HMS Beagle by Tecko - OcCre - 1:60

[Tecko]

I decided to use a 1mm polystyrene sheet for the skylight surrounds.

Here, I am testing the Poop Cabin skylight.

So far, I think it looks promising.

[Tecko]

Too tired to assemble the captain's and gunroom skylights. Maybe tomorrow.

[Tecko]

I am tired, and so is the Beagle who is dreaming about a promised kennel.

Good night, my friends.

[Tecko]

Today's update...

[Tecko]

Sorry for the delay in completing the skylights. I have been too tired to do so.
My mates have been getting me back into cycling. The trouble is that I am 20 kgs overweight, and losing it seems to be an impossible task without burning off my fat reserves. The guys I ride with are 70+ y.o., and the better riders average 30 kph. It has taken me a few months of riding to be able to stay with the faster guys. Last week I rode 5 out of seven days, my best performance since returning to the sport. I rode about 270 kms. I am now losing weight, but it will still take a long time to lose the excess.

I am feeling better today and looking forward to completing the skylights.

[Tecko]

Even though I completed the wooden panelling, it is still not finished. I've run into a few problems (as expected with model building).

The white 1mm polystyrene sheet is quite light-transparent. I will have to dim the light source even more.

The interior needs to be repainted white to see if that lessens the effect. I am after a warm light effect.

I am not happy with the doors. I might add panels of the lighter timber.

 

I experimented with a section of the captain's skylight that is not seen when placed on the deck.

I included protective bars across the windows. I will try to do a better job of it with the rest of the windows.

You can see the interior light penetrating the upper panel.

[Tecko]

Well. This is enough for me. Back to the boat.

[The Gimps Chimp]

Hi Peter,

You are making a fantastic job of those skylights.  Can't wait to see what effect the lighting will have on the completed model.  

Geoff

[Tecko]

3 hours ago, The Gimps Chimp said:

Hi Peter,

You are making a fantastic job of those skylights.  Can't wait to see what effect the lighting will have on the completed model.  

Geoff

Thank you, Geoff, for the compliment.

[Tecko]

While sleeping last night, I had a dream about those skylight doors. There is still something wrong with them...

First of all, according to the build kit, the doors are too small, resembling cabinet doors.

Besides, what are the slanted hatch lids for?

 

This morning, I had a closer look at some HMS Beagle plans and discovered that there is a ladder-way from the Captain's cabin to the upper deck. 

Aha! So, these doors should be taller. . . I extended the doors and panel to indicate this.

 

[Tecko]

I was hoping to get a start on planking, but there is still a matter of wiring that runs within the hull area. I need to do the wiring first.

The wiring is for lighting. There are several lights I wish to explore. There are the skylighting areas and the night lights. HMS Beagle did not install any port-starboard (red-green) nav lights. However, it did use lanterns during the night. I will be installing some lanterns in this build. The wiring needs to be fine/thin to conceal it where possible. Yesterday I ordered the wires, and that will take a while to arrive.

 

I am also still waiting for a book to arrive, HMS Beagle, which has been delayed from the USA. After my recent adventure into constructing the captain's skylight, I realised how little I know about ship design and what to look for. I hope this book will provide me with a better understanding of the construction of the HMS Beagle. I know there is a better book on this subject, but it's too expensive to justify the cost of what I can do with this kit.

 

About the lighting. AI tells me the following...

 

[Tecko]

I got a couple of postal deliveries. Two books arrived, and I am happy to have received them.

Yesterday, I bought a tin of satin clear varnish and a tin of sanding sealer (pore filler lacquer) from the local hardware store.
As recommended by the kit instructions, I gave the deck a coat of sealer.

[Tecko]

Here is another sci-fi movie. . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI2KIQbewkY&list=PL2gsu7VGzgdbQ9kmI3nyEcLGE20BtQDgV&index=92

 

[Tecko]

I am disappointed with the OcOre's HMS Beagle kit regarding the degree of accuracy.

The kit's scale is 1:60, but parts of the ship are too small for humans of that scale. For instance, the four doors in the aft section are 22 x 13mm. That is, 1320mm (4' 4") high and 780mm (2' 6.7") wide. The cabin interior height is 23.5mm i.e., 1410mm (4' 7.5").

