Amerigo Vespucci by ken3335 - Panart - 1/84 scale

[ken3335]

Hi,   I have recently started the Amerigo Vespucci, 1:84 scale from a Panart kit. I quite enjoyed the interaction I got from members on my Royal William log so I’ll again share my build with you.

 

 

 I bought the kit off Ebay for a good price, it is an early version about 20 – 25 years old and differs quite a bit from their current version, I think for the better. Lime for first planking, not balsa, etched sheet brass for the plating not ply, planked deck instead of printed ply and 12 sheets of plans many 1:1, but poor badly translated instructions instead of the step by step guide.

 

 

Although old everything was in very good condition, straight keel and bulwarks, which were very well laser cut, matching the plans perfectly, the strip wood is very nice, straight cleanly cut and still flexible enough although has hardened quite a bit. There are hundreds of castings and machined brass fittings all nicely bagged, these will need a serious cleaning as they have become badly tarnished. A very comprehensive and well presented kit.

 

 

I admire many of the builders on this site for their skill, painstaking dedication to detail and accuracy but I’m afraid that’s not me. My build will be as simple as I can make it, mostly straight from the box with just enough detail to make it a nice looking well made model that will not take me years, with the chance of getting fed up and quitting.  

 

 

I wanted to start the build by first preparing the mounting. I want to mount it on brass pedestals on a large mahogany plinth so needed to do the preparation for this prior to planking rather than risk damaging the model at a later stage by turning it upside down. My first problem is that due to the lack of availability of stuff due to the Covid restrictions I can’t get anything, the wood yards are closed and even popular online modelling suppliers have run out of anything I want, glues, sealers wood strip and my columns.

 

 

I started by joining together the three sections of keel, I reinforced the joins then beefed up the area where the pedestals will be fixed with rods, I drilled them out and hope that they line up later.

 

 

I dry fitted the bulkheads, they only needed the lightest of sanding before becoming a perfect fit. I made up a keel support out of scrap, not very neat looking but works well enough.. I glued all the bulkheads into place, I added extra support on the outer edge of the front three and stern bulkheads. I usually infill these areas with balsa but the lines of the hull are so friendly that I didn’t think that it would be needed. I spent quite a bit of time fairing the frames making sure that they were as perfect as I could make them. I have now started the first layer with the 6 x 1.5 lime planks provided, so far so good.

 

 

That’s me starting my journey please feel free to join me.

 

 

Ken

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kevin]

Good morning Ken

 

I started mine about 10 years ago, and then abanoded her in favour of the 1/72 Victory, there are some lovely builds of her around, and she makes into a stunning build,But its a shame that very very few are completed, and i dont know why,

She is a very busy ship,and basicly the kit parts do her no justice what so ever,  and therfore to get a realistic finish the instructions need to be binned and and obtaining some decent reference material

 

I wish you luck and will follow your journey, as i have plans to redo mine in the future, at present i have stripped her down to the bare hull

 

 

[stuglo]

Please don't be deterred. Although it took me nearly 5 years , I was working full time. There is much repetitive work as in all builds, but with over 100 sub-builds, it offers much variety which can give rapid satisfaction and results. The photos are taken through a perspex case

[Kevin]

26 minutes ago, stuglo said:

Please don't be deterred. Although it took me nearly 5 years , I was working full time. There is much repetitive work as in all builds, but with over 100 sub-builds, it offers much variety which can give rapid satisfaction and results. The photos are taken through a perspex case

 

26 minutes ago, stuglo said:

very nice indeed

 

 

 

 

[ken3335]

2 hours ago, stuglo said:

Please don't be deterred. Although it took me nearly 5 years , I was working full time. There is much repetitive work as in all builds, but with over 100 sub-builds, it offers much variety which can give rapid satisfaction and results. The photos are taken through a perspex case

Hi, Thank you very much for your reply, and for posting the pictures, it has really given me the motivation I was hoping for. I know that I won’t be able to compare what I build to your magnificent model but it does give me something to aim at. I particularly like the way you present the the brass parts as a feature rather than painting over them, it suits the model. As I’m aiming to achieve a good looking model to display at home and not worrying about accuracy this is now the way I will go.

