DanielD

Good afternoon all, while the primer cures on the hull, I took on the task of the captain’s/stern deck. My idea is to attempt to make the deck appear more like the real AV with inlaid brass and deck grid. Below is the start of my project, with progressive images ending with the cutouts for the micro grid with the brass inlays. Next step, shape the micro grid and glue in place…hard stuff to work with for sure.

Good evening mates, another update on the hull. I have put on the last coat of primer, sealing in the rivets. So far I’m very pleased with the results.

Good evening everyone, time for a riveting update 😂 (pun intended). After nearly a month of placing rivets, they are done! Well, unless I decided to place the rivets around each porthole! But that would be another week or two of riveting fun, but these would be a smaller diameter and I’m not sure they will be visible with a coat of primer, a base coat of white and then the final color. Time to sleep on it.

Good afternoon everyone, here is another update of the riveting progress…still slow, but making progress.

Good evening mates, time for a mile stone update. I have finally finished the rivets on the starboard side of the ship. 😄Now on to marking the port side and another week or longer attaching rivets. 😬 I’m so looking forward to the next step of painting, the black dots go away and the rivets really become part of the background.

Hmmm, I’ve not looked that far a head; however, in my very limited experience, shrouds are done in pairs except for the occasional last or odd numbered shroud. When passed around the mast, a portion (can’t remember the ratio at the moment) of the shroud line is “served” or wrapped to protect the line from wear as it goes around the mast.

Good evening all, I have spent an hour or two each night for the last few nights installing rivets and progress is, well….sloooow.

Good afternoon mates, I have started the laborious process of adding the rivets to this metal hulled Amerigo Vespucci. The rivets on the AV are very large, almost 1.5” (38mm) in diameter, or scaled to about 0.4 mm. I’m using railroad O scale rivet decals that come on a sheet in various patterns. I cut them to fit, then attach them in strips using water to free the decal from the backing material, fix them to my model using Micro Set, then dissolve the clear carrier plastic using Micro Sol. The finished product is a 0.5 mm raised dot on the side of the hull. Once this process is finished, I’ll apply another thin coat of primer before the final paint (white, black, yellow and dark green or red). Hopefully I will achieve a similar look to the real AV. I used this same technique on my HMS Terror polar explorer on the metal plates that cover the bow. I hope I achieve similar results!

Time for another update mates, but really not a lot of visual progress. I have finished the rain gutters on each and every porthole! I have included a couple close shots to visualize the difference. i used 0.5mm brass wire and shaped around a proper sized drill, cut to achieve the look on the AV, then glued in place with very thin CA glue, wicking up the excess with a paper towel. I thought that would be it; however, when I looked close at my installation, I realized it looked like I glued on a piece of wire. Next I sanded each gutter to flatten the edge so it looked more realistic. A few more attachments for the hull, then another round of primer before paint. Before sanding, just the wire rain gutter. After sanding, a more square look.

Mike, I do plan on installing sails; however, this time around I’m planning on furled sails as I’m planning on a spectacular night light display, and…I’ve never done furled sails before (experience). My last ship, HMS Terror by OcCre I hand made my sails. It’s a lot of work, satisfying, but…did I mention it’s a lot of work.

Good morning mates, it's been awhile since my last post. I have been busy out in the yard, so little time in the shipyard. However, I have been trouble shooting a recent issue... Last week, I was demonstrating the ships lighting features to a visitor and then turned on the motor for the screw. It ran for about two seconds then stopped! I checked the voltage, the wiring, everything external that I could check, and still nothing. I was feeling a bit disheartened as at this point there is no way to get to the motor it's self. Last night I was looking over the model, a bit frustrated, just toggling on/off the button for the motor, when it all of the sudden started working again! Here is what I think is happening. The unit I used is a geared motor so that the revolutions are about 30 per minute (don't want to hurt anyone). In this particular device, the gears are exposed and I did not take steps to protect the gears. As you can see above, the Amerigo Vespucci has a ton of port holes that have to be drilled in through the hull. This will unavoidably cause wood chips to enter into the hull. I believe that one of these small chips temporarily was wedged into the gears of the motor, which stopped it from working. At least that's all I can think of as the wiring is well secured and not likely a problem. Lesson learned, the next time I use this motor in a ship where I won't be able to access the engine compartment, I will take steps to protect the exposed gears. Oh well, all is now as it should be. UPDATE: I have completed the port hole rain gutters on the starboard side and now mass producing the ones for the port side. Should have some visual updates later this weekend.

Beautiful work, I’ll tag along to see the finish!

I'm considering this ship, I'll follow along.

Good evening mates, no progress on the AV today, but I did take a couple of low light shots that better show lighting effect.

