Post 1 - Unboxing

The Harriet Lane is my 4th wooden ship model, after building the Model Shipways Grand Banks Dory, Norwegian Sailing Pram, and Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack. These three models are part of a series of progressively more complicated kits, designed to teach the fundamentals of wooden ship modeling. They certainly did so for me! The Harriet Lane is the fourth in this series. The instructions say it is an advanced skills kit. We'll see if I'm up to it. It uses preformed planks for the hull, as did the prior kits, but incorporates card stock parts, as well as significant amounts of PE brass and Britannia metal. I'm building it because the ship appeals to me with its combination of steam and sail power and I think it will teach me new skills. The kit has several firsts for me. It is my first model of a ship, as opposed to a small craft. It is bigger and more complex than my prior builds, and therefore at a smaller scale. It is also my first model of an actual vessel, not just a prototype of a class of boats. That means I will need to pay more attention to historical accuracy. It is my first build with guns and real deck furniture, and rigging with shrouds, multiple masts and yards.

Some history. She was named after the niece of James Buchanan who served as First Lady to the bachelor president. She was launched in 1857, and the Coast Guard wasn't founded until 1915 when Woodrow Wilson combined the US Revenue Cutter Service with the US Life Saving Service, so she is really the USRC Harriet Lane, not the USCG Harriet Lane, but that's what Model Shipways named the kit. She initially served in the Revenue Service, was part of the US Navy during the Civil War, and may have fired the first naval shot of the war, in defense of Ft. Sumter. She was captured by the Confederacy, recaptured by the Union, and after the war was sold to a merchant and renamed. She was abandoned at sea in 1881 after her cargo caught fire. Her armamentarium changed over the course of her career, so choices have to be made about how to model her.

There aren't any build logs of the Harriet Lane on Dry Dock Modeler, so I thought I'd start with an extensive unboxing. This will hopefully give interested modelers a sense of what the kit is about.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the box is that there were a lot more pieces than I am used to!

In addition to the instruction manual and parts list

There are fives sets of plans: a deck plan, rigging plan, optional sail plan, and two plans identifying all the basswood parts.

There are 23 basswood sheets ots

The laser cutting seems to be good, for the most part. Some of the thicker sheets are not cut completely through.

There is a bag of dowels and wood strips

Three bags of Britannia cast metal parts

A bag of copper and brass fittings

One sheet of photo-etched brass

Three sheets of card stock parts

Six types of rigging line

and five types of blocks, plus deadeyes.

Observant readers will notice there are only 4 types of blocks in the picture. When I did an inventory of the contents I was missing two 3/16" double blocks, and 12 cast metal cleats. I did have two very small deadeyes that are not in the parts list or plans

I contacted Model Expo requesting replacements, and they sent me the same wrong parts again! After some back and forth, thry said there was a typo in the parts list, and sent me the correct blocks:

Not sure it was worth the wait!

I'm excited about this kit. The subject intrigues me, it will have a lot of challenges for me, and I think it will get me ready to tackle more complex builds.

Post 2 - Starting Off

I went on vacation shortly after unboxing the Harriet Lane. While cruising around Iceland I made my way through the instruction manual, following Julia Childs' advice to "visualize yourself making the recipe," identifying the parts used in each step on the basswood sheets, and thinking through how they would go together. Build logs for the Harriet Lane on other sites all say there is an issue with the gun ports being too low for the guns to sit properly, with people needing to cut off the bottoms of wheels to get them to fit. I initially thought it was due to the bulwarks being installed too low, but it appears that the issue is the bulwarks are not tall enough, and another 1/8-3/16" needs to be added to them. Iw ill see when I get to that part of the build.

After getting home, I cut out the pieces needed for step 1: gluing the horizontal pieces A, B and C to the central spine. You use some of the half bulkheads to help line them up. I cleaned up the char on the edges that will be glued and dry fit everything. Ran into my first problem with bulkhead 3 - the slot for piece A is about 2mm too low:

Same way on both sides. I widened the top of the slot with a razor knife to get the proper fit,

And then shimmed the bottom edge with a piece of 1/16 x 1/8 basswood

I'll probably need to do some more shimming on the top when I glue the bulkheads, but now it's good for aligning the A piece. Overall, the 5 bulkheads used for this step are fitting much better than the bulkheads did on my Lobster Smack. I dry fit everything in place.

I then glued parts A, B and C in place:

She's gonna be a big girl! Certainly bigger than I'm used to.

I'll hopefully get the bulkheads glued over the next several days, but this is the busy time where I live. Between messing about in my (real) boats, swimming in the lake, concerts at Tanglewood, dance at Jacob's Pillow, and plays at one of the 3 local theatre companies, there's not a lot of time for the shipyard until until the summer is over!

Post 3 - Slow Progress

I have, at last, managed to get all of the bulkheads glued to the spine. It was something of struggle. Despite my best efforts, the port horizontal piece A was not quite perpendicular to the spine. I only realized this after gluing 5 sets of bulkheads. Out with the Isoppropyl alcohol, off with the bulkheads! I should have kept going and removed and re-glued piece A, but for some reason I decided to adjust the slots in the bulkheads. Also, despite my best efforts, I had trouble keeping the bulkheads plumb, even though I used clamps and Lego bricks.

In the end, I probably unglued and repositioned half of them (at least one of them twice) in addition to lengthening and widening the slots before I finally got every one fitting snuggly and square to everything else.

I also did as suggested in a build log on SoS, and boxed in the holes for the stand posts so the model won't list when mounted on the stand.

I feel like I've finally started to build my Harriet Lane!

I had ordered 1:96 scale copper plates from a Chinese seller on Amazon. They arrived earlier this week. The individual plates measure 4 x 14 mm which is 15" x 52" at scale, not to far off the standard of the era (14" x 48")

They might be too 'busy' with all the rivets. I'll see how they look once I get to that step. I have 1,000 of them. I need to do some calculations of the are of the lower hull to see if that is enough.

My replacement double blocks from Model Expo also arrived:

Not sure they were worth the wait 🙄

That's it for now. I think posts will be infrequent until the busy season calms down end of August.

Post 4 - From Stem to Stern
I got some quality time in the shipyard today, after a kayak around the lake. First up was beveling the inner stem and stern post. Started out by tracing the outline of the pieces and the curve of the bevel on tracing paper, a product I had never used before.

I flipped the paper over, and lined up the opposite side of the pieces. It wasn't clear how I was going to get the curved line on the peice of wood, but I started by tracing the line with a pencil, thinking it might scribe the wood. Magiclly, it transfered the line to the wood! I guess that's why they call it tracing paper😁

I used a rigid 120g sanding stick to do most of the work, and cleaned it up with a 320 g stick. After gluing on the inner stem and stern post, I cut and glued the inner keel. A few areas needed some sanding to get it all level, as recommended by the instructions. Also got to use my Amati Keel Klamp for the first time!

It looked easier to remove most of the wood for the required bevel on the stern knuckles before I installed them. My Proxxon rotary tool and a 120g sanding drum did the job easily:

I then glued them in palce

The stern post has a concave profile where it abuts the stern knuckles.

I'm fairly certain, looking ahead in the instructions, that the bevel on the knuckles should not follow that concave contour, but should be convex. Do any prior builders have any thoughts? I will let the glue dry overnight before I finish shaping the bevel.

After that I'll glue on the support pieces for the stern bulwark extension, and then begin fairing the hull. That seems to happen much earlier in the build than it did for my lobster smack and Norwegian pram.

Thanks for dropping in!

Post 5 - Fair is Bow and Bow is Fair
I spent time over the past 3 days fairing Harriet's hull. I first used thin black artist tape (used to make lines on white boards) to make sure the bulkheads were all aligned. It showed I needed to shim Bulkheads 5 and 7 on the port side, and 9 on the starboard side. I glued on 1/32 x 1/8 shims and let them dry overnight. The 5 and 9 shims only needed to go to the horizontal piece A, but 7 had to go to around the curve of the bilge.

Then I started to sand. I took the advice of the instructions and used 100g sandpaper on flexible sanding sticks. I had used 120g on my prior builds. The extra oomph made it easier. I started with the bow and worked my way back.

I used the artist tape to check on my progress after I thought it looked good. I find the tape makes it easier to detect areas that need more refinement, compared to sliding a planking strip along the bulkheads.

I mark areas that needed more work with a pencil:

The only issue with the artist tape is that it isn't very sticky. But you can reuse it to recheck your progress by just holding it against the bulkheads. When I thought I had a fair hull I used 3M masking tape for a final check. Of course you can't assess the topsides of bulkhead 15 because the stern counter isn't installed.

It looks good to me. I will let it marinate overnight and re-assess it in the morning to see if I still am still happy with it, but I think I will be. Overall, I found it easier to fair this hull compared to my last build, the Model Shipways Lobster Smack. The larger size and shape of the hull meant less and more gradual curves.

My plan is to fair the top of the bulkheads to the central spine tomorrow, and then try to wrap my head around the bulkheads. They are the major problem with this kit (in addition to which guns to use and where to place them - plus where the wheel goes).

