Calypso by mandolinut - Billing Boats - 1:45

[mandolinut]

Spent a little time today adding a few more details.  

I started by adding cable to the starboard winch and threading it through the lift assembly.  I have to decide whether or not to hang something from the cable such as a bathysphere or shark cage,

or just tie it off.

I saw on another Calypso build video where somebody added zincs to the steel bow addition to prevent electrolysis.  I had some small aluminum wire

which I hammered flat and cut into small pieces.  

Started the painting process on the life rings. Thanks to Mark for the good photo of Calypso's life rings. I decided to use that color scheme. 

Glued up the radar reflectors.  Will add rings and lines.

 

Happy New Year to everybody.

I have really enjoyed your support, inspiration and comments over the past year.

Patrick

 

[Veszett Roka]

He was right to add zinc anodes, but their position is not correct now. Here is a picture where to install them:

 

 

Happy new year!

 

 

Edited December 30, 2025 by Veszett Roka

[mandolinut]

Thankyou Veszett. I will make adjustments. It would be nice to weather the hull like that. Cheers.

Edited December 30, 2025 by mandolinut

[mandolinut]

I had the day to work on more details. There is so much going on with this ship which keeps it exciting.

I painted some of the 50 gallon barrels and added refinery names and another coat of paint for the spare tanks.

At first I hung the cannon from the winch. I liked the idea but did not care for the look, so added a hook to tie off the starboard winch. If I had a 3D printer and created people on board, the cannon would have worked.

The dinghy outboard was painted and striped.

 

Painted the outboard on the runabout.

And finally, made a cannon from an old hollow handled art paintbrush. Thinking this will be displayed on the stern deck. I may have to weather it a bit so it does not appear restored :0)

 

 

 

[mandolinut]

Working on the shark cage for a few days. Slow going but should be a fun recognizable feature on the stern deck of Calypso.  Tried various material and ended up with toothpick sized wood and aluminum straight wire. Needs a lot of cleaning up and filing and paint but should be a fun addition.

[GeoMorrissey]

Enjoying your build log very much, Your skills are exceptional.

I also enjoyed the Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau as a kid and idolized the man. My father sort of ruined it for me though. He was a deep sea diver and had occasion to meet Cousteau when the Calypso visited New Orleans. My father was in a mood one evening. As we were watching the show on TV, he started a rant on Cousteau. He called him a tube sucker, his favorite slur for a scuba diver. (He was a hard hat Master Diver in the USN in the 50's) He also threw out a few other colorful words concerning the man's character, and went on at length about how cantankerous (not his word) he was. I was crushed that my hero was such a scoundrel. Later in life I realized that Dad was "projecting" a bit. As a child, I took him at his word. Now I think there was a bit of professional jealousy and Cousteau may have just been reacting to my father being difficult himself. 

One of my favorite films is Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. It is a quirky comedy with Bill Murray playing an insane version of Jacques Cousteau. My favorite part was the depiction of his vessel, the Belafonte. https://youtu.be/_HEkxxhUlxs?si=I7uyvLPtM4xOskQd

 

[mandolinut]

Thanks GeoMorrissey,  Interesting background with your Navy diver Dad. Never heard the term "tubesucker"...made me laugh. I was an avid  tubesucker most of my life diving the Atlantic off of Florida and the Bahamas.  Captain Cousteau influenced myself along with many other young people with his television program and even more importantly created the aqualung/regulator which permitted recreational diving (tubesucking) for millions , allowing the ocean to be enjoyed first hand.

The movie Ocea Aquatica is hilarious. They must have gotten the idea of the scene you sent from the book, "Jaques Cousteau's Calypso" which has this centerfold:

Thanks for following the build and adding your story.

Cheers, Patrick