HMS Terror by Keith S - OcCre - scale 1:75 - as she (dis)appeared on her final mission 1845 - first wooden ship build

[Keith S]

Here's some more progress on the Terror. 

 

 

At this point I've deviated from the kit enough that I am mostly scratch-building everything using Mr.Bett's blog and diagrams from the museum in Greenwich. I made a curved fife-rail and jeer-bitts aft of the mainmast and the posts forward that support the bearings for the pump cranks and the bearings for something called a "jeer bitt warp-end" which, I have to admit, I don't know what that does so if anyone else here knows I would appreciate an explanation! They seem to be horizontal drums- I kind of assume they are meant to carry a messenger-cable forward from the capstan. Or maybe to use the capstan to help hoist the main yard? 

 

Anyway, moving forward I've made the jeer bitts for the foremast which are also depicted as having one of these "warp ends" which I have completed. I think it looks pretty good, but I am just following drawings now and I wish I had more information, because the drawings do not depict a fife-rail for the mainmast and bowsprit running rigging,  only these jeer bitts. Maybe there's a spider-band or something. I will have to sort this before I can rig the ship. 

 

The kit depicts a pair of pin-rails straddling the bowsprit, but I don't think this is accurate so I've left them off, although you can see I left room for some belaying-pins on the jeer bitt stanchions.

 

Ps I have no idea if I'm even using terms like "warp ends" and "jeer bitts" correctly. I am in way over my head with this model.

 

 

 

 

[Keith S]

Here are a couple more pictures of the deck arrangement with the new pieces. I pulled out the stanchions forward of the main mast and made longer ones that put the warping heads at the height depicted in shipyard plans. The warping heads are made by turning down a dowel in my dremel and the "iron" fittings are made with brass sheet and pins blackened in "jax" solution.

 

I've included the picture I pinched from the NMG collections website. I hope this is OK, someone let me know if it's not. It shows some of these details that are not included in the kit. Although these depict the ship in her pre-1845 engineless configuration as she would have appeared on the Antarctic expeditions.

 

Also, I've noticed in looking through all the build logs on this site, how clean everyones' work-benches are. I take perverse pride in what a knavish shambles mine is at present. 

 

Edited April 5, 2020 by Keith S

[Wahka_est]

Nice progress!

 

Pictures are made after cleaning ;). Its hard to keep it clean as you add tools all the time when building. Solved it like that so that every night i will focus on certan work so the tools wont build up - like yards and rigging etc.

[NovaStorm]

Agree looking good Keith ~

[Keith S]

Well I've reached a bit of a turning-point with this model. I have more or less used or replaced all the deck fittings provided by OCCRE, other than the boat-davits and the frame midships where the boat will be. 

 

I don't wish to be critical but I think, from reading the build log for the scratch-built Terror in 1:48 scale, as well as poring over the research and diagrams in Mr. Bett's blog and studying the shipyard plans available on the NMG website, that I can make a theory about how this kit came into existence. I think when the T.V. show came out, OCCRE recognized this would be a very popular ship, temporarily. They needed to get a kit out as quickly as possible, so their research consisted almost entirely of visually reproducing what they could see in photographs of Mr. Betts' model. Now to give them their due, they do give his plans credit for being the basis of their version. However, In comparing their plan-view of the model with Navy drawings I can see some differences, such as placement of the deck illuminators. The thing is, Mr. Betts' model is at present not complete. He has paused in his building while the model is at the "shipwright" stage, which shows hull design and a limited number of fittings. My theory is that OCCRE used what they could from this source, but then proceeded to rig the model using standard parts from the parts-bin, and rigging based on practices from other ships. 

 

Therefore, I feel there are some errors, which for me need fixed in order to be fully satisfied with the model. I have to admit some of the changes are also going to be based on speculation on my part as well. But from here on out, I am going to be taking the kit's instructions with a grain of salt and double-checking their work before proceeding.

 

Some of the things I am concerned with (or have already changed):

 

1) the wheel. Erebus and Terror had ten-spoked wheels. The kit one has eight, therefore I ordered and built a pair of Syren ones. They come in a mini-kit with a jig and it's a great addition

 

2) the windlass. The kit one is a generic "windlass" with only one ratchet, even though there are two pawl-bitts that support the belfry. I made a new one based on drawings of the real ship and Mr. Betts' blog. There is some debate among experts whether the Terror would have had her original windlass with wooden knees, or whether she would have been updated with a windlass similar to Erebus with iron knees. Mr. Betts in his blog seems to believe the latter, and also updated navy plans have the heading "Erebus AND Terror" and seem to depict both ships having this updated windlass. So I tried to modify the kit one, but ended up just scratch-building one from bits of dowel, brass plate, and walnut beams. 

