HMS Terror by DanielD - FINISHED - OcCre - Scale 1:75 - Second Build Started 10/4/2020

[DanielD]

Good evening everyone, thanks for stopping by. Finally finished all the rat lines. Almost done with the standing rigging! Here is the latest…

 

 

[DanielD]

More work in the shipyard this weekend, finishing up the standing rigging. Or at least I think I finished it. Will have to go back and check a few things to make sure, but taking a break from rigging to build some curved davits.

 

I took a partial screen shot out of Matthew Betts book on the Terror and scaled it to my model, using his research to define the curve for my davits. I used some 1mm x 4mm spare planks and laminate them to make my davits. So far I’m fairly happy with the outcome. Pictures of the davits coming soon.

 

 Here is the latest on the ship it’s self.

 

[DanielD]

Good evening all, the project for the last few days was the design and building of Terrors curved davits. Here is the first one installed. It’s my first time using the laminated technique to make curved lumber. I’m fairly happy with the result.

 

 

[clearway]

look good Daniel- i wouldn't permanently install the davits til all the running rigging is complete though as they will obstruct access and catch every line that goes near them.

 

Keith

[DanielD]

14 hours ago, clearway said:

look good Daniel- i wouldn't permanently install the davits til all the running rigging is complete though as they will obstruct access and catch every line that goes near them.

 

Keith

Good point! I’ll get the brackets fit so everything works, a picture or two, then remove them until later on. Thanks!

[DanielD]

More curved davits temporarily fitted. Moving along nicely.

 

[clearway]

safe to say you, keith s and myself have moved away from the occre instructions slightly!!

 

Keith

[DanielD]

3 hours ago, clearway said:

safe to say you, keith s and myself have moved away from the occre instructions slightly!!

 

Keith

What instructions? I haven’t looked at those in months, 😂 

[DanielD]

Well, I finally have the curved davits temporarily installed…looking for the next task to work on…hmm…

 

[allanyed]

1 hour ago, DanielD said:

What instructions? I haven’t looked at those in months, 😂

You are a very wise modeler.  Your Terror is one of the best we have seen. 

 

[DanielD]

3 hours ago, allanyed said:

You are a very wise modeler.  Your Terror is one of the best we have seen. 

 

Thank you allanyed! You are too kind. I hope you have seen keiths and clearway’s versions, as they are stunning.

[DanielD]

Good evening all, the next task I attempted is an update of the sled I made about a year ago. I didn’t have plans, just some images and sketches from Matthew Betts blog on the Terror, but I was never happy with my build. Then comes the long awaited book HMS Terror: The Design, Fitting and Voyages of the Polar Discovery Ship by Dr. Matthew Betts, in which he has details drawings of the sled. I scaled the drawings to my ship attempting every detail my skill level would allow. Below, the old sled (left) and the new version (right). I’m very happy with the results.

 

[DanielD]

Well, getting tight on the deck so decided to finish the deck works before anymore rigging. Added some barrels, the main anchor chain, and finishing up the color scheme on the extra boats. Still so much to do…

 

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by DanielD
Updated text

[DanielD]

Good evening all. I have been avoiding creating the spare parts stanchions and guards as I was unsure how to make them. I don’t know if I choose the best way, but decided to make the stanchions from brass bollards and solder brass wire to make the L shape suggested in Dr. Betts design drawings, and a fine brass wire soldered between the stanchions to make the guard. Below is the final result, one without spare parts and the other with extra mast parts. Any thoughts on if these spare parts would have been painted? Maybe as a preservative? Or would the parts have been left raw so that they could be made into whatever was needed? 
 

Edited July 6, 2022 by DanielD

[DanielD]

Good evening modelers and other Terror builders. I have been going over the deck designs from Dr. Matthew Betts book, HMS Terror ~ The Design, Fitting and Voyages of the Polar Discovery Ship and discovered I missed one hatch. Just aft of the mainmast and forward of the aft companionway is a small hatch that covers the scuttle for the spare rudder. Now I see this hatch on the OcCre instructions, I just missed it. Glad I caught it now before it gets harder to reach 😳.

