DanielD
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Hello all, I spent today finishing up the fire house holders on the lower deck, and installing some railings. Here are a few updated pictures of the progress, some with lights on.
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Good evening everyone, I’ve been working on miniature fire hose holders and I’ve discovered that, well…my fingers are just too big. 😳 After about 6 or 7 iterations, I think I finally have one I like. Now only about 5 more like this to make.
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Good evening mates, yesterday we experienced a massive surprise snowstorm here in the Pacific Northwest. I went to work yesterday with a forecast of a few flurries that would be gone by noon. By three in the afternoon we were shutting down operations and sending everyone home. I left at 4pm for my drive home that usually takes about 30 minutes. This day was very special as it took me over 10 hours to get home battling ice, snow, other drivers, and hours of boredom in stand still traffic, arriving after 2am. Needless to say, today was a snow day, which worked out well for modeling. As I’ve been installing more lights, the wire mess has become burden. So I spent the day tidying things up and building my temporary control panel. With this panel, I can turn on/off each feature on the model and combine lighting to create many effects. Eventually this panel will be part of the stand with all the electronics hidden. For now, I need access to adjust voltage settings to get the lighting effect in looking for. In this panel, lighted toggle push button switches and voltage regulators, all running off a single 9v battery. Eventually, I’ll run this off a 12v plug in power supply, but for now, the 9v will work nicely. Oh, the missing switch was supposed to arrive today via amazon. Sadly, my order has been delayed due to weather.
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I think you are talking about the interior lighting I have in the fire control/boiler room and the aft wall on the lower deck. I’ll take a picture tomorrow and post, but yes, light seeping under the walls was an issue and probably along the top of the walls too, but I’ve not addressed that yet. I used some scrap or spare 2mm x 4mm stock and glued it to the deck just inside the walls. I made it a tight fit so that my wall sections butted up against the added lumber, and when it’s time to permanently glue the walls in place, I’ll glue to these strips as well as the deck, or maybe just to the added lumber so no extra glue seeps out under the walls to become visible. By doing this, I created an overlapping hard barrier inside the walls, no light or at least very little will seep through. I think a picture will clear up what I’m trying to put into words. Update: images added. 1st image displays the extra 2mm x 4mm lumber I added to make a light barrier that meets up with the interior of the building. 2nd image is the fire control room with all the lighting and 3rd shows how it all fits together. Since light travels in a straight line, it will be unavailable to seep under the walls when installed. I hope this helps…
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Good evening Mike, the images you posted are of the main bridge, which is housed in the building on the aft deck. 1st and 2nd images below. The area/room I have found little about is the top of the third image. The “slanted” window area, which lies above the chart room on the fore deck. It also appears to have a glass roof, similar to what OcCre has in its AV plans. But what does the inside of this space look like? An alternate wheel house? A lookout bridge? A captains lounge? What is this space used for? I have searched high and low for images of this area, but found none. When the ship is open for visitors, this area is off limits so few if any armature pictures exist of this area. It’s also not included on the virtual tour that I like so well. Maybe someone who has served on the AV can shed some light?
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Ahoy mates, tonight I added some more detail to the fire control room that will be difficult to add once fully assembled. Also, I noticed when I had the lights on that the alcove was dim, and sure enough, I missed a light that exists on the real AV. So a quick add and I think looks much better. I also added the black detail on the lights to make them look more realistic. Thanks again for stopping by.
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Mike, take a look at this… https://www.tourmake.it/amerigovespucci it’s a virtual tour of nearly the entire ship, inside and out. The only bad thing about this tour is that it is wonderful for what’s on or in the ship, but does not do justice for the hull/outside and, one room I’m still looking for pictures of is the inside of the “bridge” that is above the chart room, the one with the slanted windows. If you ever see any images of the inside of this area, please share.
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Good morning Mike, the LEDs vary in voltage between 2.2 and 3.2 volts depending on the color. I’m adding a 480 ohm resister to each LED so that I can run between 6 and 12 volts without issues, I.e. a 9 volt battery. Additionally, I’m using a variable voltage regulator for each channel so that I can control the brightness of the LEDs. For example, the down lighting you see in the above images, I’m running very dim because running them at normal voltage is just way too bright, I think just 3 volts. I have planned 5 channels of lighting for this model. 2 separate warm white channels for under deck lighting so that I can have 4 settings, all off/ 1 or 2 on/both on, so that I can achieve a more realistic look of lights coming out of the port holes and there are a ton of them on the AV. Using a red and a flashing red LED for the emergency lighting, warm white down lighting, red and green side markers, an amber LED for the aft marker, and very bright red, white and green for the night up lighting that is characteristic of the docked Amerigo. Well, I think that’s it but I might have missed something. All of this is easily available from Amazon for less $40 USD.
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Good evening mates, this weeks post is a big one for me and a lot of work. I have”nearly” finished the basic fire control room on the lower deck. Ended up building my own doors as the ones supplied in the OcCre kit are completely incorrect. Also, added lighting inside as well as outside the control room and added the emergency lights. I will have a control panel that I can selectively turn on/off lighting on this model so not all of it will be running all at once, but all on for ease of construction. All the lights are on in these images. Thanks a lot for stopping by.
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Good evening everyone, I think this was a successful weekend. The images below are of the back wall on the lower deck. I’m fairly happy with the outcome and it’s the first of many lights to be installed.