 

3) Likewise, along with the windlass, the manufacturer seems to have peppered the ship with fife-rails and pin-rails that may or may not have been on the real ship. I suspect this was because it's pretty hard to work out where they were in real life. I know from shipyard plans where the pin-racks were on the bulwarks, and they show a row of pins between the mainmast jeer-bitts. Wreck photographs show a spider-band on the mizzen, but this is not depicted in the plans, nor are any spider-bands, fife-rails or otherwise shown in conjunction with the foremast at all. I don't blame OCCRE for simply sticking two pin-racks astride the bowsprit, but they weren't there on the real ship and this is causing me some stress because there must have been something there, I just can't work out what. Also I reconfigured the arrangement at the base of the mainmast to include warp drums and put rings in the deck at all three masts to rig purchase blocks for lifts and halyards. 

 

4) The capstan. The one in the kit looks silly. I made my own.

 

5) mast woolding. The kit depicts this as being rope, but I gather from reading others' build-logs that by the early-mid 1800s it was more likely they would have been iron. I haven't made up my mind about this. I think OCCRE just went with a simplified generic barque rig with this model, and I'd like to reevaluate some of their conjecture. Of course I don't know what I'm talking about so this is where some research is in order.

 

6) Rudder head cover and "seats of ease" . Diagrams show that there were probably little deckhouses at the taffrail containing sheltered "facilities" for the men. I have identified in wreck photographs what I think is a photograph of one of these structures, and also Mr. Betts depicts them on his blog. I'm going to try to build a representation of these little houses.

 

7) the beams at the stern. The ones in the kit have a peculiar angle that must be cut into the four beams that make up these structures. I don't actually know what these are called but they are sort of like the cat-heads except they are at the stern. Usually they are depicted with a boat hanging from them. Anyway the kit shows a complex angle here and I was frustrated trying to cut it accurately. I checked out the navy drawings, old paintings and Mr. Betts' model, and it looks like OCCRE got this wrong. There is one photograph of Mr. Betts' model in which it looks like the beams are at this funny angle, but I believe this is an illusion due to the angle the photo was taken. I built mine with them straight, and I think it's much more likely they were straight on the real ship. They angle outwards so they are parallel with the centreline, but why would they also angle downwards? Doesn't make sense so I didn't include it.

 

Also I treated myself to one of those great little "Master Korabel" boats, that's like a whole other ship with its microscopic clinker hull. It's not exactly the same as the cast-metal one it will replace, but I think its presence will enhance the whole model. I'll still use the two cast-metal ones upside-down on their racks at the stern. 

 

Of course if anyone here manages to read all the way through this and has any suggestions about some of the things I am concerned about, please provide commentary!

 

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2020 by Keith S

[NovaStorm]

Keith are you not putting the metal plates on the bow or have I missed it. It is looking real good, half the fun is in the research 

[Keith S]

2 minutes ago, NovaStorm said:

Keith are you not putting the metal plates on the bow or have I missed it. It is looking real good, half the fun is in the research 

 

Thanks! Yeah the research is keeping me busy during all this down-time.

 

I am going to do the plates on the bow, in fact I was thinking about doing it today. I'm procrastinating a bit because I am still thinking about the best way to paint them- they're aluminium, which is hard to paint. I have some brass sheet here but using it on the bow will use it allmup and I'm not confident I have enough. So I guess I'll use the aluminium. Definitely going to do it at some point soon though. Maybe today!

 

[Keith Black]

11 minutes ago, Keith S said:

they're aluminium, which is hard to paint

Keith, nice work.

About painting aluminum. I found that if I steel wool the piece, wipe it clean with paint thinner and then apply a coat of wipe on poly, paint will adhere easier with no streaking. I use acrylic craft paint so if you're using a different type paint your results may not be the same as mine. Hope this helps.....KB

[Keith S]

Thanks Keith! I will definitely try that. I've been using acrylic paint from a little store here in Yellowknife that sells adventure-game stuff. I don't know what the game is called, but the little paints they use to colour their figures and little war machines are excellent, water-based and they are silky smooth and very pigment-dense. I don't suppose they're open anymore though with this isolation order in effect, so I might have to resort to spray-paint. We'll see how it turns out. 

[Keith Black]

I bet if you look on eBay you can find the acrylic paint you're looking for. eBay sellers seem to be a lot more flexible in these times than large online companies. Oh, don't use real fine steel wool, you want some scratching of the surface for the poly to adhere to.  

[Keith S]

Thanks for the advice Keith. I've been putting off the bow plating because the aluminium looked hard to work with. Now I feel a bit more confident. 

