HMSV Beagle - OcCre - 1/60

[Faraway]

[Bertie McBoatface]

We filled the last page in nine hours!

 

36 minutes ago, Faraway said:

 

 

I actually did listen to The Doors while I worked today!😁

[BillF67]

16 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

 

Riders on the Storm is my favourite.

I would have expected People Are Strange from you😵‍💫

[Bertie McBoatface]

22 minutes ago, BillF67 said:

I would have expected People Are Strange from you😵‍💫

Touché!

[Bertie McBoatface]

Today, nothing. 

 

Well, I unclamped yesterday's gluing and nothing fell off.

 

Other than that, nothing.

 

I wasn't in the mood and didn't feel the need to force myself to the bench. That's an improvement actually, the relaxed feeling about doing nothing on a pleasant summer Saturday. No pressure. Perhaps that comes from the longgggggggggggggg timescale of the project? What's a day off here and there?

 

It's going to be too hot to be out after 09:00 tomorrow, so the plan is to rise early and walk in the woods while it's coolio. Then Tess will return to her bed and I'll crack on with the bulwarks and/or the pedestal mounting captive nuts.

 

Hmm, 'crack on' is an unfortunate turn of phrase in the circs....

[Bertie McBoatface]

I just installed a bulwark. Phew!

 

I've been dreading it because it's a major job made much worse by my earlier mods to the deck and my refusal to use the pins which are OcCre's  way to hold the planks and bulwarks on. I know that the pins work because I've seen them used on other build logs. But. I just can't be confident in the idea of driving brass pins through the face of plywood and into the edges of thin plywood. I'll bend the pins getting through the face of the ply and then they won't lodge in the edges, which I'll probably not hit dead centre anyway. Nope, I'll find a different way.

 

But first.

 

Digression #1 Tools and Why I Love Them

 

 

I'm feeling a little saw. Yes, another new tool. My other 'gentleman's saw' has a much shallower blade. It was excellent for plastics work but in some applications with wood, I was running out of cut. This one gives me a couple of inches between the brass back and the teeth. Did I need it? Of course not. But “O, reason not the need!” It's enough to want it. Beautiful tools are a joy to use and that's more than enough justification for me. 

 

 

Beagle no longer has that swing of the hips. The box section created by the double deck sandwich has straightened everything out well enough. It's actually bent in the other direction by a couple of degrees but that's within my tolerances. There may be a slight misalignment of the masts but I'll take that out by adjusting the tension of the rigging. Just like the real seamen did.

 

 

Those decks look like the floor down at the Palais De Danse.

 

This is what I've been doing for the last couple of days; anything but the bulwarks. I even dodged the workbench altogether yesterday. Silly really, to get anxious over something like this but perhaps it's necessary if we are going to have the maximum joy at the end. Right then let's get to it.

 

 

That's the sharpest curve that the bulwark has to make and it's the sharpest bend I've ever tried to form. The OcCre way relies on the pinning to drag the plank in tight to the glue. My way is to shape the plank to fit and then rely on simple clamping.

 

 

It's not so bad at the back end, but notice the aftermost couple of centimeters. I had to return it to the heat to make that sit correctly.

 

 

And this is the worst of it, up at the bows. The width goes from 25mm to 8mm then up to 10mm again. Almost everyone snaps it there, if they snap it anywhere. You have to be so aware of where you are applying heat and pressure and adjust it to suit the tensile strength of the cross section. If I hadn't seen the problems on the other build logs (on MSW), I would have broken the first side too. 

 

I would then have repaired it, of course. It wouldn't have been a fatal error but it would have pinged me off and made for a kinky gunwale.

 

 

Generally, I bent the thin bits with this plank bending variation of the soldering iron and a wooden former.

 

I didn't think it would work on the thicker sections because it's so narrow, but I've just realised, looking at the photo above, that I probably could have used the stem of the iron as a heater. You can see how hot it gets from the discolouration.

 

 

Of course the former wouldn't have been wide enough either...

 

Note too the gunports in the bulwark. They added weaknesses in unexpected places too.

 

Note to other Beaglebuilders. When you remove those squares, keep them. They are the gun port lids.

 

 

I did the gentle bends on the wider sections using a regular smoothing iron with two layers of toweling acting as the concave former.

 

 

Almost the final shape. The bow is overbent because that works better for me. I clamp the middle and the ends of the curve naturally get pressed home.

 

 

At the same time that I was adjusting the bends, I was fettling the hull. This tiny piece of badly trimmed deck must be less than a mm wide but it caused me endless difficulties until I tracked it down

 

 

That adjustment made a world of difference right up at the bow, perhaps five inches forward of the actual tab. Errors multiply! There were many such accommodations to be made due to my cambered deck and abortive poop cabin.