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Good afternoon mates, it’s been awhile since my last post, but I’ve been busy. Nearly finished with the lower deck with the Vespucci like detailing. A few more things to do then it’s time to seal the deck and get ready for lighting.
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Good afternoon mates. Started working on my lower deck plan. I hope to be able to create some of the deck detail that exists on the real ship. One great thing about building a ship still in use and traveling the seven seas, is that there are a plethora of images online! This first image is a shot of the real AV, notice the deck detail circled in red. I’m planning on building as much of this detail as possible; however, I’ll be using 3 and 6mm planks to design the deck…still way out of scale, but any smaller would be too hard to work with and too small of detail. The next image is my drawing of what I plan to build, followed by my subfloor, or would that be subdeck, with my ideas transferred in pencil. The last images are a sample of what the decking will look like with the structures in place. Time to start building.
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Good evening and thanks for stopping by. I’m working out some details I want to add to the decking design which requires me to at least rough build some of the structures on the lower deck. One of the changes I’m making is along the rear wall of the lower deck by creating a small alcove for the doors that leads to offices and conference rooms. The first image shows what is included in the OcCre plan. Next is an image of the actual ship in the same area, notice the alcove just to the right of the massive staircase. The last image is the start of this alteration for my Amerigo Vespucci. Another change I’m considering is to cut the doors provided in the kit in half. This would allow me to present a single panel door similar to the real ship…hmmmm
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Good evening jbcallendar, in my kit was a full scale template of the deck. I just placed it over the deck (after planking but before installing on the hull permanently) and marking with a center punch the location of the holes. Remove the template, drill holes and install brass skylights. If I remember correctly, two of the holes are listed for skylights but should be water pumps (not included in the kit). If you look back on mine or clearways log, you should be able to find our notes on that part.
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Hello mates, tonight I wanted to more or less finish up the engine room. I have more work to do on the propeller, it’s just temporarily attached, but wanted to see if it works. Happy to say that all is going as planned. IMG_3877.MOV
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Hello jbcallendar, cutting individual planks is exactly what I did on my Terror. I used Titebond like you suggested and it works just fine. I used a quick set (5 min) version which gave me the ability to move things around until I was happy. The contact cement is too messy for me and and I work on small areas at a time…just wasn’t for me. Good luck on your project.
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Keith, I do plan to light her up, lower deck lighting, deck lights and if I can, the signature night lighting this vessel is famous for. We shall see 😊
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Well Dave, I don’t intend on floating this model, it’s just for looks. I did the same thing on my HMS Terror.
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Good evening mates. Today I started the first of many enhancements to my Amerigo Vespucci, a motor to drive the propeller. The first images is a list of things that will be used in the engine room. A small geared 35 RPM 6 volt motor, a transmission, a drive shaft, the propeller, some wire, and a 6 volt regulator (not pictured). The second image shows the first modification, removing the small drive shaft and drilling out the propeller for the new much longer version. Next, determine the location of the engine room so it doesn’t interfere with the planking and allow enough room to install the transmission (harder than I thought). Drilling the hole for the drive shaft was a bit challenging as it needs to be in the center of the false keel and not waver left or right so the hole stays within the board. And last thing tonight, test fit the engine, transmission, drive shaft. It all fits, a slight slant, but not enough to worry about. Next up, design the soft mount for the engine to keep the vibration and noise level down (this motor is very quiet, but vibration into the model would act like a speaker). Ahhh, but bed time so that for another day.
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Good evening mates, this is a good start on my Amerigo Vespucci. My goal for this build is to add as much real life detail my skill level allows.
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Well mates, as always thanks for the likes and support over the last two years of my HMS Terror build. With the completion of the ninth and last small boat that was on board the Terror when it left port in 1845, I am officially labeling this build complete! I am excited to start the next chapter in my modeling career, the 1931 Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian Navy training ship, which is still in service today. Follow along if you wish. Clearway (Keith) much thanks for your help in understanding this wonderful ship and the help you gave willingly to a fellow modeler. KeithS (the other Keith), thank you for your help in bouncing ideas around that made me work harder to make a better product. and…to everyone else that stopped by to offer support, ideas and likes, a huge thank you! The help this modeling community provides is nothing short of wonderful.
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Welcome to my next adventure, the Amerigo Vespucci.
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Welcome to the Terror club. The best part of this build for me was learning about the history of this wonderful ship and incorporating as much detail as I could. I wasn’t in a hurry to finish the build to just get it done, but more about the details I could add along the way, which took me two years. If this is up your alley, I strongly recommend the book HMS Terror: the design, fitting and voyages of the polar discovery ship, by Dr. Matthew Betts. I wish I had this when I started my build. As for your question…I used charcoal to darken the edges of each plank, all four edges. When in place you will see the dark lines that simulate caulking. I didn’t add any additional charcoal to the deck; however, after the deck was built I lightly sanded it before sealing with a satin finish. The act of sanding brings up some of the charcoal that was put on the edges of the planks, thus smearing small amounts across the deck which gives a slightly weathered gray look. If after all this you want to add more, it’s easy to dust additional on and rub it in… Be sure to check out clearway and keiths Terror version also. They were a lot of help!
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Busy day here in the Northwest USA so didn’t have much time to spend in the shipyard, but I managed to complete the stand. Almost finished…
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Good evening all, today was a day of tying up loose ends. My HMS Terror is nearly finished! My to-do list now consists of finishing the stand and building the last small boat, number 9 of 9 which I will be building on skis. The end of this build is in site and the start of my next adventure, the Amerigo Vespucci 1:100.
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