HMSV Beagle - OcCre - 1/60

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

I'd probably been sceptical about those plank bender tools previously but there's simply no denying that your bulwark there simply wouldn't have taken that curve without either that or an arduous and extended period of steaming and clamping with, I dare say, a much greater risk of being hurt with burns in the process.

[Bertie McBoatface]

2 hours ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

I'd probably been sceptical about those plank bender tools previously but there's simply no denying that your bulwark there simply wouldn't have taken that curve without either that or an arduous and extended period of steaming and clamping with, I dare say, a much greater risk of being hurt with burns in the process.

 

It's very controllable. The temperature id higher but is only applied exactly where you need it. In fact, its possible to get 'threepenny bit' bends if you aren't careful when the bend happens in too small an area. If you are careful to use lots of water to prevent scorching and move around a bit there's no problem. For ages (seconds really) nothing happens except steam and sizzle and then when the critical temp is reached and the lignin melts, the wood bends like a curly-wurly on a summer day. And sets into the curve in seconds too, as it cools down back past its 'freezing' point

 

The end of the tool gets very hot though and that stand is not the most stable and suitable material. I now place mine into an opened vice to be sure I don't knock it around and burn myself. It's like a soldering iron but the big blob holds enough heat energy to give you a nasty burn if you are careless. That said, it's far safer than using a kettle to steam wood and then trying to clamp hot wood to the model. 

 

I've only used it a couple of times so I'm still learning. I intend to do the planking for Beagle's hull with it because the planks are thick at 3mm and the curves at the bluff bow are extreme indeed! By the time this one's done I'll be an expert. 😄 I do recommend the tool to all woodbenders. It's only a few quid.

 

More gentle curves amidships are done more smoothly and quickly with an iron and a towel, and twists are different again. My method for twisting is to use the iron upright so that I can manipulate the plank with both hands, holding it against the iron.

 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

With the temperature plummeting to a nice warm sunny day, I've been back at the bench this morning. I must mention how lucky I was yesterday though. As well as the heat being too fierce for paint and glue, I had one of my random migraines AND had a flare up of the old gut trouble too. Having all of them together is so much more efficient than being knocked off my perch on three different days. Sometimes you have to peer hard to find that bright side of life but it's always there somewhere. 🙂

 

 

Today I planked the insides of the bulwarks in the waist of the vessel. OcCre suggests cutting the planks around the gunports as you come to them - I guess just in case you lose them? This is a bad idea. Better to trim them all at the same time for a smoother edge. You won't lose the holes, just hold it up to the light.

 

Note that I put a thin plank at the bottom. There are two reasons for this. First, a thin plank at the top would be more noticeable than at the bottom where a 'waterway', a gutter, will be fitted later. Second and more important, the planks across the ports were made to match the planks along the hull. It was a style thing and it's easier for me and more elegant if there is one join is in the middle of the port instead of two. I am beginning to anticipate some of these little things now and it is very cheering to do so after months of sorting out the messes I've made, after the event. 😄

 

 

One that I'm currently sorting out is a section of missed gluing from a couple of days ago. I missed it because I used so many clamps which ironically seem to have hidden that part of the joint from me. Oh well! Fortunately I have those huge bar-clamps that I ordered accidentally and which have been so useful. One of them has been used to bear down really hard on the poop this morning and squeeze all my problems away. (Sorry)

 

 

I'm rapidly moving towards the hull planking and the instructions/suggestions/hints/allusions suggest doing it like this. I've seen people on line think this is wrong and try to do it with those stern planks running vertically. It must be quite difficult to get the bends right? However, my reading of the experts, specifically Wolfram Zu Mondfeld, suggests that both vertical AND horizontal plank laying is incorrect.

 

 

It would seem likely that this was the real profile of the Beagle, according to Wolfram. Now I can't do that without re-cutting the frames and starting over so I'm going to go for this...

 

 

The OcCre frames are a square tuck stern. If I've understood the textbook in spite of the heat and headaches, it's more likely that in 1820 the shipwrights would have been making the rounded more efficient stern, but I'll skim over that detail on this, my second model vessel.

 

Whether round or square, those planks run OBLIQUELY! Oh my giddy aunt! Now I've seen it, I can't skip over that one.

 

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

 

Here's the text for those of you who are interested.

 

 

 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

I just had a thought about that stern and the oblique planks. I can do two layers, one horizontal for the curve and then one thinner at the correct angle so that I need only concern myself with the twist. Is it worth it when I'm planning to paint over it? Well, it's all learning, isn't it.

