Cathead

Another point here in case it helps clarify your situation: hull planking will almost always require either edge bending or spiling because the planking will curve through three dimensions. Most kits provide only straight stock that isn't wide enough for spiling, meaning that you have to edge-bend to use kit stock, but most such kits never explain this and it can give newer builders fits. Unless you buy a rare kit whose planking is pre-spiled, you either edge-bend the kit stock or buy sheets of wood that you can cut  your own spiled planking out of, discarding the kit stock.

Another point here in case it helps clarify your situation: hull planking will almost always require either edge bending or spiling because the planking will curve through three dimensions. Most kits provide only straight stock that isn't wide enough for spiling, meaning that you have to edge-bend to use kit stock, but most such kits never explain this and it can give newer builders fits. Unless you buy a rare kit whose planking is pre-spiled, you either edge-bend the kit stock or buy sheets of wood that you can cut  your own spiled planking out of, discarding the kit stock.

Hans - Thank you!  I'm very much enjoying this project so far , and truly appreciate the quality of both the materials and the instructions.  Will be in touch if I have any questions.
 
Hubac and Cathead - Thank you for the encouragement!
 
Melissa

Yes absolutely this. Knowing that single piece of information makes so much I previously couldn't grasp and thought I was just being dense, make sense now.



Thanks everyone, I have enough info to move forwards with this now.

Another point here in case it helps clarify your situation: hull planking will almost always require either edge bending or spiling because the planking will curve through three dimensions. Most kits provide only straight stock that isn't wide enough for spiling, meaning that you have to edge-bend to use kit stock, but most such kits never explain this and it can give newer builders fits. Unless you buy a rare kit whose planking is pre-spiled, you either edge-bend the kit stock or buy sheets of wood that you can cut  your own spiled planking out of, discarding the kit stock.

Looks like a neat project. I'm not familiar with this source, so what a great chance to learn about their kits!

There has not been any progress since my last post - unless you count the new toolbox I bought last week to store all my modeling tools in.
February has been a busy month and March is not looking any better. The way things are going I will only be able to build again in April. But I have not forgotten about it, I did not store the ship away in a closet, it is out in the open as constant reminder when I walk past it to get back to work as soon as possible.

I started the rear elevation by comparing the AOTSD rendered drawing with the photo on kit box. You can tell that the kit version has used the AOTSD drawings to base their design on but there seems to have been some value engineering on the go. The kit version has lost some of the depth. The windows appear to be a different proportion and are a bit too square. The springing point of the side arches over the spandrel windows look like they have been shifted over and the decorative elements has been simplified and watered down.
 

 
I had a look at the ply template supplied and decided that it needed too much surgery and wasn't worth saving. I drew up an alternative on the computer and then 3D printed a new template. I then started to form the various steps and pilasters using walnut planks. I 3D printed some of the mouldings and decorative pieces as they were too delicate to be made out of any of the woods that I had to hand. The 3D printed parts are a bit ropey but they are the best that I can produce using the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) technology printer that I have. I should really invest in a Digital Light Processing (DLP) printer to improve the resolution.
 

 

 

 

 
I painted everything with the garish blue and the decorative elements in gold. The gold was a big mistake. I should have rather used real gold leaf or yellow ochre instead. I repainted some of the mouldings in yellow ochre but the I don't want to risk repainting all of the decorations. I built up the upper counter using walnut planks. I really should have curved these but for some reason I didn’t. I did not like the look of the photoetch brass letters supplied so I thought that I would try my hand at painting the name which seems to be what happened in practice. It came out a bit shaky but if you look at it from a distance and squint your eyes it is acceptable. I took the dremel to the corners to provide a recess to accept the figures.
 

 

 

 
For the windows I also went down the 3d printed route. I notice a lot of the windows offered in kits consist of a set of photoetch mullions where they encourage you to stick some acetate on the back of and then glue on the model. In order to simulate a real window they should supply two sets of frames, one thicker than the other, which you can then use to sandwich the acetate. My initial grand idea was to provide a sub-frame where I could place each individual pane of glass cut from acetate or glass from a slide cover. The plan was that the slight variations in placement would have caused a realistic window effect as the light reflected off them. I managed to cut out one pane and then had to lie down for a while to recover so I gave up on that idea. It probably would have been feasible at a scale of 1:48. I reworked the sub-frame so that I could install the acetate in one piece.
 

