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mandolinut
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Everything posted by mandolinut
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I added the upper deck trim above the edge trim previously done so the upper deck to hull joint is completely gone. Still needs more sanding and paint. I now have a surface to attach the safety rails. Once the safety rails are complete on the upper deck and around the pilot house roof, I can finally glue the components down. Meanwhile, I am enjoying dry fitting all of the parts at the end of the day just to look at everything together. I wanted more than the three fender / dive floats supplied with the model, so bought a necklace from Michael's Hobby and Craft store made of 10mm wood beads that match the three supplied with the kit. I added small cotter pins that I shortened through the top and wood putty on the bottom to remove the holes. Some will get painted white and hang down the side of the ship for fenders and others will be painted yellow and red for dive floats.
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I am moving right along with Calypso. Another question please. For detail, I want to build scuba tanks and larger cylinders with compressed gases. Any advice on how you made yours would be helpful. Thankyou.
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Making a little more progress today. Added the headlights to the minisub. They consist of the helicopter wheels from the aftermarket model I used for the cockpit. Bent a small copper wire 90 degrees and glued it into the axle hole and built up the back hemisphere with drops of paint. This little feature adds a lot to the overall look of the minisub. Now that the upper deck has been glued down and faired, I added the wood strips on the edge to hide the upper deck to hull joint. Next step will be to add the wood strips on top of the upper deck that rest on top of these edge strips.
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I finally made the decision not to go with interior led lighting. At the ripe young age of 76, this Calypso will most likely end up in my local yacht club and the lighting feature would never be used or seen. With that said, the upper deck was glued down to the hull today. A big moment for me. I can now fair the edges of the deck to match the hull lines (there is a slight overlap of the deck) and add the upper and outer trim pieces to hide the joint. Also beginning the mini sub. Creating some headlights to go above the port holes as seen in the photo. Also added some port and starboard thrusters as seen in Calypso photos along with a few other features. I'll eventually add a robotic arm. Planning to strip a section of black copper wire and split it down the center for the black bumper trim to go around the edges. Enjoying the journey.
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Thankyou Alan and Don. Don, your helicopter was my inspiration! Thanks for sharing. Also, your idea of Krystal Klear for the port holes on the chamber, ship's bulb nose and mini sub. Patrick
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More work on the helicopter. The rear section and pontoons and rotor blades are all Billing. The highly detailed Cockpit and engine are from an OH-13 Sioux (same scale) by Italeri. Quite happy with the look so far. Will only get better with more paint and decals. So not 100% accurate but darn close :0)
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I placed many already built parts together today for this photo, but at this point, nothing is glued down or attached, all dry fit. I painted some of the brass hardware which really hurt, because I really liked the look of the brass, but it did not work for "the Calypso look". I am sure my fellow Calypso builders felt the same when painting over their brass parts.. Still working on the helicopter. I have put off gluing the upper deck down trying to decide if I should add LED lighting. My wife has already determined that this size model will not end up or fit in our home, but end up in my other house, which is my art/painting studio. She said "what are you going to do? Go over to your studio at night to look at Calypso with the lights on?" We had a good laugh over that.
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Nice to hear from you yvesidal and mtdoramike. I have looked at and learned from both of your Calypso builds. The Calypso holds many memories for me growing up watching the Undersea World of Jaques Cousteau. Today I was able to do a few fun mini projects. Built the ladder for the ship's chimney, constructed the satellite dome, built the legs for the helicopter landing platform, and drilled openings in the foredeck for the anchor chain and towers. I decided to back up the underdeck for the towers to create a stronger attachment point.
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Adding plastic filler to the tops of helicopter pontoons to hide the seams and make them flat and flush. Also began the helicopter landing structure. Taking my time and enjoying the journey.
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I did some initial painting of the helicopter today. When dry, the fuselage will need sanding before the next coat of yellow paint is applied. Dry fitted the basic tail section. More to come. The second photo is to show scale. The forward curves of the landing gear will be clipped, and the pontoons will be added to the bottom.
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Here is a photo showing similar high detail of the helicopter with the crane and windlass. This will look like Calypso's helicopter when I am finished.
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I am working on a few peripheral projects including the helicopter and the foredeck windlass. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I found a very detailed helicopter model in the same scale as Calypso with a lot of detail regarding the engine and cockpit. I felt the one piece molded clear plastic helicopter body/ engine (see photo) that came with the model kit fell short of matching the detail of all of the beautiful brass deck hardware. I will modify the rear end of this helicopter model to match Calypso's. I still have not attached the upper deck. Helicopter started. Needs painting with detail on the engine and instrument cluster. This is what comes with the kit. No interior cabin detail or engine detail.