[Kitsticker]

Hi Bertie,

 

Thanks for your kind response, and......I never read Psmith. (I left it to him.) You are clearly familiar with his work, class!

 

Shame about the flying model, some do, some don't, you have clearly found your true calling now though, I'm sure we all look forward to your progress as it unfolds....

 

All the best

 

Geoff

[Bertie McBoatface]

3 hours ago, Kitsticker said:

Hi Bertie Thanks for your kind response

 

You are more than welcome. Thank YOU for the encouragement.

 

3 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

I just had a thought about that stern and the oblique planks. I can do two layers, one horizontal for the curve and then one thinner at the correct angle so that I need only concern myself with the twist. Is it worth it when I'm planning to paint over it? Well, it's all learning, isn't it.

 

I had another thought after that. Two thoughts in a day is risking burnout but I think it was a good one.

 

 

I call this the spaghetti carbonara solution. I've glued logs (toothpicks in our world) across the area that I have to plank obliquely. It may be that when the glue is fully dry tomorrow, I'll be able to file across it and greater a nicely parallel curve as a foundation for the outer planks, thus saving myself the hassle of laying a first planking. You could say it's a first logging rather than planking. I just wanted to find out how strong the structure thus made would be and how well it makes curves. 

 

It doesn't go right to the ends because It will be easier, I think, to ether trim back the wood or extend it with filler or balsa block than it would have been to work neatly from the beginning. Alas, I am no perfectionist!

 

 

This is the realisation of another idea left over from last week. Beagle was copper-bottomed. In fact she was bottomed with a skin of 2" thick deal planks, and then a layer of felt (?), and then she was coppered. That lot added 14 tons to her deadweight and perhaps made her handle better. Not only is it a lot of weight but it really couldn't be further down from her centre of buoyancy and would surely have made her stiffer, more resistant to the rolling for which the 10-gun brigs were notorious. She was definitely fast and Fitz Roy handled her with great dash. 

 

So the copper plating is definitely required. There's a lot of it and it's very expensive to buy the 'official' ship modelling sheets. I bought some rolls of self-adhesive copper foil instead. This is designed to deter slugs from climbing up plant pots but it's still copper. I quickly laid some sections of it in an overlapping pattern and then made the 'nails' with a plastic aircraft riveting tool. I did the joins first and then, for fun cross hatched it as I think I've seen a drawing like this. It's only a sketch but I think it shows the possibilities of the idea.

 

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

 

As well as this thinking and experimenting stuff, I've planked the insides of the bulwarks, cleaned up the overlapping edges and tidied the gun ports. No photos were required for that simple job. You'll see that I'm edging ever closer to starting the planking of the hull. In fact, now I remember, I have begun the job already by fairing in the frames and shaping the balsa block. I'll crack on with that tomorrow.

 

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

 

For now, I thought it might be an idea to show you some of the many books that are available on building and rigging model ships. This is the collection that I've accumulated recently. I used to be a bookseller and I've always been a reader so turning to the bookshelves is always a thing that I do on taking up a new hobby. Almost all of these have been acquired second hand, from Abe Books, Amazon and the local charity shops even though it would be difficult to live further away from the sea than here.

 

 

This is where it all begins. The historical fiction of Patrick O'Brian. Some episodes from several of the books were filmed as Master and Commander - Far Side of the World. I think the film was marvellous and was a very accurate portrayal of the books too. The books are fiction but I count them as a reference because they were meticulously researched and every page requires me to look up something. Since it's a part of the novels I love, I remember the looking's up more easily than usual. "Cross catharpins" were my first and best recalled mystery term.

 

 

I look them up in here, one of several companions to the series. There's another one that I wish for with all the maps and charts to study...

 

 

For general nautical questions not necessarily of the 18/19 centuries I turn to this. Sometimes I just turn to it for fun and read a letter's worth. 

 

 

This is the first of the model build manuals. It's designed for beginners and intermediate modellers who are working from kits. There's a warning on the back that there's nothing in here for the scratch-builder, which is  nice touch. It's very good and if you are going to try one of these kits for the first time you will find it very useful to have read it. I have read this one all the way through but must read it all again, as now I've built one, I have a much better idea of what I need to memorise properly.

 

 

I bought this at the same time. There's a lot of good information, especially in the drawings. The text is rambling, unconnected paragraphs badly in need of a good editor. Roth is opinionated at times and tactless. It's a book that's equal parts good and bad but I'm glad I've read it and will read it again. Eventually.