 

 

 

 
This is the fascia mounted on the model compared to the two references. It looks like a marginal gain on the kit version but I am still not happy with the decorative elements. I would like to replace the figures but sourcing them is problematic. I may go and rummage through some Toy/Hobby shops to see if any of them have a range of small plastic maidens striking heroic poses.
 

 
 

What a great start! I love reading about others' problem-solving.

Hi Keith, thanks for the welcome message and the advice! I’m still of two minds about the masts. I’d like to add the more accurately sized masts, but I think I trust myself to narrow the end of a dowel to slot into the kit rather than enlarge a hole in the deck/keel—so my decision is being put on hold until I’m farther into the build. 
 
This is has become a theme for me, even this early into the build (lights or no lights, enlarge holes or not) as I try to strike a balance between keeping the build detailed/historically accurate and realistically in line with my current skill set. As my end product I’m aiming for a build that is more historically accurate than the base kit, but I’m also willing to slightly deviate on some details for the sake of personal aesthetics and aversion to going down too many rabbit holes of research. I want to build more ships in the future and don’t want to set the precedent of blowing the budget with too many extra (albeit more accurate) replacement and additional fittings.
 
See, for example that I built a master Korabel lifeboat (more accurate than base kit) but gave it a different paint job to match the eventual scheme of the Terror herself (less accurate, but in my opinion looks neat).
 
Apologies for the novel, been very excited to get building and my wife (bless her patience) is getting tired of hearing me ramble about the ship.
 

Hi all! I’m starting a build log here of the Occre HMS Terror kit after spending many weeks greatly enjoying the other Terror builders’ logs, the incredible amount of research that went into making each of your models more accurate than the base kit, and the general supportive and collaborative spirit I’ve seen here on the forum. 
 
So far I’ve built up the keel and bulkheads and finished the deck with the Preston Patent Illuminators, now moving into fairing the bulkheads and hoping to begin the first layer of planking this week. Looking forward there are certainly a lot of enhancements many of the other builders have added to their Terrors that I intend on including in my build, but for now here are some pictures of the build to date.

I bought this kit partly because it was on sale, partly cause it had sails, and mostly to get to practice planking a bluff-bow'd ship - I have done only one other ship that required planking - the Pride of Baltimore - and that has completely different lines and should have been a bit easier, but wasn't really. I also wanted to try kits from different companies (having built a Mamoli and Model Shipways and having Chuck's Medway Longboat in the yard) to see which I liked - my standards at this point are pretty basic - instructions I can understand and blocks I don't need to replace with, well, Chuck's.
 
I knew a little something of the Franklin Expedition (partly from having listened incessantly to the song of that name by Pentangle, partly thanks to the fictionalize show with Jared Harris (what's not to like about Hari Seldon/Anderson Dawes?Capt Crozier??).  But as I started doing my own researches the ship began to come to life with a very interesting history of refits and alterations/augmentations.   I hope my (budding?) skill level is sufficient to do it justice.
 
The beginning of this log has lagged behind the beginning of the build, and the log may lag a bit again as I finish going through Matthew Bett's blog and some of the other Terror logs on this site, so bare with...
 

Terror out of the box
 

Gluing and squaring the bulkheads - feels more like I'm replicating a medieval torture chamber than the framework of a ship, but it works
 

Starting to fair the bow - the blocks are not called for in the instructions, but given the severe curve at the bows, I figured they couldn't hurt and hopefully would  help significantly.  I know I could have used some reinforcements on the Pride, especially at the stern.  Since this is my first double-planked hull I'm not sure if the first layer of planking will make this superfluous, but I'd rather overbuild now than have a cracked or blistering hull later.  Besides, Olha Barchvarov makes this look so easy and straightforward in her videos.
 

