Calypso by nunnehi - FINISHED - Billing Boats - 1:45

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Back in February, Luekutus started a build log for the Billings Calypso which jogged me into finishing a project that I started probably 10 years ago. I really appreciate that he has planked his, it looks great and I’m looking forward to seeing more! My goal was to build a nice model for the mantel that was a good scale and not a warship. While I’ve done some basic research, my model is not 100% accurate and I’ve taken some artistic license in some areas. 

 

The Billings kit is crude by today’s standards but can be spiced up with a bit of detailing and is the best available today in a large scale. The helicopter supplied is AWFUL! I’ve given up on trying to make it look nice and am looking for an after market substitute in 1:48 that’s close. I added some 1:48 welding gas cylinders that look fine and the rope I’ve used is the truly nice stuff from  Syren. Most of the trim is Evergreen and a lot of the wood is from my spares stash. 

 

Enjoy,

 

Don

[BobG]

Beautiful, Don, you did a fantastic job on her! The Calypso is one of my favorite ships ever and you've certainly done her justice. Jacques would be proud of your model.

 

 

[yvesvidal]

You did a great job with this vessel. I built mine 35 years ago and I think it needs a little refresh.

 

The exact helicopter is not yet available in 1/48, but you can find approaching models. Maybe some parts of the existing kits can be used to improve on the Billing Boats helicopter.

 

Yves

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Bob and Yves,

 

Thanks for the nice comments, it’s appreciated. Growing up, my family subscribed to National Geographic and I always looked forward to articles on Cousteau’s expeditions and research, so when this model showed up at my local hobby shop, I jumped on it. It has been an interesting build but somewhat frustrating as my research has not  been able to turn up some of the details, particularly with respect to the rigging, and Billings documentation is somewhat lacking. Bob, with your experience actually spending some time on her, can you comment on the picture below. It made sense to me that the hoist just forward of the deck house would be rigged to be used with the two booms on the forward deck, and that’s what I did - pretty much speculation on my part. Does this make sense? I’m also really envious and deeply impressed that you were able to spend time on her and work with Cousteau!

 

Bob, I also want to thank you for encouraging me to post this - it’s been a nice interlude, but time to get back to the Longboat. Will be referring to your excellent log for guidance. 

 

Don

[BobG]

Don, I wish I could be of more help but the actual time I spent aboard the Calypso was only an afternoon way back in 1969. So I really don't remember specific details like the use of the hoist. I think you've made a good hunch about how it would be rigged. I wonder if there is a Calypso museum or association you might be able to contact for more information?

 

I was stationed at the US Coast Guard Captain of the Port Los Angeles/Long Beach and only spent several hours one day discussing a LORAN program for responding to nautical emergencies at sea. We wanted the Calypso to be a part of it and they welcomed the idea. Anyway, spending time talking with Jacques and others onboard the ship was very special for me since I admired Cousteau and the Calypso so much for their work in promoting the education and conservation of the world's oceans and sea life.

 

Congratulations again on your wonderful model and I look forward to seeing you work on your Medway Longboat.

 

All the best,

 

 

[fnick]

Lovely build I loved watching his TV shows when I was a kid. Also had a load of the comic strip versions of his adventures. Certainly brings back memories! Thanks for that!😀

[CDW]

Beautiful model, Don. I appreciate you sharing it with us.

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Thanks fnick and CDW, I appreciate it and glad to share. 

 

I just saw that National Geographic is working on a documentary about Cousteau and his life - really looking forward to it!

 

Don

[lmagna]

Great build of a seldom modeled but deserving ship Don. You have done wonders with an otherwise mediocre model.

 

Is there any chance that you could use this model as a base for the Hughes 300 helicopter? https://www.scalemates.com/kits/italeri-857-oh-13s-sioux--128176

It would take some bashing but with some work it might do.

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Thanks Lou. Yes it’s a bit of a dog today but probably state of the art 20 years ago. Any kit where the first thing you do is cut off about 1/3 of the hull is suspect. 😎

 

Yes, have looked at that kit for the copter. 

 

Don

[Luekutus]

Oh my! That's absolutely beautiful!

Your deck planking puts mine to shame, I'm going to try to make the best of it (when I get back to working on it).

 

Do you mind my asking how you cut the "parts" that were black lines on a thick sheet of plastic? I'm struggling there... 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Thanks, Leukutus, I really appreciate that. 

 

I used the deck planks supplied in the kit but ran short and supplemented them with some left over from another project that closely matched. They were just superglued in place, then sanded and finished with a couple of coats of wipe on poly. The wood supplied for trim was mostly junk so I substituted Evergreen strip of various widths and thicknesses to trim around the decks. I pretty much cleaned out my local hobby shops supply😸. I also used steel wire to replace most of the railings for the straight, long runs and reserved the brass supplied in the kit for places that needed to be bent. 

 

Cutting the plastic parts was a real pita, especially the vacuformed ones - that stuff is pretty crude by today’s standards and would not be acceptable in a kit with a suggested retail of almost $600.00. I used heavy scissors to do the initial cut, then finished with careful use of a scalpel and sanding. One of the problems I ran into was that once the part was cut out there was very little surface to glue it together, for example the submarine and the decompression chamber. Once again I used Evergreen strips superglued to the inside of the joints as reinforcement. Nicks and dings were filled with putty and sanding followed by several coats of paint. 

 

I’m really impressed with your hull planking and very much look forward to more - it was your original post that jogged me into picking back up on mine. 

 

Thanks again,

Don

[Fuji]

Wow! Beautiful build nunnehi!

 

I'm getting ready to also build the Billing Boats 1:45 scale Calypso and I hope my model will come out half as beautiful as yours!

 

If you don't mind me asking... how did you do the porthole and underwater observation port glass? Did you use thin clear acetate cut to shape and glue from behind or did you use something else?

 

Thank you in advance!

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Fuji,

 

Thanks much for the kind words, I really appreciate it! Good luck with your build and start a log, I would very much like to see some pics as you move forward with it!

 

I used Micro Kristal Klear from Microscale on all the portholes and windows, applied with a toothpick. On the larger cabin windows, I first glued the acetate that was supplied with the kit using the Kristal Klear, then backfilled the opening once the acetate was firmly in place. It takes several hours for the Kristal Klear to set up and actually turn clear (it is opaque white at first) and it is not as transparent as the acetate, so if you’re going to detail the internal spaces, this may not be the way to go. 

 

Thanks again,

Don

[Blue Ensign]

Interesting subject and a fine looking model Don, she looks great on your mantel shelf. 👍

 

B.E.

 

 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

B.E.,

 

Thanks much for the kind words, I really appreciate it. Your work sets the standard that I that I try to emulate!

 

Don

[Fuji]

Hello Don-

 

I'm also building Billing Boats' Calypso and couldn't help but notice your beautiful build! The level of detail is fantastic!

 

One of the small details I noticed in your build is the upper deck trim at the hull. It looks as though you modified where the edge of the hull connects to the upper wooden deck.

 

The instructions shows what appears to be forcing (and I do mean forcing!) the ABS hull contour to fit UNDER the wooden deck causing what should be a curved ABS lip under the edge of the wooden deck. I don't care much for that and was trying to figure out a better way to make that work until I saw your build log.

 

Did you use scrap ABS to create that trim to run the entire length of the upper deck? If so, what a great idea to hide what would be an unsightly seam which the instructions would have the modeler make.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

Fuji

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Fuji,

 

Thanks again for the kind words, I really appreciate it and am following your build with interest.

 

The Billings Calypso is a bit of a challenge as it is crude by today's standards, the instructions aren't great, and it requires a bit of artistic license at times. For example, I really couldn't figure out the configuration of the winch/boom rigging forward of the deck house even after spending a bit of time looking at pictures published in National Geographic and available on the web, so what I built is a "best guess". My goal was to build a nice looking static display model of a historic ship that looks good on my fireplace mantel, and that most people would recognize, not 100% accuracy.

 

I got this model about 20 years ago and am not familiar with today's offering so things may be different, but my hull was molded in such a way that it required a LOT of trimming to get it to the right initial dimensions. This left the really ugly deck joint the you are describing. When I started attaching the deck I decided to cover it up with trim and used a couple of different sizes of Evergreen plastic strip. I probably could have used left over abs scraps (there was a lot!) but it would have been difficult to get it trimmed anywhere near as neat and consistent as the Evergreen strips.

 

I started by planking the deck, sanding the edge to be flush with the hull and then added a thin strip on the edge of the deck around the entire perimeter on top of the planking. I then added a second strip glued to the hull and overlapping the strip glued to the deck to create a nice clean looking joint. While perhaps not historically accurate, it is pleasing to the eye and hides the joint described in the instructions nicely.

 

Hope this helps............

 

Don

[Fuji]

Hi Don-

 

Thank you for the insight on how you built your Calypso!

 

Yes you really helped me out with detailing what you did... and also made me realize that I'm not imagining how poorly the fit is between the wooden deck and the ABS hull.

 

I intend to do the same as you by adding the strips. I think that by adding the strips you made your build of the Calypso look very sharp and clean compared to just trying to model it as-is out of the box.

 

I'm currently adding the planks to the main deck and should be ready to post some pictures soon.

 

Thanks again for sharing how you tackled the fit-up issue!

 

Best regards-

 

Miles

[Rach10199]

This is absolutely gorgeous! Makes me wish I could shrink myself and go exploring😄

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Miles,

 

You’re most welcome - I’m looking forward to seeing more of your build!

 

Don

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Rachel,

 

Thanks, I know how you feel! My parents were avid subscribers of National Geographic and I grew up with Costeau’s adventures so when Billings came out with the Calypso, I just had to build it!

 

Thanks again,

Don

[Nunnehi (Don)]

On 5/18/2020 at 4:54 PM, lmagna said:

Great build of a seldom modeled but deserving ship Don. You have done wonders with an otherwise mediocre model.

 

Is there any chance that you could use this model as a base for the Hughes 300 helicopter? https://www.scalemates.com/kits/italeri-857-oh-13s-sioux--128176

It would take some bashing but with some work it might do.

Lou, I took your suggestion about using the OH-13 Sioux as a replacement for the kit helicopter after seeing someone who did it on, I think, Facebook. While not at all historically accurate, I think it looks nice and really completes the model. 
 

Thanks,

Don

[yvesvidal]

That helicopter is a fantastic improvement over the model provided in the kit. It looks really sharp.

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Yvesvidal, thanks, I agree although not historically accurate.  
 

Don