HMS Beagle by Dave3092 - Mamoli - Scale 1:64 - Originally built around 1817, this build will be on the ship as provided - First wooden ship build

[Dave3092]

 

January 18, 2020

 

Masts & Yards

 

This build log entry covers the preparation of the masts and yards and assembly of the masts.  However, before I started on that there were a few items remaining to be done on the hull.

 

The shroud supports had been glued to the hull, and now the deadeyes had to be installed.  This is when I found out that the shroud supports for the foremast and mainmast were not symmetrical (see 3rd picture below).  The deadeye slots were closer to one end than the other, and the way they were manufactured and labeled caused them to be offset differently on each side of the ship.  I tried to compensate for that (as well as even out the spacing) when I widened the precut slots to accommodate the deadeye holder.

 

Note:  The metal parts in this kit have no deformation capability; they just break.  I found this out trying to bend the deadeye holder around the deadeye as indicated in the instructions.

 

To properly align the deadeyes to the shroud lines coming down from the mast, I construct substitute masts of the correct height, then ran thread down to each deadeye slot, so that I could determine the proper angle to put on the deadeye link when mounting it to the hull.  This was suggested in SMS.

 

For the mizzen mast deadeyes, I found that the provided deadeye links were too long for the hull that is available at the stern, so I shortened and re-bent the link to fit the available space (this is the only metal that is pliable).

 

After installing the deadeyes, I covered the edge of the shroud support with a piece of mahogany lath, which seem to blend very well with the shroud support wood.

 

The second item was crosshatching in the bow.  It is shown in one of the instructions, and the material is provided for it, but there is no mention of adding it in the instructions.

 

To fit the material in the bow space, I created poster board templates for the port and starboard sides to give me a starting point for cutting out the crosshatching. 

I then put together a grid of laths to accommodate the templates, cut out the pieces, and sanded them until they fit into the bow area.  These will be installed after the bowsprit woold is completed.

 

Now that I was ready to start on mast construction, I started by building the masttops and crosstrees for each mast.  Although not indicated by the instructions, I added a chock between each mast for all the masttops and crosstrees, as suggested by SMS.  I believed this would aid in aligning and securing the masts during assembly. 

For the main and fore mast masttops, I added bolsters, also suggested by SMS, to protect the shroud lines extending down from the masts.

 

I then proceeded with cutting and shaping the masts and yards.  I drilled holes in a 2x4 and labeled each hold with the respective mast or yard putting them in order from stern to bow.  I cut out all the masts and yards from the supplied material leaving excess material to be used to handle the wood through the shaping process. 

I shaped the masts and yards as needed by setting up a homemade lathe using my electric drill (another SMS suggestion) with a loop of Velcro (felt side) to hold the other end of the wood.  The other piece of Velcro was over the trigger to keep the drill on.

 

As I mentioned previously, I had built square mast boxes in the hull for the three masts, so I now needed to square up the masts to fit into those boxes.  I did that by placing the mast into the vice, leveling both, then filing down each side of the mast – another MSS suggestion.  I did the filing iteratively with testing the fit into the hole until I achieved a tight fit.  I then labeled the side of the mast facing the bow, so that I could build the rest of the mast segments on top facing in the correct direction.  I used the same process to square the tops of the masts.

 

The mizzen mast boom and gaff required yokes, which again were indicated but no material was provided.  So I fashioned the yokes out of a bit of oak by drilling the mast hole, then cutting the yoke out using the hole as the base.  In addition, I drilled a hole in the bowsprit mastcap for the martingale. 

 

The yards, booms and mastcaps were supposed to be either dark walnut (instructions) or black (paint diagram).  I chose to go with the former.

The last thing to add was the mast woolds on the main and fore masts (see picture below).  Here the amount of 0.8mm hemp rope was completely inadequate to do the woolds, no less that other uses for that diameter on the ship, so I had to order some additional rigging line.  Now that I was ready to assemble the masts, I first ensured that the workbench was level.  Since the masts sit vertically in the hull, then I could everything as it was being added with a level.  In addition, I verified that the masttops and crosstrees were parallel to the deck planking, and I tried to make sure that the masts were parallel where they overlapped.

