HMS Beagle by The Gimps Chimp - FINISHED - OcCre - 1:60

[Penfold]

Hi Chimp,

I’m liking the look of this so far and am thinking of this model for my next build, so hope you don’t mind if I follow along.

keep up the good work.

 

[The Gimps Chimp]

Hi Penfold,

Welcome, good to have you watching on

Chimp

[Dart]

I am also building such a ship. I will follow with interest.

[The Gimps Chimp]

Good to have you here too Dart . 

Chimp

[The Gimps Chimp]

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

[Pete D]

5 hours ago, The Gimps Chimp said:

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

I agree , the first planking can be remedied . Looks good , and slow is always good . I always say in all the versions of the story , the hare never ever won the race

[Cathead]

You could certainly start tapering the bow planks right away to absorb some of the curves that will keep getting worse as you go down, rather than doing some full-width and others entirely cut off once it gets to extreme. Best way to learn is by doing, though, so keep it up!

[The Gimps 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

 

 

[The Gimps 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

 

 

[uncarina]

I haven’t seen the ship’s boats built up before (aside from the Occre videos), and your work looks great.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Penfold]

Looks to be coming along nicely 👍

[Pete D]

Looks great . Keep up the nice work . Am keeping a close eye one the small boat work >

[The Gimps 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

 

 

[The Gimps 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

 

 

[Ryland Craze]

30 minutes ago, The Gimps Chimp said:

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,

Do not be embarrassed to post you work here.  We are here to help and support you in your build.  Planking a hull can be very difficult and rewarding at the same time.  We have excellent articles on planking located under the More tab at the top of this page.  These articles will give you the knowledge to achieve excellent planked hulls.

 

I feel that with a lot of sanding and some wood filler, you will have an excellent base for the second planking.  Your Beagle will turn out to be a fine looking model.

[MEDDO]

Glad you stuck with it.  I say many of us started just like this.  It is a far sight better than my first planking job on my Swift

[Jim Lad]

Chimp, you stuck with it and you got the first planking on.  Just consider it to be a foundation for the second layer and remember that its amazing what a little sanding will do.  Stick with it mate!

 

John

[JeffT]

Give it a good sanding and some filler and it will be good to go for the second layer.

[mtaylor]

Chimp, after you're done sanding and filling and sanding, have a look at that planking tutorials here:  https://modelshipworld.com/forum/98-planking-downloads-and-tutorials-and-videos/     I suggest looking through all of them and pick the one that feels good to you mentally.  The first layer just has to be smooth and fair.. no highs and lows.  

[Pete D]

8 hours ago, The Gimps Chimp said:

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

 

 

Good to see that you hung in there . As the others have said , a good sanding and some filler and you will be good to go at the final planking

[The Gimps 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

[Penfold]

Looking good👍

[Pete D]

10 hours ago, The Gimps Chimp said:

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

Good work 

[shipshaper]

Looking good Chimp, I'm pulling up a stool!

[The Gimps 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

 

[Ryland Craze]

Good job on the planking.  The Sapele veneer looks really nice.  The wood filler was a good match as you cannot see where it was applied.

[Penfold]

Looks good from here👍

[uncarina]

I really like your work Chimp! The color and shape of the hull looks to be an excellent foundation for the rest of your build. Which wood filler did you use?

 

Cheers,  Tom

[The Gimps Chimp]

2 hours ago, uncarina said:

I really like your work Chimp! The color and shape of the hull looks to be an excellent foundation for the rest of your build. Which wood filler did you use?

 

Cheers,  Tom

Hi Tom,

 

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

 

[The Gimps 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