At bit of progress with the sanding.  Not as easy as Olha made it appear, especially since I'm using pine for the blocks, having failed to find any local balsa (too soft, maybe, for this purpose) or basswood.
 

Did finally find some basswood for the stern.  Some of the angle between the bulkheads was shaved off using a scroll saw prior to gluing in place, most of the rest will have to be sanded - I'm not sure even the basswood is soft enough for chisels - may need to invest in a rotary tool
 

Hi David,
Thanks for continuing to share your work with us.  As you did not spile the bottom planking am I correct in assuming that will be covering it with copper sheathing plates?   If you are, maybe take a look at  Yve's Bellona build log as he wisely made his own rather than using kit supplied stuff.   It is far better than what kit manufacturers usually provide.
modelshipworld.com/topic/29729-hms-bellona-by-yves-vidal-caf-model-148/page/6/#comment-894079
Allan
 

I added the shot lockers around the hatchways. These were constructed using 1.7 x 4mm walnut strip. The corners were fashioned using a jeweller’s mitre jig and the dimples were excavated using a 2.1mm diameter spherical mill bit. I made a slight blunder by using the kit supplied 2.5mm cannon balls. In a fit of pedantry, I had ordered 2mm diameter balls to more accurately represent the 5inch diameter ball used for an 18 pounder but when it came time to install them, I must have picked up the wrong packet.

 

 

 

 
It was now decision time. Do I go open or closed bulwarks on the quarterdeck. The open ones look a lot prettier but after much dithering I decided on the closed bulwark option as I figured I could hide a multitude of sins behind them. The decision being made I marked up the positions of the gunports. I had to adjust these to reflect my somewhat arbitrary gunport positioning of the deck below. I then added additional framing and cut back some of the existing bulkhead framing where it coincided with my new gunport location. I then added a first layer of planking to the outside of this to match the rest of the hull.
 

 
 

 
I temporarily relocated to the kitchen to mark out the position of the wales and the waterline to set me up for the second planking. I used a laser level to mark out the waterline. I guess I could have used the traditional pencil shoved through an upturned paper cup but this way I can legitimately claim that the model was built using lasers. This line will eventually be covered up with the second planking but it is useful to mark it is as above the line the planking will be visible and I have to proceed with caution while below it will be covered with copper tiles so I can run wild.
 

 
I proceeded to plank the wales with top and butt planking. I noticed in the AOTSD drawings that the top and butt planking continues below the wales. This seems quite fanciful to me. If you look at the detailed section in the AOTSD book, the planking below the wales consists of thickstuff and them five diminishing strakes. To achieve this profile using top and butt planking would be very challenging from a practical standpoint although not impossible. I can't be bothered to do any further research on the matter and I just proceeded with normal planking as I would not like to attempt that pattern in the complicated stern section. I then painted the wale black. I also painted the thickstuff above the wale black. This could be construed as quite a controversial move but the 1794-3 model has this colour scheme so I can claim precedent.
 

 

 

 
Planking below the waterline transitions from maple to walnut as I had a lot more walnut to hand. It was touch and go as to whether or not I had enough maple to finish the upper planking. Turns out I did but only just and I finished with half a plank to spare.
 

 

 
I added the scupper pipes at this stage. These will have a cover ring placed over them. I will probably use the PE part included with the kit. I only fitted the scupper pipes to carry through the internal bulwark at one location as it proved to be quite difficult and not that visible. I gave the hull a splash of the French Blue from the Jotika Admiralty paint collection. I confess that I am not that keen on this colour which also has an unusual gloss to it. I prefer the blues used by the various other Diana builders on this site. It is unfortunate that the timing of this coincided with one of those Covid lockdown periods which meant that the hobby shop was closed down for a while so I decided to just plough ahead rather than waiting. I still have not grown to love it though. I am hoping that once all of the masts and rigging are installed it will appear less jarring.
 

 

 
I didn't like the cast moulding rails supplied with the kit so have been experimenting with the various hull profiles that I milled out of some lime strips. I wish I could get my hands on some boxwood as it would give a better edge but I have not managed to source a local supplier yet.
 

