HMS Harpy 1796 by Blue Ensign – Vanguard Models - 1:64 scale

[SaltyScot]

Nice workmanship, sir. I enjoy dropping by and seeing this.

[Blue Ensign]

Post 49

Roof boarding

The painted roof boards look attractive, but I suspect in reality they would have been tarred or sheathed in lead to prevent water ingress particularly for the starboard side Pantry.

I have decided to Lead the boarding as a contrast to the paintwork.

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The lead foil is patinated using Pewter Patination fluid following a dip in white vinegar.

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I trimmed the  boards a little to reduce the overhang at the front and longside.

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It proved quite tricky to secure the roof  and I had to get inventive with a clamping arrangement.

I did pre-bend the boards before gluing using pva. I didn’t want to use Cyano in case any got on the paintwork or lead.

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It is useful at this point to check the fit of the stern davits that sit atop the capping rail.

 

While I was waiting for glue to dry I had a play around with naming Harpy.

The kit doesn’t include lettering for the stern, and it’s debateable whether these Brigs even had name plates.

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However, that’s no reason not to have a look; I used 5mm  stick on vinyl lettering  in the only practical place on the transom.

I do rather like a name on the stern even if it stretches credulity.

I’ll ponder it a while, but application of the name is best done before the outer transom piece is glued into place.

 

B.E.

05/03/2025

 

[Blue Ensign]

Post 50

Fitting out continues

Looking at the stern area.

Overall I found this section difficult to get how I wanted it, and several dry fits, re-fits and decontructions were involved.

Stern board

This a tricky part to attach as it is awkward to clamp whilst ensuring the part is properly aligned.

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Again, I had to get inventive to secure the board in place.

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Having most of it glued, I separately re-clamped the lower quarter corners which were the most difficult to conform to the stern.

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Finally, the Capping rail to the Tafferal is glued into place. The Aft davits were used to ensure alignment.

 

Quarter pieces

These are represented by a two layer arrangement so that the finished look is of the Lower Quarter piece extending down to the Square tuck.

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I spent a fair bit of time fiddling with the set-up for these, and once fitted I thought they could use some beefing up on the aft side where they meet the lower counter and  the wale.

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An afternoon of tweaking to arrive at a look I was happy with.

 

The kit differs slightly from the Adm plans.

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The kit has stern davits  with a crutch for the Boom placed centrally on the tafferal.

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The kit usefully includes laser cut patterns for the sheaves both top and bottom. They need to be carefully drilled thro’ (0.6mm drill) from both sides.

The Adm plan  does not show davits, instead the counter timbers are extended above the rails to provide port and starboard boom crutches.

It is more than likely that during her long career Harpy would have been fitted with stern davits, and for a model they do provide a feature of interest, particularly when fitted with one of the sweet little cutters supplied with the kit.

 

Waist rails

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Chris has designed a ‘string’ of rails that fit seamlessly between the ports. Finely cut with a  central groove to represent a moulding they are easy to attach using spots of cyano.

I had thought of making my own, scribing a profile, but I didn’t think I could get down to scale size, and the kit ones look fine to me, given the size and class of the vessel.

 

B.E.

08/03/2025

[chris watton]

I have little doubt vessels of this size were fitted with stern davits, and even later, quarter davits, especially one such as Harpy, which had such a long career spanning both the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars - wartime modifications would have come thick and fast, I think.

 

I got the inspiration for stern davits from a painting depicting Harpy and the ship sloop Fairy (Swan Class?) engaging the French Frigate Le Pallas off St Malo in 1800.

[Blue Ensign]

Don't  know about you Chris but I struggle to relate that painting of Harpy to the Adm Plans. but that doesn't  negate the use of stern davits on Brigs of the period.

There seems to be a lot of freeboard above the Gunports on that painting.

 

I like the look of your Harpy much better.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[SaltyScot]

Builds like this inspire me. I am a lot slower keeping up with the maritime vernacular, me being a newbie and all, but some of it is beginning to become familiar  

[Blue Ensign]

Post 51

The Rudder

This is a nicely made Pearwood item with outer veneers, also of Pear, marked with the appropriate engravings for those who don’t intend to copper the hull.

 

With the Copper plate set comes a rudder specific section of plates. These can be added as a unit rather than individual plates and are designed to fit the rudder profile. A separate strip fits to the aft rudder face.

For this kit Chris has supplied laser board versions of the straps and pintles, a far better option than pe for this purpose.

 

The pintles on the rudder are an integral part of the rudder formed in Pearwood. The Gudgeons are also part of the rudder structure represented by pegs that fit into slots on the Sternpost.

If the rudder is to be attached in ‘working’ mode attaching the Gudgeons to the sternpost would be necessary.

Altho’ I’ve  had working rudders on many of my builds, using Chuck’s Syren parts, I’m going with the kit arrangement on Harpy, with a few tweaks.

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A small modification I made to the rudder was to file a bearding line down the inner edges of the rudder which for practical purposes allow better movement and gives a more authentic look.

Strictly the copper plates should be folded inwards  on the inners side, and folded over by about a scale mm on the outboard side.

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The provided set is too short to fully do this, but sufficient to follow and cover the bearding.

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For the rudder head straps rather than fiddle around with thin pieces of Laser board card I used heat shrink tubing.

Hanging the Rudder.

The rudder fits perfectly into the designated slots, nice and close to the stern post.

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The fit is so good I didn’t find it necessary to glue it into place

The straps to the Gudgeons can now be fitted to the hull.

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Where fitted over the copper plates I have painted the straps a Copper/Bronze colour to represent the cuprous alloy from which they were cast.

The bolt heads, barely noticed, are represented by spots of thick paint mix applied with the point of a  wooden cocktail stick.

The kit set-up for rudder hanging no doubt makes what can be a tricky exercise a simple operation, but there is a cost in authenticity.

Photo from  Build manual.

It caught my eye that there is an obvious disconnect between the gudgeon straps on the sternpost which end short of the gudgeon and the pintles that fit into them.

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Adm plan detail.

The difference can be seen here, the Gudgeons  stand proud of the sternpost and the Pintle cut-outs in the rudder allow the pintle to engage with the hole in the Gudgeon.

 

Once you see it the eye is drawn to it.

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The look can be enhanced to an extent by turning the Gudgeon straps around the sternpost, and using a spot of paint just below the Pintle straps in-line with the Pintles.

 

Still a couple of things to  finish, the Spectacle plate in particular, which should fit just below the Hance.

 

 

B.E.

09/03/2025