 

I also verified that all the masts were aligned when looking from bow to stern and vice versa.

 

Since SMS recommends rigging the masts before stepping them, I inserted the masts into the hull for assembly, but I did not glue them to the hull.

 

Lastly, I put a rope gannion on the bowsprit jib.  It wasn’t shown in the instructions or diagrams, but it did appear in a diagram in MSS, plus it makes a lot of sense to hold the jib boom in place.

 

Build time to date – 434 hrs: 59.5 hrs for the work in this build log entry.

 

Next: Rigging

 

PS - 95% of the time was in preparing the materials; only 5% of the time was spent in actually constructing the masts.

 

SMS - Ship Modeling Simplified by Frank Mastini

 

 

 

[Dave3092]

 

October 29, 2020

 

Rigging

 

This build log entry covers the installation of rigging on the Beagle.

 

Before starting the rigging, I put a finish on the masts, yards, booms and blocks.  For the yards I chose to use a dark walnut stain.

 

As I worked through the rigging, the aft railing came to harm a couple of times.  I, therefore, decided to lash together the four corners of the railing to provide additional support until the rest of the ship is finished.  They will be removed when the ship is complete.

 

 

In doing the rigging I decided to follow the order defined in SMS, rather than the instructions provided in the kit.  I found that doing a lot of the work on the masts and yards before stepping the mast through the deck made a lot of sense.  Also, leaving the lower shrouds to almost the end made it a lot easier to belay the other lines on the interior of the deck.  What follows is the order of work defined by SMS and my comments.

 

1) Fit masts (and hull) with blocks

I rigged the blocks in one of two ways.  For blocks that needed to be closely tied to a mast or mounted on a deck, I used two strands of #34 black annealed wire twisted together.  I twisted about two feet at a time using a drill, vise and guide rod.

 

For block that were on a line, such as a pendant, I seized the line using one strand of #343 wire in a standard seize wrap.

 

 

Here is a picture with both types.

 

And a picture of the bowsprit showing both.

 

Here is the hull with blocks installed.

 

2) Rig futtock shrouds to masttops

I originally tried clamping the futtock shrouds and deadeyes to the masttops or tying them to the masts, but I found that neither way stood up to reeving the upper shroud deadeyes to the futtock shroud deadeye or rattling down the upper shrouds.  I ended up gluing the futtock shroud deadeyes to the masttop.

 

Here is one unsuccessful attempt using clamps.

 

3) Rig lower shrouds to mast

I seized the shrouds using a length of #34-gauge wire, similar to the blocks.  To keep track of the lower shrouds, I coded them with pieces of twist tie from 0 to 3, 5 or 6, i.e. 0,1,10,11,100,101.

 

4) Rig topmast shrouds to topmasts

5) Fit ratlines to topmast shrouds

Here is a partly completed ratline installation on the upper shrouds.  There is more detail on ratline installation below.

 

6) Fit the yards with blocks and pendants

I used the same techniques here as for the mast and hull.

7) Put the yards on the masts and rig the halyards and yard lifts

It was much easier to rig these lines with the mast held in the vise, rather than trying to work with the mast installed through the deck.  I did not glue any of the yards to the masts.  I thought it would be more instructive working with the rigging if the yards could move.

Here are the masts and yards with blocks and pendants

 

😎 Put the gaff and boom on the mast and rig lines for them

Although not included in the instructions, I added a boom rest to the mizzenmast.  Like the yards, I did not glue either of the booms to the mizzenmast.

 

9) Step the masts through the deck

This step was pretty easy, as I had previously squared off and fitted each mast to its mast box in the hull, so alignment was built into the way the masts were constructed.  Here is the ship with the masts stepped, included the bowsprit.

10) Belay the yard lifts and halyards

I created a belaying tool by taking a piece of coax cable, stripping part of it down to the copper wire, flattening the wire, then drilling a hole in the end.  This allowed me to push the line under the belay rack to wrap around the lower part of the belay pin.