 

 

Planking the Lady Isabella's bottom was a trial of strength and I'm hoping that this will make the Beagle a little more relaxing. I made use of the chapters on the deck earlier on. Seems pretty good and makes me feel a bit more confident.

 

 

I found this in an Oxfam shop for £3. I havent read it yet but I dip in for a little read and a sniff of its pages from time to time.

 

 

There weren't any kits when this book was written but it includes plans and instructions for the building of three ships, working up to the Royal Albert there. I'd like these craft to be my first venture into scratch building one day.

 

 

What a charming acknowledgement of the work of Miss Smith and note the date.

 

 

This is a cheap Dover reprint of a similar book to the last one. It was originally published in 1926.

 

 

I love that a book from almost a hundred years ago is still so useful. No plans in this but clear hand drawn diagrams illustrating the things that we still have so much trouble with despite modelling ratlines for perhaps 500 years!

 

(@Ray S, you might find the diagram handy for those shrouds you are re-doing.)

 

 

There's even more rigging in here. It's another old Dover reprint but it turned out to be how to rig the real thing. 

 

 

It's more of a historical curiosity than a reference for me but there are some good diagrams. Or rather there were some good diagrams, all spoiled by being much too small to be helpful. I've bought a few of this type of reprint, all marred by the same problem. They still amuse though, even if they don't educate and inform.

 

 

This is a classic though. The author drew every line on several old models of square riggers in museums around Europe. They are drawn individually so that you can see them clearly, where they go and what they do. There's not a lot of text as the drawings speak for themselves. This book won't tell you all of the answers for ever ship but it teaches you how things work so that you can solve the questions for yourself. I hope so anyway, with my first square rigger on the bench beside me. There's another one on fore and aft rigs too.

 

 

This one came from America. Remember the first one was not for the advanced builder. This one is. It's almost all relevant to scratchers but this is only my second kit and it's invaluable to me already. Remember that the kit instructions seem always to be confusing and full of errors. Remember that there will be many things that you want to improve or change even in the simplest kits. That's how we drift into scratchbuilding parts, if not whole ships, right at the beginning, and this book helps on every page.

 

 

Today's random diagram is more than you need to know about a bowsptit.

 

 

And that's what I need to know about skylights. Aha!

 

I wish I could absorb these books like I used to be able to.  Most of the reading takes a lot of repeating to make it stick and I  haven't done a quarter of the reading for the first time. Ironically, what stops me reading right now is having so much fun finding things out for myself, experimenting and playing with my toy boats. However, I know I'm going to get a lot more serious about it a few more models down the line, so I'd better get on with my homework.

 

[Kitsticker]

What a fascinating collection of books...............

[Ray S]

11 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

"Cross catharpins" were my first and best recalled mystery term.

 

Thanks to Kieth Julier and Noel Hackney I knew what you meant! 

 

That was an amazing collection of books, and I will see if I can get a few. I was checking up for the Mondfeld book last night on Amazon and Abe Books, and was horrified at the price, especially for postage from the good ol' US of A! Thanks for showing us, it certainly gives food for thought.

 

Ray

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Bertie, you have an impressive collection of books there. I loved the Aubrey/Maturin series. I bought the first ten books but they got a bit expensive so I booked them out of the local library after that. He had a rather unusual style of writing, with his penchant for using typical sailor's err language from time to time. 🙂

Regards, Jeff.

[Bertie McBoatface]

22 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Bertie, you have an impressive collection of books there. I loved the Aubrey/Maturin series. I bought the first ten books but they got a bit expensive so I booked them out of the local library after that. He had a rather unusual style of writing, with his penchant for using typical sailor's err language from time to time. 🙂

Regards, Jeff.

 

I think his humour rivals Jane Austin for dryness. The technical details and battles are faultless, all based on real actions and people. The variation in writing styles between different narrators and styles is as interesting as Laurence  Sterne. The characters are very richly drawn (and were wonderfully cast and accurately played in the movie). The only thing that can be criticised is the extraordinary powers of recovery of the characters, both the people and the ships, but they have got to live through 20 books worth of adventures so I'll allow that. 😃

 

I love them, as you can tell. My second favourite writer of historical fiction is Conn Iggulden, if that's your thing. The Wars of the Roses trilogy is astounding.

 

49 minutes ago, Ray S said:

 

Thanks to Kieth Julier and Noel Hackney I knew what you meant! 

