HMS Terror by jparenti - OcCre - 1:75

[jparenti]

There's a lot of these on here already but I'm adding mine in as well. I started last year and have been keeping a record of the build but I haven't shared it with a forum until now. This is my very first wooden ship model -- usually I work in plastic and paper, so this is all new territory for me. Keith S and Clearway have been inspiring my build and I've been using The Book by Matthew Betts as reference, too.

 

 

 

 

The basic structure wasn't so bad but I wasn't anticipating how different planking is from anything else I've assembled before. My efforts were definitely amateurish but I was happy that the thing looked like Terror by the time I was done.

 

 

I only burned myself once!

 

 

Captain Crozier looks over my work with skepticism.

 

I gave up on nails early. I didn't like grinding the heads down and I'd found glue to be much better so I reserved nails for when they were really required.

 

 

 

Once I had the actual hull shape I had much more confidence. (When I do Erebus in the future I will be doing a lot more research on planking though...)

[jparenti]

 

This sapelli wood is about the most brittle thing I've ever used to build anything.

 

 

 

It all smoothed out pretty well at least.

 

 

 

When I saw someone mention that sanding the ice channels was like prison labor: They ain't kidding.

 

 

I considered using something other than the provided aluminum plates for the iron at the bow. I ended up using it anyway and it wasn't half as bad as I expected.

 

 

Paint will really help here.

 

 

I expected the rudder would be easy. It took me longer than the iron plating!

 

 

[jparenti]

Paint will cover our sins.

 

 

 

 

It needed a little cleaning up but it worked well. The inner bulwarks were painted with Cast Your Anchor's English Ochre like I saw on Keith S's model.

 

 

The cap rail may be painted later. I stained it and am not totally happy with it.

 

 

[jparenti]

 

I replaced the somewhat chunky looking kit grates with ones from Syren Ship Model Company. I also have two of their 10 spoke wheel kits for later but I'm not far along with those yet.

 

 

These both got moved later according to the Betts book but this is the point where I took an eight month or so break.

 

 

 

The companionways were build according to the book plan and not the kit measurements. At this point I've mostly abandoned the kit instructions.

 

 

This is my placeholder officer's mess skylight. I attempted to use the kit parts modified slightly but I think I'll just scratchbuild a new one later.

 

 

I'm mostly adhering to the book but I've made some adjustments when needed. It's not all exact. I'm trying not to let "perfect" be the enemy of "good".

 

[jparenti]

  

 

 

Paper mockup of the starboard water closet. I'm modifying the dimensions to fit better -- again, good is better than perfect.

 

 

 

I built an inner structure that I lined with sapelli from the kit.

 

 

 

Both deck houses in place but not attached. There's more to do.

 

 

I felt the need to put louvers on the front like the one on the television show, since I had a still frame I was using for reference. This was a fiddly job for sure.

 

 

The finished starboard water closet before paint. I like the wood finish but I'm going for accuracy when I can.

[clearway]

Welcome to the "littleTerror club" as Keith S named it- nice to see we have encouraged others to upgrade the kit (even just adding the deckhouses make a world of difference).

 

Keith

[jparenti]

Thanks! Your build is definitely one of the pieces of research I refer to constantly.

[jparenti]

Built the little box that goes around the tiller (this was while I was still in progress).

 

I started work on the belaying pin rails (and promptly ran out of pins). I like the brass ones better than the kit provided ones but some of them were slightly misshapen and had to be discarded. Also, I need work on drilling straight lines of holes in tiny work pieces. 
 

Aft pin rails in place. I’m sure there needs to be a matching pair where you only see the one on the starboard side toward the middle, but the Betts plans don’t include it. I can always add one later. 
 

Forward pin rails. 
 

I still need to rework the officer’s mess skylight and the second skylight needs to be built but things are progressing. 
 

I’m dreading drilling holes for the Preston Patent Illuminators. I have an idea about glazing them with Micro Kristal Klear but I need a new bottle since mine is the consistency of marshmallow and is unusable. 

[jparenti]

 

I photocopied the brass parts to lay out where I wanted the windows to be. I’m kind of estimating rather than doing exact measurements. The kit doesn’t match all the measurements from the plans, and I took a little inspiration from the fictional television show, too.

 

 

More mock-up work with the so far unpainted brass window frames. I didn’t want to go with the kit plans for the window frames since they’re sort of chunky compared to the Betts book, and I like the way the ship looks on the show as well.

