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Amerigo Vespucci 1:84 by Panart?Mantua Build – RC Enabled

Commissioned the rudder today. :)

You may of noticed that I had to split the main deck along its length to accommodate the alterations I had to make to the build sequence. In addition, an access hatchway was cut into the deck to access the motor/battery room.

Now awaiting the delivery of the lead ballast... in the interim I'll continue to complete the hull painting and decorating.

 
With a coat of primer on the hull, marking the NWL is pretty straightforward.

BTW, now with a coat of primer, it's much easier to spot the blemishes on the finish. Which begs a question, just how 'perfect' should I make the hull? I can spend a few hours of filling and sanding to obtain a blemish free surface, however the actual ship was never built to that standard.

How do you builders approach this issue? Do you try to obtain a concourse like finish, or do you allow some blems in the completed model to increase the level of authenticity?

NWL.jpeg
 
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JJ Lad said:
With a coat of primer on the hull, marking the NWL is pretty straightforward.

BTW, now with a coat of primer, it's much easier to spot the blemishes on the finish. Which begs a question, just how 'perfect' should I make the hull? I can spend a few hours of filling and sanding to obtain a blemish free surface, however the actual ship was never built to that standard.

How do you builders approach this issue? Do you try to obtain a concourse like finish, or do you allow some blems in the completed model to increase the level of authenticity?

View attachment 535392
Click to expand...
Hi JJ
Wnen I built my AV, I tried to have the hull as smooth as possible, as much as I could. But for sure it's not 100% smooth.
At least it's good enough for my taste
Your hull looks great after the primer.
What I did was several coats of primer (2 or 3 I believe) with some light sanding in between.
Cheers
 
Gilbertm said:
Hi JJ
Wnen I built my AV, I tried to have the hull as smooth as possible, as much as I could. But for sure it's not 100% smooth.
At least it's good enough for my taste
Your hull looks great after the primer.
What I did was several coats of primer (2 or 3 I believe) with some light sanding in between.
Cheers
Click to expand...

Hi Gilbert,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I think I'll do the same. Most of my blems appear to be in areas where the fiberglass didn't lay perfectly flat during the cure. Some time water sanding should be adle to address these areas.

Thx,

JJ
 
As I await the arrival of my lead ballast, I'm looking ahead at other water-ingress challenges the hull may be subject to.

One area of concern are the port holes (air holes). In challenging weather, these ports will allow water to enter the hull with tragic results. I'll need to blank these openings in such a manner to prevent water ingress.

Which brings me to the matter at hand.... the drawing below is the only 1:1 scale schematic included in the kit. However, it only illustrates the 'plan' view. How did builders of the AV accurately locate the position of the port holes without an accurate, scale elevation view?

Am I missing a schematic?

AV Plan View 1_1.jpeg
 
JJ Lad said:
As I await the arrival of my lead ballast, I'm looking ahead at other water-ingress challenges the hull may be subject to.

One area of concern are the port holes (air holes). In challenging weather, these ports will allow water to enter the hull with tragic results. I'll need to blank these openings in such a manner to prevent water ingress.

Which brings me to the matter at hand.... the drawing below is the only 1:1 scale schematic included in the kit. However, it only illustrates the 'plan' view. How did builders of the AV accurately locate the position of the port holes without an accurate, scale elevation view?

Am I missing a schematic?

View attachment 536334
Click to expand...
Hello JJ
If you look at booklet #2pages 12-14, you see the boards that include all port holes
I feel this is the easiest way to correctly position these windows, using plan sheet 2 as well
Hope this helps
Cheers
 
Gilbertm said:
Hello JJ
If you look at booklet #2pages 12-14, you see the boards that include all port holes
I feel this is the easiest way to correctly position these windows, using plan sheet 2 as well
Hope this helps
Cheers
Click to expand...
Hi Gilbert,

I'm surprised Mantua didn't include a properly dimensioned schematic for the port-hole locations. However with the documents you referenced, I'm confident I can locate them in the generally correct location.

Thx,

JJ
 
The lead ballast arrived today and I quickly got to work.

In my Post #12, I had estimated that if the kit was designed to scale, the model ship would displace 14.023lbs, or 6360grams.

The hull was assembled with motor, propellor, rudder, batteries and all associated electronics.

I then divided the lead ballast into 500g packets and loaded the Pb on board to float the boat on its normal water level (NWL).

With a tare weight of 3160grams, it took another 4000g of lead to ballast the boat for a displacement of 7160grams.

I suspect the additional 800grams of displacement was gained from the fiberglass layer I added to the hull.

I will need to estimate the weight of the deck topworks and reduce that value from the total ballast.

0_Lead 500g bags.jpeg1_AV 4KG Ballast.jpeg2_AV 4KG Float.jpeg3_AV Rudder Depth1.jpegFiberglass.jpeg
 
Poured the ballast today and mixed with slow-cure epoxy.

I used 3500grams keeping 500grams in reserve to trim the boat when complete.

Once cured, I can fix the decks and proceed with the prescribed build.

Now I have to look ahead and figure out the sail controls.

AV Lead Ballast 3500g.jpg
 
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Motor is now mounted into position. A flex coupling secures the gearbox output shaft to the prop shaft.

Note that the motor is not hard-fixed to the hull...rather it's permitted to float in an effort to reduce any vibration and noise.

Normally, I would affix the motor in place with rubber feet, however as the motor sits so low in the hull, that approach isn't practical.

A friction fit brass bracket keeps the motor in position.

Mtr Mount1.jpeg
 
JJ Lad said:
Motor is now mounted into position. A flex coupling secures the gearbox output shaft to the prop shaft.

Note that the motor is not hard-fixed to the hull...rather it's permitted to float in an effort to reduce any vibration and noise.

Normally, I would affix the motor in place with rubber feet, however as the motor sits so low in the hull, that approach isn't practical.

A friction fit brass bracket keeps the motor in position.

View attachment 537579
Click to expand...
hi. great build. How do you keep the water from entering through the hole for the properller?
 
Just about ready to secure the main deck and batten down the hatches...but first needed to fab a couple of battery mounts.

Some insulating Styrofoam blocks carved to fit the hull, and a couple of strips of Velcro is all it takes.

Batt1.jpeg

Batt2.jpeg
 
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I'm well into the tedious exercise of deck planking..... wondering, are these deck planks supposed to be stained?

Can't find anything in the build guide that confirms if a stain should be applied to the decks?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

AV Deck Planks.jpeg
 
JJ Lad said:
I'm well into the tedious exercise of deck planking..... wondering, are these deck planks supposed to be stained?

Can't find anything in the build guide that confirms if a stain should be applied to the decks?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

View attachment 538250
Click to expand...
Hi JJ
I used 2 coats of matt varnish with a light sanding after the first coat
 
This is a very cool concept, converting a static model to an RC boat. I feel like it would be the ultimate test to see if the design is accurate enough for the function. I look forward to seeing the results.

I actually had the pleasure to see this ship in person when it came to Los Angeles last year as a part of it's world tour. It was a very fun experience.
 
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