Harriet Lane by jct - FINISHED - Model Shipways - scale 1:144

[jct]

yes sir they were...that and some other nasties as well, the basswood is really soft and doesn't take much to mark it up

[popeye the sailor]

I hope your waiting a day or so,  before you sand the marks away.   early sanding can cause the paint to 'bunch up'.  looks to be a fairly easy problem to fix   

[jct]

Hey everyone,

Another update...but first thanks for all the likes, you're definitely right Pop, this has dried for at least a week so we are good to go.  The nastys are all repaired and final primer dry so I moved on to dressing out the sponsons...

started by laying out the location of the holes to be drilled for the sponson support

The supports were made by bending some solid core wire to the correct shape and CAing in place

then the skirts were added

next the Paddle wheel houses were trimed out...

a couple pieces were soaked and pre-bent

then cut and attached

and finally the main hull trimmed out with the rub strip added all the way around

 

Well that's all for now, may get a color coat on the upper hull tomorrow, will have to see...some chores await first.

THX for looking in

J

Edited November 24, 2017 by jct
speling

[popeye the sailor]

look'in good J   

[jct]

THX Denis

[jct]

Hi All,

THX for the likes and comments...just a quick update, hull and trim are painted,  copper still needs weathered, going to try some stuff called

Liver of Sulfur, supposed to turn copper a dark brown, which is what I'm looking for...had to mail order the stuff should be here this week.  Sponson skirts need some touch up, waterwheel houses are just placed on deck for the pic nothing secured as yet

[popeye the sailor]

now.......that's more like it!   the hull looks super J!   are to be exposed paddles under the wheel houses.....or you haven't put them in place yet?  still,  you've done a great job with the hull    nice work!

[jct]

Hi Denis...yes there will be exposed paddles...not yet mounted...thx much

[Blighty]

I'm loving your detailing, I am just starting the Harriet Lane, hope you don't mind mestealing some of your novel ideas. They look sweet.

 

[jct]

Hello there Blighty thx for the kind words...feel free to help yourself, let us know if you start a build log, I'd love to watch your progress

[src]

J,

she is coming along!! great to see progress.

Yes Liver of Sulfur will change the copper color, just do it out doors if you hadn't already planed to , the sulfur aroma is....unpleasant. That old ditty about beans being the magical fruit come to mind.

Sam

[jct]

Hey Sam...Thanks, I understand what you saying there, I tried some experimentation with the stuff, quite aromatic!!   A question while you're here, Have you been able to get it to turn copper brown??  I've tried three samples, each at different strengths and got black and a darkish gray, nothing approaching brown like some had said on the interwebs, so I have not gone near the hull.  Any advice is appreciated.

THX

J

[src]

J,

I have not no. Metal work is one of those arcane lost arts. The skills required are only learned through years of subservience, humility, chants and offerings to gods long forgotten. Or as I like to tell one of our welders, usually when he is 15' in the air stick welding something like an 8x8x1/2 tube, the only people who become metal workers are those not smart enough to work with wood, a superior product.

I will ask him this morning if he has any suggestions.

Sam

[jct]

Thanks to all for the likes...thanks Sam...I'd hate to have to resort to sacrifice...human or other wise 

J

[src]

J,

I talked to one of the guys at work about copper and liver of sulphur. If it is turning black you are leaving it in too long or your solution is too strong, or both. You should be able to get a chocolate brown with some experimenting. He also told me a brass brush after will bring it to a bronze-ish color. 

Good luck!!

 

sam

[jct]

Thanks a buch Sam...more experimenting it is

[jct]

Hi everyone...thanks for all the comments and likes, the experiments with the Liver of Sulfur created some interesting results...sorry no photos...which I would really like on an art glass piece, but lacked the consistent finish I want on this hull.  I ordered some Jax brown patina and will give it a try when it arrives later this week, I hope.  Till then THX again

J

[jct]

Hi All,

THX for the likes and comments...a few pics to add, finally got the copper weathered, applied Jax and let it brownout the copper then hit the high spots with 600 wet/dry.  I'll allow this to weather naturally to add a bit of contrast.  

