Calypso by mandolinut - Billing Boats - 1:45

[mandolinut]

Today, I bent small pieces of copper wire at  90 degree angles to form door latches. Predrilled the doors for a tight fit and painted the result.  Thanks to Xristo's Calypso build for the latch and lock ideas. I believe they add a nice touch.

 

[mandolinut]

Today, I wanted to insure the upper forward deck, and the upper stern deck will line up.  I dry fitted the lower cabins with painter's tape.  Slowly sanded down the lower deck cabin wall tops until the  two upper decks lined up. In addition, I added a cross piece under the  forward aft upper deck to allow the two decks to interlock and align.  This is thinking ahead since there is much more work to do on the lower deck and rails.

 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Looking good! I really like what you did with the cabin doors!

 

Don

[mandolinut]

Thankyou Don, I ordered and received the helicopter you used. I may modify the tail section to look more like Calypso's.

Previous Calypso builds by you and others have been my lifeline and inspiration.

I glued up the lower cabins today and reinforced the corners and am quite happy with the results. Starting to look like Calypso. 

 

 

 

 

 

[mandolinut]

Have any of you previous Calypso builders had a hard time identifying part numbers and therefore parts in the pictorial directions? I was looking at the crane parts today and could not identify many of the parts based on the numbers shown.  I see part numbers like 735 but the index in the back of the instructions have no such part number and many other part numbers do not show up.   Is there a complete parts list that may have not been packed in my kit? Any advice would be appreciated.

Patrick

[bowwild]

Very interesting build.  Your attention and eye for detail shines.  

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[mandolinut]

"Thanks for sharing your experience."

Thank you for your comment  bowwild.

 

[mandolinut]

I feel a bit embarrassed.  As I looked at the parts list in various languages I stopped at the bottom of the GB (English). A few pages later the list picked up again with the higher numbers so problem mentioned above is resolved.

While in the window and door mode, constructed the upper cabins, reinforced in the corners. Also started work on the decompression chamber by adding square scraps of wood to the top surface as shown in the plans. Bent some wire for the grab bars and attached. Also added handles for the entry hatch as shown in the plans. Finished with a coat of primer.  I began sorting out numerous parts for the aft crane.

[mandolinut]

Had fun today building the wheelhouse. Getting the windows all lined up was a little challenging which is a good thing. Also drilled and added the bolt heads on the bow. Having a pair of calipers was helpful for spacing the bolts.  Also made the cradle for the decompression chamber. 

 

 

[Mark Wilder]

On 1/9/2025 at 12:33 PM, mandolinut said:

I received my shipment of basswood today to plank the outer hull of Calypso. These are 1/4" x 1/16" x 24".  I ordered 80 strips so there should be plenty. Excited to start this part of the build. Needless to say, I would not be doing this if I was going to use the Calypso as an R/C model on the water.

Hi Mandolinut, 

I love the idea of planking the hull. I’m new to wood shipbuilding, may I ask where did you get your basswood strips?  Thanks!

[mandolinut]

Here is a link.  They were "Bud Nosen" from Midwest.

Bud Nosen Basswood Strips, 1/16" x 1/4", 50-Pack

I suggest roughing up (sanding) the ABS plastic hull to prepare it for glueing the wood strips. I used Gorilla Super glue from the local home store which worked great. 

Gorilla Glue Super Glue 15g Bottle Net Content Quantity 1 - Walmart.com

I used my fingers to hold the wood in place until the glue set up, about 15 seconds.  On a few of the strips near the deck, I placed the wood strips in boiling water (cookie sheet) and let them dry in place while mechanically clamped over the curved hull.  As you get closer to the water line there is less curve and no need to prebend. Hope this helps. 

[Mark Wilder]

50 minutes ago, mandolinut said:

Here is a link.  They were "Bud Nosen" from Midwest.

Bud Nosen Basswood Strips, 1/16" x 1/4", 50-Pack

I suggest roughing up (sanding) the ABS plastic hull to prepare it for glueing the wood strips. I used Gorilla Super glue from the local home store which worked great. 

Gorilla Glue Super Glue 15g Bottle Net Content Quantity 1 - Walmart.com

I used my fingers to hold the wood in place until the glue set up, about 15 seconds.  On a few of the strips near the deck, I placed the wood strips in boiling water (cookie sheet) and let them dry in place while mechanically clamped over the curved hull.  As you get closer to the water line there is less curve and no need to prebend. Hope this helps. 

Yes!  Thanks for the info. 

[mandolinut]

The roof tops and cabins are just sitting in place, not glued. I 've been working on priming, painting and sanding the wheelhouse and cabin structure behind it. Also added the molded plastic window details to the wheelhouse. I see from this photo I need to do additional sanding around the roof of the wheelhouse and cabins where I added trim to encircle the deck planking yet to be added. Also needs some filing inside some of the wheelhouse windows.

 

[mandolinut]

I have decided to plank the entire foredeck and cabin deck and placing the structures on top rather than cut all of the deck planking around the fixed surface structures. I am therefore anticipating transferring the graphics which are laser engraved on the top surface showing the placement of so many structures onto the bottom (backside) so I know where everything should be placed once the graphics are covered with planking. Same for the roof of the pilot house.

I also began building the stairway to the pilothouses and the related supports. Now to add the middle step and front fairing.

[mandolinut]

Making some progress on Calypso. Really enjoying this journey. At 76, I am thinking this may be my last build, so I want it to be special. 

Added some grab rails to the sides of the upper and lower cabins port and starboard and also to the steps of the wheelhouse. 

Also added flooring and paint to the interior of the wheelhouse. Trying to decide how much detail to add to the interior.  It would be very hard to see.

Painted the steps leading to the wheelhouse before gluing on the outer fairing.  Started working on the ship's funnel which I usually call the smokestack. Everything still needs a lot of clean up, sanding and more paint.