A new attempt at building the German coastal defender Beowulf.

[Lachezar]

Hello fellow modellers.
I will be short. I really enjoyed Mike's self-designed Ulfberht ship. I decided that my third ship model would be a warship from this era. Without prior research, just by the nice color photo on the cover of the publishing house H.M.V. I chose the German Coast Guard S.M.S. Beowulf.
I was very disappointed with the model I received. Instead of a model with assembly diagrams, I received a model with a gadget, a long literary - artistic work. That the work was not in my native language was not the main problem. The poorly thought out and unclear numbering of the details was also a problem. In my opinion, the designer of the model had exhausted himself with the design of the very well-matched parts and did not concern himself with the preparation of assembly diagrams. Once I established that, I was ready to consign the model to the trash. But I was curious about the model and started looking for some additional information about it. And... Hooray. I found that our friend Mike posted the build of this ship. Now I'm trying to recreate it too, learning from what Mike did, for which I thank him heartily.
I apologize for my verbal outpouring and here are the first photos from the construction.

[Don Boose]

I enjoyed the back story. The model looks great so far. Very clean and precise build. Very sturdy looking construction of the hull.

I look forward to watching your build develop.

Don

[Michael Mash]

Hello Lachezar,

You made a very interesting choice to build HMV Beowulf.
I am glad to read you did not throw it away. If I am correct, this HMV kit was produced a long time ago, perhaps in 1996.
If I remember correctly, I think someone told me this kit was drawn “by hand”, but I am not certain of that.
You will notice the parts and assemblies look different. And the wood decks have a unique appearance.

When I built this ship, I added a lower underwater hull. Also, I redesigned many of the parts and assemblies, including the wood decks.
I think, with your scratch-building skills, you will have fun with this one.

I have seen this ship built numerous times. Of course, it is popular with German modelers.
It required a lot of work, but I enjoyed it. And so I wish you success with it.
I am looking forward to watching your project. Looks excellent so far.

Mike

[Lachezar]

Hello.
Don, thanks for the encouraging review and I hope I don't disappoint you until the end. I emphasize to the end because I am determined to finish it.
Mike, I also doubt that there is a hand design and a very good one at that. Now, I want to point out that I am doing so firmly guided by your performance. Like you, I colored the portholes yellow and cut them out. I was very impressed with the underwater housing you built and added. I will admit that if I wasn't ashamed I would have asked you for drawings of the ribs so I could try to do it myself.
Here are some more pictures.

[Michael Mash]

You are a fast builder. I worked on Beowulf for one year.

See the images attached. Perhaps you can print them.
The drawings are from S.M.S. Hagen. It was one of the ships in the Beowulf class.
The drawings are from the website “Dreadnought Project”, and are protected by copyright.
It is okay to use them for model building (see notice in upper left hand corner)
If you decide to build the underwater hull, maybe they will help.

You will need to adjust the size of the frames to fit your model.
It is a lot of work.

Let me know if you would like me to post several vintage photos that you might be able to use.

[Lachezar]

Mike, you very pleasantly surprised me with the drawings sent so quickly. Thank you very much for that. I immediately downloaded them. I decided for now to build the model as I started it, without the underwater part of the hull. But I do not give up on this difficult task for me to take up after that.

[Lachezar]

I continue with the arrangement of the puzzle, which should be placed where. Maybe this will turn out to be another part of the pleasure of making this model.
Here are more pictures. I'm using laser cut details, but something didn't work out for me with the steps on the stairs. It would be fine if only this turned out to be a drawback in my work.

[Michael Mash]

Hello Lachezar: from what you wrote, you are not happy with this kit.
But . . . I see how you cut out the portholes. The same way I did it. They look very nice.
Mike

[Lachezar]

Hello Mike. Apparently, Uncle Google and I are at odds with the translation. My opinion is that when an engineer tells a joke, he should be able to represent it with a drawing. In the case of this project, I did not like the fact that an engineering project is explained with a long literary work instead of a drawing. But I emphasized several times that it is an interesting and very well designed project.
I continue to claim that for this model you are my teacher and I copy everything from you Starting with coloring and cutting the portholes and continuing with the assembly sequence.
Greetings Lachezar.

[Royaloakmin]

Considering how old this design is, and one of the very first super detailed models generally available, it is brilliant work.