 
I am not planning on painting the planking above the wales so the supplied walnut rudder does not match. I had to fashion a new one out of a 10mn thick lime plank. I used the AOTSD drawings for reference and this did allow me the opportunity to add the taper.
 

 
I started planking the lower counter in anticipation of tackling the rear elevation which will be the subject of the next post. You may notice that the holes drilled for the ropes attached to the hatch covers do not line up. I eventually noticed it 6 months later. They now line up.
 

 

 
 
 
 

Hi David,
For a relative newbie, as you describe yourself, your work is really coming on!  Many of things you are doing are way past some others with more years experience.  It is impressive that you are looking at alternative sources for contemporary information to built a realistic looking piece rather than just accepting everything that comes out of the box.
 
The drawings on the Wiki site have the most contemporary information if you want to delve further into the details.   https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ship_plans_of_the_Royal_Museums_Greenwich   The Artois (Diana/Seahorse/Apollo et al) drawings are the last five on the fourth page and the first two on the fifth page.   For anyone interested, copy of the original 18 page contract for the Artois class ships, including Diana is available from RMG.
 
One thing that you may want to consider modifying if you can are the gratings.   Your coamings and head ledges look terrific.  For the gratings themselves, the  battens would normally be running fore and aft and the ledges athwartships rather than the other way around. Couple photos from a contemporary model at Preble Hall follow.
 
Allan
 

 

I started on the installation of the gun deck. I drew the planking pattern onto the false deck and then cut it in half lengthways for ease of fitting. I plumped for the top and butt planking for this deck noting the ambiguity in the AOTSD drawings. When placing the false deck on the model I noticed that some of the beams passed through the hatch openings. I relocated these with an inelegant detour although they would have had enough structural integrity as cantilevers and I probably could have gotten away with just cutting them out.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
I made up the hatches using the kit supplied gratings and used walnut for the coamings. I stained the gratings using Golden Oak stain although the wood used in the gratings does not take the stain that well. If I were to do it again I would cut the false deck back around the coamings so that the edge is not visible through the openings. I have just painted this black at this location but on the upper deck I cut the false deck back and introduced secondary beams for the coamings to sit on.
 

 

 
I started on the ladders that go between the decks. I thought that I had been diddled out of these as I couldn’t locate them on any of the parts sheets. After making the ladders from scratch I discovered the kit supplied pieces on a small piece of ply that had become stuck to the back of another sheet of parts. Looking at the supplied pieces I do not think I would have used them anyway as they were fashioned out of poor quality splintery ply. I built a couple of wonky efforts before I decided to 3d print a jig which enabled me to get the grooves in both the stringers align with a higher degree of accuracy. I then made another jig to hold the treads parallel to each other when fitting them to the stringers. This holding jig was not that successful and requires some redesign. I used 1.5mm thick walnut for the stringers and 1mm thick walnut for the treads.
 

 

 

 

 

 
I started to build up the inner bulwark using the AOTSD drawings as a reference. I knocked up a couple of gun carriages for reference so as to check the height of the gun ports as I went along. This is the first time I have had to deal with gun carriages and later on I will dedicate a whole post to them to highlight some of the trauma I experienced.
 

 

 

 
There was a great clash between some of the gun port locations and the bulkheads. I tried to overcome this without resorting to major surgery by shifting the critical gunports to abutt the bulkheads and then dispersing the others more or less evenly in the remaining space. I did a lot of this by eye, being too lazy to measure everything exactly, but this cavalier attitude did come back to haunt me when installing the chain plates and channels.
 
Having located the gunports on the inner bulwark I turned to the problem of how to position these on the outer skin of the hull. I noticed that a lot of builders complete the first hull planking and then cut the gunports out. I was not at all confident about my ability to achieve that with any reasonable degree of accuracy or safety so I decided to build the lining of the gunports directly onto the inner bulwark and then continue the first planking such that it butted against this lining. The thinking was that I could then dremel these linings flush with the first planking and hide the whole mess with the second planking. I think that the method itself is a workable solution had I gone about it in a slightly different way. What transpired was that I didn't account for the slight curvature of the hull and neglected to chamfer the sills of the gunport lining such that they lay parallel to the gun deck. If I was to do it over I would assemble the entire gunport lining off the model and then profile the one side to match the curvature of the hull so that they fit snugly to the ship with the top and bottom sills parallel to the gun deck. For the sweep ports I just used some 4x4mm square brass tubing to give me something to plank to.


