HMS Terror by Greg Davis - OcCre - 1:75 scale

[clearway]

I didn't alter the sternpost on my Terror but i did alter the stern on my Terror and Erebus so they could have the proper "stern tuck" - going off the fairing at the stern of your model i assume you are going down the same road.

 

Keith

[Greg Davis]

12 minutes ago, clearway said:

I didn't alter the sternpost on my Terror but i did alter the stern on my Terror and Erebus so they could have the proper "stern tuck" - going off the fairing at the stern of your model i assume you are going down the same road.

 

Keith

Keith -

 

That's the plan! I'm also considering the possibility of a single layer of planking on the hull since I filled the spaces between bulkheads. I'll still need to plank over the plywood bulwarks - probably both outside and inside.

 

Greg

[Greg Davis]

I've added the rest of the keel / stem / stern structure. There are 3 mm holes thru the keel for the mounting screws to pass. I made the holes using a 3mm endmill on my mill - due to the thickness of the keel there was very little room for error so I didn't want to freehand the drilling process! 

Before the keel was added, I drilled holes into the false keel, made recesses, and secured a couple of nuts for the mounting screws. The nuts needed to be reshaped to not protrude out from the keel / interfere with hull planking.

[Greg Davis]

Preparing for planking by laying down plank placements. Looks like 23 strakes will do it using the provided planking material. Still need to draw in the planking butts - probably will use a 3 butt shift - after determining the plank length to use.

[Greg Davis]

Yes, 3 butt shift with 4” planks that correspond to 25’ planks at this scale will be used.

[Maid of the Mist]

Is it more difficult to cut planks to scale length than to use full length wood strips?

[Greg Davis]

19 hours ago, Maid of the Mist said:

Is it more difficult to cut planks to scale length than to use full length wood strips?

If the hull doesn't have too much curvature, then full length strips are not too hard to work with. As the curvature increases it becomes more difficult to wood strips in three dimensions. Working with smaller segments helps with this problem and provides a more scale-like planking of the hull. When gluing / attaching the pieces, smaller segments can be easier to get into the correct position. In either case to get a nice run of planks the pieces of wood need to vary in width to accommodate the changing distances along the hull parallel with the frames/bulkheads. This is a primary reason why a hull can't be planked using all strips of a constant width. 

 

Personally, I find it easier to first determine a hull planking pattern and then use multiple (shorter) planks in each strake.

 

 

[Greg Davis]

The planking shift has been marked and hull planking has begun! First plank, part of the garboard has been attached.

 

Using the provided planking material, I think there will be about 75 planks needed on each side of the hull. Some of the pieces will be hard to form near the bow and stern. Primarily due to the thickness of the material, I don't know if I will be able to get the kit wood to conform to the needed bends or if some supplemental material will be recruited - time will tell. Sometimes I find it a 'fun' challenge to see what can be done with the provided materials . 

[Greg Davis]

I got 9 planks shaped and installed today - so if things go well / at about this pace, i should be able to plank the hull in about 3 weeks.

 

I'll most likely plank the complete port side and then go do the starboard planking. I will be working from bottom up and top down simultaneously with the final planks going in near the turn of the bilge. The six planks on top were easy to work, but the lower garboard strake is only partially done due to the twists in those planks. There is one more plank on the garboard strake that is being worked on currently - the one that ends at the stern. It is challenging because it twists 90 degrees in less than 4 inches.

 

The planks that need a great deal of bending are being wetted and clamped in place to dry / take their shape. I remember rushing this process in one of my first models. In that one, planks were wetted and bent, but I failed to wait for them to be totally dry before attaching to the hull. Once they dried, I had a good number of gaps due to the wood shrinking back to its nominal dimensions; lesson learned and hopefully never repeated again!

 

 

[clearway]

This is where that weird bulge occre created mess with your planking runs- was so much easier on my altered Erebus hull- but i did go for full length planking.

 

Keith

[Greg Davis]

After 3 days, 30 planks are now in place. About 85 more to go on this side. My count of planks was way off a couple of days ago - there are closer to 115 planks on each side rather than 75!

 

Soon the work will get more challenging coming down from above as for the next diagonal from the front will have me planking right up to the stem, thus a reasonably sharp bend will need to be put into the plank. Probably as, or more, challenging work coming up aft as in two stakes I will be into the 'tuck'.

 

Not sure if the work coming up from the bottom will be significantly harder than now. In the front strakes will need to conform to the stem. In the back everything needs to be worked up to the stern post. Some of the planks need a great deal of twist as they make there way to the back.

Here's how far I had made the day before:

[Greg Davis]

So far only 3 planks today ☹️. But they were hard ones that butt up against the stem. I needed to partially form each, then wet to bend, and do some more shaping before they could be attached. Once the now clamped plank dries I will be able to add quite a few planks with less difficulty going front to back and downward.

Yesterday I got about 10 planks attached and cleaned up the back edge of the top 6 stakes. In the back, it is time to work on the tuck. There is quite a bit of bend in that area and I am debating the wisdom of creating a mold to bend the planks in that area.

[Knocklouder]

Just wondering if you have an electric plank bender, I found it very useful  👍🏻 

Bob  M   

[Greg Davis]

6 minutes ago, Knocklouder said:

Just wondering if you have an electric plank bender, I found it very useful  👍🏻 

Bob  M   

Yes I do, but I don’t tend to use it as much as I could! For these planks I’ve been experimenting with water and a hairdryer in a manner similar to that described in Chuck’s Chearful instructions chapter 4.