aydingocer

Still waiting to hear from Amati about the missing L-profile, I am continuing with other areas. 2 bumpers have to be bent 30 degrees. In this post I will appraise DSPIAE Photo Etch Bender: Highly recommended. Figure 21: Now some explanations on the next photos (Figures 21 to 27): I am not too much familiar with railway terminology, the next component is called "Leaf springs". There will be 2 of them to be installed on either end. Dry fit the parts first, enlarging of some holes with a drillbit is needed here and there, as shown below, this is also mentioned in the instructions. I use Casey's Brass Black for staining small parts. - Get rid of the grease (I use degreasing spray which I have at home, used on electronic circuits or wiping your keyboard etc), - Soak them in the Bras Black liquid 1-2 minutes, - Rinse with water. The "stirrups", i.e. the 4 small rods hanging down, should move freely in pairs, in order to be able to fit to the body (dry fitted in the photo) Figures 21-27: That's all for today! Thanks for watching!

BUILD DAY 2: 2 hrs (TOTAL: 6 hrs) Thanks for the encouraging words! After yesterday's recovery from near-disaster (see my previous post), all looks good now and the build can continue. Figures 19, 20:

Floor panel in place, completing the first day's work. Figure 18a: EDIT : Noticed a terrible terrible mistake, luckily only in less than an hour after assembly, before the glue totally dried! It was this close to make it total garbage or very costly to revert. I glued the floor panel in the wrong direction and I always double check the instructions. This train is very symmetrical, yet it doesn't forgive even a slightest assumption that any part is symmetrical. Do not repeat my mistake, if you build this kit! Now looking back, actually what mislead me was that, it looked like the "front" face of the board would face up. You know, the face where the laser cuts are clearer. However it appears that you should glue the "rear" face facing up. It will be covered with carpets, but still, one would easily assume that the front face would face up. Anyway, always check the photos and instructions! So, I removed the floor very carefully using knife, cleaned the glue remains, sanded, flipped the panel and glued back in correct orientation. What I mean by correction looks like below. The small slot in the circle mark should be on the opposite side. Figure 18b: That's all for today. Thanks for watching!

I sent a note to AMATI and decided to continue as long as the missing part creates no obstacle. Two of these parts below will be used later. Figures 16, 17:

Now this is an annoying moment for any modeller: A missing part from the kit. One of the profiles (PART 804) is missing. There should be 3 of them but I found only 2 in the box and I looked everywhere. Contacted AMATI about it. Let's see what (if ever) they will reply. Otherwise I will need to look around shops for 2x4x500mm L shaped brass profile. I may get my hands on a plastic version, which should be fine since it will be painted, but I won't go for that option until I am hopeless to get the proper part. This is leaving it incomplete at the moment. Figure 15:

Bolts and nuts in place. If I guess right, they will carry the wheel structures (bogies?). Figures 13, 14:

Now the first brass parts. Figures 7, 8: Strengthening pieces, using 1mm brass bolds and matching nuts: Figures 9, 10, 11, 12:

BUILD DAY 1 - 4hrs (TOTAL : 4hrs) Building commences. Started by removing and cleaning the first pieces. Figure 1: A lot of neat looking cut outs, felt just too nice to throw away . I want to keep them who knows for future use elsewhere. Figure 2: The two layers are to be glued one on top of the other using PVA glue. Here I show cleaning the excess glue to avoid future regrets if I let them get hard where they are. Figures 3, 4, 5: Waiting to dry. Figure 6:

Dear fellow forum members and readers, After somewhat a long time, I am back in these pages with a new build log. This is my next Amati kit after Riva Aquarama (link to build log here). I was then truly impressed with the quality material, instructions and precision of Amati kit and when I saw the review in this forum I just had to order this lovely train kit, also having my past ties with the destination city of the Orient Express, Istanbul, where I studied and lived many years before moving to Finland. Anyway, I received the package about an hour ago and didn't want to wait a minute to open it also for the sake of checking for any damages during transportation. For start, I will only post a few unboxing photos rather than a detailed unboxing since it is already been done in this excellent review by James H. Packaging and first impressions: The shipment package is 95x37x15 cm, where the actual kit box sits flush in it. Weight is around 9kg according to the shipment information. The package is heavier on the left part, where more metal parts are located. Sent by Amati by FedEX. No damage noticed on the package. Contents have been shaken a bit during transport. The small nylon bags were spread in the box, but all parts remained contained in their nylon bags. So no problem. Here are some unboxing photos. I hope to start tomorrow if not already today. Regards, Aydin

I also got inspired from this review and bought this kit. Almost ready and looks like in the photo this at the moment. I actually wanted to write this post for sending my thanks to Occre. There were a couple of missing parts and some wires supplied too short (though it is also possible that I might have lost the parts and used the wires a bit too generously), but they sent me the missing parts free of charge with no questions. It was as easy as filling a form on their page. The parts were in my post box within 2-3 weeks. One recommendation to Occre; although the photos are detailed, they don't always provide sufficient information to see the exact assembly points at several spots. A sheet of drawing would be helpful. Depending only on the photos for building a model is not really a modeller's way. Regards, Aydin

Looks like they have corrected it on Occre website visuals: https://www.occre.com/diorama/diorama-istanbul.html I believe your post has made an impact

Hi, Thanks for the great review and making us aware of this exciting kit. One question though: In this review, including the photos of the kit, the name is spelled ENTERPRIZE, whereas in Caf Model's website it is ENTERPRISE. So which one is it?

Thank you for the great review. I have bought the tram kit and cannot wait to start building it. However as someone who lived several years in Istanbul in the past, the only thing that discourages me from building this diorama (other than the misspelled KAPALICARSI text, which can be corrected), is the fact that this beautiful nostalgic tram, which is operating between TAKSIM and TUNEL districts (as indicated on the model), does not travel via the Grand Bazaar at all 🙂. It operates back and forth on Istiklal Street which is 2-3km long. Other than this reality check fail, it seems like a beautiful background to the tram and it can be excused for the sake of combining two attractions of the city 🙂.

Good luck with the build and remember to check a few posts above by seahorse where one of my mistakes in the build has been addressed. Regards, Aydin

According to the manufacturer's specs max keel length is 100cm but there may be a degree of tolerance, though I doubt it will work with keels significantly longer than that. Specs: http://www.hobbyzone.pl/en/boat-building-tools/26-professional-building-slip.html

Hi Per! Having said that, it is already in its display case (see image) :). By the way, I strongly recommend this German shop at http://www.sora-shop.com, which manufactures custom made assemble-it-yourself display cases at a very good price and accuracy. BR; Aydin

Çok teşekkür ederim.

Thanks Grant! It is always a motivation when you know somebody is watching

FINAL PHOTOS - 21 build days and 49 hours! Here is a bunch of photos from the finished model. Thank you very much for watching and let's see when I will be off to the next building adventure (hopefully soon) Regards, Aydin

TURKISH FLAG It comes as a paper. I used aluminium kitchen foil to give a wrinkled look. You can see it better in the final photos. I think it looks much better than a starched rigid piece of plate

This is a rubber belt which lies on top of the end of the rudder handle. I think it helps control the rudder, or just keeps it in place. The belt is fixed as a loop from its ends using metal braces, then attached with hooks to the hull:

PROPELLER

Some closeups

DISPLAY BASE Time to paint it and install soft pads to protect the hull surface:

SPEAR Had to drill a tiny hole with my Proxxon in order to insert the spear had to its rod: