HMS Terror by ObviousNewbie - FINISHED - OcCre - Scale 1:75 - first wooden ship build

[Keith S]

I'm glad it worked out! I got the idea from a model aeroplane I built once. It was a flying-boat and the fuselage was a molded fibreglass piece. The cockpit windows were just a decal, so I made a frame out of acetate to represent windows, and aluminium tape for a frame. Then I painted the area behind this black. I did not like it so I tried blue paint. The black paint hadn't dried thoroughly and bled through the blue paint. Accidentally I came up with this black/blue idea for painted windows on models!

 

[ObviousNewbie]

Hi all, small update, and a request for advice (again) 🙂

 

Rudder installation is finished:

This was easily the most frustrating part of the build so far, getting the rivets in the right position and keeping them there was a pain. Respect for shipwrights who use CA glue for their entire build, even when using gel-based CA I was messing about and gluing myself to the ship on a regular basis. A learning experience, and an exercise in patience...

 

Moved on to the light openings in the deck:

 

Went a bit better, although taking a drill to Terror was well, scary. Next up came the support thingies at the rear of the bulwarks:

I love how you get to shape wood with sanding blocks, a source of delight 🙂

 

Started on the planks that hold the belaying pins (sorry, don't know the nautical term), and here I need some advice: the instructions call to use sapelli wood 2mm by 4mm, and drill holes for the pins 1mm in diameter. First of all, the 1mm holes are way too small for the pins to fit, so drilled 1,5mm holes in which the pins fit, but only just. but then the plank itself is not nearly wide enough for fitting correctly:

Especially with the belaying pin in them, the plank is too narrow, as it doesn't touch the bulwark:

Thinking of two options: either extend the planks using 2mm by 2mm ramin that I have lying around, OR bite the bullet, buy another strip of wood, but wider, and proceed from there. I read in Mastini's book most companies use wood for these planks which is hardly strong enough to hold during rigging, so maybe that might be the way to go?

 

Second point: in the instructions the belaying pins are painted black. What would be the best way of doing this, as the pins are preformed (and way too big for the scale I think) and in light wood.

 

As always, thnx for your input!

[Keith S]

1) I am also always gluing myself to my model

2) I also do not know what those "support thingies" are supposed to be. They are on the real ship, but I can't work out what they are. 

3) The pins are definitely over scale size. I am criticizing myself for not switching to smaller ones. It's too late now.

4) I left mine in the natural wood colour so I have no advice on a quick way to paint them. 

 

For some reason, my kit had very little of the 2mm x 4mm wood that the pin racks are supposed to be made of. Therefore I ordered some 2x4 walnut strips. When they arrived, I was annoyed that they were 2x6 rather than the 2x4 I ordered. But I am pleased now because you're right, the supplied 2x4 stuff is too small. 

 

I am wondering if we were supposed to make the bulwark rail a little more narrow than we did. I notice mine is wider than the plywood curved piece it butts against on the bow. Maybe if the rail was a bit more narrow the 2x4 stock would work better for the pin racks. 

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Keith S

[Wahka_est]

Hi,

 

Ran into those problems also but also would a solution.

 

1) regarding pins-i used ebony stain. Check my blog. Worked really well.

2) railing was covering also my pins support. I glued extra strip of 2mm sapelli to support that goes under railing. Joint is barely visible. Width you have to check what you have leftover and fits you the best.

[ObviousNewbie]

20 hours ago, Keith S said:

I am wondering if we were supposed to make the bulwark rail a little more narrow than we did. I notice mine is wider than the plywood curved piece it butts against on the bow. Maybe if the rail was a bit more narrow the 2x4 stock would work better for the pin racks. 

 

That was what I was thinking as well when I installed it, especially as the curved railings on the bow are narrower as well. Solved it with the sanding block, but still...

[Baker]

On 4/21/2020 at 10:14 AM, ObviousNewbie said:

getting the rivets in the right position and keeping them there was a pain

This is one of the reasons why i use polystyrene 

 

The plank for the belaying pins should definitely be wider. Otherwise, you will run into problems with the rigging 

[ObviousNewbie]

32 minutes ago, Backer said:

This is one of the reasons why i use polystyrene 

Thnx for the tip, can you shed some light on this? I'm not familiar with polystyrene as a glue. Thnx!