[DanielD]

Well, I had a little bit more time before bed so I mounted one of the auxiliary boats to the deck.

One more hatch to make, a couple signal cannons to mount and some barrels to settle in place…then back to standing rigging I missed at the bow…then on to making the yards. Slow steady progress. Thank for all the looks and help, especially KeithS and Clearway Keith!

[clearway]

you are welcome- The running rigging is fun! - Thats why i didn't add the backstays and boat till as late as possible and didn't fasten in the skid beams etc to leave access room to belay the running rigging.

 

Keith

[Ian B]

Hi Daniel I have been following this for a while as this may be my next build-- with all the extra detail you are adding an average kit build is turning into something special---thanks for taking time to share it with us...    

[allanyed]

On 6/30/2022 at 11:19 PM, DanielD said:

I hope you have seen keiths and clearway’s versions, as they are stunning.

I agree.  Where parts in the kit have been thrown out and replaced the beauty of the model goes up exponentially.

Quick question/observation....  The boats are upside down but those on Clearway's are not.   I don't recall seeing them upside down on any ship, but was this an exception because of her role or was there some other reason?  Handling them from the upside down position would be a nightmare, especially if it was an emergency situation.   Hopefully there is some contemporary information on the whys on this one.

Allan

[DanielD]

4 hours ago, allanyed said:

The boats are upside down but those on Clearway's are not.   I don't recall seeing them upside down on any ship, but was this an exception because of her role or was there some other reason?  Handling them from the upside down position would be a nightmare, especially if it was an emergency situation.   Hopefully there is some contemporary information on the whys on this one.

Allan

Allan, I’m not a sailor by any means so have no direct experience with these boats, but they are fairly large and I can see the difficulty in moving them around if upside down. The boats I have at the stern are not yet secured, so I have time to think about how to display them. The idea for me came in the form of Dr. Betts blog on the terror and his recent book, HMS Terror ~ The Design, Fitting and Voyages of the Polar Discover Ship. If you plan to build the Terror with upgrades outside what comes in the kit, I would suggest this book.
 

According to Dr. Betts, the Terror sailed in 1845 with 9 small boats, a 28’ Pinnace, a 30’ Galley, two 30’ whale boats, two 25’ cutters, a 23’ cutter, a 22’ Gig, and a 12’ dinghy. I plan to have 4 hanging from the curved davits, one mid deck that I just secured in place, and 4 on the aft deck. Here is a partial drawing from the book, I don’t want to include the entire image so I don’t have any copyright issues, but you can see where I got my idea…

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by DanielD

[clearway]

Don't forget you also have stern davits for boat storage too😉- i liked Keith s comment a while back about turtles on a log when referring to the amount of boats on Terror/ Erebus!

 

Keith

[allanyed]

Thanks Daniel,

The boat stowage on Betts' drawing has similarities to the contemporary drawing at RMG of Erebus and Terror  ZAZ5673 which you probably already know is on the Wiki Commons site in high resolution along with all the other RMG drawings of Terror and Erebus.

 

I realize Matts' drawing is not exactly the same and you had mentioned previously his was made by cleaning up and amalgamating the data from various original draughts, none of which depict the ship exactly as she was at the time of the last expedition. 

 

Allan

[DanielD]

Good afternoon visitors. I’ve not posted in while, but I have been working on some details. 
 

Image 1) Ships ladder, I built one for each side, but currently only have one on the port side installed. Seems to be some differences in opinion about the Terror in this regard. Dr. Betts book on the Terror has only one boarding ladder installed on the starboard side. At least one etching/image from 1845 shows a boarding ladder on the port side and no image I could find shows one on the starboard side. However, and I’m no expert, ships of this period tend to have boarding ladders on both sides…

 

Image 2-4) installation of the main anchor and anchor chains as they wind around the windlass. 
 

Image 5) Installation of the Terror’s six spare anchors, wish I would have done this before the mast standing rigging, oh well. 
 

Image 6) Building and installing of the spare parts retaining system. Currently I have a bunch of things setting there and the first thing I notice is that the spare parts get in the way if using some belaying pins. Quandary…

Edited August 8, 2022 by DanielD

[clearway]

Getting nice and busy- the kits bulky anchors are the reason i bought the aeronaut replacements which are a lot thinner (+ you need two smaller anchors near the stern as well).

 

Keith

[allanyed]

Your build continues to be an inspiration.   You commented a while back

On 6/30/2022 at 11:19 PM, DanielD said:

I hope you have seen keiths and clearway’s versions, as they are stunning.

Did Keith ever finish?  Clearway's model really is very nice but I hope you are going to make your own sails instead of using those out-of-scale things from the kit. 

Allan  

Edited August 9, 2022 by allanyed

[DanielD]

4 hours ago, allanyed said:

…I hope you are going to make your own sails instead of using those out-of-scale things from the kit. 

Allan  

Allen, interesting thought. This is only my 2nd ship build and I know nothing about making sails. On the other hand, I’ve put so much thought, research, and time into making this ship as accurate as my skills would allow, maybe I should tackle the sails. 
 

May I ask, what specifically is wrong with the sails? How could one improve on the kit provided versions? Where is a good source on model sail making? I have Lees rigging book, maybe some information in there. Where is a good source for obtaining sail fabric? Many versions of the Terror are rigged with full sails, maybe I should rig it with the sails furled. So many questions…

[DanielD]

7 hours ago, clearway said:

Getting nice and busy- the kits bulky anchors are the reason i bought the aeronaut replacements which are a lot thinner (+ you need two smaller anchors near the stern as well).

 

Keith

Keith, I did notice that detail and have installed the two near the stern; however, they are black, as I think they should be, the hull is black, and they rest just inside the shrouds of the mizzenmast. All of this makes the detail hard to notice and very difficult to photograph. 
 

Thanks for your help on the boomkins! I’ll post updated image when I finish that detail.

[allanyed]

Daniel

The sails in the OcCre kits and a number of other kits are cloth and there is no cloth that is to scale at 1:48 or smaller.  You would need a thread count of about 2000 to match canvas.   1200 count exists for fine linens and does not look that bad, but you cannot sew seams to scale with a machine and it would be very difficult to do by hand.

 

Consider that the cloths (panels) on most sails for the 17th -19th centuries were 24 inches wide and the seams had a 2 in overlap. The outer edge seams were a little bit wider plus there was the bolt rope and reinforcing panels at the corners and other places.  Lees shows typical sails that will help you a lot.

 

For making sails there is a great YouTube video on making sails from silk span by Tom Lauria as well as the great booklet by David Antscherl available for $7 or $8 from SeaWatch books.   I found that a combination of the video and booklet work best for me, but both have great how-to information that you can try to see which works best for you.  

 

There have been a lot of posts here at MSW on making sails from non-woven materials like silk span that will help you as well.

 

To be sure,  there are good looking cloth sails on models, but they are far from being to scale if that is a consideration for you.   If being to scale is not a concern, by all means use the kit materials.

 

For a comparison the below may help see the difference between what another member here called the OcCre door mats and a sail .  The sketch does not show all the reinforcing patches, but these can be found in a number of sources.

 

Allan

 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by allanyed

[clearway]

to be honest if i were doing her again i would leave her with no sails bent to the yards, Keith s is thinking along the lines of furled sails from silkspan as mentioned by allanyed.

 

Keith

[allanyed]

1 hour ago, clearway said:

to be honest if i were doing her again i would leave her with no sails bent to the yards

I totally agree with you Keith.  Consider the hundreds, if not thousands of models at Preble Hall and RMG for starters.  VERY few fully rigged models have sails.  Not a big deal for schooners and similar vessels, but I think sails take away/block all the intricacies in the rigging and hard work that went into it for square riggers.  Mine is obviously just one more opinion for our models of today, but the old masters seemed to have agreed.  

Allan