Carrera Revell HMS Beagle (05458) Darwin’s Historic Discovery Barque 1:96

[Mike]

HMS Beagle (05458)

Darwin’s Historic Discovery Barque

1:96 Carrera Revell

 

 

HMS Beagle was originally laid down in 1818 as one of the Cherokee Class of 10-gun Brig-Sloops that were designed in 1807 by Sir Henry Peake, a fleet that eventually extended to 100 vessels.  The design of the Beagle was changed slightly after her plans were completed, raising the height of the bulwarks slightly, possibly to improve safety of her crew.  She was launched in 1820, and lay at anchor for some time without masts or rigging until she was re-tasked and adapted to be a survey barque with three important and lengthy survey missions ahead of her.  Her first voyage began in 1826 under a Captain Stokes to carry out a hydrographic survey of Tierra Del Fuego and Patagonia, accompanied by HMS Adventure, whose captain Philip Parker King was in overall command.  Captain Stokes began suffering from mental issues during that mission and shot himself, dying soon after, to be replaced by his First Lieutenant, then Robert FitzRoy for the remainder of the voyage.

 

After a brief hiatus, Captain Fitzroy returned as commander of the Beagle and in 1831 she was taken into dry dock for substantial alterations to cure an issue that plagued the Cherokee class of vessels that made them prone to capsizing under certain circumstances.  Her refit was comprehensive and included a newly invented lightning conductor, a raft of chronometers, and a particularly accurate mercury-free barometer.  The captain used his own money to replace the iron guns with brass cannonades on turntables to reduce the magnetic signature of the ship, something that the Admiralty had refused to fund.  She left Devonport in the UK in December of 1831 with Mr Darwin onboard as part of the second expeditionary crew on a mission that would see her away from port for five years and eventually revolutionise our outlook on mankind, the world, and its other inhabitants after some early push-back, and a few who still beg to differ.  She returned in 1836, and after some minor repairs was back to sea again for her third voyage in 1837, tasked with surveying much of the coast of Australia.  She returned home in 1843 and lay idle until 1845 when she was re-tasked as a static coastguard watch vessel with a crew of seven and their families living aboard, ending her days sold to a private contractor in 1870 for breaking up.  A sad end to a world-renowned vessel.

 

 

The Kit

This is a reboxing of a 1961 tooling from Carrera Revell of this classic ship, and it arrives in a medium end-opening box with a painting from one of the more recent boxings on the front.  Inside are six sprues and the upper deck in brown styrene, a black sprue, plus a vacformed sheet of white styrene in a separate bag with two rolls of black cotton, one of light gold, and a short length of braided cord.  The paper flag sheet, and instruction booklet that’s printed in colour complete the package.  Detail is good for its age, and although the planking is rendered as raised lines, it is well done, and has an organic look to it that should come up well under paint.  The shrouds are moulded in black styrene, and whilst a little overscale will make the task of completing the model an easier job for anyone not a hardened sailing ship builder, with just a little flash here and there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the deck, which has steps up to the quarterdeck and the fo’c’sle, with the bases of skylights and other features moulded into it.  The skylight tops are separate parts, hiding the blank interiors, the rigging cleats around the bases of the masts, the bosun’s wheel on a pair of trunnions, bilge-pumps and steps between the decks, which also have decorative inserts applied with planking and balustrades at the top.  The deck boat is made from hull and an insert that includes the seats for the crew, plus a pair of stowed oars and a pair of lifting eyes, one at the stern, the other at the bow, locating the finished assembly in two cradles moulded into the deck.  The bowsprit is mounted in a notch in the deck, the base glued under the deck, held in place by a cross-brace for a secure join.

 

The two halves of the hull are joined around the deck, taking care with alignment and remembering to drill some holes in the bulwarks and gun deck around the quarterdeck, using the combined detail painting guide and scrap diagrams to assist with their location.  A detail insert is fitted to the stern, with railings around the three remaining sides, plus an optional two-part cannon on the main deck, and extra yard arm stowed on deck.  Three sets of chains at the base of the shrouds are applied to each side of the hull, mounting it on the included pair of cradles that have a rustic wooden texture moulded into them.  The bowsprit is lashed to the bow with a length of cord, adding detail parts around the beak, then making the two main anchors from two parts and using two lengths of cord to create a loop through the head ring at the centre of the stocks, and another loop just above the flukes.  three lifeboats are made in the same manner as the deck boat and suspended from a pair of davits on the sides of the quarterdeck, the third over the stern, adding stowed oars across the benches of the two slung from the quarterdeck sides, and using more lengths of cord to secure them all in place.

 

The forward and main masts are built similarly to each other, the lower section with a top platform with separate futtocks (I love that word), extending the mast upward with another length, securing the top shrouds to the crosstrees and bringing the mast up to full height with a final mast section.  The mizzen mast on the quarterdeck is a smaller mast that has just two sections, plus a horizontal boom and angled gaff ready for its sail later.  The masts are glued in position in the holes in the deck, adding a martingale beneath the bowsprit, then fitting the shrouds to the newly installed masts, which includes a smaller set for the mizzen mast.  Once the glue has set thoroughly, three yards are mounted across the two main masts, and a rigging diagram guides you through the process, with a separate diagram for the mizzen mast, including how to secure the cord on the cleats at the base of the masts.

 

 

The next few steps involve adding the vacformed sails to each of the masts in turn, after cutting them carefully from the sheet of white styrene that has been moulded with details of the sails in a realistic manner.  The mizzen mast is first, secured in position by several loops along both booms.  The two main masts first have rigging added to the ends of the yards in duplicate, using rigging blocks where necessary, then the three sails are cut from the sheet and secured to the yards via the same style of loops used on the mizzen mast.  The two jib sails are rigged to the bowsprit and attached on the cord loops again, ensuring that the rigging lines are taut, using blocks and tying them off on the cleats at the base of the forward mast.  More rigging is looped around the sides of the ship and the yards, with yet more bracing the yards and masts together, again using rigging blocks and tying them off on the cleats around the deck.

 

 

Markings

The Beagle wore one scheme during her second mission, and painting call-outs are made throughout the build.  The final diagram on the back page of the booklet shows the ship from the side, complete with rigging and sails, and shows where the many paper flags should be fitted and their locations.  It also shows the name plate that is included with the model, which has the name HMS Beagle in relief with a raised surround that should make painting it suitably contrasting colours a little easier.

 

 

 

Conclusion

The Beagle’s second mission was undoubtedly her most important due to the eventual effects it had upon our way of looking at the world around us, thanks to biologist Charles Darwin’s world-shattering Theory of Evolution of the Species through natural selection, sometimes simplified to ‘survival of the fittest’.  Despite its age, the kit is well-detailed and should build into an impressive model with the application of care and some modelling skills.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

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[Lothian man]

There is an Anatomy of the Ship volume on the Beagle - 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ANATOMY-SHIP-BEAGLE-SURV-Extraordinary/dp/0851777031

 

I bought it as a leaving present for a colleague who was really keen on Darwin. Looked good on a quick check. 

 

This also makes interesting reading concerning Revell's approach to the original kit: