Erebus-class monitor (HMS Terror) plans?

Discussion in 'Ship Plans' started by Jacky Fisher, Jul 3, 2013.

  1. Jacky Fisher

    Jacky Fisher Member

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    Any leads or ideas?
    Thanks in advance!
     
  2. absolutek

    absolutek -->> C T D <<--

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    George Goff has plans for it. Failing that, you may want to contact the NMM to see if they have body plans for the hull.
     
  3. Jacky Fisher

    Jacky Fisher Member

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    Thanks Chase! I knew I'd seen them somewhere but for the life of me couldn't remember where :-/
     
  4. Anachronus

    Anachronus Well-Known Member

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    Doesn't Strike sell that one?
     
  5. absolutek

    absolutek -->> C T D <<--

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    Nope, they have Abercrombie & roberts class hulls though.
     
  6. Bob Pottle

    Bob Pottle Well-Known Member

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    Strike sells the WWII Abercrombie/Roberts hull made from the mould I sold them. The mould for Erebus/Terror was the first one I made (in 1996) and has degraded to the point that hulls from it wouldn't be as good as the first ones made. The problem is that the hull bottom dishes in and would need internal supports to remain flat in the model.
    I've built two HMS Terror's, one wooden and one fiberglass, and a fiberglass Erebus with working bow and stern rudders. That was sold incomplete a few years ago with fiberglass deck installed and was still incomplete in Newfoundland early this year. The height from hull bottom to underside of the deck is about 2" - 2.25" so it is a challenge to fit equipment unless micro-servos are used (though I squeezed in full size ones).
    I strongly recommend the Abercrombie/Roberts instead of Erebus. The Erebus hull is very, very difficult to sheet due to the sharp angles on the bulges, which also made the fiberglass hull the most difficult to lay up of any I've made except the I-400. Multiple narrow strips of balsa (as small as 1/8") had to be used to get around the corners.
    I modified the Roberts hull to simplify bulge sheeting so there's no prototypical small, level step between the bulges and the side armour that slopes up from the top of the bulges almost to the forecastle deck. The hull is deeper from bottom to deck which makes equipment installation much easier than for Erebus.
    Displacements are about the same, but the Roberts is shorter and has twin stern rudders, which gives it what is probably the tightest turning circle in the hobby. Abercrombie/Roberts and my HMS Glatton/Gorgon Class monitor (also sold by Strike) both had turning circles approximately 4' in diameter.
    Very detailed plans for Abercrombie/Roberts are available from the booklet by Profile Morskie. Buy a Strike hull and the booklet and you can make a very detailed model. I sold the mould for Robert's hexagonal barbette to Strike but don't see it listed. Abercrombie has a normal round barbette.
    The OOP and pricey 'Big Gun Monitors' by Buxton, from the US Naval Institute press has only a few hull cross-sections for Erebus. In 1996 I used that drawing and 1/48 scale NMM plans that had a few more cross-sections to develop the hull drawings for the fiberglass mould. I probably have my original hull drawings somewhere in the basement, but would sell the original hull mould if you really want an Erebus.
    Again, the WWII Abercrombie/Roberts is far easier to build, handles better, and hulls are readily available from Strike.
    Bob
     
  7. Jonhanze01

    Jonhanze01 Member

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    I've sailed and battled with the HMS Roberts and it is one great little ship with one lovely advantage on the water. Its range of fire. Due to the height of the barbette and the length of the deck to bow, a front mounted gun will have a range of 3 to 5 feet allowing you to snipe at enemy ships from safety. It's smaller turning circle allows you to put distance between you and a larger faster ship quite easily once you get the hang of it. It's my favorate ship so far and i've managed to take on some of the big brutes and come out with a decent showing. The Roberts class handles rough water like a duck. You'll love it.
     
  8. Bob Pottle

    Bob Pottle Well-Known Member

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    Abercrombie/Roberts is one of the few hulls from my moulds that I didn't complete as a combat model. l started to build one but sold it incomplete to build HMS Gorgon instead, because Gorgon had a stern gun. Gorgon was far superior to my bow gun armed HMS Terror.
    I'd expect Roberts to be superior to Terror because its turning circle is 4' vs 6'. The twin rudders make big difference. The HMS Roberts formerly in the NABS fleet (the one I'd started) could unload BBs at close range, then turn rapidly away from danger. Like the much smaller Gorgon its manueverability makes Roberts a difficult target to hit with an experieinced captain at the helm.
    When designing the British monitors for R/C naval combat I thought they'd be very useful in convoy battles but we never got around to running convoys in NABS.
     
  9. Anachronus

    Anachronus Well-Known Member

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    Buxton's book on Big Gun Monitors recently had a new edition come out. Get it while you can.