 

 

 
Once I got going the first planking was uneventful which I will not dwell on here as there are a lot better examples of how to plank a hull out there. I should note that after planking the first side I did pause to install the ladders, as well as the eyebolts to tie off the end of the rope handrails, while there was still access from the side. If I had waited I could imagine dropping one of these ladders into the completed hull and never being able to get it out again where it would be doomed to rattle about for all eternity.
 

 

 

Pretty ingenious David.  It's good seeing you go through the experimentation to get what you were looking for.  They look far better than most, especially at 1:64. Can you make or are there other nozzle sizes so you can then make the various size treenails needed from 3/4" to about 1.5" or 2" ?
 
As to bamboo, when you say lathe, did you actually try to turn these?   Splitting bamboo skewers to a slightly larger than needed size then running through a good quality draw plate is fast work for those that do not have a 3D printer.  Making in the neighborhood of 10,000 treenails though may justify an investment in a printer. 😀
Allan

I have decided to attempt a build log. I learn so much from the build logs of other members that I felt that I should venture something in return so, after a gentle prod from Dunnock, here we go. I am fairly new to the hobby having taken it up two years ago. I had just completed the Charles W. Morgan which was very enjoyable and selected the HMS Diana for my next build as it is a very pretty ship. I did hear that the kit itself has issues but thus far it has gone together without too much trauma. I started this build in January 2021 so the first few posts will be a catch up to where I am now.
 
The book The Frigate Diana from the Anatomy of the Ship Series by David White (AOTSD)  is a very valuable resource for anyone attempting this build and is my first call for reference having more or less shelved the drawings and instructions. I also reference the drawings of the Artois class ships housed in the National Maritime Museum (NMM) along with photos of their collection of contemporary models and of course the wealth of information contained in the build logs of other members.

The basic frame went together fairly easily but I did have to use the heavy file to get the pieces to fit together. I introduced some balsa blocks to fill the bow and stern section as my hull planking skills are a bit shaky and I need as much help as I can get when tackling the complicated curves in these areas. I also sawed off the section at the bow and replaced it with a new piece made out of 5mm thick lime wood as I was not happy with the exposed edge of the ply. I wish I had done the same at the stern post.

 

 
 

 
I suspect that there may be something not quite right in the positioning of the rear deck that forms the lower edge of the counter. Having now completed the build in this area I found that the quarter deck galleries ended up sitting too high. There is a good possibility that this may be a result of my bungling but I have noticed this phenomenon in other builds. If I was starting again I would do a lot more checking of the profiles of the aft bulkheads against the drawings in the AOTSD and the drawings from the NMM. It is only around 4 or 5mm difference but it is quite a difference to what is shown in the NMM drawings. It should be noted that these sit a bit higher in the drawings for the Jason and the Seahorse but these are still lower than where mine ended up. I will just have to live with whatever I have as it is too late to go back and do any modifications.
 

 
The lowest deck can only be glimpsed through the gun deck hatches so I used this an opportunity to test out some planking mockups. I settled on a maple plank and I tried to give it a more distressed look using various stains and pastels but feel that the end result was a bit dark. I went a touch lighter for the gun deck itself. I am aiming for a more weathered look as I do not possess the mad skills required to produce one if those immaculate looking models and I can always pass off any wonkyness as an intentional depiction of wear and tear.
 

