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Is this right or has Occre screwed up?

Odd Job

Odd Job

Joined
Jan 2, 2026
Messages
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I've started planking my Beagle but something is not right. The fore and aft gun ports are in inaccessible places with the aft ports having a wall directly behind them. Do I cover them with planking or leave as is?1000033609.jpg1000033608.jpg1000033610.jpg
 
The plans show these ports open. You can even see the wall on the plans. Unfortunately there are no written instructions with this kit so I'm working purely from pictures.
1000033612.jpg1000033611.jpg
 
So my guess is the two bulkwark which obliterate the gunports under the forecastele and the quarterdeck have to come off as the planking is done. That's not quite strange in BOF models and not a big deal by the way.
Regards!
 
I've just had a look further on in the drawings and it shows all of the hatches closed so the wall cannot be seen, but surely the original ship wouldn't have had a cannon port where a wall is ??

1000033613.jpg
 
This is the wall that has the cannon port directly behind it. As you can see it's not something that can be removed. You can even see daylight through the port.

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Odd Job said:
This is the wall that has the cannon port directly behind it. As you can see it's not something that can be removed. You can even see daylight through the port.

View attachment 575520
Click to expand...
Odd Job said:
This is the wall that has the cannon port directly behind it. As you can see it's not something that can be removed. You can even see daylight through the port.

View attachment 575520
Click to expand...
Oh my days... from this view it's pretty clear that the bulkwark or the gunport (or both) is in a wrong position. That's quite a deal instead... . From E2 pics it seams the first gunport from bow is well under the foredeck. E2 shows something similar to a bulkwark leaning out the port beneath the quarterdeck, so... is this the bow or the stern of the model?
 
Albert Mary said:
Oh my days... from this view it's pretty clear that the bulkwark or the gunport (or both) is in a wrong position. That's quite a deal instead... . From E2 pics it seams the first gunport from bow is well under the foredeck. E2 shows something similar to a bulkwark leaning out the port beneath the quarterdeck, so... is this the bow or the stern of the model?
Click to expand...
I watched the videos... that's definitively a kit fault.
 

Is this right or has Occre screwed up?​


Seems to be the case.

If it was a framed ship, the futtock would stop just short of the lower sill that makes up the lower part of the port so what you have is not unusual. Consider frames were nearly a solid wall so most ports would be blocked by a couple frames as yours is blocked by a bulkhead. The instructions should have shown this so you could cut an opening in the bulkhead if not cutting off the top portion altogether before assembling. A closed port seems like a logical solution at this point.
Allan
 
.​
Odd Job said:
I've started planking my Beagle but something is not right. The fore and aft gun ports are in inaccessible places with the aft ports having a wall directly behind them. Do I cover them with planking or leave as is?
Click to expand...

It seems that during the conversion of the brig in preparation for the research voyage, some of the cannons were removed, and the last gun port on the side was made into a dummy, i.e. it was planked over, leaving only its visual indication by colour. More on this can be found in specialist literature, such as HMS Beagle. Survey ship extraordinary by K.H. Marquardt.

So, to answer your question, the last gun port should be planked over and just marked by painting.

.​
 
AllanKP69 said:

Is this right or has Occre screwed up?​


Seems to be the case.

If it was a framed ship, the futtock would stop just short of the lower sill that makes up the lower part of the port so what you have is not unusual. Consider frames were nearly a solid wall so most ports would be blocked by a couple frames as yours is blocked by a bulkhead. The instructions should have shown this so you could cut an opening in the bulkhead if not cutting off the top portion altogether before assembling. A closed port seems like a logical solution at this point.
Allan
Click to expand...
The point is that quarterdeck bulkhead couldn't be there at time the ship was designed. Totally agree on dummy gunport solution, but I can't guess why Occre suggests to cut it off the gunwale.
 
my OcCre kit has something similar. The aft cannon ports are below the deck. Two on each side. The kit came with laser cut squares that are glued inside behind the under-planking. Then painted black to simulate shadows of the interior. The kit came with dummy/blind cannons that has 1mm pins casted in that will go into a hole you drill and glue in place.
Your cannon ports look like there is the frame there that can support a thin 1/6"/1mm piece of wood cut to the exact size of the port. Once glued, they will be recessed from the outer planks to the depth of frame ribs. They should be in far enough and have a decent depth depending on the thickness of the wood. Thinner will be more recessed than thicker to give the illusion of being deeper. Paint it black and install the cannons. The muzzle of the cannon is all you will see and you can have open ports with raised hatches. Several suppliers sell different dummy cannon shapes and sizes that could match the full length cannons that came with your kit.
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On the Occre model, all the gunport doors are fixed shut, so they cover up all the problems you are seeing.

Throughout my Beagle build, I found the instructions either useless, contradictory, or confusing, depending on which stage I was at.
 
Thanks all for your tips and suggestions.

I think I'll plank over these ports and just leave the ones on the main deck as I'm not too concerned about historical accuracy.
 
CoastHiker said:
Throughout my Beagle build, I found the instructions either useless, contradictory, or confusing, depending on which stage I was at.
Click to expand...
Yep, I'm finding that too, especially that there are no written instructions, just pictures to follow that are often in the wrong order. For example, the planking of the stern is particularly confusing as the pictures show this...

Stern 2.jpg


Stern 1.jpg

Yet I've had to do this...

Stern 3.jpg
 
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