VAPORETTO MOTOBATTELLO VENEZIANO by MadDogMcQ - Panart Art.730 - 1:28

[MadDogMcQ]

HI ALL and thank you for visiting these pages. This will be just my second attempt at building a wooden boat kit, my first one being the BILLING BOATS ST.ROCH which took me forever to complete, lol. I kept putting the kit away for months at a time, but this time, I'll be able to commit much more readily.

 

I always fancied building this Venice Passenger boat since first seeing one on a trip to Venice (I took the photos below). I have no idea what attracted me to them - it just happened and then I became a little fixated after following Steve Gogs' amazing Build-Log (which has now very sadly been lost).

 

Amazingly, just as this model arrived, I also stumbled upon an old BENTLEY Airfix kit which I built as a schoolboy in the early 1970's. I spotted it on Facebook's MarketPlace and couldn't believe my eyes - a totally "Brand New In Box", unopened kit with the original price tag of £4.65p from Toy Town in Leamington Spa. WOW!!!

 

I just might build the Bentley first and try to get my grandson interested in the hobby. I should imagine the car-kit will get him hooked quicker than a long, drawn out boat build.

 

Anyway, it's good to be back on here and I very much look forward to chatting with you all and benefiting from your knowledge and experience.

 

Regards,

 

Tom.

 

 

[yvesvidal]

Excellent choice, for the Vaporetto. Can't wait to see you start the build.

 

Yves

[mtaylor]

I'll follow along also, Vaporetto.

 

If you decide to the Bentley, you can do a log of it here:   https://modelshipworld.com/forum/73-non-shipcategorised-builds/

[MadDogMcQ]

I've not even started this model yet, but I ordered some passengers for the boat and they arrived today for early embarkment 😄 

A friend of mine is a really talented painter of miniature figures (mainly military), so I'm going to ask him for a demo of how to make these figures better.

[James H]

The Vaporetto is a strangely beautiful thing and I spent many a trip around Venice on them a few years ago.

 

Gogs' build was perhaps one of my favourite ever build logs, and I was gutted when it, and all MSW1.0 crashed and burned. Panart's kit is actually very nice, so I can't wait to see you start to make some sawdust with this and give us your interpretation. 

[gjdale]

I’ll pull up a chair for this one too Tom - I’ve fond memories of several trips to Venice over the years.

[BobG]

I look forward to following this unusual and interesting build, Tom.

 

I have an out-of-production Amati Gondola kit that still on the shelf. I keep thinking it might be a nice, short build but it seems like all these wooden boats take longer than expected.

[MadDogMcQ]

On 9/3/2020 at 1:57 AM, BobG said:

.....it seems like all these wooden boats take longer than expected.....

Absolutely Bob! 😄  My first wooden boat took a ridiculous amount of time because I wasn't really committed due to all sorts of things going on in my life at the time, but now I'm very happily married and I've got a spare room to do the build. Looking forward to starting it 🙂 

[Kevin]

Permission to follow is requested 😁

 

[Kevin]

On 9/2/2020 at 5:24 PM, James H said:

 

Gogs' build was perhaps one of my favourite ever build logs, and I was gutted when it, and all MSW1.0 crashed and burned. Panart's kit is actually very nice, so I can't wait to see you start to make some sawdust with this and give us your interpretation. 

 

[James H]

25 minutes ago, Kevin said:

 

 

An amazing build. At least we have the finished photos but the actual log is now gone.

[popeye the sailor]

told you I'd look up to see what this V thing was..............Niles built one as well.    those figures look really neat.......check out these folks if you need more  

 

Preiser Figures and Minatures - Bring Your Layout to Life

[MadDogMcQ]

THE START!

Day-1

Well, it's not much of a start because it's already early evening on a Sunday, but at least it's on the table. 🙂 I'll be writing this log as an inexperienced builder, having only ever built one other boat (St Roch), so if you spot any errors or looming disasters, please do shout out!

 

In between building the early stages of the Vaporetto, I'll be spending some time trying to learn to airbrush. Gotta build a little spray-booth of some sorts. I don't want to go overboard though - just something to allow very small parts to be painted indoors. For large parts (like the hull) I'll do it in the garage.

 

First job is to layout the drawings, identify the parts and write down the part numbers. Done! Sadly, I've got to leave it at that due to an amateur-radio net which is about to commence in 10 minutes. If I get time, I'll do more later this evening.  Oh yes, nearly forgot - the RC Motor arrived yesterday after a loooong delay. Not sure if I'll actually be making this in an RC model, but I've got the option.

 

Thanks for the link Popeye 👍

 

[Kevin]

lol, you mean you aint finished it yet

 

Good luck, and enjoy

[James H]

You could've at least cut a few parts out! 🤣

[MadDogMcQ]

The longest journeys start with but a single step Jim 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[popeye the sailor]

smell the wood............it gets the wood bug deeply embedded    so Panart is part of Mantua?  I though they were a 'part work' company

[Kevin]

17 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

smell the wood............it gets the wood bug deeply embedded    so Panart is part of Mantua?  I though they were a 'part work' company

mantua now seams to do there own, Panart and Sergal https://www.mantuamodel.co.uk/

[MadDogMcQ]

THE KEEL

Day-2

Well, before I could do anything tonight, I had to tidy up the spare room and make my workspace a bit more organised, so I started by putting my paint-organiser on the wall. Then I sorted the tables out and put some drawers underneath them. Found a space for the airbrush/compressor, installed the LED Light and hung "Drawing-1" on the wall.

