USRC Harriet Lane Model Shipways 1:96 scale circa 1863

[Peter Gutterman]

I made a folder for the Mr.CA process.

 

[The Gavel]

I built the jig and the rivet stamp. Very tedious process. You'll enjoy the Syren.Your skills are definitely developed.

Good morning! Thank you for the very kind observation about my skills. I'd say they are in development . Actually I'm mildly intimidated by the Syren kit. The gun and row port framing look overwhelming. I imagine that I'll get around to it, with a blessing, after I finish Harriet Lane, Royal Caroline, Gulnara, HMS Warrior, and USS Kearsarge. I really appreciate the support and thank you for checking in on my log!

Blessings. Peace. Gratitude.
Chuck

 

[The Gavel]

I made a folder for the Mr.CA process.

Cool! Thanks, Pete!

 

[MisterCA]

Good morning! Thank you for the very kind observation about my skills. I'd say they are in development . Actually I'm mildly intimidated by the Syren kit. The gun and row port framing look overwhelming. I imagine that I'll get around to it, with a blessing, after I finish Harriet Lane, Royal Caroline, Gulnara, HMS Warrior, and USS Kearsarge. I really appreciate the support and thank you for checking in on my log!

Blessings. Peace. Gratitude.
Chuck

Wow! Lot of ship building coming up. It took me 18 months for the US Brig Syren. You with 4 ships coming up and one in progress I estimate a start on the Syren sometime around 2030.

 

[JerryTodd]

The site with the gun layout cites some fellow named Tucker saying:

...her batteries were strengthened as follows: one four-inch rifled Parrot gun as pivot on the forecastle deck; one nine-inch Dahlgren gun on pivot forward of the foremast; two eight-inch Dahlgren Columbiads [sic] and two twenty-four-pound brass howitzers on ship carriages, aft. . . .

Here's a picture of a 3D model of the 30 pounder Parrot. The 30pdr is a small gun by Naval standards, but considered to be a light siege gun on-shore and mounted on a field carriage. This model is on a pretty typical wood carriage/slide of the CW period, simply scaled to the gun.

The image of HL's gun layout shows a 10" Dahlgren, but Tucker says it's a 9" Dahlgren on a pivot carriage. That carriage would be a bit larger version of the Parrot shown. The Coast Guard says (link below) in February of 1862 she was armed with: 3 x 9”; 1 x 30-pdr. Almost 2,000 9" Dahlgrens were made before and through the war, and it's about the only gun referred to as 9 inchers. 8" guns were normally the smaller version of the Mississippi. Columbiads were shell guns (Philaxians) made by the Columbia Foundry and what shell guns before Dahlgrens were called much the way we call facial tissues Kleenex.

That layout shows two 9" Dahlgrens on Marsilly carriages, but Tucker cites a different gun entirely:

eight-inch Dahlgren Columbiads

Either the two truck guns were 8" shell guns (Columbiads) or 9" Dahlgrens. I lean towards the Dahlgrens as the easier to get by 1862, and what the Coast Guard says it had. It was their boat. Whether they were on Marsilly carriages or 4-truck carriages is anyone's guess. I'd have to dig a lot more and get an idea of what the Revenue Service had access to during the war.
This is a 9" Dahlgren on a pivot carriage. Note the carriage itself is more like the Mississippi's, it's top doesn't slope forward, and the compressor (the thing that looks like an apple press just left of the guy with the wrench) is more aft than the one shown for the Parrot above.

Here's your 24 pounder Dahlgren howitzer on a swivel carriage.
Here's a 30 pdr Parrot on the same sort of carriage to give you an idea of how small, by comparison, the 30pd Parrot was.

The Coast Guard's web page on the ship.

Anyway, I'll scale the Mississippi carriage drawing to 1:96, and work up a drawing of the Parrot and it's carriage, and the howitzer, for you as well.

 

[The Gavel]

Wow! Lot of ship building coming up. It took me 18 months for the US Brig Syren. You with 4 ships coming up and one in progress I estimate a start on the Syren sometime around 2030.