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I had been putting off painting and installing the supporting columns for the upper deck until I was ready to attach the upper deck because the columns would appear to be fragile until the upper deck is installed. Gave the brass columns a light sanding and applied primer and then paint. Drilled holes in the decking and installed them. In the photo, the upper deck and wheelhouse and chimney are just sitting there (dry fit). I had to grind down the top off of a few of the brass columns to make them fit without raising the upper deck. Also adding black paint to the sides.
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I have been out of town for a while and was anxious to begin finishing the upper deck on Calypso. I will now put the supports in for the upper deck that come off of the lower cabins before attaching it.
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I added the previously built side rails today and began planking the upper deck. Used a black EXPO dry erase pen with a flat applicator, as I used on the main deck, to blacken the planks edges before gluing them down. This will take a few more days. Enjoying the journey.
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I am very happy with the high level of detail from the Billing Calypso regarding the numerous brass parts on the crane, wench, windless, portholes, and numerous other deck features. However, the helicopter falls short , lacking any detail which would be ok if there was no detail anywhere else. Thanks to fellow Calypso builder Don Nunnehi , I saw where he used the Bell oh-13 Sioux helicopter by Italeria. 1:48 scale as opposed to 1:45 scale of Calypso....close enough. This model has amazing detail in the cockpit and building the engine is a subproject within a subproject :0) There are many engine parts as you will see in this photo showing only some of the engine parts. I plan to use the cockpit and clear canopy and engine from this Italeria kit and then scratch build the rear body and tail section to match the Calypso Hughs 300 helicopter. Received the kit in the mail and started gathering engine parts. I will use the pontoons supplied by Billing to attach below the helicopter. Thanks again to Don for the idea. Here is a fun video of the engine build I came across:
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Today, I joined and glued the two upper deck sections. Planking over this entire structure will be next. Since this will be a static model, there is no need to have this deck removable, and I want the decking planks to run continuously without a joint where the two deck halves come together. I marked the reverse side of the upper decks for the future locations of various structures. ures
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Thanks for the nice words, Nirvana. I had time to work a bit more on putting together my wench assembly today. Feeling a bit like a watch maker at times with the variety of interesting brass parts. Once painted, I will add the four posts and the canopy. I added a small, curved wire to the electric motor and have it disappearing under the platform to simulate an electrical supply conduit. It has been fun working on the crane and wench, but I am now ready to get back to working on the ship.
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I gathered parts for the winch assembly today and began constructing. This should be fun. I also found an old "crab claw" clasp from some jewelry parts gifted to me. I believe this will make a nice hook for the mini sub crane. I had to remove part of the claw to make it work.
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Worked a bit more on my crane assembly today. Added the hydraulic pistons and a few extra hydraulic lines as seen in original photos. I felt more like a watch maker. This is good touch therapy for these 76-year-old hands. About halfway there for the crane. A project within a project. Love it.
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I finished adding the Micro Krystal Clear to the bow portholes in anticipation to gluing down the deck. The product works as advertised leaving a glass like porthole. Showing one of the portholes finished. Also showing two of the nose bulb observation portholes, one glazed and on not glazed. I will do the same for the decompression chamber. Also working on the crane which I believe is a rite of passage for any Calypso builder. Many parts that have to fit correctly. Here it is dry fitted. Need to paint the crane and then add a number of the pullies for the cable. I see the hull needs more paint. d
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I received my order of Micro Krystal Klear and tried it out on one of the forward portholes. Backed up the porthole with clear acetate taped down on the inside. As described, it looks like milk when applied (see photo) but dries clear and looks quite good. I will now do the other portholes including those portholes for the decompression chamber and viewing ports on the front bulb. Also working on assembling the crane which is interesting.
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Back on the workbench today gathering parts for the aft crane that use to launch the mini sub. Looking at the instructions and finding the various parts is much like doing a jigsaw puzzle where you look through 500 pieces to find the piece or pieces you are looking for. Note to future builders: the upper crane assembly (2 parts) has a long rectangular plastic spacer in between them. This unfortunately does not show up in the plans. See photo. I then glued the three pieces together and drilled out a number of holes in the various areas where a small wire will pass through and act as an axle for the various pulleys.
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Calypso got her "wings" today. The pilot house curved fairings are a very nice and distinguishing feature, so once again, my ship is starting to look more like Calypso. Before soaking and bending the curved panels, I painted what would become the inside which would be very difficult to do once they were attached. I also found a reference photo of the pilot house showing some triangular supports under the ledge of the front windows, so I added that touch. Still needs lots of sanding, filling and painting to do everywhere but now I have something to work with.
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