USCG Harriet Lane by Knocklouder - Model Shipways - 1:144 (1/12 inch = 1 foot)

[Knocklouder]

Hello, my name is Bob M.  and I go by Knocklouder  here on MSW. Welcome to my adventure in river boat  making . 

 First of all, 

Awhile ago  @Literalman, Steve  had this Steam Paddle Cutter of 1857 that he and I struck a deal on , and I hope I can do a great job, for us. Thanks Steve.   😊 

I will be writing your name under the boat later on for sure. You will always be part of the build.

So Let jump in to the yellow box.  First off,  I had to start  this log so I can fix my signature  lol. I muffed up Royalie,  no good with computers.  Lol but I will  get it fixed.

I  put all the packages  into a plastic  container and left the wood in the box.

They is a pile of little  parts, that will need magnification,  holy they are small.

It is a very nice looking boat,  the Instructions say  it is clearly illustrates the transition from sail to Steam.  I will do some more research  on this boat before getting  going, lots of logs for this boat here so I should be good to go. I won't start  right away, taking  a break, cleaning the shop getting ready for Christmas,  that sort of thing.  Maybe Monday I jump in to it lol.

I have to read about the Harriet Lane and write about her in my next post. It certainly different from my last build, but she has a copper bottom lol

 Hope to get my signature straight out soon lol.

Bob M.    

 

Knocklouder 😁 

 

 

[Pfälzer]

Good Luck and much Fun my Friend 

[GrandpaPhil]

Looking forward to this one!

[Geordie Tyne]

Pulling up a seat for this one.

 

Regards

[Capt. Kelso]

I finished this build in April 2025, it was challenging! 

[_SalD_]

Going to grab some popcorn, sit back and follow along.  Good luck on the build Bob.

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  When you can can get a good buy on an older kit, that's one way to beat inflation.  I queried for the scale of all Model Shipways versions of the Harriet Lane and wondered which one you got.  A search result is pasted below:

 

Model Shipways has offered the Harriet Lane in multiple scales, but the current main kit is 1:96 scale, a larger plank-on-bulkhead version, while older solid hull kits were available in 1:120, 1:128, and 1:144 scales. 

Key Scales & Kits:

• 1:96 (Current): A plank-on-bulkhead kit with laser-cut parts and detailed fittings, designed by David Antscherl and available from Model Shipways.
• 1:128 (Older): A solid hull kit with machine-carved hull, often found on resale sites.
• 1:144 (Older): Another solid hull version mentioned in forums.
• 1:120 (Very Old): An even earlier version of the solid hull kit. 

When buying, always check the product description for the specific scale, as Model Shipways offers versions from different eras. 

[Canute]

Wow, I remember going to their store in Bogota, NJ, maybe in the late 70s. I'm in, Bob.

[vvvjames]

Huzzah! I caught the log early! Excited to follow along and see what you do with this one Bob.

[GrandpaPhil]

Did David Antscherl draw the plans of the Harriet Lane for sale on Model Expo’s website?

 

[Knocklouder]

@GrandpaPhil , I looked on the plans no David, there are three sheets of plans, two draw by James F. Berge and one from Charles S. Fox.

 @Snug Harbor Johnny the scale is 1/12=1 foot, , 1965 copyright, Bogota N. J.

so what ever that works out to,  I am still looking . Guessing I would say an old 1:44 scale, but no good at that sort of thing lol.

 The parts are really tiny , so I am going with the smallest  one. I will  find out. Research, research, research 😪  lol

Bob  M.

[Knocklouder]

Oh this is going to be fun, thanks @Literalman for  this, we are having  fun. So this will be my version of  the USCG Harriet  Lane,  thank moderators for changing the name. 

Stev had started  the ship and has drawn  the water line, and drilled the port holes.

The plan just says make up the wheel box and wheel house and put them on the ship. Little else in the way of help, but thats the beauty of modeling,  and this will be another  beautiful ship. I feel it. Lol.

I was going to buy copper  plates for the hull , but due to economic reasons,  paint it is. 

I  going to modify the working stand from my La Nina build to the stand for the HL.

Taking advantage of Steve's water line I brushed the copper  and the black free hand, I will straighten them out on the final coat. 

I  well have to let this dry up over night , before I start cutting holes in her. Lol.