I think you're probably right about the timing. I forgot that L'Orenoque was on the list as well. AND, if my admiral ever approves the requisition, I'd love to build a 1:48 scale HMS Surprise! Happily, I have a job that gives me a lot of time - winter break and summer Maybe I'll get to the Syren by 2035?

 

[The Gavel]

The site with the gun layout cites some fellow named Tucker saying:

Here's a picture of a 3D model of the 30 pounder Parrot. The 30pdr is a small gun by Naval standards, but considered to be a light siege gun on-shore and mounted on a field carriage. This model is on a pretty typical wood carriage/slide of the CW period, simply scaled to the gun.
View attachment 426148
The image of HL's gun layout shows a 10" Dahlgren, but Tucker says it's a 9" Dahlgren on a pivot carriage. That carriage would be a bit larger version of the Parrot shown. The Coast Guard says (link below) in February of 1862 she was armed with: 3 x 9”; 1 x 30-pdr. Almost 2,000 9" Dahlgrens were made before and through the war, and it's about the only gun referred to as 9 inchers. 8" guns were normally the smaller version of the Mississippi. Columbiads were shell guns (Philaxians) made by the Columbia Foundry and what shell guns before Dahlgrens were called much the way we call facial tissues Kleenex.

That layout shows two 9" Dahlgrens on Marsilly carriages, but Tucker cites a different gun entirely:

Either the two truck guns were 8" shell guns (Columbiads) or 9" Dahlgrens. I lean towards the Dahlgrens as the easier to get by 1862, and what the Coast Guard says it had. It was their boat. Whether they were on Marsilly carriages or 4-truck carriages is anyone's guess. I'd have to dig a lot more and get an idea of what the Revenue Service had access to during the war.
View attachment 426153This is a 9" Dahlgren on a pivot carriage. Note the carriage itself is more like the Mississippi's, it's top doesn't slope forward, and the compressor (the thing that looks like an apple press just left of the guy with the wrench) is more aft than the one shown for the Parrot above.

View attachment 426151 Here's your 24 pounder Dahlgren howitzer on a swivel carriage.
View attachment 426152Here's a 30 pdr Parrot on the same sort of carriage to give you an idea of how small, by comparison, the 30pd Parrot was.

The Coast Guard's web page on the ship.

Anyway, I'll scale the Mississippi carriage drawing to 1:96, and work up a drawing of the Parrot and it's carriage, and the howitzer, for you as well.

Dear Jerry, THANK YOU! I really needed the guidance! Thank you for your kind offer to send me some scale drawings! Believe it or not, I just got a sudden surge of confidence about moving my Harriet Lane forward. "Go Jerry! Go Jerry! Go Jerry!" Fantastic!

 

[The Gavel]

The site with the gun layout cites some fellow named Tucker saying:

Here's a picture of a 3D model of the 30 pounder Parrot. The 30pdr is a small gun by Naval standards, but considered to be a light siege gun on-shore and mounted on a field carriage. This model is on a pretty typical wood carriage/slide of the CW period, simply scaled to the gun.
View attachment 426148
The image of HL's gun layout shows a 10" Dahlgren, but Tucker says it's a 9" Dahlgren on a pivot carriage. That carriage would be a bit larger version of the Parrot shown. The Coast Guard says (link below) in February of 1862 she was armed with: 3 x 9”; 1 x 30-pdr. Almost 2,000 9" Dahlgrens were made before and through the war, and it's about the only gun referred to as 9 inchers. 8" guns were normally the smaller version of the Mississippi. Columbiads were shell guns (Philaxians) made by the Columbia Foundry and what shell guns before Dahlgrens were called much the way we call facial tissues Kleenex.

That layout shows two 9" Dahlgrens on Marsilly carriages, but Tucker cites a different gun entirely:

Either the two truck guns were 8" shell guns (Columbiads) or 9" Dahlgrens. I lean towards the Dahlgrens as the easier to get by 1862, and what the Coast Guard says it had. It was their boat. Whether they were on Marsilly carriages or 4-truck carriages is anyone's guess. I'd have to dig a lot more and get an idea of what the Revenue Service had access to during the war.
View attachment 426153This is a 9" Dahlgren on a pivot carriage. Note the carriage itself is more like the Mississippi's, it's top doesn't slope forward, and the compressor (the thing that looks like an apple press just left of the guy with the wrench) is more aft than the one shown for the Parrot above.

