Amerigo Vespucci by DanielD - OcCre - 1:100

[Mike Dowling]

I would say that those I have made are about the same size although not nearly as posh as yours. Where did you get those lamps from ?

[VitusBering]

I apologize for jumping in here - I am not sure where Daniel got his lamps but I get mine from RB Model.

There are several styles and sizes of lamps here - some have LEDs, others do not.

When you highlight a particular lamp style, if the "Additional Info" button is available, then that lamp probably has an associated LED. If the Quantity column has a "0 pieces" entry for a particular size, that size is unavailable.

[Mike Dowling]

Thank you for that, no indication of voltage which makes life a bit awkward.

Anyway here is a quiz for you all!! especially you Daniel. The real AV has doors on each side of the ship where you would expect the ladders to go. I can't find anywhere a decent picture of where the entrance to the ship is/are. Logically it should be via the doors but some models show additional doors lower down which I don't think exist on the real ship. Photos would seem to show ladders where the doors are but significantly lower. Any ideas?

[DanielD]

Good evening mates, here is the progress on the port marker and housing. I’m still not sure of the scale, but it seems close. Have to make a mirrored matching one for starboard side, prime and paint flat black…slow progress.

 

 

[DanielD]

19 hours ago, Mike Dowling said:

I’ll look and see, but as I recall I bought them from a store in California. I wanted a metal housing and when I called this place, the guy that answered the phone was very helpful, knew exactly the part I was talking about among the 100s of parts he had on his website, and answered my questions without hesitation. So I bought them from him and they arrived in a few days. They came with 12v bulbs, but not LED…but a clear 3mm LED fits nicely inside and looks amazing when lit.

 

I looked at the RB Model link that VitusBering listed above, and it has the same ones I bought near the bottom, see image below. I bought the second one in the list as the inside diameter is slightly more then the 3mm LEDs I’m using.

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by DanielD

[DanielD]

Good evening mates, another side marker update, both sides finished. Will get lighting working this weekend. Then on to the next lighting task.

 

[Mike Dowling]

What do you think about the side doors Daniel?

[DanielD]

4 hours ago, Mike Dowling said:

What do you think about the side doors Daniel?

Mike, I’m not sure what doors you are referring to. I’ve not seen any images or other information that suggests any other access to the ship other than the two sets of stairs on both sides that can be adjusted to accommodate the sea wall they dock against which then allows access from the sea wall to the deck. Once on board, there are many water tight hatches to stairs leading to lower decks, several water tight doors into the fire control room, and ornate doors leading to officers quarters and conference rooms that can have a waterproof hatch placed over them in the case of heavy seas. On the other hand, I have seen images where some (or possibly all) of the portholes open, but this would not be for human access. I’ll keep my eyes open other hatches along the hull.

Edited May 12, 2023 by DanielD

[DanielD]

Good evening mates, I finally took the plunge and organized the wires that make this ship work. I used some terminal blocks I had on hand to make the distribution bus, I know, a bit over kill but it’s the engineer in me. I purchased two usb-c terminal blocks, one for the ship that I will install along the keel which will be mostly hidden. The other usb-c terminal will be in the base. When this idea was first suggested, I was excited to finally have a clean solution to get the the power onboard. What I didn’t expect is that a standard high speed usb-c cable is not “straight through”, well, actually I expected the transmit and receive wires to be crossed, but the rest was unexpected. Not only is the cable wired differently if one swaps the ends, but also different when one flips one or both ends, making 6 different wiring combinations. Basically, I wired for only one of the six potential options, which means my cable will only work one way, if I swap the ends or flip one or both of the ends, it will not work. I will be marking which end of my cable goes to the ship and base respectively. With that done, my power cable is all working. Now to finish the lighting.

 

[Dave_E]

Looks great! 👍😀 Reminds me of my HO train days, used the same stuff. 

[DanielD]

Good evening everyone, this weekends update. I have the marker lights all wired up and working. The only thing missing from this circuit is the lantern on the mizzen mast. Not sure how to build a lantern or purchase one for the correct period style and in the right scale…More work to do on this front.

