USRC Harriet Lane by HenryC - Model Shipways - 1/96

[HenryC]

This is my first ever posting on Model Ship World.

 

Firstly, a little about myself.  I am 74 1/2 years old.  During my younger days, I made plastic models.  In the early 1980's my fiancé, now my wife of 40+ years, said I should try a wooden model kit.  My first kit was Mamoli's USS Constitution Cross Section, which I completed in 1985.   Then life intervened and I did not take up model building until I retired at age 70 in the summer of 2021.

 

This posting describes my building of Model Shipways MS 2270 USRC Harriet Lane.  Model Shipways calls this kit the USCG (United States Coast Guard) while I call it the USRC (United States Revenue Cutter) as the Coast Guard was not formed until 1915, 31 years after the sailing days of the Harriet Lane were over.    The ship was part of the Revenue Cutter Service and thus I feel USRC is the more accurate title.

 

The framework for the hull is complete as are the bulwarks at the top of the ribs (Steps 1 through 10 of the Instruction Manual).  I placed some scrap wood around the openings in the hull to better support brass pedestals I was going to buy since the box lid indicated no display base included.  After gluing this scrap wood, I found out the kit does contain a display base and that wooden dowels will represent pedestals to attach the ship to its display base.

 

As with some other build logs of this kit, my kit also did not have marked on the inner stem and stern post the curved lines (see Step 3 of the Instruction Manual).  Model Shipways emailed me the necessary template.  I suggested they include it for downloading on their website where this kit is listed for purchase.

 

To achieve the curvature of the stern bulwarks, I soaked the wood strips overnight and used an electric plank bender with its supplied wooden form to get a curve similar to what I needed.  If you do not own an electric plank bender, I highly recommend purchasing one.

 

I could also not find any keystone shaped pieces on Sheet 7 (Step 9 of the Instruction Manual).  On that sheet, I did find two strips turned so the grain would go vertical if used as the inner bulwarks.  They were longer than I needed.  Thus, I assume Model Shipways has replaced the mentioned keystone shaped pieces with these two strips (one for the port side and the other for the starboard) but never updated their Instruction Manual.  Similarly, Step 75 of the Instruction Manual lists the bow fairlead as being on Sheet 7 where in my kit it was a separate sheet (WP2270-W) not shown on the Parts List nor on Plan Sheets 4 or 5.

 

The ship is now ready to be planked, which will be the subject of my next posting.

 

Please enjoy the attached photos.

 

All comments or questions appreciated.