HMS Terror by HakeZou - OcCre - 1:75

[clearway]

looks good Hake- once painted will not be as in your face (if gluing/painting aluminium polish it and add paint and glue as soon as possible as it forms an oxidising layer very quickly which can affect the finish/ adherence).

 

Keith

[HakeZou]

Thanks for the tip on working with aluminum, Keith! I've spent a bit of time reading up on aluminum oxidation—which begins within the first second of exposure to oxygen! Looks like it'll be fine if I sand off the oxidizing layer right before applying primer and paint. 

[HakeZou]

I've been able to devote a fair amount of time to my Terror over the past couple days...probably more than I should have, but I consider it time well spent. I think I'm almost ready to paint the hull now!

 

I finished up the bow plating, added the sheave-holes and faux blocks to the hull, drilled out scuppers, and drilled out the five holes on each side of the midships bulwarks (not quite sure what those are, but they're located just behind the gunport...). I also fixed the hawse holes, which I had really mangled earlier. I'm going to add 3mm airports to those to replicate the rings that are shown in the 1839 plans and in Betts's book. At the moment these are just sitting in place; I won't glue them in until after I've painted. (Note: In the second photo, you'll also notice several pen markings that were mis-measured and you'll notice that the scuppers need to be cleaned up.)

Before starting to paint, I'm going to need a final round of sanding to clean things up and I will need to finalize things for the stern gallery. 

[clearway]

nice work on the bow plating hake.

 

Keith

[HakeZou]

Today was one of those cool, lazy fall days. I was all caught up on yardwork, housework, and so on, so I put in a couple of good work sessions on my Terror. I focused all of my attention on working out the stern gallery.

 

I started off with the windows. The kit calls for metal frames to be painted white and then placed over a portion of the transom painted blue. I'm not excited by that look, at all. So, I decided to use some pieces of acetate to simulate glass. I also don't like how deeply set the window panes are in OcCre's design, so I added a few 1x1mm pieces to lift them off of the transom. The photo shows them still in the assembly process, with the acetate still needing to be trimmed and the wood pieces needing to be glued on then sanded down. 

Next I began working on the frame pieces. Although this is similar to OcCre's design, I branched off and solved the problems by just focusing on the pieces of wood in front of me. After cutting out the top piece, I cut out the six vertical pieces. I thought the butt joints called for in the kit would be too prone to alignment errors, so instead fitted the pieces with lap joints; in the photo, you can see I still have a few more joints to prepare. I also added wedges against the interior windows, to ensure that they line up well with the center vertical pieces (the only ones that are truly vertical, since the other four match the angle of the windows). Sorry for the lighting in the photo...

  After preparing the top and vertical frame pieces, I dry fit everything to get a sense of the look. 

 

Finally, I started working on the bottom pieces, the crucial and challenging ones that would lock everything else into place. I managed to make good progress on the starboard side, but was starting to get mentally fuzzy, so left the port side for tomorrow. Things aren't quite perfect yet—the center vertical pieces on each side are a bit too wide and I may need to redo a couple pieces to better align the joints. But overall, I'm pretty pleased with how the galleries are coming together!

 

[HakeZou]

Some exciting progress—it's always a nice morale boost to see the paint go on the hull! My paint skills continue to be a work in progress, but I'm mostly happy with how this turned out.

The hawse holes look a bit rough, but they will soon have some leftover brass port pieces installed in them.

I opted for yellow ochre paint on the inner bulwarks.

The windows on Crozier's cabin turned out okay. I think I need a bit of sanding and touch-up painting on the starboard side. Also...I'm going to need to order a replacement part for that last window. It didn't go in straight, so I tried to remove and reset it. But since the fit was so snug, it popped out and went flying...somewhere. Sure seems like I ought to be able to find it, but no luck yet.

 

Next steps: Finishing the gun ports, then installing the cap rails, spray rails, and the waterways.

[clearway]

Looks good when you get something that starts looking like Terror😁- the carpet monster will have eaten the window- ask it to return all my missing pieces of 1/35 armour etch if you catch it hake!

 

Keith

[HakeZou]

Hello everybody! What a busy month November ended up being. I thought I might finally get more work in on my Terror during the Thanksgiving holiday, but I was more pulled to the siren song of watching World Cup and college football games with my son—time well spent and no regrets at all! 

 

Today, just a quick note to confirm that the project is still moving forward at a snail's pace. I've finished lining the ports on the starboard side; still need to start the port side. This task has ended up being considerably more challenging than I anticipated, especially for the ports that needed lining on all four sides. The work is definitely not perfect, but hopefully having practiced on the starboard side will help me make the port side look better.

In related news, a big order arrived in the mail the other day: a couple lifeboat kits, a couple cannon kits, a slew of nicer-looking blocks and deadeyes, and larger dowels for the foremast, mainmast, and bowsprit.

 

Next steps remain: finish lining the ports, then install the cap rails, spray rails, and the waterways.  

[HakeZou]

Another busy month, with the end of the semester and the holidays—but I finally have a bit of progress to report! I've finished the ports and the waterways. The lining of the ports went just okay, but I feel better about the heavy rope chocks and the posts for stowing the forward anchors. The chocks are fashioned from a spare piece of 2x4mm walnut from another kit and the posts from 3mm dowels. 

In preparation for installing the cap rails, I also fashioned the bowsprit. Like Keith (clearway), I opted to replace the dowel provided in the kit with a larger one—an 8mm dowel that I sanded down, tapering it from 7mm at the deck to 6mm at the tip.

Next step: Install the cap rails and spray rails.

[clearway]

Hope you had a good Xmas Hake- sanding the dowelling down is fun! I was going to start adding the boats/ other four davits at the mainmast but realised i need to start on the entry way steps (just when you thought the end was in sight something else jumps at you)!

 

Keith

[HakeZou]

Thanks, Keith! It was a quiet and very cold Christmas for us. We had frozen pipes for about 24 hours, but thankfully got everything flowing before any pipes burst. I hope you had a nice holiday, too!

 

I ended up using my drill as a sort of lathe...that wasn't as stable as I had hoped, but I think it worked well. It was certainly quicker and did a more consistent job than the techniques that I used on my previous kits. 

[HakeZou]

I haven't had much time to work on my Terror the last couple of months. Some small bits of progress, but I'm anxiously awaiting Spring Break, when I should be able to spend a bit more time on the project. But tonight's post is about one of those weird coincidences. I'm in the Washington, D.C. area on a research trip at the moment. Tonight, my friends and I had to walk under an overpass to get from where we parked to the restaurant we were eating at. I couldn't help stopping and taking a photo when I realized that we were walking past a mural of the Terror and Erebus bombing Fort McHenry! It's a panoramic photo, so a bit distorted and the ships aren't all that historically accurate, but still a fun piece of art to stumble on by pure chance!

 

[HakeZou]

It's been far too long since I've made an update about my progress. As I mentioned in the last post, this semester has been remarkably busy and I haven't spent much time in the shipyard. Because I've mostly had short periods of time to work on the Terror, I've been working on a few different small things on which I could really go one step at a time. A few photos of this incremental progress. 

 

First, a view of the prow. I've shaped the lower sections of the bowsprit and foremast. Those are dry-fit here, but the splash rails are assembled, painted, and installed. The rest of the cap rails are waiting until I have a longer work session. 

Second, two different views of the windlass. Again, everything is just dry-fit here, so things look a bit wonky. Like some of the other Terrorites, I wasn't satisfied with the metal windlass provided in the kit. I'm using the plywood frames, but the rest is my own solution to the problem, based on the drawings in the Betts book. 

The main drum of the windlass is made from a length of 8mm dowel. Using my drill as a lathe, I used round and half-round files to carve out the portion where the anchor chains will be wrapped. (Side note: This video has a really helpful demonstration showing the operation of a similar, though smaller, anchor chain windlass.) I still need to carve out the brake gears and the holes for the rods used to turn the barrel; those will all go into the center section. The warping heads were shaped in a similar fashion, though out of a 6mm dowel. The warping heads are mounted in the predrilled holes in the bitts, with pins anchoring them to the main drum. The bitts supporting the ship's bell are 4x4mm sapeli and will eventually house the pawls for the main drum. I plan to add some metal feet to support these bitts, but haven't had a chance to do that yet. The kit comes with an elaborate cross piece supporting the bell, but Betts's drawings show a simpler metal arch; I've opted for the latter.

 

Anyhow, it's nice to have something to share again! Hopefully it won't be quite as long until my next update!

 

Next steps: Finish the cap rails; finish the windlass; shape the lower sections of the main and mizzen masts.

 

[clearway]

Nice to see you back with her Hake, interesting vid- i suspect with ships with larger anchors/ chains the didn't wrap the anchor chain around the barrel as Terrors anchor was 10 feet in length and would have probably ripped the windlass off if let go but used a messenger cable with maybe a cats claw style hook to grab the chain? On a lot of older models i have never seen the anchor hawser or chain wrapped around the drum.

 

Keith

[HakeZou]

A bit more progress over the last couple of weeks! The cap rails are installed, which made for a nice milestone. The mizzen mast has been shaped and is sitting in place. I'm still working on the main mast, but my dowel is warped and I'm having a hard time getting it to straighten out. At 8mm thick, a hot water bath and my plank bending iron weren't enough. I'm going to try the Admiral's clothes iron next. I've also been working on the illuminators. After a few experiments, I found I liked the look of white glue in them. Unfortunately, I've had a frustrating time getting the set glue to stay in place while I'm sanding/polishing the top. I have six finished, but still have a long ways to go.