 

[Mike Dowling]

Thank you for reply about he doors. I did mean those at deck level which are all I can find. Maybe I adjust the position of the steps to fit those which, it seems from some of the photos would be the way to go.

 

Meanwhile a suggestion/word of warning. I did exactly what I was trying to avoid and when drilling the porthole holes and managed to cut some of the internal wiring because I hadn't remembered correctly where it was. I would suggest that you take some good pictures of your wiring before you do the planking to avoid doing the same thing.

[DanielD]

1 hour ago, Mike Dowling said:

Meanwhile a suggestion/word of warning. I did exactly what I was trying to avoid and when drilling the porthole holes and managed to cut some of the internal wiring because I hadn't remembered correctly where it was. I would suggest that you take some good pictures of your wiring before you do the planking to avoid doing the same thing.

Mike, in my last ship, the HMS Terror, I had a similar mishap. I routed the wires just under the deck, then later I drilled through the deck for some piece of equipment and severed a line. Had to remove a plank and perform micro soldering to fix. I don’t want a repeat of that so I have routed all my wires away from the deck and any walls. Good lesson for us all.

[DanielD]

1 hour ago, Mike Dowling said:

Thank you for reply about he doors. I did mean those at deck level which are all I can find. Maybe I adjust the position of the steps to fit those which, it seems from some of the photos would be the way to go.

I found that the OcCre plans are off a bit for where the stairs meet the deck. In my deck plan I moved the opening for the stairs about 15-20mm to hopefully make it all work in the end. Also I added the micro grid to the deck at the location of embarkation / disembarkation.

[Mike Dowling]

I have done exactly the same as you!! Great minds think alike so they say.

[DanielD]

Good evening mates, still working on the lighting…started the night display lighting the AV is famous for. It took a couple of irritations, but this is what I’m going with for the moment. Below is the foremast green lighting.

 

[DanielD]

Good evening everyone, thanks for stopping by. In this episode, I have finished or nearly finished the night green-white-red up-lighting the AV is famous for. Hard to see without any of the mast hardware, but I am getting light up to the top of each mast.

 

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by DanielD

[Mike Dowling]

Very impressive!! I only have one light for each mast and none on the tops!

[DanielD]

2 hours ago, Mike Dowling said:

Very impressive!! I only have one light for each mast and none on the tops!

I used the same number as in the real AV, but it was just yesterday I noticed that there is a red light at the top of each mast…not sure how I want to handle that 🤔 

[DanielD]

Good evening mates, it’s been awhile since my last post, not because I haven’t been working on the AV, but because what I’ve been working on is not visual progress. I’ve been working on the last major lighting project that I have planned for my Amerigo Vespucci, the port hole lighting.

 

My goal is to attempt to light the lower decks similar to what occurs in real life, meaning, not all the lower deck lights will be on at the same time (see image below). My plan is to light two sets of port holes. I can have one set on, or the second set, or if I choose, both sets which will light all of the port holes.

 

I am planning on some deck planks between each set of lights to prevent light bleeding from one level to the next…just not made it that far yet. Thanks for stopping by.

 

[Mike Dowling]

Hey Daniel, your lights are certainly going to look spectacular, a bit like a Christmas tree by the time you finish!!

 

A puzzle for you! You mentioned a while ago about the AV having three anchors. The Occre kit provides 6 including 2 which are supposed to be fastened to the rear of the ship. I have scoured the photos etc of the real AV and it may be that there are 2 at the stern and I can only see 2 at the bow. What do you think is right?

[DanielD]

14 hours ago, Mike Dowling said:

A puzzle for you! You mentioned a while ago about the AV having three anchors. The Occre kit provides 6 including 2 which are supposed to be fastened to the rear of the ship. I have scoured the photos etc of the real AV and it may be that there are 2 at the stern and I can only see 2 at the bow. What do you think is right?

