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DanielD

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  1. Bill, nothing much you can do now. My next build I will paint the inside of the hull and the underside of the deck black, then an off white so that the light will reflect around eventually coming out the port holes. The light layer will reflect most of the light, but what leaks through the black layer will absorb the light so it can’t get through to the deck, etc. turning down the intensity of the LEDs didn’t make any improvement in my case.
  2. Bill, something I’ve learned through life…the admiral is always right! Nicely done!
  3. Hi Bill. Yes, I drilled the port holes and installed the grommets before painting. I paint most things using my air brush so I have complete control of where paint goes. When I sprayed the colors, I sprayed at an angle, not directly into the port holes, so what little paint makes it through the opening is not directed at the midline LEDs. As for my choice in painting the grommets, the porthole frames, take a look at any image of the real AV and you will find that the porthole frames are painted the same as the surrounding hull. I also added, not included in the kit, the porthole rain gutters which were all affixed prior to painting. Hope this helps. Daniel
  4. Good evening mates, today I met a milestone with my AV! I finally have all the yards completed with all the hardware (15 of them). Next up is to add the blocks to the standing rigging, then the furled sails…once I figure that out.
  5. Yes, rubber cement. It’s a type of contact cement, put glue on both pieces, wait for it to dry, and press together (contact) for the adhesive to activate.
  6. Hey Bill, I used Elmer’s Rubber Contact Cement. It is great, but it was hard to get the hang of using it so I think that is why some don’t like to use it. For me, I worked in small sections the length of the ship. Since the AV is a steel hull, there is no need to spend a ton of time making planks, so I used long plank sections from bow to stern. I started by drawing a line on the hull to place the first plank. Brush a thin coat of the cement on the back side of a couple planks and on the area along the hull for two or three planks. Let the glue dry! This is important! The glue will be dry to touch. Then carefully place a plank along the line that was drawn on the hull. Press the plank in place. Contact and pressure is what activates the glue, but it is permanent. You won’t be able to remove the plank without braking it into a bunch of pieces. Careful placement is critical! This is what makes it hard to use. However, once I got the hang of it, it was by far my favorite way to attach planks to the hull and I will use this technique on the next deck I do in the future. Again, once “pressed” in place, it’s immediately stuck and permanent and no wait time is needed between planks.
  7. Hey Bill, it’s my turn to borrow an idea from you! I’ve been thinking how I might do my base for over a year, love what you have done!
  8. Hi Bill, I tend to keep everything left over from each model. Sometimes I find a good use for the leftovers.
  9. Good morning Bill. I swapped out the threads for pre-waxed thread. While the images here look like white, it’s actually light tan although the actual ship seems to be white and very dark almost black. A couple reasons for me switching to the lighter color lines is that I’m building this model primarily for the night time display that the AV is known for, the Italian flag. Using the lighter color lines will reflect the red, white and green up lights better giving a more impressive display. Using dark colors will absorb much the light causing a much duller display. Except for the pre-waxed lines, most of the rest is from the kit. Notable exceptions are 1) the real AV has metal bands at intervals on the yards. I simulated this by using a standard sheet of white paper and cutting 1mm strips. Glue them around the yards and I have the appearance of a white band that has some depth to it (see the images above). 2) I used smaller eye pins than what comes with the kit. I think the ones in the kit are 3mm in diameter while the ones I used are just under 2mm, 1/3 smaller than the kit provides. Using the ones in the kit are just way to big for the scale of the ship. Actually, so are the ones I used, but it’s much better scale wise.
  10. Good afternoon mates, it’s been awhile since my last post, but progress has been steady. I’ve been working on the yards, a total of 15 on the Amerigo Vespucci. Below is a comparison from an unfinished yard to a finished one.
  11. Hi Bill, I believe that I just put 2 warm LEDs in my bridge structure, more towards the middle of the ceiling which will allow the light to come from the center of the room. Typically bridge lighting is on the dark side to help with visual acuity while underway. I have it tied to the deck lighting circuit, and use the same warm LEDs as I have on the deck so the brightness is exactly the same as the deck lights. As for the windows, I too skipped the plastic sheet that came with the kit and instead used liquid glass, a product from Testors to fill the window space with an Elmer’s glue like substance that drys clear and thin, nice glass look.
  12. Bill, I don’t recall adding any additional port holes. I did have enough grommets with one or two left over.
  13. Good evening mates, I’m finally finished with the custom hand made netting for my Amerigo Vespucci. I have about 80 hours in these three nets.
  14. Bill, sorry it’s been so long. As far as the home made netting, I map out the shape and size of the net I need, run a larger sized rope around the outside of the shape like in the image below. Then I add the vertical thread at one or two mm apart. Once all those are strung, I add the horizontal thread using a clove hitch at each intersection. The last step is to run a light bead of CA glue along the outside rope sealing all of the outside knots in place. The key for a good hand made net is to be as precise as possible when adding the thread, knowing that it will never be perfect. It’s those minor mis-aligned threads or knots that make the net appear hand made. After many hours, you end up with a finished product. I have about 80 hours in the three nets in the following post.
  15. Good morning mates, just finished another hand made safety net for my Amerigo Vespucci. Will mount permanently later today. One more net to manufacture.
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