...doesn't show well in the photo above, a little better in this one

have to clean up the waterline and touch up the paint again, once that's done it will receive matt coat but only on the painted surfaces, I will seal the copper later.

 

 

The waterways were installed and the deck laid out...then I used a screw punch to remove the decking for the coaling ring and masts

That's it for now, hoping to make some progress this week...off work for a few days.  As always thanks for your time and attention.

J

 

[popeye the sailor]

interesting hue.........looks really good      great job J!

[jct]

THX Deni s and thanks to all for the likes...it doesn't really photograph well...it does look better than it shows here, slightly lighter than an old penny...

 

I was able to get some more work done, I got the rail caps made and mounted, and the deck drilled for the masts...for this I transferred the mast angle from the plans to a piece of card stock and used it to align the drill

after that I turned my attention to reworking the peak, the kit comes with a cast piece that I guess is supposed to be an eagle...looks more like a pigeon  but I'm gonna use it, dont really want to attempt to carve anything else at this stage.  The stem piece was made by laminating thin base wood and card stock to the correct thickness, hardening with ca and sanding to shape...the pigeon was then mounted

the assembly was then mounted to the bow....everything still needs painted

next up... the coal rings, this was just a matter of using the screw punch to make the appropriate size holes in more card stock and saving the punch outs, these were then painted black and installed with a dab of pva

finished product , you can see the rail cap and return in this shot as well

and the aft steerage enclosure was made with some scrap from the spares box

and the masts test fitted

you can see in this shot that the finish has taken a real beating, gonna repaint and seal soon.  Well that's it for today, thanks again for looking in.

 

[jct]

Another quick update...

the aft steerage is complete

for now its just set in place, will be secured later.

In the section view of the plans the paddle drive shafts and cover boxes are shown, they don't appear in any other view and aren't mentioned in the provided instructions but this type of vessel would require them as they would be a real danger for anyone on deck.

So I cut some pins and square stock and mount them to the paddle houses, they were painted white after the glue set...

those of you that have been following along know that the fife rails gave me maximum greif the first time around...tis time for round two...first I drilled the holes for the belaying pins then fought with them to put the cross bar on and keep everything square...was the same hassle as the first go round, it finally dawned on me to make the cross bar longer then required so there was something to hold on to...made all the difference...

the cross bars will be drilled once these little &^%&@#$ are mounted to the deck, they'll be painted in place too.

THX for looking in...later

[popeye the sailor]

 they must have had some sort of gangway that went over the paddle drive humps.   is there a structure to go between them?   have you considered cutting a piece of dowel in half instead for the humps?   perhaps some PE would come in handy here?

[jct]

Hey Denis,

I did consider just using a dowel, you can see a square around the shaft in the pic below, which I figured was a box of some sort, but no gangway of any type shown...I agree with you there had to be something, unless they went through the paddle box, there are doors on each side  I'm thinking of steps on each side...time will tell.

 

In the meantime I added the paddlewheels and paddle boxes to the hull, finished paint and trim and sealed it all and gilded the pigeon at the bow.   pics below but I must apologize for the lousy focus, I'll get better pics tomorrow and repost.

well that's it for now...gonna have to close the shipyard for a few days...until after the holidays, the Admiral wants my half of the table to serve Christmas dinner on...trials and tribulations!

Later, Happy Holidays to all

Edited December 22, 2017 by jct

[jct]

new paddle pics

 

 

 

[popeye the sailor]

looks super!     good ideas   

[jct]

THX Popeye. and thanks to all for the likes

[src]

Well Done J!!! Are the fife rails white metal??

Sam

[jct]

Hi Sam...yes they are, I really need to get back inthe grove and restart this build...sort on lost my momentum 

[src]

J,

The Mojo she come and The Mojo she go.

Sam

[jct]

You can say that again Sam...by the way your Enterprise is simply outstanding

J