 

With that done, it was time to read the Vaporetto instructions and it was at this point that I realised that they're pretty dire 😄. Buried in the multi-lingual text, there's a single, short paragraph that attempts to describe how the two keel parts align. I didn't really understand it, but I dry-fitted the parts using spring-clamps until I figured I'd got it right. At least I think I got it right!

 

Unlike that Airfix Bentley model I just finished 🤪, the instructions are far from step-by-step and I guess they expect you to read a tiny paragraph of broken English, refer to the big drawing and just 'figure it out'!  I was wondering why the made the keel in two parts but then realised that it is, of course, because the prop-shaft has to go through the keel, so they split it in two and sandwich it with two reinforcing parts (Items '3'). 

 

Referring to the manual for some reassurance that I was doing the right thing, produced little reassurance 😂 since the next step shows the keel built and part-planked! I'll just have to go ahead and build it as I think is correct. I'm sure it'll be fine.

[MadDogMcQ]

THE KEEL 

Day-3

Tonight I unclamped the dry-test-fit and glued on the Part-3's to the main keel and then inserted the small keel part inbetween. After carefully checking alignment (with the propshaft tube in-situ), I clamped them to let the glue dry. 

 

 

 

 

Next it's time to fit Parts-17 which (I believe) reinforce the section where the rudder shaft goes...

 

 

After that, I placed a straight-edge across the top of the hull and noticed that there were some gaps 😲 but after referring to the big drawing, I could see that there should be some curvature front to back (sorry, stern to bow).

 

 

Finally, I placed the deck onto the hull and after gluing all the mating points 🤬 I placed a load of rubber bands around it and weighted it down with some cans (I'd ran out of caviar so I borrowed some beans from a neighbour) 😂

 

 

Oh - and I put a shelf up too 🤣

 

[James H]

It's a shame we don't see this kit tackled more often as it's definitely one of my favourites from Panart. 

 

How did the bare bones go together? No probs?

[liteflight]

I like your Tamiya paint console, great setup

 

And you have figured out the vestigial instructions👍, well done

She will be great as a motorised craft- and you can follow up with a gondola or two, singing in a throaty baritone

 

note:  Excellent builders are forbidden to build gondolas, cos they are extravagantly bent!  This is naturally so that they travel straight.  A gondola with straight keel would go in tight circles to port.

[Rik Thistle]

Tom,

 

Good radio etc blog.

 

73s

 

Richard

[MadDogMcQ]

James H : How did the bare bones go together? No probs?

 

No problems Jim. I did however, manage to break the tip of a bulkhead just by allowing the boat to roll over on the desk! Now the deck is in place, it all feels much stronger. This morning I removed the baked beans 😂 and applied a bead of glue to all the joints - almost like a weld - to give some extra rigidity (although I know most people would say I didn't need to).
 

 

Last night while laying the deck, I struggled to apply glue properly using the applicator on the Titebond bottle, so this morning I stole one of the wife's hair-dying bottles which turned out to be a fabulous applicator! Thank you Garnier 🤣

 

LIGHTFLIGHT : And you have figured out the vestigial instructions👍, well done.

Thanks Andrew, you chose a great word there to describe those instructions, LOL.

[MadDogMcQ]

25 minutes ago, Rik Thistle said:

Tom, Good radio etc blog. 73s Richard

Hi Richard,

I take it you're an Amateur Radio operator too then? We'll have to set up a sched 👍

[Rik Thistle]

Tom,

 

Yes, I got my Full licence a couple of years ago and am lucky enough to have two long time friends who are very experienced and helpful Hams. They helped set up my VHF/UHF antenna and HF 'roan' antenna (ie wire hidden under the roan of my house).

 

The HF roan antenna is OK'ish but being hard against the building struggles a bit. So I bought a Spiderbeam telescopic pole and have built up N7DDC's ATU. So will eventually have a 12m HF wire antenna in the garden. I have an ICOM 7100 (great Jack of all trades) and a Kyodo KG105 radios. I join nets on a Monday and Tuesday evening usually.

 

I'm currently not that active in radio....ship building seems to have taken my focus ... I think I'm more of a 'builder' than a 'user'.

 

But I will make an effort 'soon' to start exploring amateur radio a bit further.

 

Your blog is a great mixture of interesting topics.

 

All the best,

 

Richard

 

[yvesvidal]

15 hours ago, MadDogMcQ said:

 

I am starting to really like that kit. Very nice assembly so far.

You also need some Italian beverage on your shelf, a Chianti or some Asti Spumante to replace that beer.

 

Yves

[MadDogMcQ]

Really got into the spirit now Yves 😄 .....

 

 

Can't do any work tonight - I've reacted badly to the SuperGlue that I used on something else last night. Feel full of a cold. I remember this happening when I was building the St Roch. Oh well, there's always tomorrow 🙂

 

[Canute]

You could get a mask that stops volatile organic compounds or look for SuperGlue that lacks the fumes.

[popeye the sailor]

I've done a few different brand kits,  and so far I haven't found one with instructions that weren't vague,  at best.   I started with Billing's kits and have become quite accustomed to the Hieroglyphics.  you'll find that dry fitting the parts will help you more.  I recently bought my first Dumas kit,  and I see that I'll be bouncing between a booklet of printed text and four huge diagram sheets.  for some of the hulls I've built,  I use the deck platform to space the bulkheads....does fairly well.

    do you have to cut off the bulwark posts after the bulwarks are planked?.........yea......they are prone to breakage    looks like you'll have to switch over to some fava beans to go with that chianti .........hard to believe that you don't have any canned good hang'in around...........here's what I use: