Jump to content

Calypso by yvesvidal - Billing Boats - 1/45


Recommended Posts

Folks,

 

bbtCUn.jpg

 

This is a model that is not seen too frequently on this side of the pond: the famous and legendary Calypso of Jacques Cousteau. The model was produced by Billing Boats in the early 1980's and was offered with an ABS molded hull, lots of injected plastic parts, brass and some wood for the construction of the cabins and decks. The model was offered with all the parts and details (which was not the norm in the 80's) and could be radio-controlled. The model at a scale of 1/45 was close to 95 cm long, 33 cm high and 19 cm wide.

 

I purchased the Billing Boats model in 1985, spending my first monthly pay on the kit and two Mabushi motors. I was working for IBM on the French Riviera at that time. This was my first big kit and I was (and still are) in love with that vessel and its legend. The pictures you are seeing below show the model after 30 years of almost no activity. The model would have to be seriously cleaned up and re-painted. I have removed a lot of parts (the crane for instance) as well as all the radio control gears (battery, receiver, servos, motors, switches and speed controller).

 

That model, like his big sister, has sailed in a few places in the world: the Harbor of Cagnes Sur Mer (salt water) in the Alpes Maritimes in France, some lakes in the South of France near Toulouse, a couple of lakes in Massachusetts near Boston and Lake Lynn in Raleigh, NC. I built a sturdy box that was used to transport it and move it from Europe to the USA.

 

p5tcjV.jpg

 

nAuxyI.jpg

 

vNJF4N.jpg

 

NAHu5C.jpg

 

TOeQ5f.jpg

 

qupBf0.jpg

 

BemINz.jpg

 

n4gEGI.jpg

 

4NaMac.jpg

 

As some of you may know, the Calypso was sunk in the Chinese harbor of Singapore, following a collision with a barge early 1986. One year later she was lifted from the bottom of the harbor and stored in a shipyard. Sadly, Jacques-Yves Cousteau died the same year.

 

Calypso_naufrage.gif

 

In 2006, the wreck was given to the Cousteau Society and after many years of transaction (French administration is heavy and slow), the restoration of the ship started recently.

 

CALYPSO1-master675.jpg

 

calypso2.jpg

 

Calypso is considered as part of the French Patrimoine (like the castle of Versailles) and as such will receive governmental funding for its restoration and the assurance of a long and cared for life (hopefully...).

 

Yves

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

very interesting........I was under the impression that she had a steel hull.   I used to watch his show as a youngster......as well as the mutual of Omaha 'wild Kingdom.   the model still looks great after all this time  :)   nice  ;)

I yam wot I yam!

finished builds:
Billings Nordkap 476 / Billings Cux 87 / Billings Mary Ann / Billings AmericA - reissue
Billings Regina - bashed into the Susan A / Andrea Gail 1:20 - semi scratch w/ Billing instructions
M&M Fun Ship - semi scratch build / Gundalow - scratch build / Jeanne D'Arc - Heller
Phylly C & Denny-Zen - the Lobsie twins - bashed & semi scratch dual build

Billing T78 Norden

 

in dry dock:
Billing's Gothenborg 1:100 / Billing's Boulogne Etaples 1:20
Billing's Half Moon 1:40 - some scratch required
Revell U.S.S. United States 1:96 - plastic/ wood modified / Academy Titanic 1:400
Trawler Syborn - semi scratch / Holiday Harbor dual build - semi scratch

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Popeye,

 

Yes, I agree with you that the outside of the hull looked like metal. But it was made of wood and that probably explain why it sank so quickly when it was hit by that Chinese barge in the harbor of Singapore.

Before being an exploration vessel, the ship was a mine-sweeper. There is a lot of information on the WEB about that famous vessel.

 

Yves

Link to comment
Share on other sites

very nice model Yves,

 

also interesting pics relating to the restoration of the Calypso...

 

Nils

Current builds

-Lightship Elbe 1

Completed

- Steamship Ergenstrasse ex Laker Corsicana 1918- scale 1:87 scratchbuild

"Zeesboot"  heritage wooden fishing small craft around 1870, POB  clinker scratch build scale 1:24

Pilot Schooner # 5 ELBE  ex Wanderbird, scale 1:50 scratchbuild

Mississippi Sterwheelsteamer built as christmapresent for grandson modified kit build

Chebec "Eagle of Algier" 1753--scale 1:48-POB-(scratchbuild) 

"SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" four stacker passenger liner of 1897, blue ribbond awarded, 1:144 (scratchbuild)
"HMS Pegasus" , 16 gun sloop, Swan-Class 1776-1777 scale 1:64 from Amati plan 

-"Pamir" 4-mast barque, P-liner, 1:96  (scratchbuild)

-"Gorch Fock 2" German Navy cadet training 3-mast barque, 1:95 (scratchbuild) 

"Heinrich Kayser" heritage Merchant Steamship, 1:96 (scratchbuild)  original was my grandfathers ship

-"Bohuslän" , heritage ,live Swedish museum passenger steamer (Billings kit), 1:50 

"Lorbas", river tug, steam driven for RC, fictive design (scratchbuild), scale appr. 1:32

under restoration / restoration finished 

"Hjejlen" steam paddlewheeler, 1861, Billings Boats rare old kit, scale 1:50

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks interesting! I will follow :).

