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- Joined
- Dec 12, 2020
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- 88
Harriet Lane 1/96 scale
An apparently simple kit that is full of flaws.
The plans are worse than those of the 3/32" version.
The hull planking is extremely thin—you can see light through it. The bulkheads come in two halves that are difficult to align and contain errors.
It is necessary to reinforce the hull with another type of wood to mount them properly and avoid sanding them away.
Billing Boats does it this way, but using two halves—each half the thickness of the false keel—that align perfectly once the frames are mounted.
The paddle wheels consist only of halves that must be glued to the box; so, they do not rotate and actually FALL APART in your fingers—they are incredibly fragile due to the way the wood was cut.
Paper is used to clad the smokestack, which is otherwise a crude, solid wooden cylinder.
The yardarms are flat and have to be shaped with a file—something I have NEVER SEEN before.
There is no deck planking—at least not in the plans—but there is an awful line running down the centerline.
The underwater hull should be clad in copper plates; in the kit, it is painted maroon.
There are also no metal deck tracks for the rotation of the guns.
Finally, the instructions are terrible: a booklet of very small, unclear photos.
Hideous display base.
Very expensive for what it offers.
I made these wheels out of resin.
Sketch measurements in meters.
An apparently simple kit that is full of flaws.
The plans are worse than those of the 3/32" version.
The hull planking is extremely thin—you can see light through it. The bulkheads come in two halves that are difficult to align and contain errors.
It is necessary to reinforce the hull with another type of wood to mount them properly and avoid sanding them away.
Billing Boats does it this way, but using two halves—each half the thickness of the false keel—that align perfectly once the frames are mounted.
The paddle wheels consist only of halves that must be glued to the box; so, they do not rotate and actually FALL APART in your fingers—they are incredibly fragile due to the way the wood was cut.
Paper is used to clad the smokestack, which is otherwise a crude, solid wooden cylinder.
The yardarms are flat and have to be shaped with a file—something I have NEVER SEEN before.
There is no deck planking—at least not in the plans—but there is an awful line running down the centerline.
The underwater hull should be clad in copper plates; in the kit, it is painted maroon.
There are also no metal deck tracks for the rotation of the guns.
Finally, the instructions are terrible: a booklet of very small, unclear photos.
Hideous display base.
Very expensive for what it offers.
I made these wheels out of resin.
Sketch measurements in meters.
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