Amerigo Vespucci by DanielD - OcCre - 1:100

[Bill97]

No Daniel not long at all. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain what I need. The switch is the last component of the electrical part of this future project I think I need. So a quick check of my understanding is the power brick you recommended (which I bought) will produce 12v to the voltage regulators you recommended (which I bought) using the included adapter. I will then individual adjust the output voltage on each regulator to match the required voltage of the LED’s on that circuit. All the LEDs on a circuit should have matching power requirements.  From the voltage regulators I will add in the on/off switch followed by the two wires leading to the LEDs each protected by the resistors you recommended (which I bought)?  I think I got it.  Would a basic 2 pin switch like this work. My limited experience with electric switches has been a simple two screw light switch in my house where the switch was used to interrupt the power. It looks like something like thus would just be wired in the load line. 

 

https://a.co/d/5aVQvSq

Edited December 11 by Bill97

[DanielD]

Bill, this will work just fine…but they are 20mm in diameter. That’s fairly large. One problem with using automotive switches is that are generally large. The  ones I chose are still large at 16mm, but that is a trade off for using something that is readily available.

 

One slight change to your description on the circuit above, and I’m sorry I didn’t put this into the schematic I drew last week. The switches should go on the red wire just after the battery or power source and the other side of the switch to a regulator. The black or negative wire should not be connected to the switch. This way, when the switch is off, there is no power going to the regulator and thus the LEDs are off. When you turn the switch on, the closed position, the circuit connects the two terminals and power is sent to the regulator and LEDs turn on. Hope this helps.

[Bill97]

Perfect Daniel. I think this old brain might just have this. Does my edit of the schematic look correct?

Edited December 11 by Bill97

[DanielD]

38 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Perfect Daniel. I think this old brain might just have this. Does my edit of the schematic look correct?

While technically this will work, the standard in the industry is to use the red wire for the positive side of the circuit and the black wire for the negative or ground side. Opposite what you have shown with your colors. Also, the reason we put the switch on the positive side of the battery is to cut off electrical flow into the rest of the circuit to preventing being shocked when working on a system. In our case, we are only dealing with 12 volts and very minimal amperage, so even if you touched something you won’t be shocked. However, it’s best to learn the correct way so that future projects are done without risk.  Hope this helps.

[Bill97]

Oh OK. Daniel I was misreading this section of your instructions:

 

The switches should go on the red wire just after the battery or power source and the other side of the switch to a regulator. The black or negative wire should not be connected to the switch. 

 

I was curious about that but was taking your instructions as being accurate.  Thanks for correcting me. I will edit the schematic again for your thumbs up. 

Edited December 11 by Bill97

[DanielD]

Bill, here is an updated schematic.

 

 

[Bill97]

Thanks Professor Daniel! I believe you have fully educated me and I am ready for my exam😊👍!  Maybe not the final but at least the midterm. 
 

On a different note Daniel I am reading thru your Golden Hind and Terror builds. Excellent work on both of them. As a life long woodworker I really admire and appreciate the cleanness of your stain and color applications. It may also be my OCDness! 😊

Your skill graduation from the Golden Hind to the Terror and now the AV is impressive. Great work my friend. 

Edited December 12 by Bill97

[Bill97]

Daniel I know I am not supposed to be looking this for ahead. I have a long way to go still on my Endeavour, the majority being rigging. However is reading through your build and watching YouTube videos on the AV. I am curious, and maybe I will find it in your build, how did you determine the dividing point between the two lower decks for your porthole lighting?  I know you don’t want light bleeding between decks and you want the LED lights positioned in the hull so they are some how lined up with the portholes on the different deck levels. Will be interesting to read more through your build to see. 

[DanielD]

Bill, as you know, in my version of the AV I have the two port hole lighting possibilities. In order to achieve this effect I had to create compartments within the hull for each section that I wanted to light. Then in each section I employed a single 5mm warm light LED. When I wired everything together I randomly connected some compartments to cabinet light circuit 1 and the rest of the compartments to circuit 2. Once the hull completed I drilled the port holes following the plans. If all my calculations were correct the port holes should line up in the middle of the compartments. Thankfully it all worked out.

