HMS Terror by stevenmh - OcCre - Scale 1:75

[stevenmh]

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

 

[clearway]

dremels make life sooooooooooo much easier! welcome to the Terror club😁

 

Keith

[Cathead]

Nice start. I find that sharp knives can sometimes be better for carving than chisels, as the different geometry of the handles and hand position just seems to create an easier cutting motion. Rotary tools are great, but it's pretty easy to take off too much!

[stevenmh]

Thanks for the suggestions.  Not much progress (I blame the brand new 1st grandchild, but truth is I'm a pretty slow worker...), but some.  The filler blocks in the bow and stern have been whittled and shaped and the deck planking slowly started.  I started using the Byrnes saw to cut the 45 degree angles on the planking, but they are so thin the saw - even with a fine slitting blade - just chews them up, so I'm using a regular x-acto blade saw and miter box.

 

[stevenmh]

Went to the Northeast Ship Model Conference last weekend and bought 4 small ships boats that I prayed were the same size as the smaller boats needed for this kit - I wanted to replace the metal ones that came with it with wood.  Close, but...

 

This was part of a lot the New Jersey club had for sale - there were 4 of them (2 covered canoe shaped  ones) in a shipping box labeled "ships boats/Sovereign of the Seas) postmarked in 1964!

 

The purple one my son printed out from a quick design sketch - needs to be sanded and painted.  We think he can scale it up to replicate the largest metal one.

[DanielD]

Great start to this wonderful ship! Welcome to the Terror club.

[stevenmh]

Thanks for the comments and likes.  Planking of the deck continues, and as I get anxious to see it begin to look like a ship I decided to trim the excess lengths of planking at this point.  Looks nice.

The hull fairing is almost finished as well, and in my rush to see how things will look I decided to dry-fit the stem.  Good thing I did as I seem to have gone overboard sanding here.

I am attempting to literally bend this piece to my will by wetting and clamping, which I know will be of limited value with plywood, but after just one go seems to have improved the situation somewhat.  We'll see how it looks once I free it from the clamps and sand down the high spot.

I've been debating how to proceed with the hull planking.  The kit is designed for 2 layers of planking, and includes filler blocks for the bow that are wider than the first bulkhead by the thickness of the first layer of planking so you don't have to do the first planking at the bow and will still have an even surface for the second planking.  Seems like a wasted learning opportunity to me, since planking, especially a bluff bow like on Terror, is to me one of the hardest and most intimidating aspects of this hobby.  But I've been know to bite off more than I can chew.  So I'm leaning towards cutting/sanding the filler blocks down so they don't extend past the first bulkhead and trying my luck at tapering/bending/edge-bending the first planking, and if it comes out well skip the 2nd planking entirely.  Of course it might be easier if I had some so-called plank-bending tools, but why pay big bucks for something an iron or blow-dryer or soldering iron can do, or even just an xacto knife? 

 

 

 

[Ryland Craze]

You are making good progress on your Terror and it sounds like you have a plan for the planking.  There are a lot of Terror build logs that you can use for guidance.  Just click on the Terror tag below your title and it will bring them up in a new window.

[stevenmh]

Thanks for the likes and the comments.  I looked through many of the other Terror build logs and found clearway's and his full planking, so I know it is at least possible.  I added some scrap wood to the bow as well. (It seems no matter what I do, this picture comes out upside down)

 

The deck has been planked, but before I install it I am going to lay the full-sized deck plan over it and mark and drill the holes for the light prisms and mark the locations of the other deck features.  When I dry-fit the deck I suddenly noticed it had a concave pitch running fore and aft, which resulted in one of the fore-aft deck planks popping up mid run - guess I know where one of the butt joints will be going!

 

Once the deck is in place I can mark off the lower end of the bulwarks, plank the counter and start lining off the hull.  And find a big pot to soak the planks in...

[clearway]

i soak my planks in the bath tub for a few hours before tapering and bending to shape, after a few builds you kind of get a feel for it. planking battens can help as well. if going for the stern tuck bevel a bit more off the last stern frame

 

Keith

[stevenmh]

Thanks for the tips.  I’m thinking not to try doing the entire run with a single piece. I worked with scale-length planks for my Pride of Baltimore and that worked. I figure my planks should be between 6 and 8 inches (30-40 scale feet).

[stevenmh]

Progress has been slow but steady - accent on the slow.

Deck planking is finished and the holes drilled for the prisms.  I blackened them with brass black and test fitted a couple.  I'm trying to figure out if I can spray them with Dull-coat or wipe on poly and not worry about the black rubbing off or streaking when wet.  In any case I probably won't glue them in until I'm ready to attach all the deck fittings.

 

The bow blocks have been attached and faired once the deck was attached so everything lines up (I hope). 

Once the filler blocks and bulkheads in the stern were faired I attached the transom pieces and faired those to follow the lines of the bulkheads.

I decided planking would probably be easier if I attached the bulwarks so I soaked the forward ends of them and 4 of the first-planking strakes in hot water then clamped them all to a Pirouline cookie can to form the proper(ish) curve.  Then I glued and clamped them to the hull.  I guess I can't procrastinate any longer lining the hull.  My count is it will take 23 strakes, so I will place the tick marks and test with battens doing 3 belts of 8-7-8,

I was also looking ahead and say what the model uses for deadeye chains and made a jig with nails 20mm apart to twist the wire around to make the eyes for the chains - not sure this is the best way since I do not have a good history of making things like this exactly the same - especially as there are over 60 of them.  How did you all deal with this???

 

 

Edited June 29, 2022 by stevenmh

[clearway]

These can be the jobs that make your heart wilt! I scratchbuilt my strops around the deadeyes, You can buy chainplates suitable from either AL or Amati etc (see keithS and daniel D logs). Will cost more but look a lot better.

 

Keith

[stevenmh]

Thanks for the suggestions. I was hoping to save my hair-pulling til I got to the ratlines…

[allanyed]

On 6/13/2022 at 2:47 PM, clearway said:

i soak my planks in the bath tub for a few hours before tapering and bending to shape,

Keith,

Save some water and buy a short piece of plastic pipe and a couple caps.  Small diameter works better than one that is too large.  Cut it to a length that is a little longer than the longest plank you will need, cap one end, fill it with planks then the water.  No mess, no fuss and keeps anyone else in the house from complaining about the wood taking up time in the bathtub.😀  At your scale of 1:75, 125 mm long piece of pipe is plenty, but larger is no issue either if you go to larger scales.  Even at 1:48, 200mm is plenty long enough for a 25-30 foot plank.

Allan