HMS Beagle 1:60 scale Occre by embojo

Joined
Jul 25, 2024
Messages
12
Points
48

I took the plunge and ordered my first ship model. Like many others on this site, I was attracted to this ship by its association with Darwin, and its career as a survey ship. I have been fascinated by the many build logs here and on Model Ship World. I'm attracted by the possibilities of customizing aspects of the kit to improve its accuracy after seeing some great work here, but not sure if that will be beyond my capabilities as a shipyard novice. At least I tell myself that I was involved in delicate fingertip work throughout my career until I partially retired recently. Over the last few years I have read a lot about the Beagle voyage and poured over the Marquardt AOTS book. I hope you will be indulgent when I post probably very basic questions. So here is the shiny newly arrived box. Really exciting...

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I punched that kit at the beginning of the year. I'm looking forward to starting the build towards the end of the year.

I look forward to following your build with interest.

Sidenote, I like your Persian...
 
I hope I haven't started this thread prematurely! Since the kit arrived (actually a couple of weks ago), I realise my build space isn't ready yet and I need to get a few new tools. To keep myself interested, I decided to look into some crew figures for the future ship, and perhaps assemble the cannon which won't need much space!. There don't seem to be any 1830's Royal Navy figures at least in 1:60 scale. I saw the beautiful Vanguard Napoleonic crew figures which I suppose could be reworked, and the Amati metal Columbus figures. I also saw several members here producing some superb 3D printed figures, but I don't have a printer. The only alternative was to try making some as a test. So, a few Youtube videos later on sculpting Warhammer fantasy figures, and some research on 1830s naval uniforms, I started bending wires to make armatures, for the 25mm figures. I tried several different gauges of wire and a few false starts before I was more confident. Then I posed the armatures and stuck them in a cork and began adding clay. I tried both Milliput, Fimo and Greenstuff from the local hobby shops. I was quite pleased with the first two figures although after seeing the amazing 3D printed work, feel they need some more work on the faces... I'm so looking forward to starting the kit proper, but this will keep me going until I can start in earnest.

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Ahhh, the Beagle was also my first ship. I think you will enjoy the build very, very much. Not only is it a nice kit, there are tons of videos and build logs to guide and help you along the way. I think it is a great first ship and I wish you well. The best advice I got here on the forum and it proved to be more true than I originally thought....Be patient, the goal is not to finish but to enjoy the journey. It is not a race. I look forward to following your build.
 
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