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Amerigo Vespucci

a photo feature by Kym Knight
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Comments
Kym Knight (Rab) shares with us a beautiful wooden ship subject, quite a fantastic build, the "Amerigo Vespucci."





The ship


Amerigo Vespucci was a businessman and cartographer born in Florence (1454 - 1512) and is credited with drawing the first maps of the new world - America.

Named after him, the Amerigo Vespucci was built in Castellammare di Stabia shipyards in Naples, Italy and launched in 1931. The Amerigo Vespucci has both power and sail propulsion and it's primary role is in training Italian Naval Officers of the Leghorn Naval Academy.

The power propulsion is by means of a single 4 bladed screw that is connected to an electric motor. Two diesel engines (1500hp Fiat- Marcelli) drive twin electric generators, which produces the power for the electric propulsion motor.

On the sailing side, 2800 sq meters of sail is rigged on triple masts standing over 61 meters in height and are made of wood and steel. The hull is made of rivited steel plates and is 82.3 meters in lenght and 15.5 meters wide. She carries 267 crew members and 105 cadets.


The model


This model of the 1:84th Amerigo Vespucci was built in 2000, using the Panart kit. I've added about 30 lights in the ship and another 8 on the base board which look quite spectacular when lit. The finished model is 1400mm in lenght, 800mm in height and 190mm wide. Each motor launch and row boat are seperate plank on frame kits and the time taken to build and mount her on the slipway was 2000 hours.
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About the Author

About Kym Knight (Rab)
FROM: QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

I just love modelling stuff with big guns!


Comments

gator
Beautiful work Rab.
JUL 07, 2007 - 09:48 AM
madwolf
Very nice work! I hope to be able to make a wooden ship one day. I have a kit in a box that has been sitting in there for years and I'm scared to touch it.
JUL 07, 2007 - 09:57 AM
redshirt
I like it! The deck furniture and davited boats keep the eye moving right along. Lighting in the dark looks great too, giving it a sense of atmosphere. The light and backlight on the yards and rigging have an artistic look.
JUL 07, 2007 - 10:06 AM
skipper
Although I am more a "Plastic and Resin" modeler, always think that these kind of wooden ship models are great displays! Congrats Kym (and I admire your patience!) Skipper
JUL 07, 2007 - 10:31 AM
Littorio
JUL 07, 2007 - 10:39 AM
Rab
Thanks for the comments guys. I really like building the wooden ships but they are so time consuming. I could probably get a dozen 1:350 ships built in the time it takes to construct one of those sailing ships. I have 4 builds that are at the stage of masting and rigging, but no-where to put them at the moment as I am in the middle of plasterboarding the display area of the shed and everything is crammed into one corner. Here is a photo of the first test on the wiring job inside the hull of the Amerigo Vespucci.
JUL 08, 2007 - 05:45 PM
Grumpyoldman
Beautiful work.
JUL 09, 2007 - 03:19 AM
AlanL
Hi RAb, Great looking ship, excellent work. Thanks for sharing and the lighting looks cool too. Al
JUL 09, 2007 - 05:31 PM
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Copyright ©2021 by Kym Knight. _OPINIONS Model Shipwrights, KitMaker Network, or Silver Star Enterrpises. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of Model Shipwrights. All rights reserved. Originally published on: 2007-07-07 00:00:00. Unique Reads: 6954