Bill97

Ok my friends it has been a bit since my last update. Some big advancements since then. One problem I encountered, just like Daniel, when installing the “square” portholes is getting them to sit flush with the side of the ship. On the actual ship these portholes are flush but the kit supplied metal pieces are to be just glued to the side. I wanted them to light up along with the other portholes as well so have the holes drilled out. I ended up carving out the depth of the square port holes and set the pieces into the side of the hull. I then began the process of painting the four distinctive colors on the hull. A lot of masking and painting, masking and painting. I initially planned to airbrush the colors but eventually settled for using a brush. I added the brass port hole inserts. The actual ship has these painted the same as the stripe but I left them brass. I still have the OcCre green to add to the bottom of the hull and a bit of touch up to sharpen a few places on my lines. I also want to fine tune some of the painted square port holes to make them a bit more distinctive.

Marc reading your updates go great with my morning coffee next to the fireplace. They also give me inspiration for when I go into my shipyard. Incredible work my friend

Yeah I followed your advice to do that from reading your build. I must not have gotten a good coat on that back inch or two on the stern deck area. I thought about overlaying the deck planks with another layer in that section but think it might show that slight edge difference. Will decide if it matters to me that much.

Well Daniel I have looked back through your build for a comment you made about your build somewhere but can’t find it. Even with all the precautions I took I still ended up getting some light bleed through an area of the deck right above the stern caused by the LEDs I put in to shine out the stern port holes. I also have some light bleed into a couple areas from one section of port hole lights into an adjacent section. I seem to remember you having a similar issue. I think you said there was pretty much nothing you could do about it. That is my thought as well. Maybe turn down the voltage regulator to reduce the LED brightness is all I can think of.

Thanks gentlemen. Had cataract surgury on my left eye Wednesday a week ago (11 days ago). Right eye scheduled for this Wednesday. Been sorta working with one eye and winking the other 😊.

What do you think Professor Daniel? Your instruction got me this far. I put some of the little port hole metal pieces in some of the holes to show my wife how it will eventually look. I told her the plan was to paint them as on the actual ship (as you did). She said she really likes them brass instead of me painting them. She likes a little bling. I guess that is the way I will eventually go.

After all the double planking, sanding, priming, and drilling out the port holes it is great to see that all my electronics worked. After drilling the holes in accordance with the OcCre diagram i was really happy to see all my interior lights shine. No broken wires or bulbs. As i mentioned before I have two separate circuits for the port holes lights. One circuit has some of the lights on as the actual ship might look at night. The other circuit has the opposite lights on. So i can show either set or all the lights.

On my 3rd time through sanding, wood filler, sanding, primer, wood filler in shadow areas, sanding, primer, etc, etc, etc . Will eventually get that smooth blemish free surface over the entire hull.

So let the sanding of the wood filler begin!

Well thank you Ian. I just saw this. I will except the honorary ring even if it is Canadian. Second planking finished and sanded smooth. Now ready to cover all this beautiful woodwork wood putty! 😢 Oh the horror of it all.

Yes Daniel that helps a lot. I looked back and saw the little rain gutters. So just spray the hull at an angle to the port holes will solve that problem. Great idea. Thanks Bill

Daniel I have another curiosity. I looked back to see if I previously asked you this. Seems like we already covered this but maybe not. I looked back in your build to the area where you did your second planking and primer. I was pleasantly surprised to see you did in fact drill out the port holes before painting the hull colors. This is opposite to what the OcCre directions show. I like this for a number of reasons. My curiosity is did you spray the colors are use a brush? How did you avoid paint going through the port holes (if you sprayed) and getting on the LED’s? I see that you painted the port hole inserts instead of leaving them brass.

Second planking finished on starboard side. Now beginning the port side.

As always Marc i just and watch with amazement!

Second planking underway. Slow but steady.

Same here my friend. Impressed with what you are doing with your’s.

Marc have you seen the new limited edition wooden ship OcCre is about to release? It is Soleli Royal. Looks impressive. A bit outside my budget. You could do a beautiful job with it.

Rather than file down or pull the nails I just use a nail head set tool to tap the heads down into the first planking.

Daniel I Googled Elmer’s Rubber Contact Cement but don’t find it. I find Elmer’s Rubber Cement but not a contact cement. The Elmer’s Rubber Cement does not read as if it is what you described. Hummmm🤔

Thanks Daniel. I will look into that. IAs I mentioned I used the wood glue on my Endeavour but wonder if OcCre’s recommendation to use contact cement for the second planking might be a better product to use. I have more positioning time with the wood glue but the flip side is I have to hold the planks in place with pins while it sets up a few minutes. The planks also tend to bow a bit as well.

Daniel what product did you use to attach your second planking? On my first OcCre ship, the Endeavour, I just used the same wood glue I used to build the ship. It required patience and pins to hold each plank in place until the wood glue held. I see in the OcCre videos they use some brand of contact cement to attach the second planking. I have read other places where contact cement is not a great option.

Sure Daniel. I owe you a bunch. Any questions let me know. I just happened to have some old sheet veneer from back in my woodworking days that used to cover the “box” I made. The base OcCre included was perfect to repurpose. I used the two end pieces that fit the shape of the hull and to gain some needed extra height I cut the 2 runners OcCre supplied and glued them to the bottom of the end pieces. That gave about another 1” in height. Prior to cutting the runners I put the stand together as OcCre designed and measured the distance between the ends so as to make my base the same length. Once I had that measurement I cut, glued, and nailed 1/4” strips of wood along both sides to make the shape. I used pieces of wood from simple wood tongue depressors joined at the middle to make them long enough. The veneer holds it all together. You can probably find sheets at a local wood craft store or cover your’s with anything you like. I further added triangles in the bottom corners to run screws through into the wood base. Cut out the places for the switches and wired it. One thing I did notice is that the hull bows out a little between the two ends. It is not a straight line. So that did require a little sanding and shaping. To accomplish that I added a 3/16” wood dial at the top on each side that I could shape. You can kind of see that in one or two of the pictures. You can also see the inside of the box to further understand what I did. Please feel free to ask anything Daniel. I am glad ti finally be able to help you. Thanks Mike and Eric. I appreciate your compliment. Bill

Finished the custom made base for my Amerigo Vespucci. I needed to design a base that would house all the electronics that will be used to light the model. There are four separate circuits running through the ship. So I have 4 voltage regulators, 2 bus bars, the connector that joins to two ends of the electrical system (one end coming out of the bottom of the hull and the matching end in the base. The power pack plugs into the back. I used the OcCre supplied base ends to obtain the needed shape for the bottom of the hull and joined them with planking then covered it with veneer. The bottom of the base I painted black and added accent line of the Italian flag.

First planking done and sanded smooth! Ready to start the second planking as soon as I get in the mood 😊. Also finishing up the base that the electronics will be housed in. Once I know for sure it is going to work I will post pictures.

Thanks Daniel. I really like what you are doing with your AV and follow your lead a lot. Did you just toss all this OcCre thread or do you expect someday to have a use for it? 😊 I have almost finished my first planking. Still have to add the pieces around the stern. Then sink all the nail heads and sand a little to get ready for the second planking. I have set it aside just for a bit while I build my base. I got an idea how I want to do it so I am running with it while it is fresh in my mind. Will add a few pictures to give you an idea what I am doing.