HMS Beagle by Maid of the Mist - FINISHED - OcCre - 1:60

[Maid of the Mist]

 

The round-to-square transition is done and the connection piece fits snugly.  

 

 

The transition has to leave a bit of an edge as a guide for the maintop supports:

 

 

Before the maintop goes on, however, we have to stain all the pieces a nice sapelli wood colour.  The 3x1mm limewood pieces on the right side below will be stained, and then bent around the edges of the main top.  As you can see from the maintop below, the curves required are quite tight, but my plank bending tool and some CA glue got it done for the foretop.  

 

[Greg Davis]

6 hours ago, Maid of the Mist said:

I would love to have a precision tool for this to get a perfect square,

You may have some success using a vice - after filing / sanding / cutting the first flat, put that side to one of the vice jaws and make a second flat using the top of the jaws as a guide, rotate 90 degrees and repeat, ...

 

You may find Amazon and / or a local hobby store - even Hobby Lobby a quicker location for picking up wire and wood to finish your build.

 

Regardless, your HMS Beagle is looking really nice!

 

Happy New Year

 

Greg

[Maid of the Mist]

Well, the plank bending tool has come out for the final time to shape the "border" around the maintop.  The limewood is so thin it bends to shape with little pressure.  You just have to be careful not to burn it.  

 

 

It can then be bent the rest of the way and fixed with CA glue:

 

 

The main mast for HMS Beagle is meant to tilt backwards slightly (compared to the foremast which is vertical) so for the main top and the various supports to remain flat relative to the ground they have to be attached at an angle. You can see in the picture below I've started attaching the supports:

 

 

[Maid of the Mist]

I’ve made quite a significant decision regarding the build. Over the past month I’ve been working on the masts and had started the rigging, but my enjoyment of the project was steadily diminishing with those jobs. I found the masts and rigging far too delicate for my liking, with unforgiving tolerances that needed to be precise to achieve a satisfactory result.  Keeping the masts perfectly upright while maintaining properly tensioned lines proved frustrating rather than rewarding.

 

I also realised that once the yards, bowsprit and masts are in place, the model became very large and, for me, somewhat impractical to display, particularly as I’d like to continue expanding my collection. Presenting the model without the full rig also has the added benefit of making it much easier to appreciate the deck details, as you can lean directly over the model without worrying about anything getting in the way.

 

So, I've decided to present it like a contemporary dockyard model - perhaps a gift to a senior naval officer - with shortened masts and bowsprit and no rigging. While there’s a sense of disappointment in not completing the model exactly as originally intended, I invested five months in the build and was genuinely pleased with the result right up until the mast and rigging stage. Presenting it this way has allowed me to finish the project in a manner that still reflects the enjoyment and effort I put into it.

 

I think this will be the approach I take with future ships as well.  Of course it's convenient because I personally struggle with rigging, but I like to think I'm following a historically legitimate presentation style as well.

 

I leave you with final photos of the finished build. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Saturday at 07:54 AM by Maid of the Mist

[vvvjames]

You know I sometimes wish I could view the deck details without the masts/sails/rigging getting in the way, especially with your build and the work you've put into the deck. I like what you did with the masts, that's a lovely way to present it. Great work on the Beagle and congrats on finishing! Will definitely keep an eye out for the next build log👀

[Cathead]

Kudos for confronting that challenging question and coming up with a solution that's best for you. I agree that I really like the look of "dockyard" models and they have the advantages of display efficiency and easier viewing of deck details. Arguably they're also easier to keep clean (or to clean). I think you can be justifiably proud of this result and enjoy displaying it! Thanks for sharing the journey.

[JacquesCousteau]

Very nice work! The dockyard style looks great.

[ccoyle]

Congratulations! There's nothing dishonorable about presenting your subject as a hull model -- this is a not uncommon stylistic choice.

 

Cheers!

[Knocklouder]

Very nice work, Congratulations  

Bob  M.

[Greg Davis]

well done! looking forward to the next adventure!

[palmerit]

9 hours ago, Maid of the Mist said:

I think this will be the approach I take with future ships as well.  Of course it's convenient because I personally struggle with rigging, but I like to think I'm following a historically legitimate presentation style as well.

Great job! I was recently at a great display of model ships (all of them historic models) in Toronto and a large proportion of them did not include masts or rigging - saw the same at a display in Scotland last summer. 

[Geordie Tyne]

Congratulations on the completion of your model. She is a lovely looking ship.

 

Regards 

Edited Saturday at 05:44 PM by Geordie Tyne
Punctuation