Amerigo Vespucci by rovinsea - Mantua - Scale 1:84 - Stuart Vincent

[rovinsea]

Building Log

Although I have been a Member for a number of years, this will be my first attempt at a Building Log. The forum has been a marvellous help over the years, I have picked up numerous tips and tricks from following other builds particularly those of Paul Jarman and Shiffbastler have proven to be of great assistance in picking which kit to choose.

 

Just a bit about myself. I’m now 70 years old and have been Shipbuilding for the past 18 years. I live in sunny South Australia where I am fortunate enough to be able to have a dedicated Display Room as well as a Hobby Room. Most of my models have been purchased from Cornwall Model Boats. 

. 

My list of completed  models:-

* King Mississippi,

* Bounty, 

* Victory, 

* Wassa, 

* Sovereign of the Seas, 

* Vanguard,

*  Von Hamburg, 

* Titanic

• Revange.

 

 I find it very a relaxing hobby and would describe myself as being a “if it looks right, it is right” person more than a “rivet counter”. I go for good display quality rather than museum quality. 

 

As seen by the photos there is a generous amount of laser cut,  brass and cast metal I am expecting that it will take me at least 2 years to complete. So far I have assembled the basic hull, with the bulkheads and main deck and upper deck in place. This part of the build is standard with no real surprises and all parts have fitted neatly together. 

 

[AntonyUK]

Hi and welcome to MSW.

That's One big model. Looks like you will be expanding your work bench.

That's one nice list of COMPLEATED models. You should have no problems with this one.

What's that a extra bulkhead in the last photo ?.

Best of luck on your new ventures with the Amerigo.

 

Regards Antony.

 

[James H]

I've always wanted to see one of these built. Thought about buying it myself a few years ago.

 

Good luck on the journey and looking forward to your updates.

[Kevin]

good morning, i abandoned my build of this many years ago, look forward to watching you progress, i never bothered with trying to make the hull watertight, so did not use the cloth material for the hull covering, perhaps the thing i hated most was the poor brass fittings and the inability to get the main deck access correct

 

[Kevin]

one of the best hints i read was to forget about the templates that cover the portholes , and paint spray on the white stripes instead 

[rovinsea]

Hi Antony: The ‘extra Bulkhead ‘ you see is actually the upper aft deck.

————————————————————————————————-.

 

Progressing slowly with the First Planking. There was a choice of using Bulsa or Lime wood for first planking; the manufacturer recommended the Bulsa but I decided to go with the Lime. Having used Lime several times before and found I was able to bend and twist as needed; Lime would give a stronger hull.To date I have found no problems with the planking. I will use a Second planking even though there say it is not mandatory if the modelspan paper is used. 

 

As the photos show, 

•  I use a pin and glue method. The pins are “TrackPins” as used in model Railways, the are strong, sharp, with a large head which makes them easy to remove after the glue has set.
• Another technique I adhere to is when tapering a plank, I only go to half width, which is more prototypical and gives stronger joints. I also try and make the joint over a Bulkhead. Once you have mastered the method it is easy to follow.
• To taper a plank I use a razor blade and a gentle tap with the hammer to make a decent straight cut.
• To bend and twist the planks I use a compilation of Amati  plank bender, soaking in water and a heat gun. 
• To stop the Bulkhead top from being glued to the hull planking, I wrapped then in callotape.

 

 

 

 

[Paul Jarman]

Hi,

I will follow this build with interest as I am building the same kit.

Paul

 

 

[rovinsea]

Apologies for taking so long between posts, but I’ve been busy working on the hull. It has been a slow job and have not been able to spend as many hours working on it as I would have liked.

 

 

 

The planking at this stage looks a little rough, but lines of the hull are good.

 

 

The transom planking in place.

 

Looking better now after filling and sanding.

The first planking took a total of 29 hrs. That is hands on working time. 

Started Second planking, using 0.5 x 3.0 walnut strips. Used Tarzan grip style CA glue to fix the planks. 

Found that I had made major error in choosing the wood strips for the second planking!  There was not enough 3.0 x 0.5 mm walnut that I choose to use but I found I had enough 4.0 x 0.5 mm strip in my stach to complete the job.

 

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The completed Second planking, after a little filling, sanding and a couple of coats of Sanding Sealer, looks quite good.

Taken another 21 hours to finish this stage.

 

Once a couple of coats of grey sealer paint ( Hombrols 01) were brush painter over the hull, we had a great looking hull. No cracks, no lumps, just a great smooth surface.

The instructions call for the use of spray paints which unfortunately due to my lung condition I cannot use. So all painting will be done by brush using Humbrol Enamels.

 

 

The next step, according to institutions is the planking the deck.........

 

[rovinsea]

At last the deck planking is finished,  it not without a lot of angst. You see, I now realise that the strips I used for the Second Planking of the Hull, were actually meant for the deck........bugger!

Checking the kits contents, I now realise that although they say strips for the second planking were included! That was not the case. So back again to my stash. Fortunately I had quite a lot of 3 x 0.5mm boxwood, and if a little bit of stain were to be applied it would make an idea finish. The designated strips were to be 4mm or 12 inches wide, so to reduce them to 9 inches was not going to be a problem.

The strips were cut to 80mm and a 4 step stagger was used. The strips were stuck down with PVA glue

The wood stain I choose was Golden Teak. It did produce a nice varied colouring and a good simulation of corking as the joints between strips came out darker. Unfortunately the overall effect was a little to “golden “ for my liking,  ut an application of Sanding Sealer with a splash of black stain added darkened it down sufficiently

mu

 

 

 

[Snej]

Thank you Stuart for sharing your progress.

I picked up the Panart 741 "Amerigo Vespucci" at an auction, only to notice at home that the instruction plans were all in Italian!  So far, I can live with that and translation from the internet helps.

QUESTION: what is the best method to cut out the windows, doors, etc. from the copper/brass sheathing supplied in the kit? The plans indicate using an exacto knife, but this appears very difficult when the corners of the windows are rounded?  The bull eyes were easy using a drill.

Any help offered would be very much appreciated.....thank you!

snej

 

[Kevin]

any more updates on this build?