Phoenix by Kevin - Panart - 1/84 - Ex Amerigo Vespucci - restarted June 2020

[Kevin]

welcome to my restarted Amerigo

 

here are a few pictures taken back when first started in 2008

 

 

[Kevin]

10 years ago i purchased the Amerigo Vespucci, which at that time was my second POB kit the Royal Caroline was the first

 

i was still in the Royal navy at that time and away from home quite a bit, so i never got into a routine with her, by the time i had the time, the Victory replaced her

 

as a result she has got into quite a mess with a hole in the hull and some damage on the bulkheads above the main deck

 

i have many reasons for this being my next build,

i enjoyed the rigging on the victory and wants another 3 masted ship

i dont have all the information to start the Trawler St Nectan

other reason are that i have plans to retire within two years so the trawler and several other builds i want to buy will be paid for before i leave employment

 

although i bought it as the whole kit, it is also available in 9 parts, which makes it a lot more expensive,  i have ordered two parts to enable me to restart her

 

 

 

n 1925, the Regia Marina ordered two school ships to a design by General Lieutenant Francesco Rotundi of the Italian Navy Engineering Corps, inspired by the style of large late 18th century 74-cannon ships of the line (like the neapolitan ship "Monarca"). The first, the Cristoforo Colombo, was put into service in 1928 and was used by the Italian Navy until 1943. After World War II, this ship was handed over to the USSR as part of the war reparations and was shortly afterwards decommissioned.^{[citation needed]}

The second ship was the Amerigo Vespucci, built in 1930 at the (formerly Royal) Naval Shipyard of Castellammare di Stabia (Naples). She was launched on February 22, 1931,^[1] and put into service in July of that year.

The vessel is a full rigged three-masted steel hull 82.4 m (270 ft) long, with an overall length of 101 m (331 ft) including the bowsprit and a maximum width of 15.5 m (51 ft). She has a draught of about 7 m (23 ft) and a displacement at full load of 4146 tons. Under auxiliary diesel-electric propulsion the Amerigo Vespucci can reach 10 knots (19 km/h) and has a range of 5450 nm at 6.5 knots.

 

The Amerigo Vespucci in the harbor of Oslo, 2005. Akershus Fortress in the background.

 

The Amerigo Vespucci & bireme Ivlia. Portoferraio island Elba, 1991.

The three steel masts are 50, 54 and 43 metres high, and carry sails totalling 2,824 m² (30,400 sq ft). The Amerigo Vespucci has 26 sails – square sails, staysails, and jibs: all are traditional canvas sails. When under sail in severe sea and wind conditions she can reach 12 knots (22 km/h). The rig, some 30 km of ropes, uses only traditional hemp ropes; only the mooring lines are synthetic, to comply with port regulations.

The hull is painted black with two white stripes, harking back to the two gun decks of the ships her design is based on, but she carries only two 6pdr saluting guns in pivot mountings on the deck, forward of the mainmast. The deck planks are of teak wood and must be replaced every three years. Bow and stern are decorated with intricate ornaments; she has a life-size figurehead of Amerigo Vespucci. The stern gallery is accessible only through the Captain's saloon.

The standard crew of the Amerigo Vespucci is 16 officers, 70 non-commissioned officers and 190 sailors. In summer, when she embarks the midshipmen of the Naval Academy (Accademia Navale), the crew totals some 450.^{[citation needed]}

In 1964 the ship was fitted with two 4-stroke, 8-cylinder FIAT B 308 ESS diesel engines, which replaced the original 2-stroke 6-cylinder FIAT Q 426 engines. These engines generated electric power for one electric propulsion motor that produced up to about 1,471 kW (1,973 hp).^{[citation needed]}

After update works, between 2013 and 2016, the ship has been fitted with two 4-stroke, 12-cylinder MTU, 1,32 MW each diesel engine generators and two 4-stroke, 8-cylinder MTU, 760 kW each diesel engine generators,^[2] and one NIDEC (Ansaldo Sistemi Industriali) electric engine.^[3][4] During the same work, the ship has been fitted with new radar GEM Elettronica AN/SPS-753(V)5, new satellite antenna ORBIT AL-7103.

When carrying cadets, the ship is usually steered from the manual stern rudder station, which is operated by four steering wheels with two men each. At other times, the hydraulically assisted steering on the bridge is used. Except for the anchor winch, the winches aboard are not power operated. The bridge is equipped with sophisticated modern electronic navigation instruments.

Other than during World War II, the Amerigo Vespucci has been continually active. Most of her training cruises are in European waters, but she has also sailed to North and South America, and navigated the Pacific. In 2002, she undertook a voyage around the world.

The Amerigo Vespucci often takes part in sailing parades and Tall Ships' Races, where she is in amicable rivalry with the Gorch Fock. When she is berthed in port, public tours of the vessel are usually offered.

