USCG Harriet Lane by milosmail - Model Shipways - 1:96 scale

[milosmail]

I am taking a needed break from my Niagara build (getting bogged down in the minutia), and I decided to build the Harriet Lane, one of the first Coast Guard ships ordered by the US government. She was built in 1857, and I felt her to be an interesting change from building period sailing vessels, what with her dual propulsion - sail and steam. The kit was designed by David Antscherl. It is well documented with an instruction manual containing numerous color photos. It is listed as an advanced build by Model Expo, but I would call it more of an intermediate build (Niagara or the Constitution being an advanced build). 

I ordered and received the kit very quickly. It was packed well within another box, but the shipment had been damaged by the postal service (one end of the box was bashed in) which resulted in the etched brass sheet being damaged. ME replaced this sheet after I used their replacement form, and it arrived within a few days. I verified all parts were present (giving me the chance to become familiar with them), and I skimmed through the manual as well.

I will start the build experience in my next post, as the dinner bell just rang...

Edited February 13 by ccoyle
corrected log title

[milosmail]

So far this has been a relaxing build. All kit parts seem to be high quality, although making masts and yards from soft and fragile basswood may not be a good idea. I think I will use some spare dowel material for those components.

Initial work involved separating and cleaning up various frame and bulwark pieces from basswood billets 1-4. This went very quickly and easily. The layout of components attempted to follow the grain of the wood as much as possible, all burns were complete, and components separated easily with a #11 blade. A sanding stick was used to remove char, and glueing proceeded almost without incident through steps 1-2. EXCEPT for bulwark 3! Apparently kits assembled prior to June, 2024 had a couple of problems: bulwark 3 P&S had a notch about 1/8 inch too low, resulting in the bulwark sticking up above deck level. See photo below. I contacted Model Expo, and they have shipped me a new billet with the modified bulwark 3. 

 

All the rest of the 15 port and starboard bulkheads fit exactly perfect. Only minimal sanding (basically the wedge created by the laser burn) was needed for an easy fit of the interlocking pieces. I was impressed with the extremely accurate laser results and the guidelines on the wood. I proceeded to install all pairs from bulkhead 4-15, and made 1-2 ready to drop in. I used angle irons to ensure each bulkhead was 90 degrees to the spine.

 

I then went ahead to prepare the inner stem and stern posts, step 3. The text refers to 'curved lines' printed on the wood for guidance in shaping the rabbet at the bow and stern - essentially the defining the area to be tapered from 1/8 inch to 1/16. These lines did not exist on my billets. Having read on the forum that others had encountered this problem which was resolved by Model Shipways, I contacted them and received a .jpg via email which I printed off on my color printer set to approximately the correct scale (117% in the case of my Canon printer). A little trial and error was needed. 

The text suggests transferring to the back side of the wood with tracing paper, but it was much simpler to just cut out a stencil from the printed sheet and trace the borders onto both sides of the components. See photos.

 

So, that's as far as I have completed until I get the replacement 'bulwark 3'. 

I guess I go back to fabricating yards for the Niagara until then. Oh well...

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Many builds of this kit go fine until the guns on carriages (as supplied) don't fit through the cutouts in the bulwark with a level barrel ... they tilt downward a little, causing some to sand the wheel bottoms flat to level the gun barrels (with no chance of elevating them).  Check out the MSW builds.  'Don't know if this phenomenon was ever tweaked in the kit design, but  one builder sanded material off the bottom of the carriages under construction, and deepened the notches for the axle beam accordingly as a fix.  The notches in the carriages for the barrel trunnions might be deepened a bit as well (with a corresponding bit sanded off the tops).

  Thus dry fitting the armaments and tweaking them to fit the designed deck/hull layout before gluing seems wise, instead of pre-building the guns as a side project and presuming they'll fit.  The limited number of guns may be all that the ship had originally for Coast Guard service, but I suppose a second set might be procured to match the increased armament at the start of the Civil War.

[Capt. Kelso]

Similar to you I decided to take a break from another build. In my case I relocated which meant setting up a new work area and all the hassles involved in moving. When I got settled, I found I lost momentum with my Kate Cory build and decided to work on something "simpler" to get back in the game.  I decided on an older Model Shipways Harriet Lane solid hull, 1/144 scale kit.  I'm often wondering what I was thinking. Can't comment on the 1/96 scale kit but with regards to the cannon fit, it is very important to make sure the bulwarks are the correct height from the deck to accommodate the cannons before adding the decking and rail. Sounds basic but I decided to put a couple of cannons in place to ensure they fit correctly before gluing the decking. Mine did not fit properly and I had to decide to remove more of the wood hull/deck or build up the bulwark. I decided to lower the deck.

 

 

[milosmail]

Thanks to both of you for the 'heads up'. 

The Niagara suffers from almost the same problem, but in that case there are 18 guns to adjust. I found this out too late to correct properly, so some of my guns would destroy the bulkhead in real life...

[milosmail]

Moving along nicely.

I had a bit of trouble with the upper counter (a repeating theme in other posts). The manual says the gun ports should just be marked on the billet, but the manufacturing process has done this by using the laser to burn it in. The material is only 1/32 thick, so the result is to nearly burn through the planned openings on the material. Net, when I went to install the previously soaked plank, it either broke at the gun port seam, or warped badly when it dried out. I went through both starboard pieces and one port,  before I found the solution - cut an unmarked piece from spare wood on one of the 1/32 billets, copying the shape from the cutout on billet 6. This avoided the problem of the laser weakened gun ports.  - I used billet 6, from which two or three can be made (but watch the grain) - Then, immediately after installing, I added the backing sheeet, also soaked. This stiffened the structure sufficiently to avoid breakage and to prevent any unwanted curl while drying, which was another problem I ran into. I penciled in the positions of the gun ports before I soaked the blank material.

I have installed all the backing material without incident, cut off the tips of the bulkhead frames, and I am now in the process of trimming down the bulkhead extensions to the thickness of the strips previously added, making them flush.

On to step 10 tomorrow.

[Dr PR]

Had the same problem with my Albatross kit. The supplied guns and carriages only fit under the cap rail if the guns were pointed down. Good for fishing maybe, but worthless for combat. I scratch built a new set of carriages that were lower and allowed the guns to run out horizontal, and then have a 5 degree rise.