Newbuild Nbr 29 "little" Voyager of the seas

[Texas Teen]

Keep up the great work! Can't wait to see the finished product. :D

[modelbuilder]

Hello every body. It has been a while since I've posted a message. The construction has not stopped, I was travelling for work a bit, but mostly I have been doing some "boring" work on the model. I had to raise the pooldeck by 5mm, and there is nothing exting to see on that. I made the openings for the swimmingpools and post important I made the contruction in the rear part to glue the deck down. It needs to be strong, becasue I will lift the all this to axess the electricals, batteries,... I will lift the whole decks and cabins by the viking crown, so it is linked al the way down to the contruction so the poor Viking crown does not get loose from the deck. It takes some thinking because and I not reach the construction anymore once glued the weight must be a minimum for balance.

 

I also have done some test to add water in the pools. Water in the pools??? all my previous models have a thin layer of transparent plactic to double as water. That was pretty good, but hard to clean, you might press the plastic to the bottom. (a child did this once when I was not looking, took me hours to correct) So I found some products that are gel like, christal clear and you poor it in and let it get hard. It is made to make ponds at model railroads. So I bought 2 different bottles to test. I made a small pool in 2 sections and poored that in. I wanted to see the end result and I also wanted to see if this stuff would affect the blue paint from the pool. This stuff took 3 weeks to cure!! No movement allowed in that time.

1 did pretty good, the other one after 3 weeks is still not cured and milky like. Luckily I did a test. Soon more pictures.

John

[modelbuilder]

This is the pool test. The one on the right is obviously the best option. The "fake water" does not affect the paint, looks like water, but I have been shifting too often so the water is not clear near the edges. Now I know. The white stuff has poor curing so the other one will be used.

 

That is the poolbar. It has these wooden sunshades on top of it. I knew from the beginning they will be tough to copy, but it turned out pretty good. Now a nice wood) color paint. it is quite early to make but it was also some kind of test, because there are more things to make like this.

It is a good example, on those days in port, very few passengers on board, Picture time... get those details. Many passengers looking at me why I am photographing a railing, or a door... One time I was taking pictures from the deck staight down (for details on top of the rescue boats) passengers tought I've seen some see creature, they come running to me with their camera's asking me what I've seen...

 

 

It does not look like it, but this thing was not easy. These are the studs (if you call it that way) for the windows at the pooldeck. The small opening is a 1mm space were a bar will be glued into so the windows are installed firmly enough. I wanted them to be hardly visible. Because they are so flat they have no stength to support the deck above. So another thing to be solved... I made one by hand, and they drew in in a CADCAM software and had it professionally milled.

 

John

[lownslow]

Oh my gosh, how amazing! I am going on my first ever cruise this year on Voyager of the seas and love seeing your detailing of her.

 

You certainly have a gift.

[seaofwonder]

Wow, this is simply amazing!

[will773]

Wow! You are really getting into the details with your model! Great job!

[cynt]

WOW!! What an awesome gift God has blessed you with. Excellent work!!

[Puffinater]

Very impressive. Will follow this thread.

[jmf123]

John, you are amazing and talented and patient! I love your Voyager ship model, I sailed on her in 2000, the detail is incredible! Thank you very much for sharing. By the way, a friend of mine recently returned (very reluctantly) to the US from living in Brussels for about the past six years. Her government job has her back in Virginia and she really loved Brussels. :)

[SamFritz]

Wasn't Voyager origianlly called, "Project Eagle?" Perhaps this is the "Eaglett" :)

[modelbuilder]

Thanks for you reactions y'all!

 

The Voyager of the Seas was the first from "project Eagle" The Voyager has sisterships that are either similar or very similar with the exception of some details like the childrens's pool at the rear or most visible the glass baconies like the Navigator has. More steel was used with the Voyager. I guess the glass balconies had a weight and visibility advantage. But is was all designed and built under the name project Eagle.

for those interesed, there (was / is?) a DVD for sale of +/- 3 hours going from the first paper schetches to the maiden voyage of the Voyager. I've seen it 50 times I think. Those of you who like a get an idea of how this all goes, I can recomend this video.

 

This last weekend the pooldeck was glued down... Lots of detailing to do. When that is done the fun starts. Making the pooldeck with all its details is the most fun to make and to see from the pictures.

 

Icy cold here in Belgium, people are ice skating on all the ponds. I hope the spring comes quickly so I can do a trial. I will try to make a u-tube from that.

 

John

[derwoodff64]

This is so cool!!!

[Mel D.]

Thanks for you reactions y'all!

 

The Voyager of the Seas was the first from "project Eagle" The Voyager has sisterships that are either similar or very similar with the exception of some details like the childrens's pool at the rear or most visible the glass baconies like the Navigator has. More steel was used with the Voyager. I guess the glass balconies had a weight and visibility advantage. But is was all designed and built under the name project Eagle.

for those interesed, there (was / is?) a DVD for sale of +/- 3 hours going from the first paper schetches to the maiden voyage of the Voyager. I've seen it 50 times I think. Those of you who like a get an idea of how this all goes, I can recomend this video.

 

This last weekend the pooldeck was glued down... Lots of detailing to do. When that is done the fun starts. Making the pooldeck with all its details is the most fun to make and to see from the pictures.

