USRC Harriet Lane Model Shipways 1:96 scale circa 1863

[Peter Gutterman]

Lovely. Can't wait to see more.

 

[The Gavel]

Lovely. Can't wait to see more.

Thank you, Pete! I can't wait either!

 

[GrantTyler]

Here's the finished (almost) product painted with hinges and door knobs in place aboard Harriet Lane. You can see now how dark it is inside the pilot house. For that reason I left it empty. Moreover, once she under glass you won't be able to get close enough to see much more than the reflections off the "glass" in the pilot house windows.

I went ahead with the deckhouse complex construction to make sure of the placement of the upper paddlewheel assemblies, specifically the drive shafts for the wheels, vis-a-vis the deckhouse complex. I think I can now safely permanently attach the lower paddlewheel assemblies to the hull so, that's probably the next step for me. On the other hand, I now have Jerry Todd's lovely guns - perhaps it's time to get them fitted?View attachment 436110View attachment 436111


View attachment 436109

Good morning Chuck. Awesome. Cheers Grant

 

[The Gavel]

Good morning, Grant! Thank you for the compliment and for checking in on my progress!
Blessings.
Chuck

 

[The Gavel]

Hello, shipmates! I've been beavering away and hope to share some 1/96 scale eye candy with you this evening.

Before that, would Harriet Lane have her name on her stern? None of my Civil War era reference books show pictures of the ships stern on. Any help with this is invited and appreciated!

Blessings. Peace. Gratitude.
Chuck

 

[Peter Gutterman]

Probably so. With the letters on the stern arranged in a rainbow arch to compensate for the slanted curve of the counter, as per the same arrangement on the sterns of similarly designed clipper ships. The "Harriet Lane" and "Young America" were both William Webb clipper hull designs out of New York.

 

[BMT]

This is coming along nicely..

 

[The Gavel]

Probably so. With the letters on the stern arranged in a rainbow arch to compensate for the slanted curve of the counter, as per the same arrangement on the sterns of similarly designed clipper ships. The "Harriet Lane" and "Young America" were both William Webb clipper hull designs out of New York.

You're the best, Pete! Thank you! Hopefully something like this?

 

[The Gavel]

This is coming along nicely..

Thank you, BMT! I appreciate the support and comradeship!

 

[The Gavel]

Hello, shipmates! I've been beavering away and hope to share some 1/96 scale eye candy with you this evening.

Before that, would Harriet Lane have her name on her stern? None of my Civil War era reference books show pictures of the ships stern on. Any help with this is invited and appreciated!

Blessings. Peace. Gratitude.
Chuck

Good morning, shipmates! I didn't meant to tease you with this post

What happened was that my Admiral and I were just leaving for a late cocktail lunch. When we got back, my spirits were so elevated that I forgot to post anything. I will spend some time posting a bit later today. Promise!

Blessings.
Chuck

 

[Peter Gutterman]

You're the best, Pete! Thank you! Hopefully something like this?
View attachment 438212

Looks good!

 

[The Gavel]

Looks good!

Thanks, Pete!

 

[BMT]

Nothing better than a cocktail lunch

 

[The Gavel]

Nothing better than a cocktail lunch

That's what I'm talking about!

 

[The Gavel]

Good evening, shipmates!

And now for your viewing pleasure - Jerry Todd's guns!

Guns! If you've been following this build, you know Jerry has been wonderfully helpful as I thought through the issues of historical record, historical accuracy and scale. He produced some mini-masterpieces for me to arm my Harriet Lane! What follows are pics of the unpainted guns aboard and my efforts to follow in Pete Gutterman's footsteps. The first pic reflects how pivot carriages were mounted and the very artistic tracks they were mounted on. I will return to this subject shortly. Subsequent pics show Jerry's guns aboard. You'll notice that the initial pictures have all of the aft gun placements filled with IX Dahlgrens on Marsilly carriages and then pics with the 24lbr howitzers. Amazing how much smaller the howitzers are! I am torn between what I like to look at and the Harriet Lane I am portraying. I really like the group of 4 IX Dahlgrens! What do you think?

P.S. The sailor is from a 1/96 scale set by Cottage Industries! I'm considering putting sailors on the ship to help viewers understand the scale better and for fun

 

[The Gavel]

Now for the good stuff! The first image in the last post showed the placement, rigging and tracks for pivot guns. When I looked at those wonderful curves, I thought: "My Harriet Lane needed something sexy like that!" It took me a whole day of cutting tracks from black artist paper until I was satisfied. The hardest part was making the circular track for the pivot mounted IX inch Dahlgren. That's what all those holes in the second picture are about. Then to make a representation of the "bullseye" plate for pivoting, I invested $40 in a complicated hole punch that allowed me to make 1/16 wide circles! Worth every penny! I know that the tracks didn't look like what my artistic eye created. But they're so COOL!!! IMHO that is

 

[The Gavel]

I will post more about Jerry's wonderful guns in the future - as I attempt to rig them in something like scale and paint them without obliterating the superfine detail.

As a last post for the evening: Here are a couple of shots of the deckhouse complex. In the first pic you'll see that the photo-etched brass grilles fit their marked locations just fine. The skylights, however . . . AND the holes for the ventilators are way too big! The second pic shows the finished product sans ventilators being held down to the deckhouse by rubber bands. Why is that, Chuck? Good question - it's not because I recklessly glued the roof on in a sudden fugue of impatience - it's because the paint caused the 1/32" thick roof to curl in the wrong direction and I'm trying to train it to the camber of the deckhouse

 

[The Gavel]

Before I pipe down for the night - tomorrow you'll see some more 1/96 scale eye candy! The cathead! The bowsprit! The king posts! The funnel! And some griping about working in this scale!

Thank you for the "likes" laughs and encouragement!

Happy Good Friday, shipmates!

Blessings
Chuck

 

[dockattner]

Now she's a 'paddle-wheeler' with attitude !

 

[Peter Gutterman]

Good evening, shipmates!

And now for your viewing pleasure - Jerry Todd's guns!

Guns! If you've been following this build, you know Jerry has been wonderfully helpful as I thought through the issues of historical record, historical accuracy and scale. He produced some mini-masterpieces for me to arm my Harriet Lane! What follows are pics of the unpainted guns aboard and my efforts to follow in Pete Gutterman's footsteps. The first pic reflects how pivot carriages were mounted and the very artistic tracks they were mounted on. I will return to this subject shortly. Subsequent pics show Jerry's guns aboard. You'll notice that the initial pictures have all of the aft gun placements filled with IX Dahlgrens on Marsilly carriages and then pics with the 24lbr howitzers. Amazing how much smaller the howitzers are! I am torn between what I like to look at and the Harriet Lane I am portraying. I really like the group of 4 IX Dahlgrens! What do you think?

P.S. The sailor is from a 1/96 scale set by Cottage Industries! I'm considering putting sailors on the ship to help viewers understand the scale better and for fun

View attachment 438314View attachment 438315View attachment 438316View attachment 438317View attachment 438318View attachment 438319View attachment 438320View attachment 438321View attachment 438322View attachment 438323

Apparently, the historic record goes with the Howitzers. Love the figures and the track layouts, which make sense.
She's gorgeous! I'm envious!