German Coastal Defender Beowulf

[Michael Mash]

Hello Friends,

This marks the beginning of a new construction report. It is the German Coastal Defender S.M.S. Beowulf. This publication from H.M.V. has been around since (approx.)1996, and has been a very popular project with European modelers. H.M.V. produces a set of "laser cut" parts to accompany this publication. Since I have no experience with them, I decided to get the LC parts and experience first-hand what they are like to work with. After looking them over, I’m impressed with their precision.

Construction began on Beowulf in 1890. Building took 2 years, and she was commissioned in 1892. It is a small ship at approx. 259 feet. So construction should require less time than a battleship project. The primary armament is three single turrets with 9.4 inch guns. What is unusual about Beowulf is that two of the main turrets are mounted on the bow, side by side, housed in old "domed" turrets. The ship looks so antiquated, I can’t resist it.

This publication was designed by H.M.V. as a "waterline" model. I have decided to design and add an underwater hull. To help with the design, I studied the drawings of one of her sister ships, S.M.S. Hagen. I located the plans on the website "Dreadnought Project". With those plans as my guide, I believe I can render a reasonably accurate underwater hull. So let’s see how it goes.

As you can see in the images, the frames come directly from the plans, and then were reduced to 1:250 scale. There was only one major adjustment needed. In 1900, the Beowulf and her sister ships, received an extensive overhaul. The ships were lengthened by approx. 23 feet. The "Dreadnought Project" drawings were made after the overhaul. So I needed to shorten the frame slightly to bring it back to its 1890 length.

The work has been fun. I hope you enjoy the images.

Merry Christmas,
Mike

[Don Boose]

An exciting new project! You are already off to a great beginning. It will be a great pleasure to watch this one take shape.

Don

[Michael Mash]

Thank you Don. Its a pleasure to have you aboard again.
Mike

[Don Boose]

I've just alerted Jimr, my retired Smithsonian model builder/historical researcher buddy from Baltimore in the 50s (where we used to haunt the waterfront, the B&O railroad facilities, and various airfields), so he will be watching construction as well.

I see you begin the project with a smart new avatar image as well.

Fiar winds and following seas on this build.

Don

[didibuch]

Hi Mike,

this will be an interesting build again. The start with your selfconstructed underwater hull looks very promising.

Good luck
Dieter

[Paperwarrior]

Mike,

This should prove to be a real treat to follow. This is a very interesting ship with the side by side front turrets. Great work on the hull. I look forward to watching this one progress.

Jeff

[Joe711]

Another interesting work!
The entire hull is a major challenge, looking forward the photos!

Sincerely, Joe

[sharunas]

Great decision Michael to design underwater part as it completes the whole model.

I will follow with interest.

[Beachead]

Awesome. Another HMV build. And this one was a weird design for a ship. Even considering what the French did back in this era. Looking forward to your updates.

[frigate 264]

Un modelo interesante y además otro HMV. Estaré atento, porque tengo en planes para el futuro, un modelo de HMV y estoy curioso para ver cómo van.
An interesting model also another HMV. I'll be careful, because I have plans for the future, a model of HMV and I'm curious to see how they go.