Mike, at the time, I was talking about the bow anchors. Indeed the AV has 3 bow anchors, one on the port side and two on the starboard. In addition, the AV also has one anchor on either side of the stern for a total of five. Here are the pictures that I quickly found that show all of them.

 

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by DanielD

[VitusBering]

Daniel, have you made any provision (or plan to do so) for access to the LEDs after the model is finished?

 

I know the LEDs have a very long life expectancy but they have been known to fail.

 

In my own very rudimentary lighting scheme I have (so far) tried to maintain access (the deckhouse roofs are not glued in, same for the nav lighting mounts) but it is becoming more difficult. I am not sure it is worth the hassle.

[DanielD]

3 hours ago, VitusBering said:

Daniel, have you made any provision (or plan to do so) for access to the LEDs after the model is finished?

 

I know the LEDs have a very long life expectancy but they have been known to fail.

 

In my own very rudimentary lighting scheme I have (so far) tried to maintain access (the deckhouse roofs are not glued in, same for the nav lighting mounts) but it is becoming more difficult. I am not sure it is worth the hassle.

VitusBering, that is a very good question and the answer is yes/no. Let me explain, (No) I am not planning on having any capability to replace a LED. But, (Yes) 1) I am taking steps to protect the LEDs by making sure they all are matched with resisters to protect from overloading the LED, 2) I am running less voltage and thus leas than the maximum current so LED is not likely to fail, and 3) I am using voltage regulators that relatively slowly go from zero to maximum set voltage so as to not shock the LED.

 

Basically, I should get 30+ years or more out of the lighting based on how often I will actually have the display on. If a LED goes out, I can evaluate based on location if it’s even worth it to fix. For example, the night up lighting is important for the look of the ship (the green, white, red look of the Italian flag) and those are easy to access and replace. The LEDs inside the structures or in the hull, I doubt if anyone besides me will notice.

[DanielD]

Good afternoon mates, thought I would make a quick update. I finally have all the lighting and associated wiring finished and secured. Today I started laying down the first layer of planking. So far, going as planned, but it sure is tedious slow work.

 

[clearway]

I was wondering how much of the work so far was removeable for when the planking started 😜. Are you going to use the occre supplied second planking or replace it Daniel?

 

Keith

[DanielD]

6 hours ago, clearway said:

I was wondering how much of the work so far was removeable for when the planking started 😜. Are you going to use the occre supplied second planking or replace it Daniel?

 

Keith

Hi Keith, good to hear from you. I do plan to use the kit supplies second planking as the Amerigo Vespucci is a metal hulled ship so the quality of wood I use is not critical. I will have to fill in any imperfections and sand very smooth and paint with filler primer, sand again, paint again, then add the detail rivets and supports all before final paint. A slow process for sure.

 

Daniel

[DanielD]

Good evening everyone, time for another update. Still working on the first planking layer, but working both sides equally to prevent hull warping.

 

If you look closely, you can see the USB-C plug to get power on board for all the lighting and motor.

[DanielD]

Good evening mates, another hull update. I have the main hull first planking basically finished with a few angled planks to manufacture and set, but the hard part is finished.

 

[DanielD]

Good evening mates, another hull update. I have finished the first planking layer, sanded, filled some cracks, sanded again and now it’s ready for the second and final plank layer. After all the pounding, gluing, and sanding, I’m happy to report that all the electrical still works! Now to figure out the best adhesive to adhere the thin planks. I have used PVA and CA glue in the past. Both are messy. The PVA glue is more wet and warps the thin planks and is fairly slow drying so slow progress with the time I have to work on project. CA glue is fast, but makes the wood hard and difficult to sand and in this case I need to sand, fill, and repeat until very smooth to simulate a metal finish.. The instructions call for contact cement. Coat the hull and a few planks, let dry, and press into place for a permanent adhesion. I’ve never tried this method…anyone have experience with this contact cement? Clearway suggested Evo-stick fast setting wood glue, which may work, but still takes an hour ish to set and I only have an hour or so a few nights a week to work in the ship yard, so this might be too slow to make good progress. Other ideas appreciated.

 

Edited June 23, 2023 by DanielD