 

If the 1:60 scale is true, the ship must have been for dwarves. 

It does not say much for Darwin's theory of evolution, regarding humans.

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  'Affordable' kits often have many compromises ... and even outright shortcomings.  That's where doing research and buying better aftermarket fittings, buying or making scale rope, etc. will upgrade a model - but at a cost.  But like painter Bob Ross said, "Its your world ... you can do anything you want."

[Tecko]

10 hours ago, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

  'Affordable' kits often have many compromises ... and even outright shortcomings.  That's where doing research and buying better aftermarket fittings, buying or making scale rope, etc. will upgrade a model - but at a cost.  But like painter Bob Ross said, "Its your world ... you can do anything you want."

Thank you for your feedback.

[Tecko]

An example of AI contradictions...

 

After being on the HMS Beagle for nearly five years, it is no wonder Charles Darwin developed a stoop. 😉

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Indeed, A.I. can get it wrong.   I asked what the draft of a C&O canal boat was, and the A.I. 'summary' said 6 feet. I knew this had to be wrong, because I recently visited the Monacay river aqueduct on the C&O and measured the trough depth (from half a foot beneath the top of the capstones) of 5' to the material added to the bottom during the maintenance done in 2005 - which added half a foot to the original base.  Thus the range of water depth in the aqueduct available (though deeper in the earthen sections) when the canal was in use was 5 to 5 1/2 feet.

 

So I did my own search to find the original specifications in use between 1873 and 1924 (the year of closure) and found that the largest boat was limited in loaded draft to between 4' 3" and 4' 9" - consistent with my measurements of the stone passage.

 

A.I. was likely stating the distance from keel to gunwale (6'), because the specifications for minimum draft was 6" to 11". The barges were merely wooden boxes with slightly rounded ends, so an empty barge rode high in the water, and was known as a 'lighter'. Due to some low bridges, the overall height also had to be limited.  Still, you can get many good leads from A.I. - but you still have to use human intelligence plus logic to 'filter' out bad info.  It also depends HOW you ask a question in a search, so multiple queries put in different ways can lead to useful results.

[The Gimps Chimp]

On 12/14/2025 at 10:08 AM, Tecko said:

I am disappointed with the OcOre's HMS Beagle kit regarding the degree of accuracy.

The kit's scale is 1:60, but parts of the ship are too small for humans of that scale. For instance, the four doors in the aft section are 22 x 13mm. That is, 1320mm (4' 4") high and 780mm (2' 6.7") wide. The cabin interior height is 23.5mm i.e., 1410mm (4' 7.5").

 

If the 1:60 scale is true, the ship must have been for dwarves. 

It does not say much for Darwin's theory of evolution, regarding humans.

Hi Peter,

Looking at ATOS for the Beagle and making a crude on-screen measurment, it looks to me that the doors are approx 4' 9" high and 1' 9" wide.  So very small by todays standards, but maybe not quite as small as the OcOre kit.

Geoff

 

Edited yesterday at 04:21 PM by The Gimps Chimp

[Tecko]

6 hours ago, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

 ...  Still, you can get many good leads from A.I. - but you still have to use human intelligence plus logic to 'filter' out bad info.  It also depends HOW you ask a question in a search, so multiple queries put in different ways can lead to useful results.

Thank you for the feedback.

Well, as I go over the hill, my human intelligence is blunting. And more so, in this case, as I am so used to being 6'2".

AI discrepancies become clearer by asking different questions on the same subject, which I did, and you concurred.

And by posing my disappointments and questioning the kit scale, I got clarification from the wise people of this forum.

I thank you all for putting me on the right track and mindset.

[Tecko]

4 hours ago, The Gimps Chimp said:

Hi Peter,

Looking at ATOS for the Beagle and making a crude on-screen measurment, it looks to me that the doors are approx 4' 9" high and 1' 9" wide.  So very small by todays standards, but maybe not quite as small as the OcOre kit.

Geoff

 

Thank you for the scaled drawing, a great reference for me to learn from.

[Tecko]

Thank you, @GrandpaPhil, for your 'likes'.

[Tecko]

I was able to get a free PDF download of the ATOS book...

https://vdoc.pub/documents/anatomy-of-the-ship-hms-beagle-survey-ship-extraordinary-243g3u4qjal0