[Bill97]

So it is pretty much a task of calculation to include top and bottom of each compartment. I noticed you said 5mm warm white LEDs. I have 100s of 3mm. You see any issue with using them for the compartments?

[DanielD]

Bill, you can use your 3mm for everything. The 3mm is necessary for the deck lights as the 5mm are way too big. Inside the hull I used 5mm to give off more light, but if you paint the inside of the hull off white, you will get a lot of reflection and all will be good. If you are only doing one set (circuit) of port hole lights, you won’t need the compartments like I did and just place 2 or three LEDs between each bulkhead total. If you do the compartments version, I just used one LED per compartment.

[Bill97]

Daniel I like the compartment idea if I am smart enough to pull it off. We will see when I get that far. Still need to order my switches. After that I will have all the electronics. I hope to not bug you to much for a while now. Will probably continue reading and reading your build and watching your progress as I prepare to start my AV early next year (Feb-Mar time frame). May toss a question your way from time to time. You have truly been an immeasurable amount of help to me. Thanks for your time and patience. 

[Bill97]

Daniel I keep reading and absorbing all your process thru your AV build as I continue my Endeavour build. I have another curiosity you and Mike discuss. When you sprayed the coats of primer on the hull how did you prevent primer from going in all the port holes and getting on your LEDs?  Or did you just not worry about it?

[Mike Dowling]

I drilled my portholes after priming, sanding, priming, sanding etc. It worked for me.

 

[DanielD]

I didn’t worry about it, but next time I will do as Mike suggested, drill port holes after primer and sanding.

[Bill97]

Ok guys thanks. Put the little metal rings in place then just drill out the center after painting?  Daniel I noticed your’s are primed. 

[DanielD]

34 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Ok guys thanks. Put the little metal rings in place then just drill out the center after painting?  Daniel I noticed your’s are primed. 

I drilled out the holes and added the grommets that come in the kit to represent port holes. The rain gutters are not a part of the kit, one of my added features.

[Bill97]

Yeah, that was kind of my curiosity. If you drilled out the holes before or after you airbrushed the primer?  I guess you would almost have to put the airbrush tip right up to the drilled hole before you would ever need to be concerned about getting primer on the LEDs. They are set back a bit from the drilled hole. 

[DanielD]

11 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Yeah, that was kind of my curiosity. If you drilled out the holes before or after you airbrushed the primer?  I guess you would almost have to put the airbrush tip right up to the drilled hole before you would ever need to be concerned about getting primer on the LEDs. They are set back a bit from the drilled hole. 

The LEDs are mostly not aligned with the port holes, so holding the air brush perpendicular to the surface being painted does not put enough paint on the LEDs to worry about. Many modelers will paint the final color before drilling the holes and then install the port holes (grommets). This will leave them brass, but the actual AV has the port hole painted the same as the hull in that area, so that’s what I did. Unfortunately, paint does not stick well to brass, so painting the grommets first and then install later is messy and requires touch up. So I installed them before primer and paint to get the best look for me. I had to use an etching primer, but still doesn’t stick great.

[Bill97]

Good morning Daniel. I have been engrossed in your AV build in my spare time when not working on my Endeavour. I am reading in the area where you applied the rivet decals to the hull. As you punned in your writing, I am riveted by your work. I am familiar with the decals you used. My curiosity is what guide you used for the pattern?  I guess how did you determine what the size of the metal plates are on the real AV?  Your application precision is remarkable!

[DanielD]

Good morning Bill. If you do a web search for AV dry dock you can see pictures of the hull with its rivet pattern. What I did is not accurate exactly, more like a good representation of the pattern. There is no possible way to get the rivet size and pattern accurate, so I used what I could get (smallest rivets for railroad) and just made it work. In the end, with paint and all, it turned out great, in my opinion. There are so many other things attached to the hull for visual interest, it’s only when you look close do you actually see the rivets. Would I do again? Yes, absolutely!