About the research,  I was having  to much  fun to do any , tomorrow  for sure , research  lol

 Knocklouder 😁 

 

Edited yesterday at 03:49 AM by Knocklouder
Guessing typos lol

[palmerit]

I have the new version from Model Shipways in my stash to build. It’ll be interesting to see how different this one is, apart from the scale. 

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  I rolled divots with a modified (hand filed) pattern wheel to represent steel hull plates on a project (over existing paint), and they looked OK after a re-painting.

 

  Someone on MSW recently used wheels from a dermal roller to make tiny divots in a copper bottomed model.  I suspect that a combination of light ruled horizontal scribe lines (with vertical divisions), followed by the dermal roller done over the base coat, would 'telegraph' through the final coat enough to resemble laboriously applied copper plates ... with random tacks in the the plates themselves.

 

[Knocklouder]

Thanks @Snug Harbor Johnny, I had that in mind, the First Mate has one for her sewing, befor I put the final coat of paint on I will do that. It is a pretty small surface  so it should look good to all who see it lol. 

Taking the measurements off the plan I hope they are in the right stop, I cut it all.

Now its time to install  the keel, then I will work on the  wheel box and the pilot house and the stack, thats it on top of the wheel house lol.

The decks look ok , I have a plan for the decks but I need to check some logs first  to see ifI can do that.

 Research,  the HL, was 180 feet length and 30 feet wide. It had three 9 inches cannons  and a 30 lbs Rifle. Also it was black and white.  The USCG  used this ship in its first formation of the coast gaurds, I think, 🤔,  more research needed  lol.

 Having  way to much fun in the ship yard today, it must be the Christmas season,  or the 300 clove hitches the USCG Harriet Lane  has, 

Sponson , wheel box up next.

 Thanks for look in, on the little  boat.

 

Knocklouder  

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 07:08 PM by Knocklouder

[Geordie Tyne]

300 clove hitches! 😶

[Knocklouder]

I may have miss counted the clove hitches,  more like 298 lol , shees that's even less. Lol

All the openings are cut, time for the keel.

First coat on the pilot house,  and final coat on the hull. An attempt at riveting was made , I  will see what it looks like when dryed and in place. I  have to wait till tomorrow to install the wheel box, they need to fitted to the hull before I paint them.

Tomorrow I will make the butterflies,  paddle wheels lol. @Keith Black are your paddles all the way around, mine only  get glued to the bottom,  lol only half a butterfbutterflie ?

 

Going to put a second  coat of white on the wheel house and call it a night.

 Thanks everyone for the likes  I can't belive how much fun this riverboat is,  taking blocks of wood glueing them together and making a pilot house  😀.  I be rigging  in no time , and with a revived count on the Clove hitches , even sooner lol.

 

Knocklouder 😁 

 

Edited 17 hours ago by Knocklouder
Guessing typos lol

[Keith Black]

7 hours ago, Geordie Tyne said:

300 clove hitches! 😶

 I told ya. 

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, Knocklouder said:

@Keith Black are your paddles all the way around, mine only  get glued to the bottom,  lol only half a butterfbutterflie ?

 First, you're working at 1:144 scale which is slightly smaller than the 1:120 scale I work in. Welcome to the club!   Yes, pieces parts are iddy biddy. I bet you won't be tying clove hitches as you normally do. Speaking of clove hitches, I'm three days late to the party and you're already talking about clove hitches.

 

 Only about one fifth of Billy's paddles are underwater as Billy is a waterline model where as your Harriet Lane is a full hull model.   

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  The divots on the copper bottom look great.  As for the proposed clove hitches, at 1:144 scale, an easier way would be to 'sew' each ratline through the shrouds (with a paper guide in the back to keep the line straight) with a fine needle.  Then tie just the end points with a cow hitch.  The trimmed end of the line (after a tiny bit of glue to secure the hitch) will face inward  - which looks better than the little 'tails' sticking outward from the end shrouds that one often sees on models.

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

an easier way would be to 'sew' each ratline through the shrouds (with a paper guide in the back to keep the line straight) with a fine needle.

 I call it the weaving method but that's the way I did the ratlines on the Tennessee. Bob, see page 24, post # 694.

 

 The reason normal tying clove hitches doesn't work at this scale is the work area is so small and if you can/did tie a clove hitch it looks way too big.