. I'm really pleased with how it's looking. So very different from when the first planking was finished Chimp

Hi guys, Many thanks for your words of encouragement, they are much appreciated. I've now progressed a bit further and things are starting to look a little better. I started with applying small amounts of wood filler to fill in the gaps between the planks, not to take out the steps. As it turned out, I ended up covering the whole hull with filler, but so be it. Then after sanding and making quite a lot of mess things were looking a whole lot better. Chimp

Hi Dollburger, I'm currently building HMS Beagle by Occre. My first build was HMS Ballahoo by Caldercraft. As I'm also new to this hobby my experience is very limited. As you can imagine there is no right or wrong here and it depends on so many different variables. My initial suggestion would be to cut your teeth on a smaller and simpler model just to hone your skills before you embark on what will be a major investment of your time and effort. I dread to think how many people jump in at the deep end and not make it through to the end, which is a massive shame. I had many years experience making plastic construction kits to a reasonable standard, then took a few years break before wanting to try something different. Before taking the plunge with my first ship I made a couple of simple laser cut plywood models which can be made in a couple of days/weeks just to think about the types of skills and tools required to progress. I then started small with HMS Ballahoo. After getting through the early stages fairly quickly, things slowed down and I feared that I had jumped in too deep and wouldn't see it through to completion. The thing that kept me going was reading the excellent build logs on this forum and keeping steady but slow progress. Eventually I realised I was about two thirds of the way through and it was then all downhill from there. Once finished I had an enormous sense of achievement and was glad I stuck with it. I can see your attraction with wanting to start with HMS Beagle and the fact that there are very comprehensive videos available to guide you through the build has got to be a major benefit. To be honest, I find the videos of limited use and prefer to use them as a suggestion but then do my own thing. With regard to price and quality of the kit I don't have much experience to call upon. Everything in the kit looks to be of reasonable quality and 'fit for purpose'. When you consider the time and effort you'll be putting into building the model, the cost of purchasing the kit becomes less significant. As Jaager has previously stated, when delving deeper into researching the ship it's clear this model isn't an exact replica of the actual Beagle (if indeed that is truly known) and there are a few compromises which have been made, but then is any model ever a 100% representation of the real thing? These could be improved by an experienced modeler but maybe not if it's your first build. Would these compromises annoy you if you know the ship well? I hope my limited ramblings have been of some use to you. Good luck with whatever direction you decide to take Chimp

Looks like you'll have it finished soon Chimp

I've finally finished the first planking. It's taken a while but I stuck with it. It has been a challenge and I'm not overly happy with the result as it's now going to need some sanding work to get it into good shape. I've found the 2mm thick planks a bit cumbersome to work with but the advantage is that they will take plenty of sanding. One things for sure, she ain't pretty (not yet at least). I'm a bit embarrassed to post photos before I start the sanding but here goes... Chimp

Still working on the planking of the main ship and still having issues to get a good tight fit between the planks and getting the bends to sit flat. However, the progress with the smaller boats is coming along well. Here are some photos detailing the progress so far: Chimp

As a way of using my time more effectively, when waiting for glue to dry, I'm looking at the smaller service boats and their assembly. I thought these small boats would be so much easier to assemble than the main one, but again I was wrong. Having said that they're still fun to make. It took me a while to work out what I needed to do and how best to do it. I know I should have watched the videos available from Occre but I think that takes away some of the fun. Here are some photos showing my progress so far. Chimp

A little more progress with the Beagle. I'm still having problems with the thick planks and how to get them fitted without ending up with steps between planks. I think I'm getting there slowly and should have it mastered by the time I finish

Hi guys, I've started the planking and progress is a bit slow. I'm still very much a novice at this, so still at the lower end of the learning curve. I've managed to get a few planks on either side with limited success. You can see from the images it's not a mirror image. The odd thing is that I think I know what I should be doing but for some reason when I come to do it I end up doing it wrong. When I started this ship I said to myself I would follow the advice given here in this forum and learn from the experts. I was going to divide the hull into sections and shape the planks to fit those sections. When I came to planking I just started at the top and worked my way down with full width planks. Now, on the starboard side you can see I have ended up with stepping of the planks at the bow where I've tried to bend them around. So much for learning from the experts . However, as this is the first planking I think I'll get away with it. I really do need to take a bit more time and think about what I'm doing rather than just rushing to make progress. Chimp

Good to have you here too Dart . Chimp

Hi Penfold, Welcome, good to have you watching on Chimp