Yacht Vida Mia - 1929 - 1/33 - Scratch from photos

[Fred P.]

Hi all,
After finishing the construction of the Olympus, I spent a long time searching for what model I could build next. Tired of kits, I was looking for a unique model and I finally settled on the year 1929 and the 1/33 scale.
I've finally decided on my new project. It will be the Vida Mia, a 1929 yacht built by Stephens Marine in Stockton, California. This yacht is still in operation, based in Honolulu, and can be chartered for events or for a day trip.
I chose this yacht because there's a lot of documentation about it, and especially a lot of photos. Since I work primarily from photos, I need a lot of them. I am building it in its current configuration because photos of its condition when it was released in 1929 are too rare.

Contrary to popular belief, this isn't the boat that appeared in the film "The Final Countdown." The one in the film is the Gatsby, and I presented it in another post.

First, here are two full-size photos of the Vida Mia:




Using the various photos, I modeled the hull using Blender. I struggled quite a bit with this software because I wasn't very familiar with it, but I finally managed to obtain a satisfactory shape:


Then the plan of the structure, slightly modified with Inkscape:


After laser cutting from 5mm poplar plywood, here is the dry-assembled structure:








More soon...

Regards,
Fred

 

[Fred P.]

I started this build in early November, so it's now quite far along. I won't go into the details of the hull planking, which is made of 5x2 mm mahogany strips.










The cabins are modeled with Inkscape from photos and also laser-cut from 3mm plywood:



All the plywood is covered with cherry veneer:




More to come soon with the construction of the deck and the interior fittings.

Fred

 

[Magellan]

Very gorgeous.

 

[Fred P.]

As promised, here is the continuation of the construction.
The yacht's deck is constructed with 2x2 mm walnut slats. Between each slat, I glue a strip of black paper to simulate caulking.


The deck is finished here :



The plywood structure is covered with cherry veneer:



Everything is removable. This photo shows all the elements at this stage of construction.






The windlass is built on a 3D printed base to which I added brass, wood, nails, paint...



The portholes are sections of aluminum tubing:



At the stern, a bench seat and the access well to the rudder.



That's all for now...
Best regards
Fred

 

[AllanKP69]

Your build is very impressive. Based on all the details you have included, it is apparent you spent a lot of time researching before cutting wood. Kudos!
Allan

 

[Fred P.]

Thanks Allan. Indeed, I always choose boats that I can build from photos. The more photos available, the easier the work. For the "Vida Mia," since it's a boat used for outings or festive events, there are many photos on Facebook in particular. Here are a few.











See you soon..
Fred

 

[Fred P.]

Hello,
Now the curtains and the staircase leading to the lower level are finished:







The cockpit is still very empty:



The goal is to obtain something close to this:


Since I couldn't find a 6-spoke steering wheel commercially available, I had to build it myself.

Here's the result. The compass was made by thermoforming a sushi wrapper.



The stained glass is a decal. I made it using special paper that you put in the printer. This is the stained glass window that you can see from the dining room in my previous post.





The front cabin roof is installed. Everything is removable. The assemblies are made using micro-screws, like those used in eyewear manufacturing.
The handrails are laser-cut.



More to come soon...

Best regards.
Fred

 

[Fred P.]

Hello everyone,
As promised, here are the next photos of the construction.

Here is the bar counter with the bottle rack. The holes for the bottles are 3mm and laser-cut.


And the other side:


And here at its place:


One of the sofas in the rear lounge:


And the other side:


Now the real lounge:


And the model:


The construction of the bathing platform using 1mm slats:




The bathing platform, once installed with its ladders:






And finally, two photos of the actual platform:



This is the stage I'm at today. As I mentioned earlier, I started this model at the beginning of November, so the previous stages have been spread out over three months. The next steps will be building the bulwarks and the roof.

Best regards
Fred