Dorade 1931 by ortho85 - FINISHED - Amati - scale 1:20 - Fastnet Yacht

[Omega1234]

Yep. I think so, but what's more important is how you're able to do what you've done despite the poor quality of Amati's instructions.

 

You must be feeling pretty proud of yourself.

 

Well done.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[ortho85]

For a change I'm not going to whinge about Amati!  Just present info on the fiddly bits I've been creating.

 

It's one of those stages where nothing seems to happen - then you look at all the stuff you've made.

 

Here are some hatches and skylights, resting on the deck:

 

 

 

 

Then it was the deckhouse.  Here's part of the plan for that complicated structure:

 

 

 

 

Early stages of construction:

 

 

 

 

I forgot to seal around the masking tape before applying the mahogany stain - so I got some bleeding.  I plan to touch up the gloss white paint later.

 

Progressing (not sure what the curly things are called!):

 

 

 

 

And nearly finished:

 

 

 

 

I still have to fit the skirting boards, and the pulley seen in this part of the plans:

 

 

 

 

Silly me!  I assumed this was a pre-fabricated item.  Oh no!  Each pulley is constructed according to this plan:

 

 

 

 

That's gunna take a fair time for the first one!

 

However, I suddenly realised I'm actually enjoying all these little fiddly bits!

 

So, on we plod.

 

Cheers,

 

Brett

[ortho85]

Still not sure what they are called, but here's the Deckhouse and "curly bits" in situ:

 

 

 

 

I glued the deck furniture on, and added a few winches etc.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

In these detail photos you can see the start of the posts and ropes at the sides of the deck, and a few other fiddly bits.  As usual the instructions are ********ed -

 

 

 

 

And here is the plan:

 

 

 

 

And here's my interpretation of some of this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's starting to look pretty!

 

More soon,

 

Brett

[egkb]

She's looking Beautiful Brett.. 'Like a Yacht' in fact     (that's a saying from a previous job )

 

All The Very Best

 

Eamonn

[dgbot]

A beautiful piece of work.  Your model makes me want to be aboard it riding the waves,

David B

[yvesvidal]

Fabulous Brett. Thank you so much for sharing.

 

Yves

[Omega1234]

Hi Brett

 

Nice! You're doing a great job on a beautiful ship.

 

All the best

 

Patrick

[ortho85]

So, here's the boat a few days ago, with the side ropes etc in place:

 

 

 

 

Earlier I mentioned the pulleys.  Here is the plan of how they are constructed:

 

 

 

 

And here are some photos of the fiddly construction:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some details of the finished products in situ:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next step is the main mast.  Again the instructions basically say "find wood, make mast":

 

 

 

 

It's made from half-round and rectangular cross-section timber, tapered at the top 290mm, and overall length of 960mm!  Not easy to photograph, but here are a couple of views during assembly:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I forgot to photograph the whole thing, but here it is with some of the brassware attachments:

 

 

 

 

And a close up of those bits:

 

 

 

 

Next I have to cut into my beautiful mast    and add some brass channels that run the whole length.  To make it more interesting at this point the instructions get things out of order, and the plans are wrong.

 

So I'm spending a couple of days poring over everything to try to avoid another 'oh, fork' moment.

 

Cheers,

 

Brett

[michael mott]

A beautiful job so far Brett.

 

Michael

[dgbot]

You are doing a fine job.  Fantastic work.

David B

[Salty Sea Dog]

Wow! That is some great work on the fiddly bits!

[ortho85]

Thanks for the support, everyone.

 

The last few weeks have been spent on the mast and boom.  I decided to keep the mast natural timber colour.

 

When I woke early this morning, I thought "what have I done?".  Oh, no!

 

I had (again) blindly followed the plan, and stained the boom mahogany.  Only now did I think it might have looked better in a natural finish.

 

Too late, now - there's too much on the boom to backtrack.  And The Boss likes it, anyway, so I'm safe.

 

First the mast received its 'crosstrees'.  These are fitted into cuts in the mast:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then finished with brass strips:

 

 

 

 

In the photo above you can also see the timber strip and eyebolts that run most of the length of the mast.  On the  other side (facing the bow) are fitted two brass channels.  These caused a lot of trouble and stress in their cutting, fitting, and gluing!