 

Tip:  If the line goes around the upper belay pin clockwise, then the line needs to be turned counter-clockwise to get the line underneath to finish the belay (and vice versa).  When you’re doing this on a boat it is easy, but when you are staring through a number of other lines while trying to belay with two tweezers in a tight location, it is not.  Here is the upper part of the mainmast rigging.

 

 

11) Bend standing rigging in this order – Foremast stay to bowsprit, all mizzenmast gaff and boom rigging, mainmast stay to foremast and Mizzenmast stay to mainmast

To create the loop needed for stays, halyards etc., I wrapped the line around a toothpick, then tied it with two half hitches. 

 

The stays were created and installed on the masts in step 1, then connected here.

12) Rig the lower shrouds to their lanyards and fit ratlines to lower shrouds

SMS suggested a single deadeye gauge in the outer holes of the deadeye, but I found this too unstable when trying the seize the line around the upper deadeye.  So I created two gauges from staples (widen to the correct length for deadeye separation). 

 

(Gauge next to original staple)

I placed these in the four inner holes of the deadeye and locked them in with a alligator clip attached to one of the gauges.

 

To install the ratlines, I used a ratline tension tool (suggested on the masts, rigging and sails forum -- https://modelshipworld.com/topic/14818-rat-line-tension-tool/?tab=comments#comment-460820.  I put sandpaper on the inside of one of the pieces to help hold the shrouds in place.

 

I hadn’t really seen any good details on how to approach tying the ratlines.  Even SMS was somewhat vague on the details.  So, I have enclosed my own little tutorial showing the technique I (finally!) found most effective (assumes that the overhand knots are being tied left over right.):

a)     Tie the first knot on the rightmost shroud.

 

b)     Run the line in front of then behind the next shroud, bring it out underneath the line.

 

c)     Finish the overhand knot and tighten pulling on the line while pushing the knot against the shroud with tweezers (not shown as I do not have three hands!).

 

If you wanted to work left to right (for instance if you are right handed), I think the same process would work if you tied the overhand knots right over left.

Here is the complete ratline run.

 

To ensure that the starboard and port ratlines were at the same level, I measured down from the masttop for each ratline on the starboard side, then duplicate the same distance on the port side.

Here are the completed starboard side foremast shrouds with ratlines.

 

13) Rig the backstays

14) Fit and belay all yard braces

I found that installing the yard braces from the top down work better, because the topgallant yard braces are inside the topsail yard braces which are inside the mainsail yard braces.

When trying to balance the yard braces during installation, I found it helpful to clamp the line at the blocks on the mast to maintain the proper tension so that the yard remained perpendicular to the keel of the hull.

 

I found that when I started trying to belay the bowsprit yard braces, that the bow belay rack, installed according to the instructions, didn’t allow for the last belay pin to be used, plus the anchoring to the thin strip of wood was too weak.  I, therefore, moved back the belay pin rack, drilled two holes through the rack into the deck and added two brads that were glued to the rack and the deck.  This worked fine.  Here you can also see the bow crosshatching that was installed after the bowsprit woold was completed.

 

Here is the completed rigging – starboard view

 

… and bow view

 

Build time to date – 584 hrs: 149.75 hrs for the work in this build log entry.

 

Next: Finishing

 

Kit Note: I had to purchase additional line to supplement what was in the kit.  I bought additional .8mm line, black .4mm line for standing rigging, black .25 mm line for standing rigging and tan .25mm line for running rigging.  I ran out of the last as I was preparing to rattle down the lower shrouds.  For the .8mm standing rigging I dyed some of the line with a black magic marker.

 

Fun facts: 42% of the time was in installing the shrouds and ratlines (it seemed longer than that!).  It took 582 overhand knots (tied with two tweezers!) to install the ratlines on the upper and lower shrouds.

 

SMS – Ship Modeling Simplified by Frank Mastini

[Dave3092]

 

December 19,2020

 

Finishing Touches

 

This build log entry covers the completing the last finishing touches on the H.M.S. Beagle.

 

Anchors

The wooden anchor cross members were, unfortunately, cut with the grain across rather than lenghtwise, so both broke when trying to fit them to the anchors.  They were, however, easily glued back together.  The anchors needed to be filed down (and the holes in the cross members enlarged) to get the pieces to fit.  I added metal strapping to the cross members as was indicated in the drawing, although it was not mentioned in the instructions. 