[Baker]

Polystyrene is plastic 

 

Page 8 post 227

I like working with it

Edited April 22, 2020 by Backer

[ObviousNewbie]

21 hours ago, Backer said:

Polystyrene is plastic 

Amazing build log btw, thnx for the tip!

 

I know 🙂 I thought you were referring to a specific type of glue. I remember from my plastic days I had a specific Humbrol glue which actually melted the polystyrene to almost weld pieces together... Ah, the good old days 🙂

Edited April 23, 2020 by ObviousNewbie

[ObviousNewbie]

Hi all, busy week, working from home and in the evening working on the deck structures. But we're almost there:

Some details:

Didn't like the way the plywood was showing on the rooftops, so lined all of them with leftover Sapelli wood. Going for the natural look on the belaying pins,I'll probably have some trouble fitting them in some of the belaying tables as my drilling technique improved as I went 🙂

 

Learned a lot working on the deck, from using opaque paper as a template to mark the structures, using Lego bricks and corners to create 90° angles, etc. And patience, lots of patience 🙂  But frankly, the focus is keeping me sane, haven't been outside for 7 weeks now, still holding on, but some days are better than others.

 

Next step, finish the deck (capstan), leaving all the fragile stuff for last, like davits etc. Then building and painting the catheads and the stern davits (almost done), then paint the relevant parts white. Question: for the black hull paint, what to use best? Was thinking of ebony stain/varnish, but maybe paint is a better option?

 

Still of two minds whether or not to install the bow armour plating. Seems very complex AND very visible, not a good combo.

[Wahka_est]

I would say do a test trial with ebony and paint. Mine is paint but other build here is ebony. I like the stain more now cause it brings out the wood(dissapointed that i disnt choose to stain but also had glue mark problems).

 

Really nice work on deck!

[Paul O]

On 2/13/2020 at 11:38 AM, druxey said:

Try to avoid contact type cements. They are instant, but allow no adjustment whatsoever. I'd stick (pun intended!) with PVA (white) or aliphatic (yellow) glues.

I agree! I found out the hard way. I used it for my build of the Terror as it says in the instructions and found that it not only smelled up the house but was hard to use also. It is not forgiving at all

[Paul O]

Hi all!! I am working on the HMS Terror also. This is my second Plank on Bulkhead kit I have attempted. The first one I started, San Francisco (started not finished) was over 20 years ago. I have learned a lot by working on the HMS Terror. Believe it or not, I still have my San Francisco kit and I am planning to go back and complete it, after I finish the Terror.

 

My build of the Terror is progressing nicely. I have completed the second layer of planking and getting ready to built the Rubbing Streaks, I plan to work on that this nest week. I have been trying to research the location of the Chain Plate and I am having little success. I posted a request for information on Occre's web site, but I have not received a response from them. 

[Paul O]

On 3/17/2020 at 10:25 AM, ObviousNewbie said:

Hi all,

 

First planking is finished!

 

Again, this is my first time, so be gentle 🙂 . Used a combo of plank bending pliers for the easy bends, and steam for the garboard and the planks lower to the keel. The advice I read over here: "Treat every plank as it's own project", helped.

 

Made some mistakes I will need to correct during sanding and filling, most notably on the bow, where I did not bend the planks enough:

Will think about how to solve this later, but any advice is welcome!

 

Started sanding as well:

Question:

From the Occre videos, I saw the heads of the nails need to be filed down. 1) What is the best tool for this? and 2) How much do the nails need to be sanded down? Tried on a row with some sanding paper:

Top row is sanded, bottom row not sanded. Is this enough, or do the nails really need to be flush? Quick note: there's a thin layer of second planking coming on top of this, not sure how much that will show nail bump-wise.

 

As always, thnx for your input! 