On that note, I have figured out how to obtain the plans for the Harriet Lane from the Smithsonian Institution. They were created in the 1960s, and are supposedly the basis for this kit. For $15 I'll see if they shed any light on the issues of gun placement and the location of the auxiliary wheel.

Now, to complete my initial quote, it's into "the smog and filthy air" of the Canadian wildfire smoke.

On 7/11/2026 at 9:22 PM, DocTom said:

My replacement double blocks from Model Expo also arrived:

Toss those blocks, not even adequate for firewood. 3D printed ones are the way to go: there are various aftermarket sources but the best and greatest variety are here:

(a 300% improvement, not more!): https://syrenshipmodelcompany.com/boxwood-rigging-blocks.php#!/3-16-5-mm-Single-Sheave-Rigging-Blocks-Color-Swiss-Pear-25-per-pack/p/692074694

5 hours ago, modelshipdood said:

Toss those blocks, not even adequate for firewood.

I agree. I have a supply of Syren and Model Shipways beautiful blocks. I just wanted Model Expo to give me what I paid for!

Post 6 - The Bulwark Problem Solved?

When I looked at the hull again yesterday, I saw a few spots that needed a little more fairing, mainly on bulkhead 3. I then faired the tops of the bulkhead to the central spine.

With that the fairing is complete (at least until I start planking)!

I've been mulling over the bulwark issue for the past several days, aided by @The Gavel . One of the major complaints in build logs of this kit is that the bulwarks are too low for the guns to fit properly, and most peope don't realize that until it's too late. The instructions tell you to glue the outer bulwarks at the level of the deck, but of course the deck isn't installed yet! The plans show the height of the inner bulwark to be 18/32" above the deck midships. The inner bulwark pieces measure 17/32", and the outer bulwark pieces 16/32". If you glue the outer bulwarks at the level of the deck they will obviously be too short.

The top of the bulwarks midship need to be 19/32" above the top of the bulkheads (18/32 for the bulwark height + 1/32 for the deck). The inner bulwark would therefore sit 1/32" above the deck, but that would be covered by the 1/8" spirketting.

That also means the outer bulwark pieces need to sit 3/32" (3/32 + 16/32 = 19/32) above the bulkheads to match the plans. Today I made 3/32" spacers from wood strips, rubber cemented them to the bulkheads, and clamped the outer bulkhead in place.

I then made up one of the cannons to test the height. My first ever gun carriage! I used a mini building block to square up the bed with the cheeks, and a small clamp to mark where the axle needed to be sanded to fit the wheels.

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It's so tiny - a real baby carriage 😉! I didn't want to glue the gun yet, so I got it level, and wired it in place.

I then laid a piece of 1/32" wood on the bulkheads to simulate the deck, and placed the cannon against the bulwark:

The line represents the bottom edge of the gun port. The gun barrel looks pretty centered to me. 🙂 As long as I don't plank the deck, this should work out. My initial plan was to simulate the planking anyway - if it's good enough for Vanguard, it's good enough for me! I also hope to use @JerryTodd 's 3D printed 24 pounder Dahlgren Howitzers and 32 pounder gun (her 1858 armament), and as long as they are about the same height as the kit-supplied guns I should be OK. It looks like I will have to put spacers atop the bulkhead extensions. I also don't think this will mess up the placement of the sponsons.I guess the lesson here is don't always follow the instructions!

Next up is to bend and start installing the outer bulwarks.

Post 7 - Bulkheads

Between yesterday and today I attached the fore and aft bulkheads on both sides, using my spacers to keep them the proper height above the bulwarks.

I had to add shims to bulkheads 5, 9 & 10 to keep the runs straight.

I elongated the hawse holes using a cylindrical grinder head on my mini rotor tool (really an etching pen) after a round file wasn't cutting it. Also cut the bulwarks flush with the stem.

I'm not sure if I need to extend the stem to glue the upper portion of the bulwarks together, or if that will get dealt with by the bowsprit.

After reading the many horror stories about bending the upper counters I decided it was best not to try to do it freehand on the model. I used tracing paper to copy the curve of the counter from the plans, and made a form from corregated cardboard. Test fit it on the model and marked where the 15th bulkhead would sit. I then soaked the port counter piece, lined it up with the mark, and carefully bent it with my electric plank bender while praying to St. Rosalie (she never lets you down!).

Success!

I didn't want to press my luck, so I'm leaving the starboard piece for the next shipyard session.

Post 8 - Upper Counter

My clamps didn't hold the counter piece very well against the cardboard form, so the counter had dried out of shape when I checked it this morning. I re-soaked and reformed it, and used magnets to hold it against the form. Did the stern side as well. Also applied some hot air from a hair dryer to speed up the drying.

