HMS Erebus by Ship_Right - OcCre - Scale 1:75

[Ship_Right]

On 1/25/2025 at 1:21 PM, clearway said:

... it is about 116mm long after it leaves the bulwarks at the bow.

 

Keith

I used the dimensions in the kit plans to cut the length, keeping the same distance from the bow forwards when mounted in the original location. When I measure it now, it is 105 mm. I could cut a new one, but I'm not sure what that will do to other parts of the kit rigging.

[Ship_Right]

Been away from this log while I completed the first level of planking. My first time doing this, and I guess the results reflect that. However, I'm not unhappy with it. There are some small gaps, but I managed to complete it using full length planks throughout. Broke a few with my impatience in bending ☹️ but fixed them.

I'm expecting it all to work out after sanding, and then the second layer will cover it all up anyway. 

 

[clearway]

19 hours ago, Ship_Right said:

could cut a new one, but I'm not sure what that will do to other parts of the kit rigging.

good feeling when the whisky plank goes on! regards bowsprit 11mm shouldn't really make much difference to be honest- another thing to watch out for is the mast doubling which needs to be more than occre give.

 

Keith

[Ship_Right]

23 hours ago, clearway said:

the mast doubling which needs to be more than occre give

? Sorry Keith, but could you expand on that? More in what way? Does this show in Matt's plans?

[Ship_Right]

23 hours ago, clearway said:

good feeling when the whisky plank goes on!

I will celebrate appropriately in the tradition, with Canadian Rye!

Edited February 9 by Ship_Right

[clearway]

2 hours ago, Ship_Right said:

Sorry Keith, but could you expand on that? More in what way? Does this show in Matt's plans?

the doubling at the mast head (from the top to the mast cap) should be around 4-5 times the diameter of the mast head- yes you can see on Matthews plans that the doubling is about twice what occre give- on my Terror from the top to the masthead is around 35mm on the fore and main masts and a little less on the mizzen.

 

here are the lengths in feet of the bowsprit and lower masts (outboard for bowsprit and above deck level for masts) from the 1838 admiralty order for a 10th rate frigate which the mast diameters tie in with (occre actually got the topmasts bang on)!

 

bowsprit 29' - 22 1/2" dia.

foremast 48'6" - 22 1/2"dia.

mainmast 53'6" - 24" dia.

mizzen mast 43' 6" - 18"dia.

 

taken from Lees 'Masting and Rigging the English Man o War'

 

hope this helps

 

Keith

 

Edited February 9 by clearway
typo

[Ship_Right]

19 hours ago, clearway said:

bowsprit 29' - 22 1/2" dia.

So the bowsprit should be 7.6mm dia, ditto the foremast.

My foremast is 7mm, but my bowsprit is only 6.

I'll have to revisit these.

 

[clearway]

5 hours ago, Ship_Right said:

So the bowsprit should be 7.6mm dia, ditto the foremast.

My foremast is 7mm, but my bowsprit is only 6.

I'll have to revisit these.

7mm is close enough - in full size terms you are only talking around an inch - i made my bowsprit around 7.5 mm diameter tapering down to around 6mm towards the cap

 

Keith

[Ship_Right]

I've just finished installing and sanding the Ice Buffers. I had some problems lining them up so the port and starboard buffers were at equal height at the bow.

I was also daunted by the amount of sanding required, so with much trepidation used my recently acquired Dremel to help. I was very careful, and am happy with the results.

 

 

 

The picture here has the keel pieces temporarily taped in. I have a problem with the keel, because the keel seems to be about 5-10 mm short, and the part that the rudder will attach to doesn't quite fit properly. Not sure yet how I will line it all up. I have enough of the Oak sprue to make a fill-in piece if that's what it takes, but the alignment at the stern is going to be critical for the rudder to fit properly.

Will attach photos when I am closer to finalizing that part.

 

I have just located a copy of Lees' Masting and Rigging at our reference library (snowstorms permitting), so will be spending some time there next week to fully understand what they say about rigging, and how all the different spar sizes fit together. 

 

[Ship_Right]

Second layer planking has been in progress for a while now - and I think can see the end!

Being very careful to try to use only full length planks through the whole process. I use a spreadsheet to calculate the required plank widths at 5 cm intervals along the hull. After I have installed a few planks, I recheck all the dimensions and adjust accordingly.

