HMS Harpy 1796 by Richard44 - Vanguard Models - 1:64

[Richard44]

After quite a break, I'm back building a wooden (instead of card) ship, specifically Vanguard’s brig-sloop Harpy. To me it's an attractive vessel, only two masts so not too many ratlines, 18 guns only and of a size that I can accommodate. Also of course the designer, Chris Watton, has introduced many innovations to his kits, and it will be interesting to see what awaits.

 

Before buying the kit, I read James's prototype build and thought I can handle that, so the kit was ordered. Two weeks to Australia, which was very good considering that this was over Christmas/New Year. I'm not going to describe the kit's contents as James has done so in detail. So onto the build.

 

The first photo shows the bulkheads and the false keel.

Four bulkheads (1,2,3 and 17) needed chamfering before assembly, and this was aided by them having a laser etched line to guide this. Five minutes after that photo and this is the result. Bulkhead 17 is put in place sometime later.

All bulkheads fitted onto the false keel with little pressure needed, except for No3, which wouldn't quite go. A gentle pass with a file fixed that, only the char needed removing.

 

Chris’ innovations include not using any glue until quite some way along the build, with various parts being held together with pegs. This was done with the keel doublers, one on each side of the false keel, with the pegs going through all three pieces. The pegs for this were a little tight and needed a gentle touch with a sanding stick before inserting.

The ply sub-decks were dry-fitted. The etched decks were also dry-fitted to check. No problem, everything fits together so well. Removal of the dry-fitted decks was easy, but here I deviated from the manual which calls for the ply sub-decks and the etched decks to be laminated before final fitting.

But first, longitudinal braces were slotted into place and pegged.

I know from experience that laminating two largish pieces of wood (or worse, card) can go horribly wrong if the alignment is not spot on, so after test dry-fitting, I decided to first fit the ply sub-decks to the hull then glue the etched decks to these as alignment would be easier. The fore deck is held in place with pegs and then the etched deck was glued to it. The aft deck needed to be glued in place first as the pegs that should have been used are designed to hold the laminated deck in place, not just the ply sub-deck.

 

Cheers

 

 

[Shamaal]

Hi Richard, 

great project. The Harpy is definately one of the ships, I would like to build, when my skill level is appropriate. Looking forward to your next steps!

 

Regards from Northern Germany

Lars

[CaptnBirdseye]

Good start Richard. Will be following with interest 👍

[Richard44]

Next, four formers, two per side, were fitted to the bow, slotting easily over the bulkheads. Again chamfering was done first. Finally a small platform was glued on top to complete the bow structure. Even though chamfering has been done, it is apparent that quite a bit of fairing will have to be done before planking takes place.

There are two cabins, one each side, at the stern and these are assembled from mdf.

The completed framework for the cabins. The one on the left is obviously not quite right, but that part had not yet been glued, so no problem to correct it.

The cabins are slotted into the rear bulkheads, including No17, which is now glued in place.

Various pieces which will go to form the walls of the small cabins on the lower deck.

There are two parts, 180 and 186, which are not mentioned in the manual. An examination of the plan, Sheet 6, showed where they would go, but they are out of sight and unnecessary for the build so can be left off. However, there is some mismatch between the labelling of the parts on the laser-cut sheet and the plan. Parts 186 and 187 have become interchanged and the plan shows two parts 180. Not a real problem as the various parts only go together one way and the photos in the manual are clear.

 

The kit comes with eyebolts that are supposed to represent door handles. I followed B.E.’s advice though, and bought laser-cut handles and hinges from Syren. Tricky little things to glue. 

 

Assembly under way at the bow and the stern.

 

Cheers

[Richard44]

Once all the partitions were in place, I dryfitted all the deck beams after sanding the char off the tops. A few needed a touch with a sanding stick to properly seat, but otherwise all was good.

There are three beams that cross the sail room. The latter was put in place, not glued, and the fit of the beams checked. The location of the stove relative to the beams fore and aft was also checked. Finally, as this is the last time before the deck is closed off, dowels were used to represent the masts and pump outlets and inserted to make sure their respective mounting holes were clear. The three bitts were similarly checked. The sail room and stove were then glued in place.

I too have copied B.E. and put a base under the stove. After finding a downloadable tile pattern that I liked (not as easy as you might think), I fiddled around on the computer to get a 6x3 print that seemed to be of an appropriate size. It was edged with 1x1mm pear. The stove is not glued in place in this photo.

Cheers

Edited 11 hours ago by Richard44