The nail heads need to be filed or sanded flush - remember you have a second layer of very thin planking to put on after you finish sanding the sub-planking 

[ObviousNewbie]

31 minutes ago, Paul O said:

Hi all!! I am working on the HMS Terror also. This is my second Plank on Bulkhead kit I have attempted. The first one I started, San Francisco (started not finished) was over 20 years ago. I have learned a lot by working on the HMS Terror. Believe it or not, I still have my San Francisco kit and I am planning to go back and complete it, after I finish the Terror.

 

My build of the Terror is progressing nicely. I have completed the second layer of planking and getting ready to built the Rubbing Streaks, I plan to work on that this nest week. I have been trying to research the location of the Chain Plate and I am having little success. I posted a request for information on Occre's web site, but I have not received a response from them. 

Hi Paul!

 

When you're starting on the buffers, make sure you cut/sand them to shape at the stern. the instructions tell you to cut afterwards, but I heard that's a big headache. I cut them to shape, more work indeed, but that way you don't have to go to the hull with a knife 🙂

 

Make sure you position the first plank correctly, I did that wrong, and did not measure the 2cm at the bow, so I had to give HMS Terror a nose job to make the edge of the bow fit with the buffers.

 

Good luck!

[Paul O]

Thanks for the tip!. I was planning to bend and cut the buffers to fit prior to attaching them to the hull. I drew a line along the sides of the hull and pull one of the decorator pieces off the sprue and used it to draw a second line along the edge of the stern. I plan to cut each piece to end at the second line. I don't like the idea of taking the strip all the way to the stern and then after gluing and sanding it to trim it back as show in the videos.  I used the 15mm distance as shown in the plans, but if the 20mm measure is more correct I can easily redraw the lines.

 

I am debating on weather to paint the hull or not, I love the natural wood colors and hate the idea of covering it up with paint. The ebony stain is not a bad idea, I think I have some in the garage from an earlier honey do project.

 

7 Weeks stuck in side, what a drag. I'm in Texas, Houston area. We have been on a lock down here as well, But on Monday the Governor relaxed it a bit and has allowed restaurants  to open at 25% capacity, so we were able to go to one of our favorite restaurants on Tuesday. It was nice to get out for a while. We are wearing masks when we go to the store for groceries. I need to because of my Virus profile.

 

Virus Profile:

1) Age: 70

2) Type 2 Diabetic

3) Mild Asthmatic

4) Past history of pneumonia

 

Paul Oakley

Spring, TX

 

 

[GrandpaPhil]

Stay healthy and stay safe.

Edited May 4, 2020 by GrandpaPhil

[ObviousNewbie]

Hi all, slow progress, lots of testing, and busy times at the home office. But, the capstan and the pumps are finished:

Thinking about painting now, found a black furniture varnish in one of the few shops still open, tested it against the flat black Tamiya paint:

 

The blue shine is coming from the window, but all in all I think the varnish works better than the paint, which is a bit too flat in my opinion. On the left side the varnish, one coat on the left, two coats on the right. Makes a bit of a difference but not much. Prefer some of the wood colour to still be present so I'll probably go for this.

 

Underneath the varnish is an armour plate which I'm supposed to attach to the bow. Thinking about it, I decided to test how it would hold out with paint. Well, the result is not spectacular. So either I go for specific metal paint and risk Terror having two shades of black, or I just abandon the plating... What do you think?

[Paul O]

WOW!!

 

Looks great.

 

I've been making some progress on my Terror and doing some reading.

 

I've uncovered an issue with the shroud lines. The way Occre show to install them is totally incorrect. They show the shrouds being run through the gap between the lower masts and the upper masts, then evening them up on both sides of the ship. From what I've seen on line and in Mastini,s book, the shrouds should go around the mast and down the same side. They are then seized at the mast. You work with them in pairs on each side, one pair on the port side and one pair on the starboard side. You need to look at the Masting and Rigging section of the book (Ship Modeling Simplified by Frank Mastini).

 

I got the bumpers bent last night and installed the water channels on the deck, I'll start installing the bumpers today.