 

 

 

Details of how to finish the transom, with the stern post installation, were sadly incomplete in the OcCre kit instructions. I have done the best I can with the help of others' build logs. The Stern Post did not fit on my build - I had to sand it to shape and hope it works out when I fit the rudder. It puzzles me as to why, having supplied a nice piece of oak for the stern post, OcCre then requires the builder to sandwich it between two pieces of plywood; then sand the plywood down, exposing the glue between the plys (is that the plural of ply?) which don't absorb stain. I will end up planking the stern post for this reason alone.

Despite my earlier comments, the keel turned out to be just 2mm short. I suspect I didn't quite adjust the pieces properly when I modified the kit position of the bowsprit. I inserted to 2mm pieces of oak between two of the keel pieces at one of the joints. Not perfect but it works for me.

 

[Ship_Right]

I spent a couple of hours at the reference library leafing through the James Lees rigging book. I scanned the chart of mast and spar dimensions so I now have a ready reference for finally selecting the mast and yard sizes. Tapering these remains a bit of a mystery to me - even when I found references to the amount of taper, I couldn't find any explanation of how to apply them. I find many of these books to be lacking in explanation - even Matthew Betts book - expecting the reader to know the terminology. Just my personal rant 🙂

[Ship_Right]

Thanks everyone for your likes and comments.

Quite a lot of progress since I last posted; The planking is complete...

 

 

 

... and the windows installed. I put some clear plastic behind the frames to have some reflectivity. The OcCre instructions are sadly lacking, not just for the transom/stern post mismatch as I mentioned earlier, but for the dimensions of the parts for the windows. Lots of head-scratching but I think the final result is ok.

 

 

 

 

 

I spent a couple of days building the deck houses, using Matt Betts' book diagrams - put them into photoshop, then printed them off to scale, made it easy to fabricate the parts. They're shown here temporarily in place for the photo. Next I will turn the ship over to install the bow reinforcement, so no deck furniture or protrusions while she is sitting on her wales. Also will wait before installing the tafrails.

 

 

 

[Ship_Right]

A question about glue for the aluminum bow reinforcement ...

What kind of glue have people used for this? Does CA glue work ok? Or PVA?

I haven't been using contact cement, don't like the smell - but there is a water-based contact cement available, not suitable for veneer so I didn't use it for second planking.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[clearway]

i used self adhesive copper tape on my Terror and Erebus, but either super glue gel or bostik should work- be sure to polish the Aluminium first though before gluing to remove the oxidised layer off the surface.

 

Keith

[Ship_Right]

Thanks Keith - proceeding with the aluminum bow reinforcement using (thick) CA glue - seems to be working so far, one side completed today.

 

[Ship_Right]

Completed the aluminum bow reinforcement pieces today.

 

 

Now grappling with the question of how to colour them black. Aluminum is notoriously bad at accepting paint, and the old primers (zinc chromate) are not available because they were so toxic. The most readily available self-etching primer is in spray form only, and I am reluctant to spend the time I would need to to mask the whole ship while I spray the reinforcement. There is a brush-on "metal primer" listed in most hobby stores - but every hobby store in the city is out of stock.

I am testing Aluminum Black - does anyone have any experience with it? I might have to varnish over the blackened aluminum to protect it - but I don't know how well the varnish is going to stick.

An alternative may be to spray some of the self-etching primer into a jar and then paint it on.

Thoughts and advice from this knowledgeable community would be most welcome!

 

[Ship_Right]

Well the Aluminum Black experiment is over. After I had let it sit overnight, I rubbed my finger across the surface and most of the black finish rubbed off. Possible that a varnish over the top would have worked, but I decided that I preferred to have a more durable base.

I did find a bottle of "Metal Primer" at a local store (who had previously told me they didn't have any 🙂), so now I am brushing that on and painting.

Will post photos when finished.

Edited Wednesday at 07:52 PM by Ship_Right

[clearway]

as with the glue, polish the aluminium before painting- i would agree and recommend applying a coat or two of matt varnish as well when paint has fully cured.

 

Keith

[Jolly Jo]

Keeping my fingers crossed. She looks very nice so far!