On 7 July 2018, Amerigo Vespucci arrived to the port of Almeria.^[5] It is the third time it visited Almería:^[6] the first one was in 1932,^[7] and the second one was in 1989.^[8] It left the city on 10 July.^[9] Then it will travel to Ponta Delgada, in the Azores Islands, and it will cross the Atlantic Ocean to the Northern Europe.^[10][11]

[Kevin]

this is how she was in 2008, every thing was kept safe apart from the hull

roll on 11 years 

and as of yesterday, i was taking her back to whats good in the hull

 

[gjdale]

I look forward to following your progress on this one Kevin.

[Richard50]

Good luck with the build, I look forward to following you. I have some spare parts,so if you need anything and I have it your welcome to it.

[Kevin]

On 3/15/2019 at 3:00 PM, Richard50 said:

Good luck with the build, I look forward to following you. I have some spare parts,so if you need anything and I have it your welcome to it.

Richard thank you, are you still going to try and complete yours?

 

[Kevin]

Good evening everyone

 

well i have ordered parts 2 and 5 of the set which have arrived, i also ordered 1.5mm plywwod sheets to replace the decks, 2mm thick balsa sheet for the 1st planking and lime strips for the 2nd planking

 

all the main decks will be remade, the hull inside be reinforced to stop damage when drill portholes, and this build will have sails,

 

some of the fittings will be scratched as they are very basic,

my original build log was lost in the great crash, reinput and then i asked for that one to be deleted as this was going to landfill

Edited May 30, 2021 by Kevin

[Kevin]

good evening everyone

 

as well as the Dorade i have brought the Amerigo back to the table, i am in the right frame of mind to do this now, having had a few builds under the table

 

at present i am taking the hull back so that i can do a few things that were not thought about first time around, like beefing up behind the port holes abd the stern as as to get the balcony on, please join me on my journey, its the rigging i want to get to 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gjdale]

NIce to see you back at this one Kevin. I’m in!

[Kevin]

6 hours ago, gjdale said:

NIce to see you back at this one Kevin. I’m in!

thank you grant, my first issue is knowing how far to go back, the next one is that the 4 centre frames are cut to deck level on completion of hull planking,, but this a problem i generated, so lol i better sort it out, i have never had a build that has been put in the rubbish bin so many times, 

[Kevin]

well the expensive  Amerigo kit is well and truly back from the shelf of doom and on the build table, and actually going forwards again as i correct the damage and try to make some bits better

 

the two holes have been repaired, just a bit more sanding required, i made the holes larger, frame to frame, put an extra ledge in to give me some support

the stern above the water line was always my second biggest concern (the bow wins first place) but most of has been ripped out cleaned up and where possible replaced 

 

before the rip out

 

[Kevin]

well this is going better than planned

 

good evening everyone

 

quite glad i have gone ahead to try and salvage this build, having planned a way ahead the stern and midships are now taking shape, I started on the bow tonight and that is the worst mess to sort out, god what the hell was i doing when i started this 12 odd years ago

 

Stern i just used sheets of balsa to allow some reshaping of the sten to get the balcony to fit, having said that it is nearly there, as it is all fitting better, not pretty, but i am not either

 

 

midships 

between the bulkheads i have put some balsa sheets it, to try and minimise any damage when drill the portholes, wether it works i will let you know

the deck chamfer is not catered for, between the bulkhead, and as i have cut some of the false deck they also needed something to be secured to

Bulwarks, this was worrying me, as the bulwark supports were cut out before deck planking last time so i never had a height, but i salvaged to two made last time and used the height from them

 

[gjdale]

Looks like the repairs are going well Kevin - well done.

[Kevin]

well most of the first planking is complete, however it surrounds the two upperdecks, and i wanted to deck the midships section, so i have delayed that, The deck planks are Lime 3mm, as i find the supplied 3mm brown strips very brittle and to dark for my liking

altogether, this is working out very well, everything is fitting better (well im happy anyway)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kevin]

Good evening everyone

well the main decking is done, and had one coat of diluted water based varnish, and is actually better than i thought and 1000% better than that previous effort i did.

Next will be to work on the cabins under the decks, to allow the two upper false decks to be fitted/planked, then i can complete 2nd planking

 

12 years ago

prior to sanding port side with supervisor checking on progress

 

[Kevin]

 

[Kevin]

good afternoon everyone

 

once the deck was completed, i wanted to sort the bulkheads under the 1/4 deck. the originals were broken up and used as templates

[Kevin]

 

[Kevin]

Good morning everyone

 

1st planking continues, but as i correct things, i keep removing more of the original build, so i might have a few issues getting the new to match whats left when the 2nd planking is complete, yes it would have been easier to strip it all back but hopefully i can rescue all this and get her back to pre-strip down

the bow is much better than before and the stern, is now the troublesome area but the shape is right

 

this is the most fun i have had since the last time i had fun, if how ever it does not look right, i will send her to to big model ship scrapyard in the sky, the frame will not take this much treatment again

the map pins are keeping the vertical planks in place, 

[ken3335]

Hi Kevin, 

 

That really is a major rebuild your taking on. I think that in many ways it’s more difficult than starting from scratch, I wouldn’t want to so congrats on making a go of it. I think that that you’re doing a very good job of it, the deck planking looks good, much better than your original, the cabins too look like they’re taking shape nicely. It will be interesting to see the difference between our two kits, same make but different eras. Anyway keep up your enthusiasm for this build and good luck with it.