View attachment 426151 Here's your 24 pounder Dahlgren howitzer on a swivel carriage.
View attachment 426152Here's a 30 pdr Parrot on the same sort of carriage to give you an idea of how small, by comparison, the 30pd Parrot was.

The Coast Guard's web page on the ship.

Anyway, I'll scale the Mississippi carriage drawing to 1:96, and work up a drawing of the Parrot and it's carriage, and the howitzer, for you as well.

Jerry, another couple of questions, please. First, what's a good source for the dimensions of these guns? Second, what's the point of the Marsilly carriage? Hopefully, I don't sound too ridiculous. It's a bit late tonight, but tomorrow I'll post pictures of the kit guns and the one's I sourced from Blue Jacket with comments. I'm not happy with the Parrott I have, I like the kit supplied 9inch guns, I'll probably need to source the 24lbrs. I'll be interested in what you and others may think.

Blessings. Peace. Gratitude.
Chuck

 

[Peter Gutterman]

When I take my "Harriet Lane " model to shows I present her as " how she "MAY" have appeared when captured Jan1,1863. That "May" leaves plenty of wiggle room for the inevitable "expert" who shows up and who's "authority" on the subject will invariably far exceed my own.
Quoting the same Dead Confederates post you have: ..."the former revenue cutter' (key word: "former") captured here in the Battle of Galveston Bay on New Year's Day1863."Determining the armament is straightforward, as it is listed in the naval Official records (Series, Vol.19, p. 745) as:
One 30-pound rifle
One X-inch pivot
Two IX-inch guns on Marsilly carriages
Two24 pound howitzers

"I'm presuming that the rifle, and IX- and X- inch guns are Dahlgrens, both of which were standard on U.S. Navy ( NOT Revenue Service) vessels."

Then he goes on to say: " I was initially uncertain about exactly how these guns were arranged aboard the ship, but my friend and colleague Mark F. Jenkins reminded me of the account of Phillip Tucker, published in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly in 1918. Tucker wrote that:
'Her batteries were strengthened as follows:
One four-inch rifled Parrot gun on the forecastle deck
One Nine-inch Dahlgren gun on pivot forward of the foremast
Two 8-inch Dahlgren Columbaids and
two 24-pound brass Howitzers on ship carriages aft"

As to the service under whose command she was a t the time:
"USRC "Harriet Lane again" (for the second time) "transferred to the (U.S.) Navy, 30 March,1861 for service in the expedition sent to Charleston S.C., to supply the fort Sumter Garrison..."

Evidently she was under the aegis of the U.S, navy at the time of her capture Jan. 1, 1863, not the USRC.

The handling of the anchors would have been with the aid of a " fish tackle" attached to the fore top mast and the fore stay. I did not include this on my model as I had no conclusive depiction as to how it was rigged and would probably been detachable anyway. The rest was logic and guess work. At some point the plans, details and record runs out and you just have to proceed as best you can. Invariably the final word will come to light soon after you finish your model (This did, indeed, happen just after I finished my "Young America" clipper model, with the publication of Ed Tosti's 3-volume tome on the ship).

Between art and documentation, with my models, I always go with art. I'm an artist, not a research historian, I do the best with what I can dredge up in order to build the damn model. I always find something contradictory or that would have been a better, more accurate, choice after I've made a decision, declared victory and moved on. No word is the final word. To paraphrase one of the wiser members on this forum (whose name escapes me )
Trying to capture true historical accuracy on a model "is like chasing a shooting star".

I used and modified components of a Cottage Industries Models Ltd. kit in 1:96 scale (your scale, I think) Naval Artillery Set for Revell "U.S.S. Kearsarge" kit#5603 wartime version.
The Kit I received was chock full of goodies, barrels, parts and wonderful plans. I scratch built my 3/32" scale guns and carriages, modifying barrels and scratch building the carriages accordingly. I also used what I could that came in the MS kit.
A friend from the Washington Ship Model society printed my boat howitzers. I'll see what he's got when I see him next, maybe Saturday. Or, failing that, will contact him. Barrels are his specialty. Let me know what you need, and I'll see what he's got.