Turned out much better, but the starboard piece was a little wonky. I somehow managed to glue them in place without breaking either one:

They also look fairly even with the stern knuckles. The instructions talk about aligning the upper edge of the counter with the laser marked line on the stern bulwark extension, but damned if I could find one!

As you can see, the wonky starboard side has a little indent at the aft end of the gun port.

The piece can be pushed out easily, and I think I can correct it when I add the reinforcements. I followed the instructions and applied dilute white glue to the inside of the counter, supposedly to strengthen it. The pieces are extremely fragile, and really want to fold or separate where the gun ports are laser cut in. In retrospect, I just should have cut new pieces from scrap and drawn on the gun ports. I think they would have bent much more successfully.

Post 9 - Mail Call

I have glued on 18 of the 32 required bulwark inner filling strips, but the exciting news is that this arrived in the mail today, direct from Ebay:

I can now order the plans of the Harriet Lane created by Merritt Edson in the 1960's.

They may help clarify some of the uncertainties about the configuration of the deck furniture, guns and boats. My concern is that the plans will be identical to those supplied with the kit (which was supposedly based on these plans), but I'm willing to invest the 10 bucks. There are an amazing number of plans in here. The whole process is very old-fashioned. You need the paper catalog to see which plans are available, and you need to send a check or money order (really?) by snail mail. No PayPal, credit cards or ordering online. The Smithsonian also has a catalog of "American merchant ships and small craft" taken from the drawings of Howard Chapelle, and a catalog of The Maritime Administration Collection of Ship Plans (1939-1970) which includes WWII craft and passenger and commercial vessels.
Smithonian Catalogs of Ship Plans

Post 10 - Inner Bulwark Strips & Lower Counter

Yesterday I completed the tedious task of gluing in the 32 inner bulwark strips. I left the upper counter ones for last. In retrospect, I should have done them first, as I cracked the port upper counter gluing in the strip between bulkheads 14 & 15 on that side. Other than that, the first 30 were very straightforward.

I trimmed them to clear the slots for the paddle boxes, but left them below the lower edge of the outer bulwarks otherwise.

The instructions have you use 3 keystone shaped pieces to do the upper counter. Of course, this being a Model Shipways kit, these do not exist. There are two long pieces which Euclid tells us will not fit between bulkhead 15 and the stern bulkhead extension while making a complex curve. I bent the pieces using the same form I had used for the upper counter, and then cut them at an angle about 1/2 way along. After gluing the curved piece against the stern bulkhead extension, I trimmed the other piece to fit the remaining space. They didn't lie completely parallel to the top of the bulwark, so I trimmed them after the glue dried. I left them extended below the bulwark, figuring they would give extra support to the flimsy lower counter.

I filled the cracks between the pieces with sawdust and glue for extra oomph. The added layer significantly improved the strength of the upper counter.

At this time the instructions have you trim the bukhead extensions flush with the inner strips. I decided to take the advice I had read in a build log and delay this until after planking and sanding the hull. The bulwarks would otherwise be attached to the hull by some pretty skinny extensions!

I faired the outside of the bulwark extensions at the stern so the lower counters fit properly

And used my plank bender to shape them on the hull, followed by a clamp storm to glue them

Of course, this still being a Model Shipways kit, they are too short!

Luckily they provided spares so it was easy to cut a piece to fill the gap. Hopefully not a sign of things to come with the planking.

When I was finished, I realized the extreme stern at the stern bulkhead extension did not follow the curve of the rest of the counter - it was flat. I should have shaped the extension more when fairing the hull. There was also an indent on the starboard upper counter just aft of bulkhead 15:

I used some Durham's water putty to build up the areas

and after some sanding had some decent curves.

The instructions next have you pare the bulwarks flat with the top of the bulkhead extensions. To any future builder of this kit: DO NOT DO THIS! Doing that will guarantee that your bulwarks are too short.

Next up: Planking!

Post 11 - Garboards Aboard

Having gotten the counter pieces in place without a major calamity, I feel like I've passed one of the danger points of this model, and can now relax into something I've done before: planking. I bent the fore garboard planks, using my plank bender to help set the twists. While they were drying I decided I would add some filler to the holes for the pedestals, to make them more square and hopefully cut down on wiggle when I mount the hull. I also marked the center of the inner keel.

I then glued the first plank - Yay!

The port side went on easily. There was quite a bit of overhang at the bow to get the mounting holes aligned, but the aft end fit smack in the middle of bulkhead 5.

While I waited for the bent stern garboards to dry I test fit the central planks. They were1/32" too short.

Model Expo-itis strikes again! But easy enough to make a longer ones out of the wood sheet they came on.

