DanielD
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Joe, thank you for the kind comments! if you plan to put flickering LEDs under the deck so you can see them through the skylights, be sure to get all that done before you do the first layer of planking as it’s easier to hide all the wires. The parts are easy to find in the US, not sure about where you live, but I’ll be happy to share what I used. If I were to do it again, I would build a power jack into the stand and the keel of the ship instead of having an on board battery. I used a 9v rectangle battery under the capstan. While a good hiding place, it will be a chore to change the battery once all the rigging is finished. Oh well, live and learn. There are many flickering LEDs available. Find something you like and note the required voltage. It’s best to use something around 5v for this build. Avoid the 12v versions if you can. If using 5v LEDs, you can do what I did and use a 5v regulator. This way you can use a variety of voltage inputs, a 9v battery, 4 AA batteries, or even a plug in power brick or usb charger, and the regulator will drop voltage down to 5v for the LEDs. I know it sounds difficult, but it’s really not that bad. When you are ready, let me know. I can easily design a circuit that will work for your LEDs of choice. Best of luck on your build. I’ll follow along once you get it started. -
Good evening all, below is an update on making my sails for the Terror. This is my last (hopeful) iteration of the process I will be using to manufacture the sails. Below is the actual sail cloth from one of the major model makers. In this picture I have the main mast course and top gallant sails with the scale panel width, with the sail reinforcements as depicted in Lee’s book for 1840-1845. what I have remaining is to serge the edges, but I need more practice with the serger sewing machine before I attempt the final version of the sails. Also need to do better attaching the reef points. Still a lot more to do… Why did I decide to make my own sails? 😬
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Keep up the good work!
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Good evening all, here is the next iteration. The spanker with corner reinforcement, proper panel width highlighted with stitching and the cord with attachment loops at the corners as depicted in Lee’s book.
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Good evening all, I’ve been working on my technique in making sails. I’ve had to adjust my patterns some and re-learn how to sew. Here is my 3rd attempt (the first 2 attempts were horrible) at making the mizzen upper driver. Of particular note is the correct, or very close panel width and the corner reinforcements. Next I will attempt to add the cord around the sail with the proper loops for rigging and attaching to the yard.
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I might still chicken out, I spent a couple hours using scrap cloth to see how things would work…not successful yet! 😞
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Good afternoon all. I have completed the templates for all the sails on the Terror. I have played around with using paper for the sails and I’m not liking the look, even though it may be more to scale as far as thread count. So I will be using some sail cloth from one of the big ship model manufactures. Here are the templates to date… changes possible once I start assembling. The grey parts are installed on the forward part of the sail and the red areas are for the aft portion of the sail.
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Once I had the first sail done, the next one took a fraction of the time. Here is the mizzen driver.
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Good evening, today I finished up the yards for my HMS Terror and started on the next project…the sails. I have put so much time and effort into this model to make her as accurate as my skill level will allow, that using the out of scale sails that came with the kit seems like a slap in the face. So, I have decided to make my own sails based almost entirely out of Lees The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War 1625-1860. Step 1: create a pattern to scale including the necessary corner or edge reinforcements. Below is my initial pattern for the mizzen driver (spanker) sail as compared to the kit version. The major difference is the panel seams.
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I just might be crazy! The azimuth above is about 4.5-5mm square x 3mm high (3/16” square). To make the compass dial I found a TrueType font of just compass roses and printed one to scale. A little brass work (😂 see what I did there) and some trim pieces…yes, a bit crazy.
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Azimuth post created and square hole in table added. Another terror mystery solved thanks to Keith (clearway), Keith S, Keith Black, and Craig (iMustBeCrazy).
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Thanks again to all the helpers in research for this wonderful ship HMS Terror! Todays task, the azimuth that will sit on top of the mysterious post next to a US dime for comparison.
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Good evening all. I’ve been working on the sky bridge that somehow I missed in all the time I have poured over the drawings. Thanks to Clearway (Keith), Keith S, Keith Black, and iMustBeCrazy (Craig) for all your work in helping figure all this out. Here is my interpretation of the Terror Sky bridge.
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Good evening, I’ve been busy mass producing yards. So much work goes into these pieces. Still not finished, but made good progress today.
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An Alexander steering azimuth compass, designed by Baharie Alexander in 1844. Image below is as close as I could find, may not be an Alexander design, but his would have been very similar, c 1844-1845, which would have been the "latest and greatest" design to have on board.
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Here is a "prototype" Kater azimuth compass, c 1811, designed by Henry Kater, which incorporates a mirror that allows the reading of scales at the same time as observation of a distant object through the sight.
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Just some more historical information that is mentioned by Dr. Bets in the pages above. Gilbert "sundial" azimuth compass, made by Gilbert & Sons London.
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Keith, here is the page in question. this is a quote from the book HMS Terror: The design, fitting and voyages of the polar discovery ship, by Dr. Matthew Betts, page 101-102 ”As was common in many polar expeditions, Terror appears to have shipped two binnacle compasses, one each on the port and starboard, a prudent option in higher latitudes with variable magnetism.15 The 1839 Terror and Erebus upper deck plans show the probable location of these on the quarterdeck, as indicated by gaps in the row of casks lining both sides of the bulwarks. Once the compasses became unreliable at higher latitudes as the magnetic poles drew nearer, these would have been removed. Parry provides a good description of the likely procedure employed: ‘the binnacles were removed, as useless lumber, from the deck to the carpenter’s store-room, where they remained during the rest of the season, the azimuth compass alone being kept on deck.’16 So important were the azimuth compasses for Arctic exploration that five were provided for the 1836 Terror expedition, including two Gilbert and two Kater compasses, and well as an Alexander steering azimuth compass.17 All these models of azimuth compass had been used on previous polar expeditions, and the procedures for using them in high latitudes were well established. Remarkably, the 1839 Terror and Erebus upper deck plan shows that a special charting table was bolted on the quarterdeck and that the azimuth compass was mounted in its centre.18 It is likely that Alexander’s azimuth steering compass was mounted here when in high latitudes, as Ross had experience with this model and its significant advantages from his polar expeditions with his uncle, Sir John Ross.”
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Great work on your Terror so far!
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Great work Keith S, Keith (Clearway) and Craig (iMustBeCrazy). You guys are awesome in research and finding the odd piece of information to fill in the blanks. Again, thanks for all your hard work on the Terror project.
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Here is the latest image after temporarily attaching the yards and gaff’s that I have completed.
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Good evening everyone. It’s been a while since my last update but I have been busy. I can’t believe how much work goes into the yards and gaff’s. Thanks for the great examples Keith (Clearway) and for the info stores in Lee’s book. I could not do it without you.
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Good afternoon Keith(s), all of you… Great work on all the research on the ice bridge and this compass post!
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Wow, keeping track of all the Keith’s is a bit of a challenge This ice/sky bridge for the Terror, I’m sure it was rudimentary at best as an early example, anyone have an idea what it might have looked like? I can’t seem to hallucinate this ice bridge in any of the Terror etchings that I’ve seen…
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