 

Tonight I built some tiny little elm-tree pumps. In the kit, there's a pair of circles in the plan view that show a pair of illuminators behind the companionway. A look at the navy diagram shows these circles actually depict a pair of elm-tree pumps. I used some bits of brass and dowel to make them. They are very small in this scale. I photographed them with my thumb for scale. They look a bit toy-ish when you zoom in this close but from normal viewing distance they actually look quite reasonable. I also made all the deck rings by wrapping copper wire around a piece of coat-hanger and snipping it into rings. 

[Keith S]

Here is some more progress on the Terror. Plans show a pair of little deckhouses on either side of the rudder-head. It's not clear what was inside these deckhouses or where the doors were on them. Fortunately one of them flashes past the screen on one of Parks Canada's videos of the wreck. In Matthew Betts' blog on the subject of the Terror, he describes his research on the subject and it's his opinion, I think, that the starboard-side one contained a "seat of ease" while the port one was maybe a storage locker. It's all rather hard to tell, but the wreck photograph clearly shows the starboard biffy with a sliding door and little cross-shaped ventilation hole. So, I employed artistic license and made a starboard-side toilet and a port-side storage locker. Initially I painted the first one I made white, as it possibly was on the original ship, but this made it look toy-like and I didn't like the result, so I re-made the deckhouses with the walnut planks varnished. Even though this might actually be LESS realistic, it looks a lot better. I had a hard time making the ventilation hole neatly, but it's so small you need a magnifying glass to see it anyway. Here are some pictures of the model as she stands today, plus the wreck image showing the starboard-side toilet. On the model I left the door partly open because that's how it is now on the wreck. 

Edited April 15, 2020 by Keith S

[Keith S]

The OCCRE kit comes with some boats that are cast in white metal, which are meant to be painted and then some wood details added. They actually are pretty nice castings, and I'm sure they would be fine on the model, but recently in another build thread I saw these amazing little boat kits from Master Korabel and simply had to try one. 

 

Now I thought the ship's wheel kit from Syren models was the smallest laser-cut thing I've ever seen but this boat takes the cake. It's a full carvel-planked model boat in 1:72 scale. Just like a full-sized boat, the ribs are bent over plywood forms which are then removed after the planking is done. It has all the parts of a real boat! 

 

I recommend one of these kits for anyone who is confused about tapering and "spiling" planks on a model ship. In teeny-tiny size, you can see the complex shape of a garboard strake, and you can see the curves that need to be cut into a properly shaped plank on a ship. In the kit it's all done for you; you just pop the planks out of the fret, soak them a bit and they fit together perfectly. The kit mentions the garboard strake may need a bit of "adjustment" but they give you two pairs of these.

 

Here's where I am so far with it, with a beer-cap for scale. It's the perfect size for one of Terror's boats, so if I can finish this little kit half-decently, she'll get a place of honour on Terror's deck! 

 

 

 

 

[Keith S]

Some more work on the little boat, the ship's foremast/windlass area, and I made a spider-band for the mizzen. The Terror's windlass was reinforced with forged iron knees as well as the pawl bitts and jeer bitts, which were joined to the deck and to each other with a big curved forging. There was also an iron fife-rail between the two, surrounding the mast. I represented the forgings with brass plate, except the fife-rail which is just wood painted black to look like iron. I *think* I've finished with this assembly. For some reason I can't remember now, I elected to use the kit's over-scale belaying pins, so as a result the forward fife-rail and mizzen spider-band are a little hefty compared to how they probably looked on the real ship. Still, I think it looks OK. In the kit, there is a pin-rack at the mizzen, but in wreck photos we can see there is actually a spider-band here. I made this with a band made out of sheet brass wrapped 'round the mast, which was drilled for some brass ring-bolt heads. I enlarged the holes in these so belaying-pins would fit into them. 

 

The little boat from Master Korabel is a great little kit. The pre-shaped planks fit perfectly except the garboard strake, which fit after a bit of sanding. The plywood forms popped out reasonably well, with little damage to the boat except some of the webs in the bilge which will be covered by sole-planks anyway. I'm having fun with this little boat. I don't really want to paint it, but I think it will look better white, at least below the waterline. I'll have to research what colour the R.N. painted their boats. There's a painting of the expedition's boats that depict them as being green and black, but other pictures depict at least one being white. If anyone has an opinion on this, let me know!

Edited April 21, 2020 by Keith S

[NovaStorm]

Keith you are doing one fantastic job with your research and build. You are showing us what is possible with this kit. Thanks for sharing

[Keith S]

Thanks man. I am getting closer to making the bow armour!

 

[Keith S]

I am pretty pleased with how today's work turned out. I think the boat is going to look good.

 

Still can't decide whether or not to paint it. Opinions welcome.

[NovaStorm]

I think it is great as is Keith. Really stands out nicely without distracting, but adding to the rest of the ship. Just my 2cents

[Wahka_est]

Nice progress.

 

Can you so few close up pictures of deadeyes and chainplates. Im really not happy how mine turned out and i plan to change them.