After trimming the stern garboards to abut the longer central planks, I glued on the stern pieces, followed by the central.

I used a mini plane and spoke shave to pare down the forward garboard to the inner keel

I think the spoke shave is my favorite hand tool. I even like saying it "spoke shave"😄

I then glued on the 1/32" strip to finish off the bow end of the garboards. I will shape it tomorrow.

After I got the clamps off the stern end, I noticed some funkyness where the garboard starts its twist

I wet the wood and glued it down on both sides, but I think I may need to remove it and do more fairing of bulkhead 13. The transition looks too abrupt. I'll see how it appears in the morning. I good reminder to pay close attention to how the planks lie before applying the glue.

Planking has become my favorite part of a model, so I'm really looking forward to the next couple of weeks.

Post 12 - A Question
I've finished off the bow and stern ends of the garboards, and started on the 2nd strake. I began at the stern, as the aft piece lined up almost perfectly with the middle of a bulkhead, as did the central piece. This leaves a significant amount of excess plank at the bow. Should I trim it at the back end where it meets the central piece

or at the bow?

I'm thinking at the back end, to preserve the taper of the plank as it nears the bow, but if anyone who's built this model has any thoughts, I'd appreciate your wisdom.

You're doing really clean work as you go! Going to pay off in the final product, I believe. I've looked pretty hard at this kit in the past. I'll be following this build with keen interest!

Hi Tom,

I built this ship about three years ago and had a detailed build log over on MSW before the big crash. It’s a nice kit overall, though it does have its shortcomings. Offhand, I don’t recall needing to shorten the planking, but if you do, I think it’s better to make the adjustment at the bow. That way the plank widths at midship will still line up properly.

One thing I do remember is that in my kit, that all the forward planks—port and starboard—were not the same width. The port plank was noticeably wider than the starboard. I decided to sand down the port plank to match the width of the starboard rather than cut a new wider piece. That kept both sides of the hull symmetrical.

Your build is coming along nicely.

1 hour ago, driftwood said:

One thing I do remember is that in my kit, that all the forward planks—port and starboard—were not the same width. The port plank was noticeably wider than the starboard. I decided to sand down the port plank to match the width of the starboard rather than cut a new wider piece.

I think I have the same problem. I realized after gluing the 3rd strake that the port side is wider at the bow. Not at the stern. Thanks for the suggestion about trimming the planks. I did the opposite, and will need to do some filling where the front and center pieces meet.

Post 13 - Some Answers
Strake 3 and 2/3 of strake 4 are now on. I've settled into a rhythm of fit and bend the aft pieces, glue them on, while they're drying fit and bend the center pieces, etc. Strakes 3 and 4 are not nearly as oversized as #2, just a few mm at each end. I decided to trim the front pieces where they meet the center pieces, which I now know was the wrong choice (more of that below). Harriet currently looks like this:

The two sides are pretty even at the stern

but not at the bow

After I closed up the shipyard for the day I saw a response to my question from @driftwood (see above) who has built the Harriet Lane, and lost his build log in the MSW crash. He mentioned that all the bow port planks were wider than the starboard bow planks on his model. I clearly have the same issue. He reduced the port planks to match the starboard ones. I think reversing the port and starboard 4 and (maybe) 5 planks will even me out, and then I can shape the rest to be equal.

@driftwood also recommended trimming the excess off the planks at the bow and stern, so the width midships is equal. In retrospect I should have come to the same conclusion, because trimming the back end of the bow planks has made them thinner than the front end of the central planks, and the subsequent gap will need to be filled.

Overall the planking is going fairly easily. I sand the bevels on the abutting edge before I bend the plank. I bend the planks by wetting them briefly, clamping the bow or stern end, and using my planking iron to coax them into shape on the hull. This lets me adjust things as I go and has the advantage of drying the plank quickly so I can glue it almost immediately, without waiting for it to dry on its own. I make final adjustments with sanding sticks before applying glue. I have been gluing from 2-3 bulkheads at a time, working from the bow or stern inward. The central planks have needed minimal shaping so far.

There is one other potential planking issue. The instructions clearly show that strake 6 should fit against the bottom of the knuckle piece at the stern. Based on where the planks sit after strake 4, that is clearly not going to happen. Strake 7 is designed to lie against the knuckle. I will need to figure out how to deal with the gap.

So the answer to my question in Post 15 is to trim at the bow (or stern). In addition I have relearned the need to check that supposedly symmetrical parts are really symmetrical before you glue them on. Two good lessons, Thanks to @driftwood !

Nice planking work!

1 hour ago, Griphos said:

Nice planking work!

Thanks!