USCG Harriet Lane by _SalD_ - Model Shipways - 1:96

[_SalD_]

16 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Is that an old HP 15C?

Hi Chris, it's an HP 11C.  The 11C was their scientific calculator, was the 15C for accounting?  I can't remember.  I always preferred HP's and their RPN.

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, _SalD_ said:

Hi Chris, it's an HP 11C.  The 11C was their scientific calculator, was the 15C for accounting?

I believe the 15C was the successor to the 11C. The accounting version was and still is the 12C -- it's popular with real estate agents because of its amortization capabilities. My dad taught electronics at a junior college and had put himself through college working at HP. He kept in touch with them over the years, and every year the top student in his program was awarded an example of the latest and greatest HP calculator.

[_SalD_]

Shrouds and deadeyes:

I have a small serving machine so I decided I would serve the center of the shrouds where they wrap around the mast heads.

Served shroud pairs

I made a little jig, made up of twisted wire, that held the upper deadeye in position while the shroud was tied around it. 

After tying the first shroud I decided that I did not like the looks of the thread (rope) that was provided with the kit.  Fortunately I had extra rope left over from a previous build that I was able to use.  I served these lines and placed then around the mast heads.  Four pairs around the fore mast head,

and two pair and a single around the main mast head.

After tying all the deadeyes into position the lanyards were threaded through them.  I used a lighter thread for the lanyards to distinguish the standing rigging from the running rigging.

Completed fore mast deadeyes

Completed main mast deadeyes

 

Personal opinion:  I don’t know how much more this kit would have cost if a little better cordage was provided but imo it would have been worth it.

[Jack12477]

I throw out the kit supplied cordage and replace it with Chuck's (SYREN) rope, likewise the blocks.

 

Looks good Sal.

 

[_SalD_]

19 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

I throw out the kit supplied cordage and replace it with Chuck's (SYREN) rope

Thanks Jack and for the likes.  This is the first kit that I've purchased that the cordage is not up to par and to top it off there really isn't that much of it required.  I don't know if Model Shipways is tying to cut costs but even the eyebolts they supplied with this kit are inferior to the ones they use to provide.  Personally, like I've mentioned before, I like to try and use the material that comes with the kit since these kits are not cheap and I am.😁

[_SalD_]

Moving right along the next few steps were pretty straight forward.

Sheerpoles were glued in place.

Main stay was served and installed around the masthead.....

....down to eyebolts on the deck

Fore stay was served and installed.  The futtock shrouds were also installed on the fore mast and I chose to make the these shrouds with 28 gauge wire glued to the crosstrees and set in a hole drilled in the mast.  I'm not sure I would recommend doing this and just use thread as called for in the instructions because keeping the wire straight proved to be a challenge. 

Wire futtock shroud 

Overall state of the rigging to date.

 

 

 

 

[druxey]

Coming along nicely, Sal!

[rcmdrvr]

Looking great!

[_SalD_]

druxey and rcmdrvr thank you both for the kind words, much appreciated.  and thanks for all the likes.

[_SalD_]

Ratlines:

I decided to tie the ratlines onto the shrouds instead of gluing them because I had glued them on one of my other ships and wasn’t happy with the way they looked.  I used a 14” (scaled) spacing on the guideline card that I printed out and clipped it to the shrouds to hold it in place.  I started with a simple overhand knot on the first shroud followed by clove hitch knots on the remaining shrouds.  Once the ratline was in its final position I put a small drop of ca glue on the knots to hold them in place. 

When all the knots were tied and glued I went over them with a bit of black paint to knock the shine off from the ca glue.

I don’t mind a little sag in the lines because imo it gives it a more realistic look. 

There is one new thing I learnt while doing these.  I normally listen to music while working on my ships and change the style of music by how I feel that day.  Well I happened to be in the mood for some classical music the day I was working on the ratlines and I can tell you now do not try and tie ratlines to Korsakov’s  "Flight of the Bumblebee", unless you want to finish them in about ten minutes.🐝

 

New toy I bought for myself for for my birthday.  Can't wait to try it out.