 

 

The anchors were then mounted on the foremast shroud supports and rigging lines run from the davit and a hole in the bow.

 

 

Aft Lifeboat

The aft lifeboat was hung from the davits and secured to cleats of my own construction (as I thought that the rings provided didn’t look appropriate).  I set the lifeboat part way down so that it would not hide the stern transom moulding, as I really liked the way it had turned out and wanted it visible.  There is even a workmanlike rendition of the British Coat of Arms (at least for that scale).

 

 

 

Model Base

I thought that the model base was pretty inadequate for the ship. 

 

 

SMS recommends a longer base.

 

 

Using the recommendations of SMS, I obtained a piece of birth 1x4 plank, then drilled holes in the hull at the intersections of the keel and frames at the appropriate distance.  I added two wooden beads to raise the ship slightly off the plank.  The end result was a clean and very sturdy base for the ship (the plank weighs about as much as the ship).

Flags

There were four flags provided in the kit.  In order for them to drape more realistically, I mounted them temporarily on wood dowels, sprayed them with starch and then weighed down the bottom corner of the flag until they dried.

 

 

Here is how they look on the ship.

 

 

Rope Coils

Although not mentioned in the instructions, they were recommended in SMS to add detail to the model.  To create the coils for the belay pins, I wrapped the rigging line around a dowel and tied it off adding some fabric glue.

 

 

I then placed the tied loop on a tying jig I made with two brads in balsa wood.  This held the loop in place while I tied the ends and glued. 

 

 

I then trimmed the excess line.

 

 

In addition, I added four deck rope coils for the Topsail halyards for both masts, the mainmast jeer and the mizzenmast boom halyard.  These were coiled on double-sided tape, then coated with varnish.  When dried I applied them on the end of the lanyard on the deck.  This coil was the very last thing added to the ship.

 

 

Total Build time – 607 hrs: 23 hrs for the work in this build log entry.

 

Fun facts: The breakdown of the build time is:

 

Build Segment	Build Time	Percentage Time
Preparatory work	45	7.4%
Hull & Deck	215	35.4%
Deck Fixtures	115	18.9%
Masts & Rigging	209	34.5%
Finishing	23	3.8%
Total	607	100%

 

There are 55 rope coils on belay pins, and 20 rope coils on the deck (including the 16 coils I had added for the cannon earlier).

 

SMS – Ship Modeling Simplified by Frank Mastini

[Cathead]

Nicely done! The time report is certainly interesting, I've never had the patience to do that.

[Larry Cowden]

On 4/18/2018 at 5:54 PM, Dave3092 said:

I decided on the H.M.S. Beagle because we had traveled to he Galapagos islands back in 2012.  I purchased the kit on eBay after it was no longer available from the manufacturer.  This particular kit was originally purchased in 1995, so it us already 23 years old.  So far, I have scanned and OCR'd the instructions and parts lists from the original instructions. 

 

From that, I created a master parts list to compare to the inventory provided.  Almost everything seems to be there, but I have two items that I need some help identifying.

 

These were in the same bag as the cannon and carriages.  They look like a strap to hold the wheel axles, but the bumps do not line up with the axle indents on the carriage.

And I haven't been able to identify what these might be.

Any help identifying these would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Those  pieces above are the cannon strap down brackets placed over the trunnions on the carriages.

[Larry Cowden]

Very well laid out and noting the particular shortfalls with some items. This will come in handy when I start mine.

[Dave3092]

Thanks for your comments.  If you are doing this model, one thing I would particularly tell you to watch out for is preparing the deck fixtures and mast tops for rigging ahead of time.  Both belay pin racks for the masts required holes to be drilled in a couple of the vertical posts, which would have been easy before I installed them but very difficult afterwards.  The same was true with the mast tops.  Overall, check the rigging diagrams before you start on the deck fixtures or masts to determine what might need to be drilled before you actually get to the rigging.

 

Good luck!  I think this is a good ship to learn modeling on.