[Keith S]

11 minutes ago, Wahka_est said:

Nice progress.

 

Can you so few close up pictures of deadeyes and chainplates. Im really not happy how mine turned out and i plan to change them.

 

Hi Wahka, I took a picture and sent you a private message along with a link to the online store where I bought the chainplates.

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, Keith S said:

Still can't decide whether or not to paint it

That's a quandary to be sure. In some models, because of the lovely wood working techniques involved it would be a bloody shame to paint. Personally I like paint as I think it makes a model look more realistic and paint will hide a multitude of sins which is the case with my build.  

Edited April 21, 2020 by Keith Black

[Keith S]

16 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

That's a quandary to be sure. In some models, because of the lovely wood working techniques involved it would be a bloody shame to paint. Personally I like paint as I think it makes a model look more realistic and paint will hide a multitude of sins which is the case with my build.  

 

This is why I can't make up my mind about it. The little boat is the smallest, most complicated thing I've ever made of wood and I'm astonished it turned out as well as it did. The deckhouses on the stern of the ship are supposed to be white, but after making a pair of white ones my wife and I both agreed they looked wrong in this scale, and they look more realistic in plain wood, even though the colour is NOT realistic. 
 

What I'm seriously considering is painting that strip between the bilge-board and the gunwale and leaving the rest of the hull plain. That way, it will look more realistic AND you'll be able to see the planking.

[Keith S]

The reason I haven't posted lately is that I've been working on chainplates and the armour plates for the bow of my model. There isn't much to report because both jobs are tedious and repetitive compared to the "fun" parts of crafting details for the deck.

[clearway]

Hi keith- i have this one in my to do stash and after a quick check to make sure the contents were o.k. before storage came up with the same thoughts regarding accuracy as you- well done on taking her to the next level🧐.

 

I would leave the ships boat in the natural wood finish and just varnish it- looks toooooo nice to spoil by painting.

 

Have you read "Erebus" by Michael Palin- jeez them guys had a set!!!!!

 

also advise James Lees "masting and rigging of english ships of war" when it comes to building the masts and yards.

 

Keep up the excellent work.

 

Keith

[ObviousNewbie]

So you're going ahead with the armour plating? Brave man, good luck! Me, I'm partial to skipping it, seems too much of a risk. On the other hand, she was an ice-breaker, so...

[Keith S]

On 5/5/2020 at 2:53 AM, clearway said:

Hi keith- i have this one in my to do stash and after a quick check to make sure the contents were o.k. before storage came up with the same thoughts regarding accuracy as you- well done on taking her to the next level🧐.

 

I would leave the ships boat in the natural wood finish and just varnish it- looks toooooo nice to spoil by painting.

 

Have you read "Erebus" by Michael Palin- jeez them guys had a set!!!!!

 

also advise James Lees "masting and rigging of english ships of war" when it comes to building the masts and yards.

 

Keep up the excellent work.

 

Keith

 

 

Yes I have Michael Palin's book. I was amazed to read about the Erebus and Terror's other exploits. It's astonishing the way they threw these tubby little ships around and the sailing exploits they had. I have ordered a copy of the book you recommended. It will comfort me to be able to do research on the way things were done in real life.I tend to get all tied up in knots over historical details. 

 

The bow armour is a thankless task. The kit diagrams and even Occre's videos online do not provide enough information. I've got about a third of it done, but I am not enjoying it!

[clearway]

sometimes the research is more interesting than the build- i have the same problems with having to add more detail to my billings HMS Victory as they simplified a lot including the yards and rigging.

 

Keith

[Paul O]

Kieth,

 

Looking good!

[Keith S]

Lockdown excitement! I ordered a copy of this Admiralty draught for the Terror from the Greenwich museum, and they arrived today. What an excellent service from National Museum-Greenwich; it's on lovely card-like paper and the writing is all legible. I'm very excited because this will help me understand what all that stuff on the deck does- I've already learned a few things that will help the model. There's even some rigging information even though the rig isn't depicted, such as a pair of little winches hidden up at the fore- and main-mast heads, and the locations of sheaves in the bulwarks for vangs, &c. 

Well, it's the most exciting thing to happen all week. The armour plating on the bow is coming along. I think it will turn out OK but I am not really having fun at it. Almost done the starboard side so of course I'm already starting to worry about making sure the port side is identical, even though I've been making it up as I go along. Will of course be painted when complete.

 

This draught shows her in her engineless, Antarctic configuration, but other than the chimney and propeller-aperture, which I've already built anyway, there is little outward change in her appearance as fitted for the Arctic expedition.

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Keith S

[clearway]

way to go m8y- i have dug my terror out and started on her and hold you entirely responsible. will have to start a build log, but main focus will obviously be on victory with this as a side project. keep up the good work.

 

Keith