 
I wanted to add trenails but ran into a bit of bother. I have heard that bamboo skewers can be lathed down to an appropriate trenail size but that proved very time consuming and frustrating and didn't provide a very good result. I think that the skewers are best left for the Kebabs. I then tried some 0.5mm diameter styrene which was good in terms of a consistent shape and size but they were too white and I needed something closer to a 0.3mm diameter. While wandering about the supermarket I found a scrubbing brush that had bristles that were 0.35mm diameter which was an improvement on the styrene but still too white. I then went back to the supermarket and found a brush, which I assume is for cleaning bottles, that had natural bristles that were a better colour and the correct diameter if you could be bothered sifting through them. Despite the fact that they are too dark and painful to work with I ploughed ahead and completed half the gun deck before I discovered that I could get excellent trenail material if I ran the faux wood filament through the 0.3mm diameter nozzle on my 3d printer without printing anything. It is the correct size and dimension and they almost become invisible depending of the angle of viewing much like the real thing. They are a little light but it is as good as I can do.
 

 

 

 

 
As this is my first post I will stop here and submit as I am not that confident of success.

Hello everyone. The time has finally come to start work on my second model. The San Francisco II. I chose this one because I wanted a nice-looking, decent sized ship with canons. I went online and this was the cheapest one I could find with those requirements. I don't know much about the ship other than the name. If it turns out like the picture on the box, I’d be happy. I really hope that I learned from the many mistakes on my first build.
So, without further ado, here goes. Step one, open the box.

It does not look like a lot of components. How on earth will this turn into that ship…
It comes without a printed manual. I loaded the instructional PDF on my phone, and I must admit it is quite nice using it like that instead of the printed manual.
 
I started out by cutting out the parts required for the first few steps and then dry fitting them together. First thing to notice is that the parts fit quite easily, almost too easy. There is a small gap when fitting the cut pieces together. Looks like about 0.5mm. Seems like either the plywood used is too thin or the laser cutting was too generous. Should not be a major issue as I guess I can just make sure one side is glued very well.

 
I saw some build videos and most of the people used rubber bands in the assembly, I tried it and I have to say, it is a game changer for me. Wish I knew about this earlier.

 
And here we go, the stopping point for the weekend. Finished the structure and transom assembly.

 
Up next is the planking of the decks.

This will be my second build, after dipping my toes in the water with the Swampscott Dory.  I chose this kit because of my historical interest in the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, and I wanted to build a ship more challenging than the dory but also not beyond my still nascent skill set.  Clear and comprehensive instructions were also important to me, as well as excellent customer service.  Kolderstok checked all these boxes, so I chose one of their simpler kits.
 
I ordered directly from Hans in Dordrecht to take advantage of the customizations he offers on his website - a ship-specific paint set, upgraded blocks, and an oak stand.  I was very impressed when the kit arrived by the careful packaging and the outstanding quality of all materials.  I only found two other build logs on MSW of Kolderstok kits, and they both had similar comments.  I believe this is a top-notch company.
 
In between finishing my dory and waiting for the Statenjacht to arrive, I studied planking techniques with the fantastic resources here on MSW.  As with the dory, I plan to take a slow, methodical, and patient approach to this model - the fun is in the journey!  I started about a week ago and I’ve got the bulkheads in place as well as the balsa filler at the bow.  I’m taking a lot of time with fairing as this step is so crucial.  I’m using a couple of the planks that I bent with my nifty new plank bender to test fit along the bulkheads.  So here I go - build #2!
 

Happy to follow along, this will be an interesting step up from your current project.

Beautiful, and thanks for the detailed instructions from the beginning. Helps folks like me learn.

Beautiful, and thanks for the detailed instructions from the beginning. Helps folks like me learn.

Beautiful, and thanks for the detailed instructions from the beginning. Helps folks like me learn.

While priming the stove I have continued working on the condenser. I cut a piece of brass tubing at a 45 degree angle in a mitre box and soldered the two halves together to make the 90 degree elbow for the stove end and soldered a series of smaller tubing together for the spigot end. Here is the set up for part of the soldering using push pins in a soldering board to hold everything together.
 

 
Because the turned part is a bit heavy I made a wooden plug that I can screw into stove top for the connector instead of just gluing a piece of tubing to the top. This will hold the condenser much more securely. I still need to make the parts shown at the top of the condenser as shown in the picture I am using as a guide, like the handle and vent.