-Elijah

 

Current build(s):

Continental Gunboat Philadelphia by Model Shipways

https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/15753-continental-gunboat-philadelphia-by-elijah-model-shipways-124-scale/

 

Completed build(s):

Model Shipways Phantom

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php?showtopic=12376

 

Member of:

The Nautical Research Guild

N.R.M.S.S. (Nautical Research and Model Ship Society)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is probably nothing to follow, as I have no time to restore it, nor the desire to do that yet.

 

I managed to find a small chopper at the scale of 1/48th which i believe will be more detailed than the one provided by Billing Boats.

The ship would need to be thoroughly cleaned, sanded in some places, re-painted and lots of detail could be added.

This was done with 30 years ago technology and paints and details are much better today than they used to be in the early 80's.

 

If the urge to fix it sparks in my heart, then I will have a place to report the progress.

 

Thank you for your interest.

Yves

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

There is probably nothing to follow, as I have no time to restore it, nor the desire to do that yet.

 

I managed to find a small chopper at the scale of 1/48th which i believe will be more detailed than the one provided by Billing Boats.

The ship would need to be thoroughly cleaned, sanded in some places, re-painted and lots of detail could be added.

This was done with 30 years ago technology and paints and details are much better today than they used to be in the early 80's.

 

If the urge to fix it sparks in my heart, then I will have a place to report the progress.

 

Thank you for your interest.

Yves

Yves

 

What is the make and model of the helicopter you found to replace the kit helicopter? The only thing close I have found is the 1:48 Academy Hughes 500. Similar in size, but the Hughes 500 is much more modern than the one on board the Calypso. I may be able to use parts from both the Calypso kit and the Academy kit to recreate a more detailed rendering but it won't be exact.

 

One other thing is the kit hull. Being ABS plastic, I wonder if anyone else has ever tried apply planking veneer to simulate the wooden hull on the 1:1 ship? I am going to experiment a bit to see if it is realistic to do. I have some scrap ABS plastic that I will experiment with. I think some type of contact cement would work but I need to make sure it doesn't melt the plastic. Possibly there are some 3M products that will be suitable as an adhesive for the wood veneer planks on ABS. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yves

 

What is the make and model of the helicopter you found to replace the kit helicopter? The only thing close I have found is the 1:48 Academy Hughes 500. Similar in size, but the Hughes 500 is much more modern than the one on board the Calypso. I may be able to use parts from both the Calypso kit and the Academy kit to recreate a more detailed rendering but it won't be exact.

Well, I found this kit:

 

http://www.squadron.com/v/vspfiles/photos/IT0857-2.jpg

 

I agree that it is bigger than the original mini-copter that they used. I am not sure that it will fit.

 

It is a good idea to try some planking to simulate the wood.

 

Yves

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I found this kit:

 

http://www.squadron.com/v/vspfiles/photos/IT0857-2.jpg

 

I agree that it is bigger than the original mini-copter that they used. I am not sure that it will fit.

 

It is a good idea to try some planking to simulate the wood.

 

Yves

Thanks Yves.

I will kit bash and scratch build a reasonable facsimile of the helicopter using the parts I have from both kits. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...
  • 6 months later...
On 6/16/2016 at 6:11 AM, yvesvidal said:

Well, I found this kit:

 

http://www.squadron.com/v/vspfiles/photos/IT0857-2.jpg

 

I agree that it is bigger than the original mini-copter that they used. I am not sure that it will fit.

 

It is a good idea to try some planking to simulate the wood.

 

Yves

I did a bit of research and found specifications for what used to be the Hughes 300C helicopter.

 

I'm thinking about scratch building new main and tail rotors using the excess ABS cut away from the hull to scale based on the attached specifications.

 

Fuji

Hughes 300C.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

Ives:

A beautiful model.  Jacques Cousteau is one of my heroes. In 1950 I read his book: The Silent World, and got hooked on skin diving and later scuba. Spent my early youth in the water. When I came to the US I joined a diving club in Florida when diving wasn't cool yet. This were the early 60's and the SeaHUn came on TV and now everybody dives.

I have been thinking of building this model for a long time and maybe I'll do it after I've done with my current projects

Ras

 

Current builds:

Stern Paddle Wheeler ZULU-1916-1/48 scale

Previous builds:

Freccia Celeste-1927 350cc racing motorcycle-1:9 scale-Protar kit

Boeing B17F- 1/72 scale- Hasegawa kit

HMS Mimi-scale 1/24-Fast Motor Launch                               

Amapá 1907-1/64 scale-Brazilian Customs Cruiser

Scottish Motor Fifie. 1/32 scale. Amati kit

Patricia. Steam powered R/C launch. 1/12 scale. Krick Kit

African Queen. Steam powered  R/C launch. 1/24 scale. Billings ki

Emma C. Berry. Sailing fishing smack. 1/32 scale. Model Shipways kit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...