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rvchima

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Everything posted by rvchima

  1. rvchima
    Back from Vacation and Back to Work My wife and I spent a wonderful month in Sanibel, Florida. The weather was perfect. We walked on the beach and I swam in the pool almost every day. We went on a lot of bird walks and saw hundreds of egrets, herons, anhingas, and ospreys, plus kingfishers, roseate spoonbills, and a pileated woodpecker. My sons and I built sand sculptures of a sea serpent and Han Solo encased in carbonite. I took supplies to build a stained glass glass lamp and finished 2 of 5 segments of a Tiffany peacock lamp. We returned to the Ohio winter on March 2, so I have been working on my hydroplane since then. I sanded the mahogany planking, hammered several hundred headless brass nails, and finished it with two coats of Watco natural oil and a whole can of clear lacquer. Here's a look at the finished hull, and here's a closeup of the brass nails. I put a nail in every plank along every bulkhead, then filled in every other space in each direction. Every nail hole was pre-drilled, the nails were hammered in almost flush, then filed and sanded. The bottom and sides of the sponsons have aluminum reinforcement plates attached with a lot more headed brass nails. Here's a closeup of the aluminum plates. The back of the sponsons have some drain plugs, access ports, and exhaust manifolds made from photo etched aluminum and cast metal. Here are the port and starboard sides respectively.
  2. rvchima
    Vacation Time We are leaving for a month on Sanibel Island off the Gulf coast of Florida. We are driving and I was tempted to take my model along, but I knew that the first thing I tried to do would require some tool that I didn't bring. So the hydroplane will have to wait for a few weeks, but l will keep an eye on MSW. We've never left for the winter before, but this morning it was -8 F (-22 C) here, and Eskimos have taken up residence in our driveway. It is currently 81 F (27 C) in Sanibel.
  3. rvchima
    Hull Planking Complete, day 16, 67 hours I decided to plank the top and sides of the hull with mahogany strips. I cut the strips roughly to length, soaked them briefly in water, and glued them with medium CA. The water makes the CA set up quickly. I only glued my fingers to just about every plank. Unfortunately the kit did not have quite enough planks, so I visited my favorite local Woodcraft store. They had a sheet of 1/16" mahogany that I ripped into planks on my bandsaw. You can see a slight color difference on the outer few planks of the sponsons. The nails are purely decorative. They were added after the the hull was planked, filled, and sanded. I marked nail locations along each bulkhead at the center of each plank. I had to drill holes for each nail to avoid splitting the mahogany. The drill was a couple thousands of an inch smaller than the nails, so the tails went in easily. I tapped the nails flush, and cleaned up with sandpaper. I still have a lot of nails to add on the back of the hull. The instructions don't mention the bottom of the hull. I think you're supposed to just use the thin plywood bottom, but I knew it would look bad where I sanded through the top ply layers. So I visited my favorite local Woodcraft store again and bought a roll of flat mahogany veneer with a pressure-sensitive adhesive backing. I had to buy a roll 1' wide x 8' long for $45, but it turned out to be a good choice. It cut easily with a knife, stuck on perfectly, and looks beautiful. Any suggestions for finishes? I haven't decided what finish to use yet. I'll probably start with Watco oil to bring out the color, but I'm don't know what to use after that. Does anyone know about spar varnish? That's probably what was used on the real boat so it seems like a good choice, although I would prefer to use something available in a spray.
