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

[MadDogMcQ]

PLANKING & STUFF 

Day-4

Today I spent a little time on the Vaporetto inbetween other things. I thought I'd get some planking done, but only managed 2 planks per side 😂

 

 

I then decided to do something easier and started to cut 74 pieces of aluminium rod to make up the seats.

 

 

I thought it was going to be repetitive but simple, but it turns out it was me that's simple 😂 because during the mock-up of the first bench seat, I put a fold forward instead of backwards, lol. Good job I didn't make a big batch of them 🙄

 

 

I wish this thing had the sort of instructions that James H does!

 

[James H]

Great stuff!

 

You should send your log photos to Panart to re-do their instructions 🤣

[JeffT]

30 minutes ago, James H said:

Great stuff!

 

You should send your log photos to Panart to re-do their instructions 🤣

 

They could use the help.

[MadDogMcQ]

I started forming these bench-frames using a small vice and that's where I ended up making a mistake with the angles. Let me give you a bit of advice - forget the vice - just use a pair of long-nose pliers. It's massively quicker and easier! 

MAKE ONE PERFECT BENCH FRAME and then use it as your guide for the other 21 frames. Cut the aluminium rod pieces  (110mm long) and then using your "perfect" frame as a template, form the others with the pliers. It's quick and easy!

 

 

 

 

I then painted the wooden seat part in Light Blue and later coated them in Tamiya Flat Clear. I'll see how they look when they dry and may add more coats. After that, I decided to cover the inside of the hull with "Hull Red" just so it doesn't have an unfinished appearance when you remove the cabin for accessing the RC parts. Having already painted the seats, I knew that my tiny Tamiya paint pots wouldn't go very far at all when it came to painting the bulkheads so I made up my own Hull Red (roughly) with some acrylic paint tubes. I used Cadmuim Red and Burnt Umber. When the planking is done, it'll be relatively easy to finish off the inner painting.

 

 

[James H]

I'd be paranoid about not getting all those metal parts exactly the same.

 

Well done if you managed that! 

[Landlubber Mike]

Great start Tom!  And love the organized work space!

[MadDogMcQ]

Hey everyone, just a quick note to say that I've not fell off the edge of the world - I've just had some quite serious and draining personal stuff going on, which has meant that I've had not time for much modelling. I hope to make some progress this weekend, but without the advantage of using Superglue because it really does cause massive irritation to my sinuses 😝

 

Hope you're all keeping well.

 

Tom.

[James H]

I was wondering where you'd gone 🔭

 

Hope things are back on an even keep soon and wed can see this one progress. 

[gjdale]

Sorry to hear of your personal troubles Tom - hope things get sorted soon for you. On the CA glue side of things, try using a respirator with an organic vapour filter - it’s about the only way I can use the stuff without making myself seriously ill for several days.

[Landlubber Mike]

Hey Tom, good to hear from you.  Hope all is well over there.

 

As Grant suggested, a respirator mask might do the trick.  I don't use one when building models, but when I turn pens and add a CA finish (which requires lots of CA), I use one of those 3M masks with two pink cartridges.  Can't smell a thing.  The one issue with those masks is that they are a bit heavy, so working hunched over doing fine detail work on a model over a long period of time may put some stress on the neck.

[MadDogMcQ]

21 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Hey Tom, ....3M masks with two pink cartridges....

 

I think you must be talking about the 3M 2097 type but I cannot find any available in the UK 😞

[Landlubber Mike]

Tom, this is the set I have been using.  With Covid, wouldn't be surprised if masks and cartridges are still hard to come by.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009POHLRC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

[MadDogMcQ]

Please excuse my absence - there are two reasons - the first one is I HATE PLANKING and the second one is I have been spending a lot of time with my other hobbies - Amateur Radio, Photography, FlightSims and Painting (not to mention being busy at work).

 

So - the planking - oh dear, I don't think I will ever build a ship where my planking will be visible 😂 I'm just useless at it! Mind you, I do believe I've learned a little from my mistakes on this build. Anyway, the hull is planked and I spent today sat outside filling and sanding, filling and sanding. Because it will be a painted hull, I know from experience that every blemish will show through, so I'm being as careful as I can. I didn't take any photos of my planking progress because I have nothing to offer any builders. 

 

Before applying the first coat of paint to the hull, I intend to apply some Stopper. I did this on the St Roch and it worked out well.

 

Hope you're all keeping well.

 

Regards, Tom.

[James H]

Glad to see you're keeping busy, but more so to see you back here.

 

Looking forward to your update on the vaporetto. 

[Kevin]

so do I

[popeye the sailor]

everyone has something to offer Tom..........even in planking    help is only a picture away.  glad to hear your doing OK.......there are other good glues that are comparable to CA........tite bond might be good to use.  I know.........the fumes sometimes gets to me too.......makes my eyes sting a bit.

 

hope to see more......I'll try and check in more often   

[MadDogMcQ]

Well, I sanded, filled, sanded, filled and sanded some more until I got the hull pretty smooth but nowhere near as smooth as my ST ROCH hull for some reason. It's reached a point where I feel hesitant to sand much more for fear of going through the hull. I can (by tapping) detect thinner areas of the hull, so I'm stopping here.

 

I applied some coats of undercoat and very lightly sanded those before applying a base coat of colour (Hull Red). Rather stupidly I used my Iwata Airbrush which only has a fine needle in it, so it was like painting the Titanic with a 1" brush!! The subsequent coats will be painted with my Aztec airbrush which has a range of nozzles including some which are more appropriate for the size of this project.

 

I haven't decided on a final colour for the lower hull, but it will obviously need to be a brighter red, with a black band at the top.

Stay safe, Tom.

[James H]

Well that sure looks fine to me  

 

For that red, what about Plastikote's aerosol?

 

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Plasti-kote-25002-400ml-Primer-Oxide/

 

 

This is what I used on the undersides of my Fifie and Zulu:

 

 

 

 

[MadDogMcQ]

Good idea James - I might try that. Boy your work is just stunning!! 

[yvesvidal]

2 hours ago, MadDogMcQ said:

 

Tom, you did a great job on that hull.. For a first attempt at planking, you pulled it out gloriously.

I am looking forward to see more progress on that unusual but so pleasant vessel.

 

Yves

[Landlubber Mike]

I think either Tamiya or Mr. Color makes a hull red rattle can as well.  Nice job!

[MadDogMcQ]

Spent more time applying coats of paint, sanding in between. When this one dries, I'll sand and paint ONE more time and then it is what it is. I can find imperfections all day long, but hey-ho. James H advised me to look at PlastiKote paint but I couldn't find anyone locally who stocks it so I went for one from Rust-oleum which was incredibly expensive!! £15 per can from B&Q (I had to buy two) 😲

 

 

 

[James H]

What a nice job. Looks super smooth too.

 

You can sort of get away with a few plank marks on a wooden hull, but not a Vaporetto. 👍

 

Can't get Plastikote? Never heard of Amazon Prime? 😆

If I'd thought about it, I had a spare here you could've had.

[popeye the sailor]

it's not often we see pictures of artists at work      the hull looks very good.......you did a great job!

[Kevin]

love that hull paintwork