 

 Ken

[ken3335]

3 hours ago, Kevin said:

Good morning Ken

 

I started mine about 10 years ago, and then abanoded her in favour of the 1/72 Victory, there are some lovely builds of her around, and she makes into a stunning build,But its a shame that very very few are completed, and i dont know why,

She is a very busy ship,and basicly the kit parts do her no justice what so ever,  and therfore to get a realistic finish the instructions need to be binned and and obtaining some decent reference material

 

I wish you luck and will follow your journey, as i have plans to redo mine in the future, at present i have stripped her down to the bare hull

 

 

Hi Kevin, Thanks for your comment on my AV. I like knowing that there are others out there who struggle as much as I do, it makes me feel normal after looking at some of the expert builds on this site.
 

Ken

[Kevin]

25 minutes ago, ken3335 said:

Hi Kevin, Thanks for your comment on my AV. I like knowing that there are others out there who struggle as much as I do, it makes me feel normal after looking at some of the expert builds on this site.
 

Ken

since finishing my Victory, i have done a few fibre glass hulled kits, this one has made me realise, its time to go back to masting and rigging, the Cutty sark is awaiting the build table, hopefully within the next couple of weeks, 

i am not sue about the complexity of the AV i just think its a kit that could have been so much better, (where have we all heard that before) but a have a couple of pointers that might help you, check the stern decoration veranda against the hull early on, the hull could do with some more thickness behind the portholes, as it gets quite thin there after sanding, and you get a nice finish with using the port hole strips as a template but dont use them, you will get a great result painting the white area directly to the hull

 

 

[ken3335]

1 hour ago, Kevin said:

since finishing my Victory, i have done a few fibre glass hulled kits, this one has made me realise, its time to go back to masting and rigging, the Cutty sark is awaiting the build table, hopefully within the next couple of weeks, 

i am not sue about the complexity of the AV i just think its a kit that could have been so much better, (where have we all heard that before) but a have a couple of pointers that might help you, check the stern decoration veranda against the hull early on, the hull could do with some more thickness behind the portholes, as it gets quite thin there after sanding, and you get a nice finish with using the port hole strips as a template but dont use them, you will get a great result painting the white area directly to the hull

 

Hi Kevin,  I think that my kit is older than yours, it doesn’t have porthole strips that I could use as templates, the instructions tell me to build them up using planks as you would do for wales and use the plans to position the ports. Thanks for the warning about the stern.

ken

1 hour ago, Kevin said:

 

 

[Kevin]

it was these things, they are pained white and form the positions for the portholes ate the same time

 

[ken3335]

Hi,  Kevin, our kits are quite different, it doesn't have half of what you're showing, mine is a much older version.

I’m making quite good progress on the planking. The first layer has been completed without any issues, it went on quite easily and looks like it will be a good base, in fact I could almost get away with just this one layer, the stern looks a bit of a mess as I built it oversize, the strips butt up tightly and are well fixed to the frame, it all just needs sanding. I’ll wait until I can do this outside, too much dust for inside the house.

 

Ken

[ken3335]

Hi, I managed to get a good sanding session done and I'm very pleased with the result. No filler was needed at all to get this to what I think is a very good first layer.

 

Ken

 

[ken3335]

Hi, The Next task was to plank the waist deck. The planks supplied were 3x.5mm dark walnut, the wood was ok but I really don’t like the colour. I don’t understand any kit manufacturer thinking that this colour would be ok for decking as it looks so obviously wrong. I was stuck with it as the shops can’t supply an alternative at the moment.. I laid these planks, I didn’t darken the edge as pencil wouldn’t show up against that dark colour, I sealed, sanded and varnished with a satin poly.

 

I then started on the cabins. The instructions would have you put in place the upper decks first but this would make would make the placing and finishing off the deck planking quite difficult.

 

The cabins are made up from ply and were supposed to be covered with the 3x.5 strips. Rather than do this and then try and get a smooth finish for painting I decided to face them with very thin styrene sheet and then trim them to shape, it worked well. The doors and vent covers were also made from styrene, they painted up well, the windows, vents axes and rails were the added.

 

Ken

 

 

Ken

[Kevin]

good afternoon Ken

 

she looks great, the hull came out very nice

 

i have just restarted mine after it being on the shelf of doom for 12 years, it has been in the rubbish bin more times than i can remember, but the initial cost stopped me from trashing it completly

 

i have reordered a couple of the part kits, plus ply for the decks and 3mm lime strips for the decking planks , i also hated the kit produced wood, once the hull is back together, i will start to scratch a lot of the bits as they are pretty naff, as for the future i am looking forward to the rigging and hope to have a majority of sails set

 

[ken3335]

Hi Kevin, Thanks for your kind comment about the hull, I’m sure your the same as myself and find that these comments motivate you. I can understand you stopping your build, it really is a daunting undertaking, hopefully you’re fired up for a second go at it, good luck with that. It looks like we’ll be doing our builds in unison so I’ll be keeping an eye on yours.