 

I haven't found an etymology for that one. I read it as 'cat harpings' after tightly stretched catgut in a harp but it may 'cathar pins' and be something to do with 14th century Cathar heretics and the pins that I imagine they were crucified on. Not knowing this does not hinder my modelling and barely keeps me awake at night now.

 

49 minutes ago, Ray S said:

That was an amazing collection of books, and I will see if I can get a few. I was checking up for the Mondfeld book last night on Amazon and Abe Books, and was horrified at the price, especially for postage from the good ol' US of A! Thanks for showing us, it certainly gives food for thought.

 

Ray

 

My Zu Mondfeld was £12.50 with £6.50 postage so I guess I found a UK one. It's very good, but I won't get much use from it for a few years yet. Did you notice the skirting boards on the skylights? Just like mine, but I only found that picture after I made a guess.

[ArnoldAmbrose]

3 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

all based on real actions and people.

I believe that Aubrey was based on Lord Cochrane.

[Bertie McBoatface]

33 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

I believe that Aubrey was based on Lord Cochrane.

 

Definitely, at the beginning at least. The Capture of the xebec by Sophie is Cochrane in the Speedy, as is his subsequent capture by the French. I think there are odd samplings of Nelson, Granville etc throughout the series. I'm new to them and am rationing myself to four a year - I remember how bereft I felt when I finished the last ever Pratchett. (I must read a book on Cochrane some time...)

 

I'm also starting to see a lot of Darwin in some facets of the Maturin character. His enthusiasm for the wonders of the natural word has exactly the same tone as Darwin in Voyage of the Beagle and some of the playful friction between Maturin and Aubrey and the crew caused by him bringing specimens on board is an exact parallel with events on the Beagle. I note too, the great affection that Maturin engendered in all of the crew for his eccentricities and enthusiasm and even his lubberly ways.

 

Also, while Darwin was far from being a spy, he did make long overland journeys alone in the company of cutthroat gauchos, reporting on the interior of South America politically as well as scientifically. He also became a 'friend' of the tyrants Juan Manual de Rosas and Estanislau Lopez which is enough to make a novel or two!

[Bertie McBoatface]

On 7/20/2022 at 7:59 AM, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

I'd probably been sceptical about those plank bender tools previously but there's simply no denying that your bulwark there simply wouldn't have taken that curve without either that or an arduous and extended period of steaming and clamping with, I dare say, a much greater risk of being hurt with burns in the process.

 

It's just occurred to me that an extended period of steaming may well have delaminated the plywood beyond repair. 🤔

[Faraway]

1 minute ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

 

It's just occurred to me that an extended period of steaming may well have delaminated the plywood beyond repair. 🤔

It probably would, but you should be able to 're-laminate', although that might be hard on a bend.

Jon

[Bertie McBoatface]

4 minutes ago, Faraway said:

It probably would, but you should be able to 're-laminate', although that might be hard on a bend.

Jon

 

Yeah, you can repair or replace anything on these kits, with time and patience. 

 

I've worried myself and terrified the dog today and it's only teatime. Update to follow later tonight.

[Bertie McBoatface]

Today's exciting installment chronicles the three hours leading up to 51 and a quarter hours elapsed time.

 

 

Those little Welsh hats are rivet nuts, a form of captive nut which I'll use to secure the Beagle to the Beaglebase as soon as the hull is planked and coppered. They have a useful conical entrance which may help me get the threaded rods fitted later. First the nuts have to be implanted into the false keel.

 

 

It's a strange feeling, sawing half way through the spine of a Beagle. The first outing for that new saw as it happened and it's as sharp as I expected buy apparently not quite as accurate. The sights obviously need adjusting.

 

 

Sandpaper started the enlarging process for the slot which will take the threaded rod. Sanding the edge of plywood wore down the paper faster than anything I've ever seen before.

 

 

As soon as the slot was wide enough I switched to a file for better control. Incidentally, look at the awful state of those reinforcements. Coould it look any worse? I know it won't be seen but even so...

 

 

And soon achieved a snug fit. 

 

 

More filing with half round, square and flat files soon cut a recess for the rivet nut to be forever hidden in. Pity it was black and not gold.

 

I know it's a perfect fit and I'm tempted to claim that the space is for the glue. Fact is, I'm still a beginner woodworker and this is better that I was when I began so I'm happy with it.

 

 

I designed this arrangement so that the two cheek pieces would grip the nut and prevent it turning. Looking at it now, when it's all too late, I probably should have filed flats on the sides of the hat brim. I think friction and Araldite will hold it though. We'll find out in a few weeks.

