aydingocer

Almost a pitty to see this come to an end....I enjoyed watching this come together.

 

Beautiful!

 

One minor issue I noticed...the blue waterline tape. I see gaps and I'm afraid it won't stay on when she goes for a swim. 

Maybe seal the strip with varnish?

Yes, you saw right. The blue tape has a gap at a couple of spots. I plan to glue those gaps and coat the entire tape with a thin layer of z-poxy.

When headlights are switched on:

Build day 48. Finishing the looks.

1 hour today.

Thanks a lot for the good wishes and appraisals!

I can't wait for the maiden voyage either but it may unfortunately have to wait until better weather conditions. Right now it is well below freezing point, which is not the most convenient weather for it  . I hope, though, to be able to perform some floating and balance etc tests, in a bathtub or similar.

Today I installed the side metal bars and only the the radio control connections are remaining. I will probably have time to do them next weekend. Other than that, my Riva is ready, at least by the looks!

I will continue posting as long as there is anything worth sharing with other parts like radio setup and floating tests, but until then thanks for watching and have a good time! Here are some final photos for enjoyment! 

End of Build day 47.

3 hours today.

While the paint is drying, I wanted to build the base of my Aquarama. This is also by Amati, ordered from snmodels.com:

Pieces glued, waiting to dry (about 24 hours):

Side frames (those which will go along the edge of the deck. Apparently in the earlier versions of the kit they were supplied in metal, while in the new version which I have they are in plastic. I assume it will make it easier to install and with a good paint job they will look like metal:

Sprayed with glossy chrome paint. Waiting to dry:

Headlight frames. The lightbulb sockets in the photo will not be used as I have installed real LEDs.

Glued acetate:

Headlight frames glued and nailed in place:

If you have checked my earlier posts, I had installed the exhaust pipe frames without nails due to a mistake I made in the order of installation, i.e. I had glued the exhaust pipe before installing the frame, making it hard to hammer the nails. Now I have the necessary tool  and it is time to hammer those nails:

Aquarama logo on the dashboard as well as Riva logo on the sides of the hull:

Build day 47. Almost there...

Nowadays due to busy work schedule the weekends are the only days I can only spare time for my Aquarama. 

Excitement builds up as the end comes closer.

First thing today, the steering wheel in place:

Then, the trays at the back of the front seats:

1. Detach the mahogany frames:

2. Sand away the laser cut burns (in the photo you see both cleaned and uncleaned):

3. Stain the frames:

4. Detach the photo etched grills and glue them to the frames:

5. Trays in place (so are the front seats):

Great!

 

 

It's a tray for sunglasses and other small things. 

 

The dashboard looks fantastic...and the compass...wow!

 

Robin

Oh, I learned something today

Wouldn't it be better to drill small holes and use the pin-pusher?

That's a good idea, too. For that, I'll have to buy a nail pusher 

I have something like this (photo googled from internet), to hit with hammer in the final few milimeters:

End of Build day 46.

6 hours today.

Gas levers. There are altogether 4 of them. 2 on the dashboard and 2 on the left side of the cockpit. The latter ones have to be chopped (like in the photo below):

Compass, installed similar way as the dashboard frames:

Steering wheel. NOTE: The instructions sometimes deviate quite a lot from the parts which come with the kit, I guess due to the version updates the kit has gone through in years. I would appreciate if they would update the instruction manual, too, to match the new list of parts. The steering wheel is one example. It comes in a single piece in the kit, however according to the instructions you have to assemble it from several parts:

Painted and waiting to dry, before installation in place:

Next on the line is the dashboard decoration. Seems to be a lot of fun.

Instructions:

The current status of the dashboard:

Gauge stickers (they don't actually stick, you'll have to use glue) and a few frames:

Stickers being glued in the frames:

Example of more components, here the keys and its slots:

Installed them one by one on the dashboard. Quite annoying sometimes to run after small pieces which snap from the tweezer and run under the table:

There is this round frame in front, at the back of the windshield ( I don't know what it is called or what the purpose is):

In place:

Windshield wipers also in place:

Windshield wipers:

The rubbers are made of 1x2mm lime strips, painted in black:

Name plates:

In place. Nows she is officially an Aquarama!!! 

Installed the windshield glass (made of acetate):

Windshield installed in place. Note also the L shaped rubber profile around the lower frame:

Drilled hole for the rear view mirror, before installing the windshield permanently:

Windshield installation. 

Drilled 3 holes for inserting the windshield, 1 in front, 2 on the sides.

Bare windshield frame in place (DRY FIT):

Exhaust pipes.

Here I made the mistake of installing the pipes first and the round frames afterwards, making it too hard to hammer nails to the holes on the frame. I leave them as they are for now, until I get a piece of iron rod to help hammer the nails without hitting the exhaust pipes.

Build day 46. Decorations continued.

Today I was able to spare some 6 hours with my build. Here is the progress:

Front seat bases are finally glued to the place:

Very very smooth coating. I wish I could have done the same for my Aquarama.