Pete

P.S. I got to know Jerry at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum workshop. He is a font of all things Civil War and a peach of a guy!

 

[The Gavel]

Dear Pete!

Thank you, Sir! I have to run to campus right now, but I will send a more thorough reply this evening.

Blessings. Peace. Gratitude.
Chuck

 

[Peter Gutterman]

That was quick!
One thing I forgot. I had to move the forward "Booby Hatch' to re-configure the pivot gun between the foremast and the forecastle deck. So, I made a command decision and moved it where it pleased me.

(so, it's "Professor Chuck?)

 

[JerryTodd]

Tucker says the pivot was a 9" gun, and the USCG's site says there were 3 9" guns. I don't know where the 10" gun idea came from, even so, a 10" shell gun isn't necessarily a Dahlgren - the Mississippi's pivot gun drawing is a 10" shell gun.
From the USCG site:

Harriet Lane ran aground while attempting to enter Pamlico Sound through Hatteras Inlet 29 August and suffered severe damage while fast on the shoal. She was refloated at the cost of her armament, rigging, stores, provisions, and everything else on board which could be heaved over the side to lighten ship. Temporary repairs completed 3 September, she proceeded to Hampton Roads, arriving 8 September 1861.

Norfolk was retaken on May 10th, 1862, and Gosport Navy Yard along with it. By September it was was likely restocked with stores, but what was there before was mostly taken or destroyed by the Confederates. There weren't a lot of 10" Dahlgrens made, though two of them were on the wreck of the Cumberland not far away, had probably been removed by now, and could have been available to the Lane. Still, no one cites a 10" pivot.
On the logical side; three 9" guns all take the same ammo, simplifying resupply and storage. I've researched enough Civil War armaments for all the service branches to know, there didn't seem to be logic of this sort anywhere in the military.
I'm working up a Dahlgren IX in 1:96, and will model a carriage based on the one in the photo. Constellation got 9" guns on Marsilly carriages in the 1870's, as well as Parrots, a 20 and a 30 pound, as pivots. I was thinking of making models of those, and the other guns she was fitted with over her career, for when the model is on display. Scaling them to 1:96 shouldn't be a problem.

 

[The Gavel]

That was quick!
One thing I forgot. I had to move the forward "Booby Hatch' to re-configure the pivot gun between the foremast and the forecastle deck. So, I made a command decision and moved it where it pleased me.

(so, it's "Professor Chuck?)

Good evening, Pete! Understood about the forward hatch. That's exactly where the big Dahlgren sits! I agree about the command decision. I am the captain of my soul, after all. And, yes - Professor Chuck is me

 

[The Gavel]

When I take my "Harriet Lane " model to shows I present her as " how she "MAY" have appeared when captured Jan1,1863. That "May" leaves plenty of wiggle room for the inevitable "expert" who shows up and who's "authority" on the subject will invariably far exceed my own.
Quoting the same Dead Confederates post you have: ..."the former revenue cutter' (key word: "former") captured here in the Battle of Galveston Bay on New Year's Day1863."Determining the armament is straightforward, as it is listed in the naval Official records (Series, Vol.19, p. 745) as:
One 30-pound rifle
One X-inch pivot
Two IX-inch guns on Marsilly carriages
Two24 pound howitzers

"I'm presuming that the rifle, and IX- and X- inch guns are Dahlgrens, both of which were standard on U.S. Navy ( NOT Revenue Service) vessels."

Then he goes on to say: " I was initially uncertain about exactly how these guns were arranged aboard the ship, but my friend and colleague Mark F. Jenkins reminded me of the account of Phillip Tucker, published in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly in 1918. Tucker wrote that:
'Her batteries were strengthened as follows:
One four-inch rifled Parrot gun on the forecastle deck
One Nine-inch Dahlgren gun on pivot forward of the foremast
Two 8-inch Dahlgren Columbaids and
two 24-pound brass Howitzers on ship carriages aft"

As to the service under whose command she was a t the time:
"USRC "Harriet Lane again" (for the second time) "transferred to the (U.S.) Navy, 30 March,1861 for service in the expedition sent to Charleston S.C., to supply the fort Sumter Garrison..."

Evidently she was under the aegis of the U.S, navy at the time of her capture Jan. 1, 1863, not the USRC.

The handling of the anchors would have been with the aid of a " fish tackle" attached to the fore top mast and the fore stay. I did not include this on my model as I had no conclusive depiction as to how it was rigged and would probably been detachable anyway. The rest was logic and guess work. At some point the plans, details and record runs out and you just have to proceed as best you can. Invariably the final word will come to light soon after you finish your model (This did, indeed, happen just after I finished my "Young America" clipper model, with the publication of Ed Tosti's 3-volume tome on the ship).

Between art and documentation, with my models, I always go with art. I'm an artist, not a research historian, I do the best with what I can dredge up in order to build the damn model. I always find something contradictory or that would have been a better, more accurate, choice after I've made a decision, declared victory and moved on. No word is the final word. To paraphrase one of the wiser members on this forum (whose name escapes me )
Trying to capture true historical accuracy on a model "is like chasing a shooting star".

I used and modified components of a Cottage Industries Models Ltd. kit in 1:96 scale (your scale, I think) Naval Artillery Set for Revell "U.S.S. Kearsarge" kit#5603 wartime version.
The Kit I received was chock full of goodies, barrels, parts and wonderful plans. I scratch built my 3/32" scale guns and carriages, modifying barrels and scratch building the carriages accordingly. I also used what I could that came in the MS kit.
A friend from the Washington Ship Model society printed my boat howitzers. I'll see what he's got when I see him next, maybe Saturday. Or, failing that, will contact him. Barrels are his specialty. Let me know what you need, and I'll see what he's got.


Pete

P.S. I got to know Jerry at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum workshop. He is a font of all things Civil War and a peach of a guy!

I intended to reply in some detail to the wonderful information and sharing, Pete! I'm kind of tuckered out. Rain check? We're looking at Friday for serious engagement.

Blessings.
Chuck

 

[The Gavel]

Tucker says the pivot was a 9" gun, and the USCG's site says there were 3 9" guns. I don't know where the 10" gun idea came from, even so, a 10" shell gun isn't necessarily a Dahlgren - the Mississippi's pivot gun drawing is a 10" shell gun.
From the USCG site:

Norfolk was retaken on May 10th, 1862, and Gosport Navy Yard along with it. By September it was was likely restocked with stores, but what was there before was mostly taken or destroyed by the Confederates. There weren't a lot of 10" Dahlgrens made, though two of them were on the wreck of the Cumberland not far away, had probably been removed by now, and could have been available to the Lane. Still, no one cites a 10" pivot.
On the logical side; three 9" guns all take the same ammo, simplifying resupply and storage. I've researched enough Civil War armaments for all the service branches to know, there didn't seem to be logic of this sort anywhere in the military.
I'm working up a Dahlgren IX in 1:96, and will model a carriage based on the one in the photo. Constellation got 9" guns on Marsilly carriages in the 1870's, as well as Parrots, a 20 and a 30 pound, as pivots. I was thinking of making models of those, and the other guns she was fitted with over her career, for when the model is on display. Scaling them to 1:96 shouldn't be a problem.
View attachment 426317 View attachment 426318

Dear Jerry, I'm overwheled with joy to have you as a resource and a source. Thank you! I'm kind of spent today. I look forward to doubling down on Friday.

Blessings.
Chuck

 

[The Gavel]

Good morning, shipmates!

Thank you Jerry and Pete for the extremely helpful and informative exchange about Harriet Lane's armament. Special shout out to Pete for gifting me a bunch of guns and gun carriage parts from his Cottage Industries Models Ltd. ("CIM") 1:96 scale guns for USS Kearsarge!

Below is a comparison of the guns I have. On the far right is a big Dahlgren I sourced from Blue Jacket Shipcrafters ("BJS"). In the middle are the kit-supplied guns. The CIM guns are on the left.