And…another project I’ve been thinking about and working on, the rain gutters which my wife calls the eyebrows 😊. I have the look I’m striving for, now to make a jig so I can produce exactly the same part, 174 times.

One problem I encountered when installing the “square” portholes is getting them to sit flush with the side of the ship. As you can see from an image blow up, these portholes should be flush, but the kit supplied metal pieces are instructed to be just be stuck to the side. However, the initial pieces are 2mm thick and just didn’t look good sitting on the surface of the hull, and I wanted them to light up along with the other portholes. I ended up grinding each tiny piece down to 0.5mm thick, then carving into the 0.5mm second planking so they inset into the hull to get a nearly flush detail look.

Good weekend mates, I just realized that it’s been a while since my last update, but we have been busy with outside projects. Regardless, I’m still making some progress on the AV. In this update, I have completed installing all the port holes, both the round and square versions, and happy to report that I have been able to get the lighting to work on all except one porthole on each side at the bow which is directly over a large area of bow support, so no lighting in that area. Still, I’m very pleased with the outcome. Quick refresher, the goal of my porthole lighting is to simulate a real life night scenario (first image), where not all the portholes are lit at the same time. I have two versions of lighted portholes, which I can have one or the other set lit, or can have both on which lights all of the portholes.

Hi Mike, the instructions are indeed a little vague. The one image that shows a 20mm spacing could imply 20mm between each port hole, but according to the 1:1 drawing, the spacing is not equal the entire length of the ship. So, like you, I measured each one from a zero reference point. I picked the left most port hole on the bow 1:1 drawing as my zero point, then measured each hole from there. I have the bottom row of port holes to finish later tonight, then see what I can do about the square openings. I want to inset the metal piece that came with the kit so that it is basically flush with the hull, or maybe be extended 1/2 mm like the brass fittings that act as port holes. Ideally, both the port holes and the square hatches should be flush with the hull, but I'm not getting nice clean holes so the brass grommet is needed. Once I have all the port holes fitted, I'll prime everything one more time, the paint the entire hull white, let dry, mask off the white stripes, pain everything black, let dry, mask off everything except the yellow/gold and paint that, lastly masking off everything except the green bottom. There have been a couple of painting schemes over the years with a red bottom, a black bottom and a dark green. I like the green, so that is what I have planned.

Good evening mates, time for another update. Today, working on the starboard port holes and learning that all the planning in the lighting seems to be working. There are three settings for the port hole lighting, 1) some portholes lit, 2) the opposite portholes lit, and 3) all on. The images below show the plan come to fruition.

Good afternoon mates, todays update is sponsored by…sorry, got carried away. I was able to finish the second planking, fill most of the seams and wood grain, and have the primer/sealer airbrushed on. Now have to let sit for 24 hours or so to let primer cure. But progress is progress.

I love your ability to make the plastic look wood real and weathered! Great job.

I would be! It's beautiful.

Good evening mates, time for another hull update. I have to say I have discovered my favorite way to adhere the second layer of planking! Okay, I didn’t”discover” this method, but it is the first time I have used it, and might I say it was glorious. The method I’m speaking of is what OcCre calls for in the instructions, using contact cement. Using this method one applies the rubber like glue to both surfaces, wait until it dries, then press the two pieces together with pressure for an immediate permanent adhesion. What I loved about contact cement, it was not messy, was dry while I set the pieces in place and was quick (immediate) adhesion, like CA glue without the mess. What I didn’t like was the smell. The admiral sent me to the garage for this task with the outside door open, you know, good ventilation per the instructions. I’m very pleased with the results. Only the starboard side done, but good progress.

Good evening mates, another hull update. I have finished the first planking layer, sanded, filled some cracks, sanded again and now it’s ready for the second and final plank layer. After all the pounding, gluing, and sanding, I’m happy to report that all the electrical still works! Now to figure out the best adhesive to adhere the thin planks. I have used PVA and CA glue in the past. Both are messy. The PVA glue is more wet and warps the thin planks and is fairly slow drying so slow progress with the time I have to work on project. CA glue is fast, but makes the wood hard and difficult to sand and in this case I need to sand, fill, and repeat until very smooth to simulate a metal finish.. The instructions call for contact cement. Coat the hull and a few planks, let dry, and press into place for a permanent adhesion. I’ve never tried this method…anyone have experience with this contact cement? Clearway suggested Evo-stick fast setting wood glue, which may work, but still takes an hour ish to set and I only have an hour or so a few nights a week to work in the ship yard, so this might be too slow to make good progress. Other ideas appreciated.

Good evening mates, another hull update. I have the main hull first planking basically finished with a few angled planks to manufacture and set, but the hard part is finished.