 

ken

[Kevin]

Good evening everyone

 

1st and 2nd planking completed at the stern, and 90% forard i want to get the cabins in first before the front bit is completed

 

the stern now works for me in the respect that the balcony fits and although a lots of sanding/filler in places, i am happy with it

 

at present i am recovering the templates that make up the cabins, in a worst case scenario, i will remake them all

still a lot of work required on the bow

using the recovered templates where possible

 

[Kevin]

good morning everyone

 

finished making the cabin bulkheads, will do for now

 

im at that stage of doing something i dont enjoy, i wont say hate it, but very close, prepping the hull for colour, sanding priming, filling and repeat.

 

having completed a majority of 2nd planking, i was quite happy to take the weather  window and do some sanding outside, what ever i do, must be better than it was

 

 

[mirek625]

Cześć Kevin,

Obserwuję Twoją relację z budowy Amerigo Vespucci i zauważyłem, że w zestawie masz rysunki i szkice, których brakowało w zestawie, który ja otrzymałem. Od znajomego dostałem niedokończony model, który próbuję dokończyć. W tym celu ściągnąłem z internetu zeszyty z instrukcją do modelu ale brakuje szkiców masztów i reji ich wysokości i grubości. Chciałbym prosić o pomoc w tej kwestii, jeśli posiadasz szkice, czy mógłbyś mi je udostępnić w formie zdjęć na maila mirekmotyka@interia.pl. Przesyłam zdjęcia moich prac nad projektem oraz zeszytu, którym dysponuję. Serdecznie pozdrawiam Mirek.

[Kevin]

34 minutes ago, mirek625 said:

Cześć Kevin,

Obserwuję Twoją relację z budowy Amerigo Vespucci i zauważyłem, że w zestawie masz rysunki i szkice, których brakowało w zestawie, który ja otrzymałem. Od znajomego dostałem niedokończony model, który próbuję dokończyć. W tym celu ściągnąłem z internetu zeszyty z instrukcją do modelu ale brakuje szkiców masztów i reji ich wysokości i grubości. Chciałbym prosić o pomoc w tej kwestii, jeśli posiadasz szkice, czy mógłbyś mi je udostępnić w formie zdjęć na maila mirekmotyka@interia.pl. Przesyłam zdjęcia moich prac nad projektem oraz zeszytu, którym dysponuję. Serdecznie pozdrawiam Mirek.

google translation says

 

I follow up on your relationship with the Amerigo Vespucci building, and I thought that in the set you have the features and sketches that it cranked in the set that I used. From an acquaintance, I received an unfinished model, which I try to complete. In order to download from the Internet, the instructions for the model, however, break down the sketches of masts and the speed of their height and thickness. I would like to ask for help in this area, if you sit on the sketches, if you can make them available to me in the form of a photo at mirekmotyka@interia.pl. I sent photos of my work on the project and the network, which I have. Greetings Mirek

[Kevin]

good evening everyone

 

took a break from the Dorade for a couple weeks, as i wanted to progress the AV

the hull has been sanded and primed 3 times now and as a result, it is much better, deck planking in 3mm lime, means she will look totally different to the real thing, thats by choice and intentional

 

[Kevin]

Good morning everyone

 

thank you for comments and likes very much appreciated

 

well the deck planking is done, just a couple of edges that need sorting, as it got quite thin on the edges for over sanding

 

so far, every thing that was messed up last time has sorted its self out, although the boat seams to have got 10mm longer in 12 years, still growing maybe

 

the main porthole strips on the port side went on with out any fuss, but i put an extra infill in to cover the 10mm gap

 

i want to be brave and do a different colour scheme on her, any suggestions, as the decking is quite light, i was thinking about renaming her now and taking her a very different vessel

 

I like her in this scheme will be interesting to find out how others feel, maybe now is the time to take to just a composite 3 master

 

 

 

[gjdale]

Your rebuild/repair efforts are really paying off Kevin. Don’t know what to advise on the colour scheme. I kinda like the original but you’re the Captain as they say.

[Kevin]

52 minutes ago, gjdale said:

Your rebuild/repair efforts are really paying off Kevin. Don’t know what to advise on the colour scheme. I kinda like the original but you’re the Captain as they say.

actually, im not sure that i am brave enough anyway, the rivet counters would have me hung drawn and 1/48

[Old Collingwood]

Very nice work mate,  all those details really make a difference and dont get me started on your decking  - spot on.

 

OC.

[Kevin]

3 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Very nice work mate,  all those details really make a difference and dont get me started on your decking  - spot on.

 

OC.

thank you OC, been pushing this build on, she is getting much needed time spent on her, i am now passed where i left her off all those years ago, and looks so much better in white primer (pictures to follow)