_SalD_

rcmdrvr, just found your build and I will be following along.  I had the same problem with the upper counter warping, nice fix.

Thanks Bob. I agree with you at this scale they would be too much.
 
The seam roller. If you look at my post #29, the first photograph, the little tool, upper right side with the wooden handle is the seam roller.

Thanks rcmdrvr.  I find that the adhesive on the back of the tape is sufficient to hold it in place and don't use any additional glue.  I use a wallpaper seam rolled to press the tape down after it's set in place.  I personally have not sealed the copper plating on any of my ships and it seems to hold up well.  I know other people who do, so I think it's a matter of personal taste to seal or not to seal.  One thing you do have to be careful of is to not touch the copper with your bare fingers, fingerprints are very noticeable.  I always use latex gloves while putting the copper on and then try not to touch the bottom of the hull while doing other parts of the ship.

Thanks rcmdrvr.  I find that the adhesive on the back of the tape is sufficient to hold it in place and don't use any additional glue.  I use a wallpaper seam rolled to press the tape down after it's set in place.  I personally have not sealed the copper plating on any of my ships and it seems to hold up well.  I know other people who do, so I think it's a matter of personal taste to seal or not to seal.  One thing you do have to be careful of is to not touch the copper with your bare fingers, fingerprints are very noticeable.  I always use latex gloves while putting the copper on and then try not to touch the bottom of the hull while doing other parts of the ship.

Thanks rcmdrvr.  I find that the adhesive on the back of the tape is sufficient to hold it in place and don't use any additional glue.  I use a wallpaper seam rolled to press the tape down after it's set in place.  I personally have not sealed the copper plating on any of my ships and it seems to hold up well.  I know other people who do, so I think it's a matter of personal taste to seal or not to seal.  One thing you do have to be careful of is to not touch the copper with your bare fingers, fingerprints are very noticeable.  I always use latex gloves while putting the copper on and then try not to touch the bottom of the hull while doing other parts of the ship.

rcmdrvr, just found your build and I will be following along.  I had the same problem with the upper counter warping, nice fix.

Finishing up the copper plating:
Complete except for the dressing belt.

 
Dressing belt added.
 

Rudder finished

 
Dry fitting the rudder

 
 
 

Finishing up the copper plating:
Complete except for the dressing belt.

 
Dressing belt added.
 

Rudder finished

 
Dry fitting the rudder

 
 
 

Finishing up the copper plating:
Complete except for the dressing belt.

 
Dressing belt added.
 

Rudder finished

 
Dry fitting the rudder

 
 
 

One of the things holding me up is the addition of filler pieces that serve as aids in placing the planking at the stern area. After a couple of tries using strip wood, which I was not happy with, I decided to do a complete fill of this area. I used balsa. These took me about 2 hours each side, but I found the process enjoyable, and think they will do. . . might need a little filler towards the bottom, we'll see.
 

 

 
I'm considering adding more solid fill at the bow. . .
 
Also made the plank-bending jig described in the instruction manual:
 

 
Seems to me that this bending jig would only be accurate for the topmost planks, and adjustment would be required beyond that, or perhaps the jig becomes unusable mid-hull. . . 
 
Thanks for the likes, and thanks Allan and Gary for the nice comments. 
 
Bob
 
 
 
 

I have completed my Moncongus Bay Lobster Smack and my Harriet Lane kit has arrived.  I guess it is time to get started on a new build.  The Harriet Lane has been a model I have eyed for quite awhile.  Model Shipways had a small solid hull model of the Harriet years ago but it somehow disappeared before I could acquire it.  The period when ships were evolving from wood and sail to metal and steam power has always intrigued me; so this should be an interesting build.  I do not plan to provide tons of photos and detailed descriptions of my build.  I will leave that for the more expert modellers and photographers.  I will try to provide photos of my progress and comments regarding the build as it relates to a modeller of my skill level.  This is advertised as an "advanced" kit and I am not an "advanced" builder; so I expect I will make a few (if not a lot) of screw-ups along the way.  Hopefully, I will learn a few things and maybe alert other modellers of pitfalls.
 
The kit came in a the familiar blue box and contained what looks to be a comprehensive instruction booklet and several plan sheets.  All the wood was in good condition and there were no obvious warps, cracks or other defects.  The laser cutting looks excellent.  Of course the model begins with building the hull skeleton by gluing bulkheads to a center spine.  The instructions do an excellent job of guiding the builder through this process.  I dry fitted everything as I progressed.  Only a little sanding was required to get tight fits.  When positioning a bulkhead for gluing; I used lego blocks.  They work great to help you align your parts.  I tacked parts in place with CA and then went back over the structure with wood glue.  All-in-all a couple of very enjoyable evenings with this model.
 
A few more parts and I will begin the process of fairing the bulkheads.....a task I find intimidating.
 
 

Having completed the hull bulkhead and spine assembly, the bulwark and bulwark fill was the next step.  Again, the instructions were pretty clear and most of the provided wood was adequate.  You first wrap the bow and sides of the hull with 1/32 inch strips that are about 1/2 inch in width.  I soaked the port and starboard bow strips for about 5 minutes in water and then used CA to attach to the hull.  No problems.
 
The port and starboard aft pieces did not require any soaking.  Again, CA glue was used.
 
The bass sheeting that wraps around the stern presented a bit more of a problem.  I soaked the wood pieces provided and then used a curling iron to set a basic bend in the pieces.  It looked pretty good until it dried.  The pieces shrunk and twisted and looked horrible.  I was tempted to remove them and start over until I realized that a second piece was wrapped around the curve on the inside.   Again I soaked the inner pieces in water and then carefully bent them (by hand, no curling iron).  I left the original two outer pieces glued to the hull but split them with a knife so that they could be lengthened as I carefully glued the new inner pieces in place.  I did not use CA during this process.  I relied on good ole white glue.  Well, the stern is not perfect but I deemed it acceptable.
 
The final steps in this process was to glue 1/32 bulwark inner strips around the entire hull and "plane" the bulkheads flush with these inner strips.  Except for breaking a few bulkheads during the planing process, this went pretty well.  Now I am ready to begin plank the rest of the hull.  Wish me luck.

Your capstan and capstan look really good 👍
Totally understand following the instructions and other logs and it is a big learning curve we all go through.  It pays to take some time away from any build, and do a bit of research of contemporary based information on your own as sometime there are errors, this being a classic case in point.  Look in your own library of books if appropriate or ask away here.  There are a lot of VERY experienced and learned members here at MSW that have helped many of us for many years.   
Allan

Capstan and Binnacle.
 
The capstan was relatively easy to construct, except for the two rows of chocks (black), inserted between the whelps (the vertical strips). These are really tiny, and have to be individually cut to shape. Took awhile, but I think it came out OK.
 
Still need to make a compass for the binnacle. The cast metal bell, which is to be mounted on the top on a wire frame, is too poor a casting to use. May order another.
 

 

 
Eventually I'll start planking. . .

Coppering continuing: almost finished.

Interesting and I'm not sure why this is happening but within a week of coppering the starboard side it started to tarnish. I've coppered this ship exactly the same way as I've done my other ships and have never seen this happen.  In fact the copper plates on my Syren are still pretty much in the same condition as when they were installed.  The only thing I can think of and I'm just guessing is that we are right across the street from the gulf and maybe it's the salt in the air.
 

 
 

Coppering continuing: almost finished.

Interesting and I'm not sure why this is happening but within a week of coppering the starboard side it started to tarnish. I've coppered this ship exactly the same way as I've done my other ships and have never seen this happen.  In fact the copper plates on my Syren are still pretty much in the same condition as when they were installed.  The only thing I can think of and I'm just guessing is that we are right across the street from the gulf and maybe it's the salt in the air.
 

 
 

Coppering continuing: almost finished.

Interesting and I'm not sure why this is happening but within a week of coppering the starboard side it started to tarnish. I've coppered this ship exactly the same way as I've done my other ships and have never seen this happen.  In fact the copper plates on my Syren are still pretty much in the same condition as when they were installed.  The only thing I can think of and I'm just guessing is that we are right across the street from the gulf and maybe it's the salt in the air.
 

 
 

Coppering continuing: almost finished.

Interesting and I'm not sure why this is happening but within a week of coppering the starboard side it started to tarnish. I've coppered this ship exactly the same way as I've done my other ships and have never seen this happen.  In fact the copper plates on my Syren are still pretty much in the same condition as when they were installed.  The only thing I can think of and I'm just guessing is that we are right across the street from the gulf and maybe it's the salt in the air.
 

 
 

Coppering continuing: almost finished.

Interesting and I'm not sure why this is happening but within a week of coppering the starboard side it started to tarnish. I've coppered this ship exactly the same way as I've done my other ships and have never seen this happen.  In fact the copper plates on my Syren are still pretty much in the same condition as when they were installed.  The only thing I can think of and I'm just guessing is that we are right across the street from the gulf and maybe it's the salt in the air.
 

 
 

Coppering continuing: almost finished.

Interesting and I'm not sure why this is happening but within a week of coppering the starboard side it started to tarnish. I've coppered this ship exactly the same way as I've done my other ships and have never seen this happen.  In fact the copper plates on my Syren are still pretty much in the same condition as when they were installed.  The only thing I can think of and I'm just guessing is that we are right across the street from the gulf and maybe it's the salt in the air.
 

 
 

Allan, thanks for the information on single/double banked boats. This is all new to me and very interesting. The images are very helpful. I did put the oarlocks in per the instructions and have seen them similarly installed in other build logs. But I'll keep this concept in mind for future projects.
 
Jaager, thank you as well for your ideas. Obviously, I don't have to make a decision about coppering right now. . . I have seen the mold method for making boats on this site, but it did not occur to me that it might be applicable to this project. Why not, though? Still, I had passed that decision-making point already. I may try it in the future. I had stopped thinning the hull because there were areas that were near paper thin, I had to add filler, and did not continue thinning the other areas as perhaps I should have. But I've decided to live with my results, at least for now.
 
The longboat is now finished. I ended up using strips of aluminum from a beer can for the pintles, gudgeons and bowsprit strap. I had to try several times but was finally able to make good cuts with my scalpel. I felt that each experiment required a new can, which I had to empty, so it took a while. To my eye they look to be within scale and are certainly stronger than the copper tape would have been:
 

 
Thanks for the "likes" as well!
 
Bob
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Thanks for following rcmdrvr, it's a nice little kit and I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Underwater hull paint or not:
To simulate the ships copper plated bottom it was recommended, per the instructions, to paint the bottom of the hull rather than actually copper plating it.  This was recommended because it was thought that copper plates would look out of scale at 1:96.  I had coppered the hull of my New York pilot boat the Phantom, which is the same scale (1:96) as this ship and IMO I thought that the plates looked appropriate.  In any case I decided to copper the ship’s hull instead of painting it.
 
Using the drawing shown below for reference I scaled the plates to be approximately 14” wide by 48” long.  I had some 3/16” wide x 1.5mm thick adhesive backed copper tape which at 1:96 scale would make the plates 18” wide. Although the tape is a little wider than what’s shown on the drawing I didn’t think that I could cut it straight enough to make it the correct width.   So for the plates I used a piece of tape 3/16” x ½” long (18” x 48”).  At this scale, however, I did not show any plate fasteners.

Port side plating.

The over spray on the bottom of the hull is from some touch up I tried to the upper hull.  This is why I don't like to spray paint, not patient enough sometimes.
 

Thanks for all the likes and for following my build.

My Harriet Lane just arrived.  It will be my next project.  I will be following your build carefully.

Thanks for following rcmdrvr, it's a nice little kit and I'm sure you will enjoy it.