The BJS gun is nicely shaped and has a good tag (would it still be called a cascabel?) for the breaching rope and elevating screw. It is lacking what I believe must be the gun sights. The gun is completely smooth. You can see in the pictures that it is significantly larger than the kit guns which are meant to be IX inch Dahlgrens.

The kit guns are 3 IX in Dahlgrens and what is meant to be the 30lbr Parrott rifle. The kit Dahlgrens are nicely case with the gun sights and adequate cascabels for the breaching ropes. Sadly, the cascabels are not very thick and fitting the elevation screws will be a challenge. The Parrott's cascabel has the same pros and cons. I had thought that the Parrott was anemic relative to the IX inch Dahlgrens, but Terry's post tells me that the Parrott was indeed significantly smaller than the Dahlgrens.

I'm not quite certain what the CIM guns are meant to represent. The current kit for Kearsarge during the Civil War includes
2 11″ Dahlgren Guns on Standard Naval Pivot Carriages
4 32lb Guns 40cwt. on 4-wheel Carriages
1 30lb Dahlgren Gun on small Pivot Carriage
So, these three are most likely 2 of the 32lbrs and the 30lb Dahlgren. I'm liking the 2 32lbrs for my 24'lbr naval howitzers. I might shorten the barrels and round the back ends. These are nice castings. However, they have almost no cascabel material

Now the question becomes: What guns to use? Many of us embrace the idea that we will build the model we want without strict adherence to historical accuracy, particularly when the historical record is unclear. When it comes to my Harriet Lane, I've already stepped into the unclear space with the addition of a foredeck platform for the Parrott. I'm also not only the captain of my soul, but the captain of this ship. And Capt. Chuck might have armed Harriet Lane in a way that was possible, rather than probable.

For example, Jerry noted that it would have made great sense for Harriet Lane to carry all IX Dahlgrens aft because of the uniformity of ammunition. Moreover, during battle there would be no cause for confusion, as there could have been with 24lbr naval howitzers sitting in the next ports aft. Because I like the kit supplied castings best, and because I'm more of a Farragut/Dahlgren guy than a Du Pont guy, I'm thinking of asking Model Shipways to sell me one additional IX inch Dahlgren and mounting 4 IX inchers rather than 2 and 2 24lbrs. I

I'm also thinking of using the big Dahlgren from BJS even though it is quite a bit larger than the IX inchers. My eye tells me that it looks bigger than a X incher and might well pass for an XI inch gun. Thought and comments on the big BJS Dahlgren's likely "size" are solicited, please!

 

[The Gavel]

The site with the gun layout cites some fellow named Tucker saying:

Here's a picture of a 3D model of the 30 pounder Parrot. The 30pdr is a small gun by Naval standards, but considered to be a light siege gun on-shore and mounted on a field carriage. This model is on a pretty typical wood carriage/slide of the CW period, simply scaled to the gun.
View attachment 426148
The image of HL's gun layout shows a 10" Dahlgren, but Tucker says it's a 9" Dahlgren on a pivot carriage. That carriage would be a bit larger version of the Parrot shown. The Coast Guard says (link below) in February of 1862 she was armed with: 3 x 9”; 1 x 30-pdr. Almost 2,000 9" Dahlgrens were made before and through the war, and it's about the only gun referred to as 9 inchers. 8" guns were normally the smaller version of the Mississippi. Columbiads were shell guns (Philaxians) made by the Columbia Foundry and what shell guns before Dahlgrens were called much the way we call facial tissues Kleenex.

That layout shows two 9" Dahlgrens on Marsilly carriages, but Tucker cites a different gun entirely:

Either the two truck guns were 8" shell guns (Columbiads) or 9" Dahlgrens. I lean towards the Dahlgrens as the easier to get by 1862, and what the Coast Guard says it had. It was their boat. Whether they were on Marsilly carriages or 4-truck carriages is anyone's guess. I'd have to dig a lot more and get an idea of what the Revenue Service had access to during the war.
View attachment 426153This is a 9" Dahlgren on a pivot carriage. Note the carriage itself is more like the Mississippi's, it's top doesn't slope forward, and the compressor (the thing that looks like an apple press just left of the guy with the wrench) is more aft than the one shown for the Parrot above.

