HMS Beagle by Occre - Build Log

[Cazzie49]

This is my first "major" build in wood. I've built the Model Shipways 18th Century Longboat and the Taurus Tugboat. Both got me acclimated to working in wood - had always been used to working in plastic. So the Beagle will definitely challenge these old fingers and eyes but I am looking forward to the build.

The work below was completed back in January. I only work on her while I'm at our second home in VA and, for various health reasons, we've had to remain in Philadelphia for over 4 months now. Looking forward to getting back to the build after Memorial Day.

I've got the skeleton done and the main deck for now. Next will be the foredeck to try my hand at joggling the planks. I'm going to try to follow along the Anatomy of the Ship for details as much as my abilities will allow. See you in a few weeks!

 

[embojo]

Congratulations on starting. I'm sure you will enjoy it. I found joggling the forecastle deck planks quite tricky. But it's certainly worth having a go. Be careful following AOTS, it can get a bit addictive and I'm afraid I've got a bit obsessional about it, which I'm not sure is a good idea... ask my wife!!! I think you will get a great model whichever way you decide to do it.

 

[Cazzie49]

After 4-1/2 months away, due to various illnesses for myself and my wife, getting back to it. First coast of stain to the main deck. This is after about 4 hours of drying. I used MinWax Weathered Oak #270. I was thinking that I was going to use a second coat of stain before varnishing but I think that it looks dark enough. I'm going to use the Occre satin varnish thinned to 5:1. It seemed awfully thick when I put a couple of drops out to test with it.

 

[Cazzie49]

I've made some progress. I've built out the fore and aft cabins and have crafted the 4 doors for the aft. I noticed in Marquadt that the fore cabin has sliding doors into the sick bay and pit. I may try my hand at those as well. I still haven't figured out how I am going to finish the cabin walls. Perhaps a thinned sapele dye and then the doors painted brown? I dunno. Will have to play with colors.

 

[Peter Schaap]

Hi Crazy,
Great progress. Just a quick question; it looks like one of the planks is buckling slightly and you haven't sanded the deck (yet). I would try to remove that buckled plank and shorten it a bit, or replace it with a shorter one. In my opinion, this would make the deck look a bit cleaner, unless of course you did this intentionally. In any case, it's great that you are sharing your progress with us.
Regards,
Peter

 

[Cazzie49]

Hi Crazy,
Great progress. Just a quick question; it looks like one of the planks is buckling slightly and you haven't sanded the deck (yet). I would try to remove that buckled plank and shorten it a bit, or replace it with a shorter one. In my opinion, this would make the deck look a bit cleaner, unless of course you did this intentionally. In any case, it's great that you are sharing your progress with us.
Regards,
Peter

It's actually flat and smooth, but it does look like it is buckled in the photo.

 

[Cazzie49]

Have added the doors and windows to the fore and aft cabins. They just need a coat of varnish to seal them. I was going to add sliding doors to the fore cabin inner walls but as I was building them, I decided that it was just going to be beyond my skill level and I didn't want to screw up what I had already done. Same for the windows - I decided against cutting out the walls and framing out custom windows. Just not at that level to try it. Next model maybe. I'm pretty happy with the way that the doors turned out for the aft cabin.

 

[Cazzie49]

Have added the bulwarks now. I'm pretty happy with the way the bow turned out.