 

Digression #2 Two Tool Tips

 

 

That plank bending iron comes with a stand so that it doesn't burn your desk or roll into your lap. The stand is aluminium, a brilliant conductor and holder of heat. I burned my hand on it. I will make a better stand. Grrr!

 

 

This is a fibre glass 'pen' that I used to use for removing ejection pin marks in plastic. It is marvellously good for cleaning clogged files. I only discovered that today and it's worth passing on. I'll be cleaning all of my files this afternoon.

 

 

Unable to put it off any longer, I did the thing. An hour or more spent shaping the ply and fettling the hull paid off and it went together well, I think. I won't know for sure until I take the clamps off. That will be tomorrow as I'm not taking any chances with this.

 

 

Those spring clamps come with pads to protect the finish of the wood. They are removeable and this is often very useful. The naked side of the clamps went inside the boat and hooked around those strengthening blocks I built in below the deck, eliminating any slippage underneath.

 

 

The outer jaws of the clamps were prone to pinging on the curves of the boat so I locked these into place with a scrap of sandpaper folded over. They all have such a friction pad, but I made a huge one here so you could see what I mean. Nothing has flown off into orbit yet...

 

So that was how I spent 90 minutes attaching one piece of this kit. I remember building and painting, playing with and burning a whole Airfix Spitfire in less time than that, but that was last week.

 

[jenko]

Just caught up with this . What  can I say ...it'll  be a cracker when it's  done.

Nice one Bertie  👍 👌 👏 

 

Dick

[ColonelKrypton]

40 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

This is a fibre glass 'pen' that I used to use for removing ejection pin marks in plastic. It is marvellously good for cleaning clogged files.

 

Gum erasers, new toothbrushes, and there are brass and stainless steel versions of the glass fibre as well. You can also use a small rotary wire brush in rotary tool too.

 

All will get the job done. I tend to not use the glass fibre just to limit the amount wee tiny bits of glass fibre on the workbench that seem to get everywhere whenever I use one as I don't like the thought of getting said bit of glass fibre sliver stuck in a finger or elsewhere.

 

cheers, Graham

 

 

[SafetyDad]

That's a nifty little shaped wood former there Bertie - is it home made? 

 

Thanks for the bending tutorial as well - it's very helpful to see the ideas I've read about actually used in real life.

 

SD

[Bertie McBoatface]

4 minutes ago, SafetyDad said:

That's a nifty little shaped wood former there Bertie - is it home made? 

 

No, it came with the bender, which is brilliant with ordinary planks by the way. It's a clever shape and will do most curves but I think I might make a few more just for the fun of it.

[Bertie McBoatface]

I’ve just realised that if I can handle the work I did this morning, looping the rigging into place will be easy. Everyone knows that a beagle’s bulwark is worse than its bight. 😂

 

 

(It was worth the whole build and WIP just for that line!)

[jenko]

He's trying to compete with Kiwidave. 

Oh dear  

Edited July 17, 2022 by jenko

[Bertie McBoatface]

 

New year, new name, new signature, new face - same old me.

 

The port side bulwark is fine now that the glue has set. It has a few unintended curves but with luck they won't show on the outside when it's overplanked inside and out. I'd like to do the starboard side now, but in this weather I'm afraid I can't do anything more difficult than surfing the forum.

 

[Adm Lord De Univers]

On 15/07/2022 at 19:23, Bertie McBoatface said:

Speaking of the deck, it didn't explode when I took the clamps off. Hurrah!

Always a good sign! Maybe lay off that nitroglycerin glue?

 

On 15/07/2022 at 19:23, Bertie McBoatface said:

The old dog is starting to look more shipshape now. I'm dead chuffed with it. 

Oh yes she is, also I love those doors too, theyve come out a treat! The End is my fav though.

 

She's looking the business now.

 

David

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

5 minutes ago, Adm Lord De Univers said:

The End is my fav though.

Blunt or pointy?

[steve5]

excellent work as always bertie .

[Bertie McBoatface]

6 hours ago, steve5 said:

excellent work as always Bertie .

 

Thanks Steve. 

[Bertie McBoatface]

Second bulwark. 

 

 

That's just sitting there.

 

 

It's glued but not yet clamped. The second time around it took 50 minutes instead of 90 and the fit was so much better that it hardly needed clamps at all.

 

In fact I used only five instead of ten, and didn't need the humungous great one to hold my poop in. (Hahaha! Last time, promise.)

 

Every time I do these things I get quicker and more accurate. As if we need reminding, the secret to being a good modeller is to MAKE MORE MODELS! 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Another secret is to review your work and when I look at those skylight shapes, even before the PE windows are fitted, I conclude that they look awfully like half sucked toffees. Awful indeed. Something will have to be done!