  4. rvchima
    History of the Ferrari Hydroplane Achille Castolldi was a wealthy Italian boat racer in the 1940’s and 1950’s. In 1940 he set the world speed record of 81.1 mph in his boat Arno, powered by an Alfa Romeo engine. In the 50’s he concentrated on setting top speed records. He commissioned a three-point hydroplane hull from Cantieri Timossi, a boat builder on Lake Como near Milan. The hull was named Arno XI. At high speeds a three-point hydroplane rides on two pontoon-like sponsons. The propeller provides the third point of support. A tunnel of air between the sponsons generates aerodynamic lift. Ferrari supplied Castoldi with a water-cooled V-12 engine rated at about 385 hp. The engine ran through a gear box that spun the propeller at up to 10,000 rpm. In January of 1953 Castoldi set an unofficial speed record of 124 mph, but soon lost the record to a competitor from Alfa Romeo. Castoldi had a new methanol-burning engine built with twin superchargers. The new engine produced 550-600 hp. On October 15, 1953 Castoldi set a new speed record of 150.49 mph that still stands today. Castoldi retired from racing in 1954 and sold Arno XI to a wealthy engineer named Nando dell’Orto, who revised the body lines of the cowl and added the large fin dorsal fin behind the driver. The boat was raced until the mid 60’s. Arno XI was restored in the early 90’s. It was sold again at auction in Monaco on May 12, 2012 for €868.000. References REAL Ferrari Boats, part One: Arno XI by David Mulvey RM Auctions: 1953 Timossi-Ferrari 'Arno XI' Racing Hydroplane YouTube video by RM auctions
  5. rvchima
    Augie, Thank you for all the information about other builds that used mahogany. I've just spent all afternoon browsing MSW and have found some great tips on planking, filling cracks, and French polishing. I had not seen your post of the Greek tug Ulises. That is a very attractive model, something I might consider for a next build. The kit comes with a lot of brass nails, both with and without heads. It seems that the original Arno XI was planked with brass nails (or at least treenails,) so I suppose it's time to start experimenting with them. The plans show nails at each bulkhead, but photos of the original show much closer spacing. I'll probably start with the bulkheads and go from there. Rod
  6. rvchima
    Augie, I have been folowing your build log and am impressed by your progress. The Confederacy is a beautiful model, but I didn't have it in me to start such an ambitious project. So I started completely totally different, a Ferrari hydroplane kit by Amati. http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/4913-arno-xi-ferrari-hydroplane-by-rvchima-amati-18/ I am really missing Chuck's highly detailed instructions and feedback from the other experienced buiders on this site. Please take a look and let me know if you have any thoughts about how to procede with this unusual kit. Rod
  7. rvchima
    Hull sheeting Complete day 6, 30 hours ] I finally found some laser-cut parts that didn't quite fit - the sides panels of the hull. I had to do a little cut-and-paste, but I finally got the hull closed up. Most of this will get covered wit mahogany planks. A bit of ply sand-through on the bottom. I don't know how I can finish this to look right. Any ideas? I applied a bit of planking to the stern. I sure miss Chuck Passaro's 130 pages of instructions for the Syren! The Amati instructions are very brief: Fig. 20-21 Plank deck using mahogany strips. Remember to drive nails along guide lines you have already marked on deck. Should I plank the sides? aft end? bottom? There isdefinitely not enough material for the bottom but I plan to do the rest. I painted the styrene seat and made the attachment. Now that's red! And here's where it stands for now.
  8. rvchima
    Shamrock, The engine kit has been mentioned on a couple of sites but it seemes to be completely unavailabe. And at the price I think I can do without it. Rod Shamrock's image of the Ferrari engine was lost in recent problems with the server. This is the closest that I could find. RVC 4/11/14
  9. rvchima
    Time for some color I couldn't wait to paint something red so I made this footboard assembly. The photo-etched aluminum pieces actually have raised tread marks on them. Nice touch.
  10. rvchima
    Hull Sheeting in Progress The hull is sheeted with several pieces of 1 mm plywood. It's impressive how closely the pieces fit together without trimming. The upper surface will eventually be planked with mahogany strips held in place with headless brass nails. The bottom sheeting isn't quite done yet. Much of it will eventually be covered with photo-etched aluminum sheets held in place with standard brass nails.
  11. rvchima
    Ferrari Hydroplane, day 1, 5 hours The laser cutting on this kit is beautiful! The frame is 1/4 birch ply. There are no burn marks and the cut line is hairline thin. I still needed a razor-sharp carving chisel to separate the tiny tabs that hold the parts to the sheet. The hull is framed in two sections, fore, and aft. The assembled frame weighs a hefty 1lb, 5 oz. The next step will be a lot of sanding to fair the square edges of all those bulkheads.
  12. rvchima
    Eindeckker Complete The extremely cold temperatures caused several unexpected delays, so my model airplane took longer than I expected. But I'm done and the Fokker Eindeckker is cute as can be. Some day six months from now I'll take it outside, wind it up, and give it a toss. But for now, back to the Ferrari hydroplane!
  13. rvchima
    A (Hopefully) Short Delay At the moment there is a Fokker Eindecker (Dumas kit) that needs covering sitting on my workbench. Give me a week to get that done before I start on the Ferrari.
  14. rvchima
    What's in the Box The kit is packaged beautifully. Fit for a Ferrari. Heavy molded plastic fin, seat, and cowling. Laser-etched aluminum parts and cardboard instrument cluster. Laser-cut keels and bulkheads. Tiny brass pins for the planking, beautiful diecast wheel, rudder, and exhaust manifolds. Plastic and brass flashing, mahogany planking. Instruction pictures (24 pages), and text in Italian and English (8 pages.) Separate book with text in French. Full-size drawings of exterior, frame, and RC installation. I will just build for static display.
  15. rvchima
    And Now for Something Completely Different - Arno XI Ferrari Hydroplane, 1:8 scale, by Amati I now have three tall ship models in my house, a Spanish Galleon built by my grandfather in 1933, a MS Flying Fish that I built in 1969, and my recently-completed US Brig Syren. One can only have so many big plexiglass cases in one's house before one's wife starts to object, so for my next build I decided on something easier to dust, an Arno Ferrari hydroplane. Besides, with a glossy red cowling, polished mahogany planking, and chrome exhaust, wheel, and rudder, who can complain? I bought the kit from Cornwall Model Boats in the UK. Even with shipping to the US their price was significantly cheaper than anyone else. I ordered the kit on a Sunday and had it in my hands the following Friday. I knew that I wouldn't be able to start on it until after the holidays, so I gave it to my wife to give to me for Christmas. She didn't object. There's not much information about this kit on line, so I'll start my build log with What's in the Box
  16. rvchima
    Hi Augie, I still pop in ocasionally to check on your progress, and the Confederacy is coming along beautifully! I hope you have a Merry Christmas and great new year. I should be back on line soon with a new build log. Stay tuned. Rod
  17. rvchima
    Back in July Thomas placed a separate post asking if anyone could sell him their copper stamping jig for the Syren. I offered to lend him mine if he would pay shipping to his home and return the jig to me when he was finished. He immediately sent me $10, I sent him the jig, he made the plates, and that's the last anyone has heard from him. Here's hoping that he sees this post and returns my jig.
  18. rvchima
    Mike, I bought 0.093 in. thick Optix brand acrylic sheet at Home Depot. The total cost was around $90 so glass might be cheaper. The acrylic sheets come in widths that are multiples of 12 in. My width was 12 3/4 in. so there was a lot of waste. You can buy a tool to score and snap the plastic. If you score it many times perfectly along a straightedge and are very careful, it will snap right along the score. I screwed up my very first cut, so I gave up and used my table saw. I cleaned up the edge with sandpaper. The table saw turned out to be a good idea because I had to recut several pieces slightly undersized to make everything fit. Rod
  19. rvchima
    Syren Update - Case Completed I just completed a case for my Syren. It is my own design made from quarter-sawn white oak and plexiglass. The inner dimensions are fit to the Syren at 34" x 13" x 27" and the outer dimensions are 36" x 15" x 28". Plexiglass is 1/6 the weight of glass so the case only weighs a few pounds and I can move it myself. The case is finished with a coat of Watco walnut stain, two coats of orange shellac to seal the grain, and several coats of a 1:1:1 mix of polyurethane varnish, boiled linseed oil, and mineral spirits.
  20. rvchima
    Thanks Augie. That's about what I expected on the width but I wanted to be sure. The price on that case is quite reasonable so I'm tempted to order one rather than build my own. Rod
  21. rvchima
    Hi Augie, I am glad to hear that you are home, feeling better, and back to work. I do have a question about the case for your Syren. The dimensions of my Syren are 32"L x 11 1/4"W x 26"H. The dimensions of the GM7W are 34"L x 12"W x 28"H. The width dimensions are pretty close. Do you have enough clearance for the width of your model? Rod
  22. rvchima
    Shameless Spousal Promotion My wife, Cinda Williams Chima, is a New York Times best selling author of young adult fantasy novels. When I'm not building models I build her web site. http://www.cindachima.com/ Her first series of books, The Warrior Heir, The Wizard Heir, and The Dragon Heir, are contemporary fantasy set in Ohio. Her second series of books, The Demon King, The Exiled Queen, The Gray Wolf Throne, and The Crimson Crown, are high fantasy. Think Game of Thrones without the sex and lower body count. Most of her books have been published in Dutch, German, Portuguese (for Brazil), Spanish, and French. And English. If you, your children, or grandchildren enjoy reading fantasy, please check her website. Rod
  23. rvchima
    Thank You MSW! I really enjoyed building the Syren, but interacting with all of you made it that much better. Many thanks to Chuck Passaro for designing such a magnificent kit. I couldn't have done it without Chuck's awesome instructions. Thanks also to Model Expo for producing the kit and convincing me to buy it at the Cleveland hobby show last October. And finally special thanks to Augie and Dirk and everyone else for helping with all my dumb questions. Rod
  24. rvchima
    Next Build That's a pile of quater sawn white oak, a Stickley table, and a case for the Syren. I designed a case for my Flying Fish (see page 1 of this log) and will scale it to the Syren.
  25. rvchima
    Details from Above Fore top. Weren't they from Motown? Main top. Gull's eye view of the Syren.

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