 

Ken

[ken3335]

 Hi, 

 

Thanks to all who gave me the thumbs up on my build, much appreciated.

 

This build is moving on nicely and it’s starting to take shape.  I have recently added the upper decks and planked them. Around the upper edge of the hull will be metal plating, it’s very hard brass/copper and will not be forgiving like wood so now was the time to ensure that the top of the hull was perfectly level and as per the plan.

 

I kept it simple because I just couldn’t find the enthusiasm using the supplied wood to spend a lot of time on it, the colour really is awful. I sealed, sanded and varnished it when done.

 

I was hoping that the amount of stuff on the decks would detract from noticing the colour/texture and that I would be able to come to terms with it, but after coming back to it the next day I knew that I would never be happy and in years to come regret it being done like this and just leaving it, so I decided to bit the bullet and re do it, so watch the next episode.

 

Ken

[ken3335]

Hi,

As you know I was unhappy with the decking and was in the process of having another go at it. I had made the same mistake on my Royal William build so why I didn’t learn from my mistake I don’t know, anyway it’s now completed and I’m delighted with the result, it was well worth the extra effort.

 

I used a mouse type sander and sanded off all the walnut planking, the waist deck proved quite difficult and I only managed a slight reduction here, I also removed the skirting from around the cabins in preparation for the re planking.

 

Like most of you I have a small stash of wood left over from other builds but I didn’t have enough of the same type to complete the decks, I didn’t want to have to buy any so I used what I had. I had enough light coloured wood but it was of different types in different widths and thickness, four in all. I used my small Proxxon table saw and cut them to the same width 3mm. I was quite surprised at how clean it cut lengths of planks, the edges didn’t even need sanding. I didn’t mind the different thickness as once laid I could sand them down to a uniform height. I cut them into 8cm lengths for a four butt pattern. I tried some dyes on test pieces to see if I could get their colour and texture similar, I ended up choosing a light oak.

 

I had no problem laying the planks although it was now awkward working around the cabins with the upper decks in place, I used white PVA to fix them. I sanded them back, rubbed some walnut filler into the seams then rubbed in the oak dye. I find that the filler soaks up the dye like end grain, slightly darker and gives a very slight appearance of corking, enough to take the plainness off. I re fitted the skirting then finished off with a coat of sanding sealer.

 

I am now much happier with the look of the deck, I think it was well worth the effort.

 

Ken

[Kevin]

much better, and im sure you meant 8cm lengths and not 8mm. i have just started laying the main deck in lime

 

[ken3335]

Hi,  Continuing, I’ve made a start on the second planking. This planking is done using 1x6mm lime wood strips, in my opinion far from the best wood for a good finish. I unpacked the bundle of strips and found that unlike the first planks they were of quite poor quality, they were very course grain and the edges were roughly cut and looked prone to splintering. To tidy them up a bit I sanded the edges, I held about six at a time in a sort of simple jig and sanded them as a block. Photo.    It’s a big hull and there are rather a lot of planks to do so being able to do many at a time helped.

 

I started the planks from the top of the waist deck and continued down. My fears about the edges splintering happened, a lot of very fine ones occurred spoiling what I had hoped would be well butted seams. The very rough grain was even more noticeable seen with many of the planks fitted, I’ve shown a photo of this, it really is bad and as this will be a smooth painted hull I can see a lot of work will need to be done to make it acceptable. At the moment I think that it would have been better left as single planked, just another challenge.

 

Ken

 

 

[Kevin]

1 hour ago, ken3335 said:

Hi,  Continuing, I’ve made a start on the second planking. This planking is done using 1x6mm lime wood strips, in my opinion far from the best wood for a good finish. I unpacked the bundle of strips and found that unlike the first planks they were of quite poor quality, they were very course grain and the edges were roughly cut and looked prone to splintering. To tidy them up a bit I sanded the edges, I held about six at a time in a sort of simple jig and sanded them as a block. Photo.    It’s a big hull and there are rather a lot of planks to do so being able to do many at a time helped.