 

 

Still frame from the first episode of "The Terror" showing the stern. My trim pieces aren't as thin but they're kind of a compromise between the provided kit parts, the Betts plans, and the TV show.

 

 

Window frames in place and stern davits installed. The brass parts still need to be primed and painted.

 

 

I was going to use some 0.5 mm clear Plastruct sheet for glazing the windows. I soon realized that 0.5 mm plastic is a pain to cut and shape. I needed something thinner and the hobby shop was closed…

 

 

I grabbed the plastic packaging from my new set of Flex-I-Files and sanded the plastic to get a frosted finish.

 

 

This works a lot better and it’s a lot easier to shape.

 

My next task is to prime the brass parts and paint them so they can be installed. I'm working on the Massey Patent Pump as well so I'm hoping to make some progress on that tomorrow.

 

I'm still at a loss as to the name of the ship on the stern. I'd like to add it but I honestly am not sure how. I have the typeface I want to use that seems to match but a vinyl stencil would be nearly impossible to use at this scale and I can't print a waterslide decal in white ink at home. I'm hoping to eventually find a place online to order something custom.

[clearway]

I used rub down transfers for the name, but there are a plethora of waterslide/ rub on and presfix transfers available along with etched brass and plastic lettering in various scales.

 

Keith

[jparenti]

17 hours ago, clearway said:

I used rub down transfers for the name, but there are a plethora of waterslide/ rub on and presfix transfers available along with etched brass and plastic lettering in various scales.

 I will be looking into a custom rub down transfer I think. I haven’t found any brass lettering yet but that’s another idea. I want to replicate the Victoria cipher as well so I’ll need to do some research. 

[jparenti]

 

I really should have airbrushed these brass frames but they look okay I think.  I might see if I can buy a replacement set from OcCre later and work on them more — they’re only held on with PVA glue

 

 

I laid out the parts for the Massey Patent Pump and installed them on the deck. The pump cylinders need to be painted and attached underneath. The flywheels are hand brake wheels from

Ozark Miniatures as suggested in Keith S’s build. 
 

Now I need to paint the deck houses. Lots of people leave them a wood finish or stain them but I always intended on painting them. 

[clearway]

coming long nicely- forgot to say a couple of posts back that yes you will need to add the other pinrail on the bulwarks for the mainmast.

 

Keith

[jparenti]

On 7/22/2023 at 3:22 AM, clearway said:

coming long nicely- forgot to say a couple of posts back that yes you will need to add the other pinrail on the bulwarks for the mainmast  

Okay that’s what I thought! It’s easy enough to assemble another one and attach it before I get to any rigging (which is where I know I’m going to start making many mistakes!)

[jparenti]

Building these 10 spoke wheels from the Syren kits is definitely a trying task but they look so much better than the kit parts. 
 

First wheel mocked up with pedestal parts. Now I just have to build another wheel. 
 

I used Model Shipways 3 mm brass airports for the hawse holes, filed to fit and blackened with Jax. I know they should be more widely separated but the holes are already punched into the kit parts so I went with what was there instead of attempting to modify the part this far into the build. When I assemble another one of these that would be an easier fix earlier in the assembly.

 

I bought and assembled two Mantua 25 mm brass cannons (30531) to represent the deck guns. They’re close enough to the right size. I cleaned the brass with vinegar and used Jax to give the surface a worn appearance. I learned you absolutely cannot immerse things in Jax — it MUST be brushed on (as everyone else seems to have learned already if my forum searches are any indication).

[jparenti]

This is how I build my belaying pin rails. A paper template that I use to mark the places for holes to be drilled. I’m using a 0.7 mm bit. 
 

I ordered more 5 mm brass belaying pins from Model Shipways. These are much more consistently shaped. 
 

Pin rail in place. Now both sides match. 

[jparenti]

Now I’m trying a new idea for the great cabin skylight. I tried a couple of things that didn’t work before I settled on cutting a piece of plastic, frosting it by sanding it, and taping it to my drawn out diagrams. I then cut small pieces of wood to assemble the window frames. It’s such a small assembly that carving the windows out of a solid piece of wood wasn’t working (and basically just making splinters). Abortive first attempt on the left side of the photo.
 

 

 

I filed the edges to a bevel to attempt to make the panels meet more evenly. 
 