 

 

[druxey]

Barber's Adagio for (excuse the pun) Strings would be good for while tying ratlines....  Very neatly done at 1:96, Sal.

[rcmdrvr]

Whose ropes are you using.  They do not look like the rope provided for in the kit.  I tend to listen to audible books when working on models.  Right now I am taking a "course" in Criminal and Civil Law for dummies.  Interesting.

Edited October 29, 2023 by rcmdrvr

[_SalD_]

Thanks druxey, I'll give Barber a try.  rcmdrvr that is not the rope provided with the kit, it was leftover from and older kit (~2013) I did but can't remember off hand what company it's from.

[_SalD_]

First Major Re-Do:

 

While reading ahead in the instruction booklet on installing the ‘jib stay’ and ‘outer fore topmast stay’ I realized that I installed the starboard side martingale stays in the wrong place.  I installed both the port side and starboard side stays at the same location on the jib boom (outer end).  You can see this in my post #86, picture #6.  I thought about just changing out the starboard side stay but since all the bow sprit rigging was done with the rope that came with the kit (brown) and all the rest of the rigging done after that (shrouds, main stay & fore stay) was done with non-kit rope (black) I decided to change out all the bow sprit rigging to black rope.

 

Cutting all the lines

All the lines were redone as before with black rope and now in their correct position.

 

[druxey]

I've yet to regret a redo.

[bobandlucy]

You do nice work, Sal!

[_SalD_]

Thanks Bob, much appreciated 

[_SalD_]

I’ve been a little delinquent in my postings so this will be a two part post which will be somewhat longer than my usual posts so I apologize in advance. 

 

Once all the lower rigging was completed and the futtock shrouds were installed the topmasts were mounted.

The Topmast shrouds were installed the same way the lower shrouds were except for the way the deadeyes were held in place.  These deadeyes were pinned to a piece of card stock that I had used for the lower shroud ratlines.  The line spacing on the card stock just happened to be at the right distance for the deadeye spacing.  After pinning the deadeyes to the card stock it was clamped to the crosstrees. The shrouds were then seized around the deadeye.

I should also mention here that I chose to use a smaller diameter (2.5mm) deadeye for the upper shrouds than the 3.5 mm diameter deadeye that was provided with the kit.  I just liked the looks of the smaller deadeye for the upper shrouds.  The lanyards were then reeved through the deadeyes and rattled up.

Completed shrouds.

The ratlines for the fore topmast shrouds were tied the same way the lower ratlines were done.

The Fore topmast backstays were added next. The deadeyes were tied to the stays the same way the lower shrouds were done using the twisted wire spacing guide.  Lanyards were then reeved through the deadeyes and tightened.

 

[_SalD_]

Part 2

 

Trying to follow all the Superdetails listed in the instructions I decided I would try making the heart blocks for the Inner fore topmast stay. Cutting out two circles from scrap wood and with a little drilling, sanding and filing (and cursing) I finally came up with two blocks I was happy with.

First block tied to the bowsprit.

Lashing the two blocks together.

Completed Inner fore topmast stay

Happy with the way it turned out.

[druxey]

Well done, Sal!

[_SalD_]

Thanks druxey.  I ended up redoing the lashing between the hearts because the first time i did it I tightened the stay so much I put a rather drastic sag in the fore stay.  oops!

[rcmdrvr]

Your work continues to impress!

[_SalD_]

Thank you rcmdrvr and thanks to everyone for all the likes.

[chuckthedragon]

Your Harriet Lane is really masterful.  I was glad to spot your build log before I started my kit.  I'm going to copper her bottom based on your example.  I'm going to build her armed as she was in late 1862 just before her capture at the Battle of Galveston, with a X inch Dahlgren on a pivot forward of the foremast and a 30lbr Parrott gun on her fore deck.  I look forward to watching your progress!