View attachment 426151 Here's your 24 pounder Dahlgren howitzer on a swivel carriage.
View attachment 426152Here's a 30 pdr Parrot on the same sort of carriage to give you an idea of how small, by comparison, the 30pd Parrot was.

The Coast Guard's web page on the ship.

Anyway, I'll scale the Mississippi carriage drawing to 1:96, and work up a drawing of the Parrot and it's carriage, and the howitzer, for you as well.

Good morning, Jerry! I see that your rendering and the actual gun on your Constellation show the carriage in green. I believe with your knowledge and attention to detail that color choice was not whimsical. Please confirm.


Chuck

 

[The Gavel]

My intention is to blacken the guns rather than paint them. I found that JAX Pewter Black works well on Britannia metal. On the other hand, HELP!!!! Any advice on how to add sights to the big Dahlgren and cascabels to the CIM guns?!?!?!

As a further note to Post #156 - I haven't really decided on anything except for the kit supplied Parrott and 2 IX inch Dahlgren's. I'm looking forward to what Jerry works up. Again, thank you, Jerry! Also, I sourced CIM's Civil War and post war Kearsarge gun kits to see what they have for the Parrott and other sizes of Dahlgrens.

 

[The Gavel]

Here are some pictures of the guns in the process of being made "model ready." The first picture is the guns I may use. To the left are the 24lbrs and 2 IX inch Dahlgrens. To the right is the Parrott and the third kit-supplied Dahlgren just in case I decide to go with the IX incher forward rather than the really big BJS Dahlgren.



I drilled out the barrels and polished out the casting marks. The shape of the big BJS Dahlgren was so sexy that it caught my eye in comparison to the kit-supplied Dahlgrens, so I started reshaping the IX inchers.



Looking at the pictures Jerry sent (Post #145), I can see that the Dahlgrens were only flared at the muzzle. So the muzzle molding hinted at by the guns as cast, that I emphasized during my process seems inaccurate. Also, the Parrott gun in Jerry's rendering and the picture show a flared muzzle rather than the unflared muzzle from the kit-supplied Parrott. I think I can solve the inaccuracies on the Dahlgrens with some judicious sanding. But how do I add a bit of flare to the Parrott? I might be able to add the flare by pressing the muzzle onto a hard rounded object. I can also see trying to add material from the outside - some kind of soldering technique? Again - any pointers on soldering greatly appreciated. Also this problem may be solved by the arrival of the kits from Cottage Industries Models Ltd..

 

[The Gavel]

I got a copy of the plans for Mississippi's pivot guns from the National Archives a while back. They date to 1855, and since I knew Constellation had 10" shell guns and was built in the same time frame as Mississippi, i went with these plans. Later, Constellation got a 20 pound and a 30 pound Parrot Rifle as pivots, but they apparently had iron carriages. I 3D modeled the Mississippi gun to print it in 1:36 scale.
(click pic for larger view)
View attachment 426003 View attachment 426004
View attachment 426005 View attachment 426008

"Arming the Fleet" has a drawing of a "Traversing Pivot Gun-Carriage Slide" that's a little earlier and for an earlier shell-gun type (Paixhans/Columbiad). The slide is very similar to the Mississippi's, but the carriage is closer to the style used in the Civil War with Dalgren's
View attachment 426007

A manual on Naval Gunnery had the following diagrams which show the arrangement of the tracks on deck with the above carriage/slides which have no forward trucks like the later ones did..
View attachment 426002 View attachment 426006

I'm not familiar with Harriet Lane's armament, and didn't have a chance to look into it, but maybe this info will be of some use to you. If you need to use the Mississippi's plan, let me know and I'll resize it to your scale for you.

Good morning, Jerry! In these drawings and your model the forward part of the carriage base is pinned in some way to the deck, is that right? So, on a gun mounted in the center of a circle with the trucks of its base on the circle (BTW still trucks for this carriage?) would be pinned to the deck in the center of the lower carriage?

Blessings.
Chuck