I've been dry fitting the keel and the bowsprit to the hull. I taped the first section and the curved section to help position the bowsprit and the keel. That looks like I will be able to fit them together just fine, but - I also showed that I have a noticeable gap between the hull and the curved keel. I've decided to fill the back side of the curve with left over strips of Sapelli from the second planking layer, then shape it to fit. I took a picture of it now I have to figure out how to get the picture from my cell phone to mt laptop, my phone has updated since the last time I did that and of course how you do that has changed. It is bad when the device is smarter than the user and I'm a 30+ IT professional.

 

I'm going to have to stop now, The Blue Angels are doing a Fly Over here in Houston at 12:30 today.

 

Here is the picture of the gap

Edited May 6, 2020 by Paul O

[Baker]

You can polish the matte Tamiya Paint a bit after it has hardened.
Then it becomes semi-gloss and has a weathered look..

I do this with soft scotch brite.

 

[ObviousNewbie]

Hi Paul, regarding the shrouds, have a look at this: 

 

 

Found this playlist on Youtube, although he's building the Santissima Trinidad, a monster of a ship, he really goes step by step and explains the basic rigging. In this video he's installing the first shrouds. Hope this helps!

 

The Blue Angels, would love to see them in action one day, enjoy!

 

 

[Paul O]

Newbie,

 

A very good video on the shrouds and ratlines. I also notice the he was doing the shrouds in pairs on the same side, not the method indicated by Occre.

[ObviousNewbie]

Hi all,

 

It's been a while, but the Lady has her colours:

 

Some minor corrections to be done, but all in all I'm quite pleased with how she looks 🙂 After that, tried my hand at the bowsprit, which is coming along nicely (no pictures yet).

 

I need some advice on the chainplates though. I was a bit reluctant to put up the out-of-box solution, somehow didn't seem to fit. Keith S got me a valuable alternative, but price wise the import tariffs alone are doubling the price almost 😞 . So went out to look for a local solution, as the stores reopened last week. Found chainplates from Billing Boats which were more to my liking:

Left the standard issue, on the right after shortening, drilling two holes and bending to match the ice shock. When in position (dry fitted and unpainted) it looks like this:

I've painted my prototype for a final fitting, I'm just wondering if the width isn't too much. Chainplate is 3mm wide, Deadeye going above it will be 5mm. Any suggestions/comments?

[clearway]

i would have gone 2mm for the chainplate, but rest a deadeye on top and make a tea/ coffee and see if you like the 3mm- you are the admiral of this ship after all😁

[ObviousNewbie]

Small update, port chainplates for the foremast are done:

 

Some corrections to be made, but I think they look the part.

 

As the store did not have all the necessary messing in stock, I decided to work mast per mast, so started on the foremast as well.

 

Take care.

[Wahka_est]

Nice paintwork!

Whose paints dod uou use? Did you dilutate those? Asking cause wood texture is coming trough really nice.

 

[ObviousNewbie]

12 minutes ago, Wahka_est said:

Nice paintwork!

Whose paints dod uou use? Did you dilutate those? Asking cause wood texture is coming trough really nice.

 

Thnx! I actually used black furniture varnish. Due to the fact a number of stores were closed, andI couldn't get any advice, I improvised 🙂 Tested with both varnish and paint, and I chose the varnish for exactly the reason you mentioned: texture is still visible. Check one of my previous posts, you can see the test results.

[druxey]

I was lucky enough to catch the display at Greenwich. It was fascinating to see the 'new' model by Matthew Betts alongside the contemporary Erebus model. See:

 

https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66676.html

[ObviousNewbie]

While waiting for the rest of the chainplate elements to arrive, started on the masts. Foremast is done, rigging the yardarms is ongoing:

Surprised at how delicate and at the same time how enjoyable this activity is. Used some 1mm messing to ensure the holes I drilled in the yardarm stay open when I tie the various ropes at the tips, and learned how to tie knots with tweezers 🙂

 

On to the last yardarm for the foremast, then mounting them. Occre's video's are not too clear on this, it seems a single turn of the rope around the mast and some CA glue is enough... Any thoughts on this? How did you mount your yardarms?

[Wahka_est]

Nice work.

check my blog on this. I used solution that was in Ship modelling simplified i think.

maybe thats the way you want to go.

Oldtimers suggest to put nail to yard and drill a hole in mast to keep it at right place. I did it with CA without nail.