[_SalD_]

20 hours ago, chuckthedragon said:

I'm going to build her armed as she was in late 1862

 

Chuck, Thank you and best of luck with your build.  Will you be doing a build log?  If so I'll be interested in seeing how you modify her armament.

Also, if you have any question don't hesitate to ask.

Edited December 5, 2023 by _SalD_

[_SalD_]

Jib Stay:

For the jib stay I decided to try rigging this line something like what is shown in ‘The Young Sea Officer’s Sheet Anchor’ book on page 61.

My first hurdle was how do I make and then attach the traveler to the jib boom now that the boom is already in place.  My solution was to bend some 28 ga. wire around a round nose pliers to the diameter of the jib leaving extra wire at the ends in order to work it around the boom.  The two long ends of the wire ring were spread part and wrapped around the jib and then reformed into its circular shape.  The excess wire was removed once the traveler was in place.

The next challenge was to drill a hole through the jib boom to simulate the sheeve and to not snap the end of the jib off.  By supporting the underside of the boom and applying gentle pressure on the pin vise the hole was successfully drilled.

Next I chose to use two single blocks for the running rigging for space considerations.  One block was seized to the end of the jib stay; the other was stropped to an eyebolt that was attached to the bowsprit cap.  The running rigging was reeved through these blocks bring the working end aft through the fairlead and tied to a cleat added to the bulwarks. The jib stay was then threaded through the hole in the jib boom, through the traveler and then tied off to the fore topmast.

For a finishing touch I added the inhaul line to the port side of the traveler which also ran back through the fairlead and tied off to a cleat on the bulwarks.

Finished jib stay

 

[chuckthedragon]

Nice!  Really excellent solution and execution, Sal!  

[_SalD_]

Chuck, Thanks so much for the kind words.

[_SalD_]

Main topmast stays:

For the two main topmast stays instead of just tying the stays from one mast to the other I tried a ‘modified’ super detail as mentioned in the manual.  The stays were tied to the main mast, then reeved through blocks on the foremast and then brought down to the deck.  The modification came in the way I anchored the stays to the deck.  Instead of belaying these lines to the forward bitts I decided to secure them with deadeyes and lanyards.  To make it clearer thought I would show you the finished product and then explain how I did it.

 

Stays tied off with deadeyes and lanyards abaft of the fore mast.

Lower main topmast stay reeved through a block hooked to the eyebolt on the foremast cap.

Upper main topmast stay reeved through block seized to the fore topmast.

 

Now for the how-to.  Instead of trying to run the stays from the main topmast through the blocks and then down to the deck and try to lace the lanyards through the deadeyes, I did it in reverse.  First, one deadeye (2.5mm) was placed into an expanded eye of an eyebolt and set with some ca glue. Next, another deadeye (2.5mm) was seized around the end of the stay.  Using a third hand the two deadeyes were held a certain distance apart so the lanyard could be threaded through them and tied off.  The distance was arbitrary; I just used something that I thought looked good.

My next challenge was to drill holes in the deck in order to insert the ends of the eyebolts into.  My solution was to use a 1/8” diameter dowel with a drill bit glued into a hole drilled in the center of the dowel.  I ended up tapering the end of the dowel a little bit to get it closer in to the pilot house.  This worked out okay you just need to be patience getting the bit in the correct location.

After the holes were drilled the eyebolts were inserted by holding them with tweezers and then glued in with a drop of ca glue.  After waiting for the glue to dry the lines were then run up through the blocks and tied off to the main topmast.

 

Completed standing rigging.

[druxey]

Great progress, Sal.  Nice solution to making and installing the stay tackle. I'd caution you about using CA on rigging, though. Eventually it make the lines brittle and they will fail. Use either PVA (white glue) or acrylic matt medium.