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DanielD
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Everything posted by DanielD
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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. -
Bill, something I’ve learned through life…the admiral is always right! Nicely done!
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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Hi Bill, I tend to keep everything left over from each model. Sometimes I find a good use for the leftovers.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Bill, I don’t recall adding any additional port holes. I did have enough grommets with one or two left over.
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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.
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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.
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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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Exactly! But after I thought I had all the lighting figured out, I forgot about about some lighting on the foremast, just under the first platform, then the crane area needed lighting, and also some just aft of the mizzen mast. A bit of oversight, but because I was able to pull off the structures, I was able to tie into the electrical at that location. Sure I was limited on what circuit the additional LEDs were on, but it all worked out.
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Bill, that is correct. I created pins or short dowels strategically placed on the buildings that snuggly fit into holes of the deck. This allowed me to remove the structures as needed to work around the ship. In fact, even now the structures are not glued in except for the fire control room that is sandwiched between the two decks. I’m glad I didn’t glue them down as I’ve pulled them up several times to run extra wires for lighting that I had not planned for. Daniel
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Hi Bill, I basically didn’t even look at the kit instructions for the inside of the bridge. I made everything from scratch to emulate the virtual tour as close as my skill level allowed. I made the telephones, the gauges, the supports for the helm, designed the floor based on the actual ship, lights, etc.
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Good afternoon mates, it’s been awhile since my last update. I’ve not stopped work in the shipyard, but the work has been slow going. I’ve just finished the first of three safety nets for the bow of the Amerigo Vespucci, with over 1000 clove hitch knots at a spacing of about 1 mm square! This safety net took about 6 weeks to create.
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Bill, here is the 4mm wood sheaves and the 0.4 mm x 0.4 mm x 30mm square grid material that I’ve used all over the ship. Places on the deck, on the floor in the bridge, the floor of the sky bridge, and the captain’s deck at the stern. https://falconet-mfg.com/collection/rustery?lang=en
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Good morning Bill. This is not included in the OcCre kit. I made it by using laser cut 1mm square prefab grating that I purchased from a company in Canada along with a bunch of very small wood pulleys so that I could make the AM specific running rigging pin racks. I’ll try to remember to take a picture of the packaging when I get home. Great product but very fragile due to the small size.
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Yes, you could have a separate circuit, but for me it was the only two LEDs on that circuit and I wanted the OR situation. Diodes are cheep, less than a $1 for like 5 of them and can be setup inside the hull so less wires heading into the hull from the control panel. But this is just me…you build your however you like.
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I saw these and went a different route as I needed more than three out. Also, once you have everything working and before you seal up the hull, run a bead of hot glue across the switches to glue them shut. I have heard that these have a habit of popping open and if that happens after you close up the hull, you are screwed.
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Hi Bill, let me see if I can remember…I believe the structures you labeled A and C and the exterior lights on B are all part of the deck lighting circuit. Well almost that is. The fore part of the structure C is the chart room and that is a part of the deck lights while the rear storage compartment of the same structure is, well on a special circuit as is the interior light of structure B. I used a diode on each the port hole circuits to create a “third” circuit. The goal is this, when one port hole circuit is on and the other off, the internal lights of Structure B and the storage compartment of structure C are on. If you switch the port hole circuits with the second one on and the first one off, opposite the set above, the internal lights of structures B and the storage compartment of structure C are also on. And of course, if both port hole circuits are on, so are the internal lights of B and the storage compartment light. This adds a level of complexity to the lighting that is unexpected yet very easy to do, giving the model a more authentic look. You are the first person to either notice or question this. Good job!
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