With the kit’s wood, this is about as good as I can do. Everything I build is attached to the deck with white glue in case I decide to rebuild things later. 

 

I have to decide if I’ll replace the officer’s mess skylight with something built like this next. 

[jparenti]

Finished wheels and pedestal in place. 

[jparenti]

I need to install the Preston Patent Illuminators into the deck. The little brass grommets OcCre provides are a little rounded though. I drilled a 7/64” hole in a piece of scrap wood and fitted the first grommet into the hole. This will be a handle for using a file to flatten the surface.
 

After filing the grommet is much less proud.

 

 

After the coarse grinding of the file, I worked my way from Coarse to X-Fine with my Flex-I-File set. This polished the surface pretty well. The filed and polished grommet is on the left, which is much better than the original on the right and will stand much less proud of the deck when installed.  I’m still not sure if I should blacken these or not. They will be filled with Microscale Industries Micro Kristal Klear to represent the glass.
 

One down, 29 to go…

[jparenti]

Both stern deck houses were painted and attached to the stern. I was going for a rough-looking paint job that allowed the wood texture to show through so I used an airbrush to lay down fine layers of paint.

[clearway]

what a difference the 10 spoke ships wheels, altered skylights, and the deckhouses make- well done.

 

Keith

[jparenti]

I’m still not certain what to do with the Illuminators. I’ve seen them described in Matthew Betts’ book as a gunmetal ring, and I’m not absolutely sure what color gunmetal in that day was. I blackened one grommet as a test to see what I thought of it but I’m not sure what would be better to use — unfinished brass or the blackened version?

[clearway]

The blackened version looks better if going for a painted finish- brass looks o.k. if going for a varnished finish like my build- always remember though you are the shipwright and whatever works for you is what it is about.

 

Keith

[jparenti]

Looking at them side by side on the deck, I agree with you Keith. I do like the blackened brass better so that's what I'm going with.

 

I finally found a technique for filling the brass portholes with Micro Kristal Klear. The method I've seen people use on plastic starship models did NOT work out and I had to remove dried material from a few grommets. The method I've seen involved using clear cellophane tape to cover the windows from the outside, fill the windows from the back, and then peel the tape off when the Kristal Klear dries. This was not great, as the tape just pulled the material out or allowed voids that couldn't be eliminated with a pin.

 

I'll stick to that method on my Star Trek model kits and just fill them from the top here. I was trying to eliminate the concave surface of the lens but that's not a dealbreaker.

[jparenti]

 

It was nerve wracking to start drilling holes in the decking.
 

All but two of them are installed now — I have to make a couple more since I miscounted.
 

Something I’m going to remember next time for Erebus: Drill the holes and install these earlier in the build. My hammering knocked a few pieces of furniture loose. Nothing bad but it would be easier and less stressful to drill these holes when you have a chance to repair any mistakes just in case.

[Vlax]

Love this ship! You're doing a great job and I can't wait to see how your build progresses.

[jparenti]

I didn’t get a lot done today but every little bit helps. I got the platform for the capstan in place too, hopefully I can get that accomplished at some point too. 
 

I really wish I could get a mini-Crozier figure like Matthew Betts used in his posts. Getting a sense of scale with a human figure would be fun. 

[jparenti]

I have no clue what these are called but here’s one of them test fitted into place. I’m not caught up on nautical terminology yet. 
 

Those ice channels need a better sanding and repainting. I’m planning on masking them off and trying that soon as well. 

[jparenti]

First four davit stanchions. They’re 4 mm by 4 mm square, and 50 mm tall. I didn’t have enough 4x4 mm stock to make them so I laminated some of the planking from the kit, cut it to size, and sanded it smooth. Then I drilled a hole in the center of the bottom for headless pins to be glued in place and carved the notch around the top.

 

I test fitted the stanchions where they’ll be needed to support the planks that hold some of the boats. I was wanting to mock up the ice plank. I’ll still need to drill holes in the stanchions and make the straps to hold them to the bulwarks (I need some sheet brass — scraps from the provided photoetch aren’t enough to do it).

 

I wanted to see how the supports would work for the ice plank. I just stacked some scrap wood on to check the fit. So far I’m mystified as to how the supports are fitted into place. I’m still studying the diagrams and trying to get a 3D picture in my mind of the entire setup.

[clearway]

welcome to the ice bridge conundrum 😁

 

Keith