HMS Beagle by usedtosail - OcCre - 1:60

[usedtosail]

This will be the second Beagle model that I will build. I built the Mamoli Beagle model many years ago and gave it to my son. Since the Ochre kit is fairly new and is supposed to be a better representation of the real ship I was intrigued enough to buy it and build it. I am a retired engineer and scientist so besides the fact that this ship was so important because of Charles Darwin, it was also a survey and hydrographer ship which I think is really cool. I have the Anatomy of the Ship (AOS) book for the Beagle, which I used for the previous build and will use for this one too.

 

I opened the box today and at first glance the contents look OK. After building a few modern kits from companies like Vanguard, I realize how these kits from older European companies are really lacking in the realism of some of the smaller details. I will try to improve them as I go along. This kit comes with sails that are way too thick but I haven't ruled out using them yet. Maybe I'll use them as patterns for more appropriate sails. I may be starting this model this week, but don't expect to really get into it until after the holidays.

[Cathead]

As a fellow scientist (geologist and naturalist) the Beagle is on my life list as well. I'll enjoy following along. Back in 2018 I was able to visit a life-size replica being built in Chilean Patagonia; I posted some photos here (see comment #14) as part of a longer thread on Chilean maritime history.

[usedtosail]

Thanks Eric. I downloaded those pictures a while ago when I bought the kit. Thanks for posting them.

[usedtosail]

I started gluing the bulkheads to the keel, using Legos to align them while the glue dries.

 

[usedtosail]

All the bulkheads are glued in so the next step is to fit the deck. The slots in the deck were narrower than the thickness of the bulkheads so I used a burr in the drill press to widen the slots until the deck fit. I then removed it and marked it for planking ( a few times). The instructions have you use full size strips then mark them to 60mm but I am cutting the strips to 60 mm and gluing them in end to end with a 3 butt shift. I did use longer strips for the center plank. I am using Tacky glue to glue these down with.

 

[usedtosail]

I finished adding the planks to the deck, so I now need to trim them to the edges, sand the planks down and cut the slots back out. Then I will add the treenails around the plank joints.

 

 

 

[usedtosail]

I finished preparing the deck and it is now ready to install. I trimmed the excess planks, sanded it down, then used an awl to make indents for the treenails. I filled these with wood putty, then sanded the deck again. I then finished the deck with pre-stain, Golden Oak stain, and wipe on poly. I also checked the fit of the upper deck bulkhead pieces in the slots in the deck before finishing it.

 

 

I was happy that I used individual planks instead of using full length planks and drawing in the plank ends. I was also a little worried about the thickness of the supplied planking wood, but it did sand up nicely.

[RossR]

I agree that not drawing the plank joints looks better.  Nice work.  

[usedtosail]

Thanks Ross. Do you have a build log for your Beagle build?

 

I tested the fit of the upper deck bulkheads, then glued the deck to the frames. Instead of trying to glue it to all the frames at once, I started with the middle frames, let that dry, then the front frames, then the back frames. I then glued the bulkheads to the deck.

 

 

Next will be planking the outside of the bulkheads with the same material supplied to plank the deck.

 

Edited January 20 by usedtosail
Bulkheads not bulwarks! Doh!

[RossR]

No build log.  I discover Model ship world just as I was finishing my Beagle.  

[usedtosail]

No problem Ross. I'll bet it came out great.

 

I finished planking the bulkheads and gave them a coat of oak stain. I then test fit the fore deck to the bulkheads and frames, and had to widen a couple of the slots to get it to fit. I want to joggle the planks on the fore deck as shown in the AOS Beagle book.

 

 

I first made a margin plank in two pieces to fit around the front of the fore deck. I tried using basswood sheet for this but it kept breaking while shaping it, so I found some per wood from the edges of a laser cut sheet from a previous kit that provided just enough for the two pieces. These stayed together nicely so I glued them to the deck and sanded the outside edges to be flush with the deck.

 

 

The pear was thicker than the planking strips supplied with the kit so for these planks I used some 1/32" basswood strips that I had. I fit and glued three planks on each side of the center of the fore deck. These were just cut straight and fit to the inside edge of the margin plank. I then started joggling the planks by lining them up to the back corner of the previous plank, then made a mark about half way across the plank and another mark where the plank came off of the margin plank. I cut that piece off the side of the plank then marked the shape on the margin plank and cut that out with an X-Acto knife. I then fit the plank to the cut out and glued it in place. For the last plank on each side I used 1/4” basswood strip that I trimmed down to fit the gap, since it was slightly wider than the 3/32” strips I was using and I did not want to have a sliver plank along the side. Since all these planks are less than 60mm long I used full length strips for them, but I will add treenails after sanding these down.

 

 

 

I will probably do something similar to this for the aft deck planking.

[usedtosail]

The aft deck shown in the AOS Beagle book does not show a margin plank, but instead the planks near the edges are cut into the previous planks, as shown here in this out of focus image.

 

 

And here is my version of this. The left side is not yet sanded so you can see the plank edges easier.

 

 

These planks are longer than 60mm so I added them in 60mm lengths. I will be adding treenails to both the fore and aft deck planks, then staining them.

[usedtosail]

I added treenails to each upper deck the same way I did on the main deck. Since there were no plank joints in the bow deck, I just made three lines of treenails alll the way across the deck. I then stained the two upper decks and gave them two coats of Wipe On Poly. When they dried I glued them in place.

 

 

 

I tried using some Brass Brown on the doors and window grates but they came out more black than brown. I left the window grates as they came out but painted the doors with flat brown paint. Since I did not want the planking to show through the window grates, I glued them to a piece of black paper then cut them out and glued them to the bulkheads.

 

 

Next step is the add some knobs and hinges to the doors then glue them in place.