 

I started the planks from the top of the waist deck and continued down. My fears about the edges splintering happened, a lot of very fine ones occurred spoiling what I had hoped would be well butted seams. The very rough grain was even more noticeable seen with many of the planks fitted, I’ve shown a photo of this, it really is bad and as this will be a smooth painted hull I can see a lot of work will need to be done to make it acceptable. At the moment I think that it would have been better left as single planked, just another challenge.

 

Ken

 

are you going leave her in wood or paint

 

 

[ken3335]

Hi, I’m going to paint the hull as it’s displayed on the box, I know that it should have a red lower part but as it’s only for show at home I prefer the contrast that the white gives. I’m also going to leave the brass plating and ports as well as the rails unpainted and  leave them natural Polished brass as a feature.

 

ken

[ken3335]

 

`Hi,     Thanks again for the likes, it's good to know someone out there is watching.

 

 

More progress on the hull. I finished the second planking without encountering any difficulties except for the state of the wood which I have already mentioned. My first thoughts were that I would never get rid of the grain and achieve a smooth enough surface for a painted finish but I set about it and the end result was so good that it surprised me, although it took longer than the actual planking.

 

I first gave it a thorough sanding, taking away about half the planks depth.

I then spread a thinned water based filler over the entire hull and when dry sanded that right back.

I gave it a very light coat of spray primer, this highlight any imperfections and shows where the seams will show fine cracks. I worked in filler again to the imperfect areas, sanded and again sprayed, I did this twice.

I was then left with an acceptable surface but after spraying again I had to use a fine acrylic filler intended for hiding the seams on plastic models before getting a perfect surface. A fine sanding and another light spray completed the job.

A lot of work but in the end well worth the extra effort.

 

I’ve attached some pictures of each stage so that you can see the progress.

 

Ken 

 

 

 

[ken3335]

 

 

Hi,   I’m making good progress on the hull at the moment and all is going along quite well. I’ve not been keeping the log exactly up to date but here is a catch up.

 

I’ve put the capping on the edge of the decks, the instructions suggested the fore and aft curves should be done in small sections from the strip provided, I didn’t think that this would look too good. I had a small piece of walnut in my stash, not enough to do all of capping but if careful, enough for the curves. I made up a cardboard template first as I only had enough for one shot at it. I put the curved sections on then added strips along the straight part.

 

The brass platings along the upper part of the hull were then cut to shape, drilled where the portholes were needed and glued into place. I drilled holes for the riveting and used brass nails for them, I then put the wooden 2x2 strip bellow.

Lastly I put the brass ports and scuttles in.  I gave the brass a good polish to finish it off.

 

 The two raised strips like wales were added next, these were made up of 4 x  .5x 3mm walnut strips. It was quite time consuming getting the curves at the stern to sit flat, the picture of the plan shows this. The newer kits supply these wales  as pre cut ply with the ports cut out, I believe that this version just does not work as they won’t curve and stay flat against the stern, most builders just leave them off and just paint the stripes on.

 

Ken   

 

Sorry about the order of the pictures, I'm not too good at doing it

 

 

[Ryland Craze]

You are making good progress on your AV.  The hull really looks nice and thanks for the detailed build log.  It will be a real help for future AV builders.

[ken3335]

Hi,  Thanks for your likes and comments.

 

As a slight change to doing the hull I thought that I would try and do one of the many small parts that make up this boat, a skylight. I learned what could well be a valuable lesson. The plans are entirely in Italian with no translation but they seemed simple enough. I made the skylight over the plan, I thought that I had made a good job until I placed it on the deck, it looked too big. On checking I found that not all parts of the plans are to scale!! I had to make it again but this time using the measurements given. The picture shows on the left the skylight that I made over the plan and the one on the right shows it made using the given measurements, quite a size difference but a warning to be more aware during the rest of the build.

 

I've now finished the first of the many deck fittings, a couple of skylights, ( the correct size ) The hull has been prepared for painting and I'll do that soon. I feel that the model is starting to become interesting.

 

I have also been preparing the base for displaying the model for a few days, mainly waiting for the sealer and varnish to dry. I got a piece of sapele from my local wood yard, and routed the edge. After sanding I tried some dyes on the underside to get the shade that I wanted, light teak was my preferred, I sealed it then a couple of coats of poly finished it off. The columns are Amati which I got from Cornwall Model Boats, they were quite cheap, they are pre drilled, the rod is from one of my wife’s knitting needles, she doesn’t know yet!

 

Ken

[ken3335]

Hi,   Another short update on my build. I was going to start painting the hull but again got sidetracked. I decided to make up the staircases, a small, not difficult project. I don’t think that any explanation is needed as the pictures show the whole process. I’ll add the handrails once they are fitted in place on the deck.

 

Ken

 

 

[ken3335]

Hi,  Again thanks for your likes.

 

It was now time to decide how I was going to present the model with regards to its finished look. I’ve decided not to go with an authentic appearance, ie colour scheme and fittings, but go my own way for an aesthetic but none authentic display. I like the unpainted look of the brass plating and just the black and white hull, no anti foul bottom. I’ll also leave the rails and stations in brass and introduce as much mahogany as I can get away with, who doesn’t like brass and mahogany on a boat.

 

I have made quite some progress recently; I have finished painting the hull and fitted all the port holes, though not without issues.

 

I sprayed the hull with an acrylic undercoat then used Humbrol satin enamel for the white and Caldercraft dull black acrylic for the rest. I did two coats of white using a 1\2 in flat brush, I find that the enamel is self levelling and the finish looks perfect for this type of hull, I thin the black about 50-50 with water and put on about 7 coats, being this thin the coats dry quickly and leave no sign of brush strokes. I used Tamika masking tape, after putting the tape on I paint a watered down acrylic varnish along the edge, this seals it and there is no paint seep so the edge is perfect. I’m delighted with the finish that I achieved I don’t think that I could have improved on it.

 

Then came the portholes, I transferred their position from the plans. To start with the drilling out of these was a disaster, the side strips being only .5mm thick just tore at the edges and split, I tried small, large, blunt, sharp drills, I tried filing them out, all with the same result, it wasn’t until I tried using a cone shaped router then things improved, a perfect aperture with ease every time, it ground it’s way in rather than cut so no tares or splits thank goodness. I repaired the ruined strip and painted them again, after that things  went well which was a good job as there were well over 100 to be done. I fitted the brass portholes to finish off.

 

I’m sorry that I didn’t photograph the actual progress but I got too involved with the job in hand so all you have is the end result

 

Ken

 

[Kevin]

Very nice indeed, i will be back to mine in the next week or so on completion of the Dorade yes the port hole were a disaster first time around, i have backed some of them up this time with extra wood. i will have to wait a see if it works, do you have the product code for the cutter you used?, 

[ken3335]

Hi Kevin,  I bought a set of ten off ebay a few months ago, I thought that they may be useful at some point. The quality far exceeded my expectations for the price, they are true, very sharp and look well made. When I first tried cutting out the ports I hadn't thought of using these, in fact I'd forgotten about them as I had never used them. After trying and failing with just about every method I could think of to get a clean cut I tried these and what a revelation. I first drilled a pilot hole then used the domed router, using the lightest of pressure it cut through the three layers in about three seconds leaving a very sharp edged apeture with no need of touching up, the bonus was that router was the exact size for the brass porthole. Job done.

 

Ken

 

I've tried showing a screen shot of my ebay purchase but can't seem to be able to. They are described as tungston carbide, they cost 

£7 inc PP. there seem to be quite a lot of sellers for these so check them out.

screen print.doc

[Kevin]

1 hour ago, ken3335 said:

Hi Kevin,  I bought a set of ten off ebay a few months ago, I thought that they may be useful at some point. The quality far exceeded my expectations for the price, they are true, very sharp and look well made. When I first tried cutting out the ports I hadn't thought of using these, in fact I'd forgotten about them as I had never used them. After trying and failing with just about every method I could think of to get a clean cut I tried these and what a revelation. I first drilled a pilot hole then used the domed router, using the lightest of pressure it cut through the three layers in about three seconds leaving a very sharp edged apeture with no need of touching up, the bonus was that router was the exact size for the brass porthole. Job done.

 

Ken

 

I've tried showing a screen shot of my ebay purchase but can't seem to be able to. They are described as tungston carbide, they cost 

£7 inc PP. there seem to be quite a lot of sellers for these so check them out.

screen print.doc 426 kB · 0 downloads

Thank you Ken, lol its gone up 30p 

[ken3335]

.Hello All.

 

Just a small update, moving on with the build I have just completed the rudder assembly, no need for an explanation as the pictures tell all.

 

Ken