 

 

 

 

At the tip of the mast goes a recessed pulley, requiring a cut through:

 

 

 

 

And with the brass fittings in place:

 

 

 

 

The ball on the top is a wooden bead, with the simple direction to paint it brass coloured.  I've been unable to find this locally, so am trying gold spray paint.

 

Now to the boom.  It's a miserable day here, so there's lousy light.  Some are with the flash, some without - apologies.

 

Here's a fair colour match:

 

 

 

 

And the other side with bad colour:

 

 

 

 

And, finally, some detail views:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the storm's about to hit, here in Brisbane, so it's time to close down.

 

Cheers,

 

Brett

[yvesvidal]

Congratulations on your progress on this lovely boat. I like the dark varnish on the boom, as it is very realistic of yachts of that era.

 

Yves

[ortho85]

Thanks, Yves.

 

That makes me feel better!

 

Cheers,

 

Brett

[ortho85]

We're about to head off on a month's holiday, so there will be no work done on the boat for a while.

 

Here's the current state:

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, I've fixed the masts (main and mizzen) - not without difficulties and extreme stress.  I'm not exactly happy with the 3D positioning, but I hope it will look OK when the sails are on.

 

You can also see the two booms are in place.  This is despite the "wonderful" Amati instructions.  Note how three different items are all shown on the plan as the same!!!

 

 

 

 

Here is the mizzen mast boom:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, finally, some other views:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now to lock the room she's in, while we're away!

 

Cheers,

 

Brett

[ortho85]

Well, the break's over, and this model is finished.  I've been hiding while I fitted the rigging and sails.

 

There were the usual FUBARs, but I promised myself I would stop whining about Amati.  Still, it was fun when my wife "volunteered" to make the sails.  Her comments made mine seem restrained by comparison!

 

One thing to comment on.  The rigging was nice to work with, as the "rope" was 1-2mm thick.  This made seizing easier, but created difficulties threading through relatively small holes.

 

Some surgery was required, as seen here, where I had to bore out the windlasses from the size on the right to the end result on the left.  You can see the dental drill I used, and the size of the rigging rope:

 

 

 

 

 

As before, this is not a model that likes to be photographed, so apologies for what follows.  Here she is in her intended position in our lounge room:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I planned to display her from the port, but the sails are rigged such that you see all of them from the starboard.  I may change that later.

 

And a few other full views:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon, I will post some other views, but that may have to wait a while.  We are off for a week on a catamaran in the Whitsundays - this one http://www.whitsundayescape.com/product/seawind-1250/

 

Tough, huh?

 

Cheers,

 

Brett

[Omega1234]

Hey Brett

 

Congratulations on finishing Dorade. She looks beautiful and is a real credit to you.

 

As for the catamaran trip....well, it's a hard life for some....enjoy!!!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[yvesvidal]

Brett,

 

Thank you for taking us on this beautiful Dorade ride and sharing the construction of that great kit.

Enjoy your sail trip. I envy you.

 

Yves

[JerseyCity Frankie]

Splendid! It really projects the feeling of…….all I can call it is "nostalgic serenity". Like a ship in a dream where they serve plenty of ice cream and everyone is dressed in sporty red and white stripped shirts and at least one guy has a pipe in his mouth.

[ortho85]

Posting some photos, to show a bit more detail.

 

First, the rigging.  The top of the masts became a jumble.  I would have done better if I had been able to go back in time.  I did not realise how many ropes were at the pointy end!

 

 

 

 

Other views, to show the rigging:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, a bunch of views from various viewpoints:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The End!

 

 

Now, normally at this point the search for the next model would begin.  However, that has been decided - one of my sons bought me the San Francisco II.  Not sure when I'll start it, but I can feel the pull already.

 

And, to finish, here's a couple of photos from last week's holiday:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Brett

[dgbot]

Congrats on a job well done.

David B

[Kevin]

hope mine turn out this good

[GrandpaPhil]

Congratulations!  Well done!

[BobG]

Just read through your build log. What a gorgeous sailboat you've built. Super well done!