 

While waiting on the illuminators, I've also been starting to work on the deck furniture, starting with the complex of things around the fore mast: the winch, the bell, and the windlass. These are almost finished. I still need to add pin rails between the winch and bell bitts, as well as some pawls. They aren't perfect, but this is the most intricate crafting I've done—I'm completely ignoring Occre's plans here and relying instead on the plans in Matthew Betts's book—so I'm generally feeling pretty good about them. Note that the winch doesn't balance well on its own, so what looks like a loose deck plank in the portside view is actually the coaming for the bowsprit, which I've built into the winch's base. The eyebolts sticking out from the sides of the winch bitts will eventually be connected to eyebolts on the deck, forming the guard to prevent the anchor chain from damaging the winch. The bitts and rod supporting the bell are pretty wild and will remain so until the pin rail is attached; for now, all of this is just sitting in approximately the right location and nothing has been installed.

Next steps: Continue preparing the illuminators; continue preparing the main mast; add the pin rails to the winch and bell bitts.

 

[HakeZou]

A few more bits of progress coming together in different parts of the ship. First, the deck fittings around the foremast are almost finished. The signal cannon are from a couple kits that I picked up from Model Expo—I think they're made by Corel? Once everything was painted, they were pretty straightforward to put together. The other significant new addition is the assembly of the ice scuttle and the flue for the Fraser's Patent Stove. The angle makes the flue look a bit short and a bit funny...I'll have to get a better photo later. Finally, I added metal rods running between the winch and the bitts supporting the bell. After a bit of experimentation, this seemed like a better solution for the pin rails here, though I'll have to be very careful installing the belaying pins. 

Next, I installed the rudder and all of the fortifying brackets around the deadwood. Metal work continues to be a big challenge for me. I feel mostly good about what I accomplished here, though the misalignments sure stand out in these close-up shots. 

Finally, the most nerve-wracking step yet—drilling holes in the deck for the illuminators. I wish I could have a couple of those holes back, but I'm not sure how to do that without tearing things apart. They're all close to the right spot at least and the misplaced ones should be less obvious once all of the deck fittings are installed. I filled Occre's porthole pieces with white glue to simulate the crystals in the illuminators. At their best, it gives them a nice frosted look similar to the sanded acetate in the windows on Crozier's cabin. Also, you'll notice one illuminator is missing. I can't tell you how many times I counted 29 illuminators in Betts's plans...but once I mapped them on the deck, there were 30. So, one more to prepare...

With these caprails, rudder, and illuminators installed, I feel like I've hit a big milestone. Now I can shift fully to the next phase of the project.

 

Next steps: install the lower deadeyes and chainplates (which will be easier to do when I can still flip the ship around on its side); install pin rails and cleats to the bulwarks; continue preparing the deck fittings.

 

P.S., I'm also still trying to straighten out the 8mm dowel I'm using for my mainmast. Any recommendations on this? I spent a bit of time working on it with a clothes iron (after soaking the dowel for a couple of hours). It's better, but still noticeably warped. If the clothes iron is the best strategy, do I need to just keep working on it?

[clearway]

Progressing nicely Hake- and yes once all the deck furniture is in place the illuminators arn't that obvious- regards the missing one it is on the wooden structure the capstan sits on though it was removed for the steam vent pipe (how i have depicted mine).

 

Straightening dowel ..... not sure it can be done to be honest though i have never tried to be honest.

 

Keith

[HakeZou]

Thanks for the encouragement, Keith! Yes, I knew about the illuminator that could be removed for the steam vent pipe (which I'm also planning to include). The missing illuminator is the forwardmost one on the starboard side. I just managed to miscount (repeatedly!) and so didn't prepare enough of them! At least that's an easy fix.

[clearway]

gotcha- think my eyes seen the small hole there and added an illuminator🤪

 

Keith

[HakeZou]

I've gotten a start on the lower deadeyes. For now, I'm just wrapping .5mm brass wire for the straps and setting them sit in the holes that I've drilled for them. Once I've finished this step, I'll start working on the chain plates. 15 down, 55 to go! I replaced the limewood deadeyes and blocks in the kit with walnut ones. I'm liking that look so far!

I've also put together the forward and aft companionways. I departed a bit from Occre's plans, once again. First, I flipped them upside down, since that seemed to better match the design in Betts's plans. The overhang of the roof piece works well for the coamings, which Occre omitted in their simplifications. I had some 1x10 sapele strips laying around, so used that for the roof and the sliding hatch. I hang on to the shafts of pins when I could off the heads for rivets, so I also used some of those as hinges. I also noted that Betts gives the aft companionway as being somewhat shorter than the forward one, so I sanded it down until it was 2mm shorter. They still need a little bit of touch-up and some finish, but I'm mostly pleased with how they've turned out!

 

Next steps: Continue working on the lower deadeyes and chain plates; install pin rails and cleats to the bulwarks; continue preparing the deck fittings.

[clearway]

Coming along Hake- I must admit the scratch chainplates i built were a bit of an endurance test as you say there are a few to do- if doing again i would substitute the kits deadeyes for slightly smaller ones.

 

Keith

[HakeZou]

Got in the zone tonight and when I looked up, hours had passed! A while back, I made some wall panels in preparation for building the water closets. Tonight, I finally sat down to work on them. The good news is that the initial assembly is done! There's still quite a bit of clean-up work and finish work to do before painting them and calling them done. Once I sand them and clean them up, I'm going to add coamings (which will hide some of those gaps!) and doors. 

In other news, I'm having second thoughts about followingOccre's design of the lower deadeyes. I'm thinking about investing in the Amati chain plates that DanielD used for his Terror. My only hesitation on those chain plates is that Amati seems to design them for 7mm and 5mm deadeyes, but that seems too big here; I'm using 5mm and 3mm deadeyes. I'm still thinking about my options here...

[clearway]

Makes a big difference when the closets are added to the deck hake. Regards the way the amati deadeyes are made you could alter the omega loop around the deadeye to fit the 3mm deadeyes- bit of work but not as bad as scratch building them.

 

Keith

[jbcallender]

I bought the 5mm chainplates the other day and I'm waiting on them. Not sure what I'm going to do with the 3mm yet.  Have some time yet before I get to that point.

 

Jeff

[Geowolf]

your Terror looks very nice HakeZou, i like the painting and the brass work that's very clean! and i like you're adopting a lot of improvements from previous modellers. Another Terror for our fleet!!

 

regards, 

[HakeZou]

Thanks, Keith, Jeff, and Geowolf!

 

After a couple weeks traveling, I'm settling back in to a bit of work in the shipyard. A few small tasks for now, since I'm pretty busy with work, too. First, I've cleaned up the water closets. I think going to need a bit of wood filler before I start painting, but these are almost ready for that step. Second, I build the rudder housing. For this, I followed the plans in Betts's book. The side walls are a stack of six 2x5mm limewood planks, the front is crafted from a spare piece of plywood, and the roof is made from some spare .6x10mm strips of sapele. I'm not sure why it's sitting crooked, so will have to investigate that. Don't mind the brass rod—that's just a random piece I picked up from my stockpile for the photos, so that there could be something standing in for the tiller. 

In addition, I finally decided what to do about the main mast, since my 8mm dowel was so badly warped. Before I left for my trip, I made a 9x10mm block out of nine spare 2x5mm limewood planks (sorry no photos of that monster!). After getting back, I sanded that into an octagon, then started filing that down to the correct diameter, using my drill as a lathe. It's not quite the right size yet—it's still too thick—but it's well on its way. (Note: the skinny nub at the top is there so I can insert that end into the drill's chuck.)

 

Next steps: paint the water closets, then install the doors; finish the rudder housing; finish filing down the main mast; make final decision about lower deadeyes.

 

 

[clearway]

nice work with the mast- maybe use some thin planking to add a 2nd layer to the roof of the closets leaving a slight overhang at the sides if that makes sense.

 

Keith

[HakeZou]

A quick check-in on overall progress, since I'm waiting on a few parts to arrive. I ended up ordering those Amati chain plates, so once those arrive I'll get back to work on the lower deadeyes. Once those are installed, I will start installing the various deck fittings. In the meantime, I finished shaping the main mast and have continued moving forward with the deck fittings. First, a profile and an overhead shot, with everything that I've built dry-fit in place.

Next, views of the forward and aft deck fittings. I finished up the closets and the rudder housing; there's still no varnish on them, so the sapele on top of the rudder housing looks pretty dull. The doors for the flag closets and closets have hinges made from spare bits of brass pins. I fashioned the tiller out of a 1.5mm brass rod that came in the kit, the I added two 1.5mm brass rings toward the forward end. The wheels are all the pieces that came from OcCre. On the forward end, the only new development are the pumps that appear in the RMG plans and in the plans in Betts' book. Since these aren't in the kit, I scratch built these—and am very pleased with how they turned out! I've order some brass tubes to use as spouts; I'll post some better photos of the pumps once those are added. Unfortunately, they're top heavy, so won't stand on their own yet. 

Next steps while I wait for the new chain plates to arrive: work on the two skylights; install cleats and pin rails on the bulwarks, while access is still easy.

[BobG]

She's looking great, Hake!

[clearway]

It's amazing how with just a little alteration and basic scratch building you start having a model that looks like Terror- Keith S, Daniel D and myself altered the skylights by various means to get away from the prison style bars look!

 

Keith