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

I've kept going on this rather warm day in England but the temp in my flat has now reached the level where my wood glue dries before I can bring the pieces together and paint dries fast enough to stick my brush to the model's surface. Game over for the day, and probably until Wednesday. Three hours and 35 minutes for the day (including the bulwark fitting from this morning) takes the running total to 45:25.

 

 

The skylights did look awful. I first sanded a curve on their bases so that they would sit nicely on the cambered deck. This was the largest diameter round thing I could lay my hands on. It's still a lot tighter radius than the decks but it worked well enough.

 

 

I made decorative skirting boards all round and then added another layer of roof, leaving an overlap this time.

 

 

And then a coat of paint in the ship's colours. With the PE hinges and window frames, I think that will do.

 

I then tried lining the bulwarks with the thin OcCre lime planking but was defeated by the heat.

 

This doesn't look much like the progress I'd like for three hours plus at the desk. I'll put that down to the heat as well.

 

 

[Adm Lord De Univers]

6 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

This doesn't look much like the progress I'd like for three hours plus at the desk. I'll put that down to the heat as well.

That you managed to do any modelling in this heat is quite a success.

 

David

[Bertie McBoatface]

5 hours ago, Adm Lord De Univers said:

That you managed to do any modelling in this heat is quite a success.

 

David

I guess that’s true. I’m in those heat related doldrums like the Ancient Mariner. I’ll adjust my expectations for today. 🥵

 

In fact, my expectations are zero. I'll spend the 'modelling day' pottering around, servicing tools, researching planking techniques, looking at that catalogue etc. The paints and glues are behaving badly but my main problem with this weather is that I'm a bit brain fogged for lack of sleep and very likely to make more mistakes than progress. 

 

I'm also slightly irritable and must be very careful what I write on line!!

[Adm Lord De Univers]

3 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

In fact, my expectations are zero.

You can go lower than that! I'm thinking paddling pool, iced cream, cpt hat. Time to see how well these wooden boats sail!

 

David

[Bertie McBoatface]

36 minutes ago, Adm Lord De Univers said:

Time to see how well these wooden boats sail!

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

[Kitsticker]

Hi Bertie/Psmith*

 

Loving your build, wood is good (repeat 20 times) 

 

To quote your wise words, 'Beautiful tools are a joy to use and that's more than enough justification for me. '

 

Yup, that'll do for me too, and if they have wooden handles (eg your Gents (Gentleman's)) saw so much the better

 

That plank bending tool is ace, I remember Doug McHard making extraordinary shapes in balsa and spruce for his flying models, amazing stuff....with a candle and a spam tin!

 

(So if wood is good why do I have so many plastic kits in the stash.....? I've got a few balsa fliers too though......errrrrm I dunno)

 

Keep up the (extra specially) good work

 

Geoff

 

PS I love Psmith in the PGW books, especially 'Mike and Psmith*' which I'm sure you know - anyone else - I recommend it for a bit of light hearted, light reading

 

* Psmith Journalsit ain't too bad either........

 

Just sayin......

[Bertie McBoatface]

7 hours ago, Kitsticker said:

Loving your build, wood is good (repeat 20 times) 

 

Thank you and yes it is! I'm really enjoying the smell of the sawdust, the texture of the stuff and so forth.

 

7 hours ago, Kitsticker said:

To quote your wise words, 'Beautiful tools are a joy to use and that's more than enough justification for me. '

 

Yup, that'll do for me too, and if they have wooden handles (eg your Gents (Gentleman's)) saw so much the better

 

That plank bending tool is ace, 

 

I've always believed that you should buy the best tools that you can afford. It's one of the few things that just aren't worth saving money on. I decided this working in the RAF in the seventies when the defence budget meant that we had to work with rubbish hand tools. I swear those spanners were made out of cheese.

 

7 hours ago, Kitsticker said:

(So if wood is good why do I have so many plastic kits in the stash.....? I've got a few balsa fliers too though......errrrrm I dunno)

 

Fortunately I haven't got many plastic kits, about 15, right now, I can't imagine going back to them but you never know. If I haven't built one by this time next year, I'll flog the lot.

 

Flying models have never interested me since the first and only one I made crashed catastrophically on its maiden flight.

 

7 hours ago, Kitsticker said:

PS I love Psmith in the PGW books, especially 'Mike and Psmith*' which I'm sure you know

 

I like Wooster but I never read Psmith. (I left it to him. 😁 ) I wanted to have Bertie Wooster as a pen name but it was already taken so I just picked the next one that came to mind. I think you are the first person to even get the reference, most refer to me as Mr Smith, P. Smith. It annoyed me slightly for a year so I'm happy to be Mr Boatface from now on.