 

 

These are the cheek pieces. Note the right angles and the precisely cut slots. Every day in every way, I'm getting better and better, as the nice doctor told me.

 

 

I applied not too much Araldite, very carefully and clamped it up. I only did one because if the thread filled up with glue I'd only have one repair to make instead of two. See how relaxed the dog is with the procedure. I was a bit harassed because I smeared Araldite on some fingers and had to clamp the thing together with the remaining ones only.

 

When the clamp was tightened I ran the threaded bar into the nut to make sure it would go in and removed it sharpish to make sure it would come out again. There was a smear of glue on the end which worried me but I remembered that you can make a thread cleaning tool by filing a flat on a screw. I didn't need to do this but it was good to have it in reserve. The (cheap) nut and rod were a pretty slack fit and the little bit of glue actually improved the fit slightly. 

 

 

Handy Hint # 256

 

ALWAYS keep Araldite in a tray. One day, for no reason whatever, it will start to slowly leak into your drawers. I think it's age related because it doesn't happen with the new ones.

 

 

Rinse and repeat. This was the point that the dog became terrified.

 

 

Oh no! Anything but that!!!!!

 

The poor thing had just heard the 'snap' of the rubber gloves I used this time to keep my hands clean. It's a noise she knows from the vet when she used to have that embarrassing 'A' gland problem...

 

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

 

 

My cocktail stick curve foundation from last night worked out well enough and when those thick planks are sanded smooth and trimmed for length, I'll be able to apply the oblique planking to the stern.

 

 

And the ballroom walls are now panelled, in case I forgot to show you before.

 

So its been a spiffing day really with lots of fiddly bits done reasonably well. My chuff-o-meter reads 'satisfied'.

 

[Faraway]

7 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

ALWAYS keep Araldite in a tray.

And ALWAYS store it cap up. Trust me, I know.

Jon

[Bertie McBoatface]

2 minutes ago, Faraway said:

And ALWAYS store it cap up. Trust me, I know.

Jon

 

There isn't room in my drawers to point it upwards.

[Faraway]

1 minute ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

 

There isn't room in my drawers to point it upwards.

Then take it out, because if you store it horizontally IT WILL LEAK.

Jon

[Bertie McBoatface]

14 minutes ago, Faraway said:

Then take it out, because if you store it horizontally IT WILL LEAK.

Jon

 

I'VE PUT IT IN A JAM JAR! (He's such a bossy boots!) 😄

 

I wrote pages and pages and that's all he noticed! (Best in a Tony Hancock voice)

[psdavidson]

I refuse to comment on the last few posts, I'd be banned

 

1 hour ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

that embarrassing 'A' gland problem

I assume that's the same thing James Herriot mentions as "flop-bot"

 

At least you managed to get your bolt in and out without leaving too much sticky mess.

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

2 minutes ago, psdavidson said:

I refuse to comment on the last few posts, I'd be banned

 

I have no idea what you mean.

 

2 minutes ago, psdavidson said:

 

At least you managed to get your bolt in and out without leaving too much sticky mess.

 

 

Just a little brown smear on the end.

[Bertie McBoatface]

2 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

Just a little brown smear on the end.

 

If it causes trouble I can always saw it off short, it's more than long enough to do the job.

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 hour ago, Faraway said:

And ALWAYS store it cap up. Trust me, I know.

Jon

 

Actually, joking aside Jon makes a good point because the hardener I think, unmixed with the resin, seems to have the ability to eat through most plastics once it has escaped from the tube. I have had to throw away plastic drawer units for this problem before now. Chances are my little vac formed tray wouldn't have helped much - the jam jar is the safer bet.

 

 

 

[Jo NZ]

On 21/07/2022 at 07:29, Bertie McBoatface said:

For now, I thought it might be an idea to show you some of the many books that are available on building and rigging model ships. This is the collection that I've accumulated recently. I used to be a bookseller and I've always been a reader so turning to the bookshelves is always a thing that I do on taking up a new hobby. Almost all of these have been acquired second hand, from Abe Books, Amazon and the local charity shops even though it would be difficult to live further away from the sea than here.

 

 

 

 

 

Bertie, you might have missed this one

 

https://biblio.com.au/book/techniques-ship-modelling-wingrove-gerald/d/1348751014?aid=frg&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8uOWBhDXARIsAOxKJ2EQs0CBCwsspeQsHBwybx1d92kopep5EgCaNJfSfdNqh03Q88rrZoQaAs8yEALw_wcB

 

Cheers

 Jo