 

Icy cold here in Belgium, people are ice skating on all the ponds. I hope the spring comes quickly so I can do a trial. I will try to make a u-tube from that.

 

John

 

Hello from Florida!!! This build thread is GREAT! I have a lot of admiration for someone that has this much drive to make a model true to the real ship. You are very dedicated and determined. I am a long time electric RC aircraft model builder that has recently started cruising. We have been on Carnival, Royal and Princess. We have had a wonderful time on all three. After our third or fourth cruise I got the urge to build a cruise ship. I have been looking for some plans or even just good drawings/documentation on one of the Carnival ships. Your build will get me well started on a build of my own. Is there any chance to get some sections of the ship to make bulkheads from? I would definitely like to have the DVD you mentioned. How can one get it?

 

Best of luck with the rest of the build!

 

Mel D.

[bighairtexan]

WOW I almost didn't open this thread. Am I glad I did. Lovely lovely models and lovely girls! Thanks so much for sharing.

[erbunny]

What fabulous models, and workmanship. I am so glad I found this thread, will keep track of it. Thanks.

[chrissycpm]

Utterly amazed at your attention to detail and dedication,, good on you! can't wait to see more and more,, has to be the best thread ever posted on the main board..lol

[modelbuilder]

Hello Everybody,

 

So nice to see your responses. It is great to see the interest in the model, I love to read your posts.

 

I have been off line a little while becasue I have been extremey busy and that is about to get much better very soon.

 

But some 8 weeks ago while I was working on the model, I descovered a major problem on the model's cabins. On the port rear side, I have made a calculation error and there it all did not fit very well. I tried to correct it but it did not look right, so I removed quite a big pertion, threw that away:( (that was painful) and made it new again, perfect this time. That took a lot of time to correct, but I'm back on track now. The rear facing cabins are all done now and I have already begun making the bridge.

I will post pictures soon.

 

To Mel, glad to read you're doing the same. Not an easy task but very challenging. I used to fly RC model planes too, and I have made a 4 meter wingspan model of an ATR 72 with a chainsaw engine in each wing. I accidently hit a tree in full speed and the model was completely destroyed. I had complaines about noise sometimes so I decided not to build a new one.

 

But I will see how to help you. Please send me an e-mail indekeu (at) ambelgium.be I will help you.

 

Regards,

Jonn

[modelbuilder]

Hi everybody. Life is way too stressful!!! 2 more months and I wil have more time to continue building the model Voyager. But that does not mean I did nothing so far. The rear cabins are done, but need some touch up and details that come at the end. The bridge is partly done. But I have spent quite some time at making the transition of the deck to the cabins smooth. Took a lot of work and is kind a boring to to, but that is almost finished. Bythe end of this month I hope to finally start painting the cabins, and I can start by building the pooldeck, that will be more enjoyable to make and to see if you like to follow up on this.

 

The pool deck is glued in. This deck was raised 5mm to be according to plan. The wood underneeth needed to be trimmed with thin plastic sheets to have some strength and be able to resist water. I have those logo stickers made locally. I have some smaller version that go on the hull like it's big siter. I will be making a flightcase when the model is ready to store here. Those 14 inch stickers are for the flightcase.

You can also see the outline on the deck where the next portion will be built.

 

The front and the bridge... still a lot of work to come. Trimming and thee is still some cementvisible on the picture. Thay have been taken care of last weekend. I will be adding the roof of the bridge soon too.

 

Here you can see the rear cabins. Lots of details to follow like railings, painting, etc. Here can also see the deck smoothly blends in, which is difficult to do and make sure the deck is straight. the 2 white things sticking up are anchored below to later be able to lift the cabin section of to access the electrical compartment, batteries,... The front also had this meanwhile. You will not see those later. I will be attaching that in the viking crown and the rear mast so nothing damages when I want to loft all of that off.

 

John

Edited August 8, 2012 by modelbuilder

[fungirl76]

WOW!!!!! You are very talented!

[erbunny]

Nice to see you back and the progress on your incredile model. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[ekatiel]

Your models are amazing!!! You are extremely talented!! Keep posting pictures as you progress. I can't wait to see Voyager finished! --Katie

[modelbuilder]

It has been a while but this does not means nothing was done. I am at the stage where a lot of boring work needs to be done to the model that is hardly noticeable. All the cabins have now been properly aligned, and in perfect hight. It can be lifted of the model to reach the electronics and the batteries. (it runs on 2x 12V car batteries and a 6V battery for the bow- and stern thrusters and the servo's) It must be achored down so it can not shift or fall off in case another model would hit the little Voyager in its side. (has happened to me a few years ago with a odel of a yacht)

Then paint those, a hell of a job I tell you. Endless. But that is all done now and the Bridge wil be done next week. When I put that on, it gets a true face.

The fun part is about to begin, making the pool area. The model is getting heavier then I wanted to so I have to be carefull for the stability.

 

Also how did I make those lifeboats? I made one from balsa wood by hand, painted it like 5 times with penty of sanding and I made a mold. This is what the mold looks like, it is a very soft rubber like silicone. I fill the bottom part half with a type of plastic, close the mold and tumble it by hand for a few minutes. So they are hollow and light. after that it cures for an hour, and sending again, and painting. I only had to do this 26 times.... That is the boring part, so many repeats. The same way I made many other parts.

 

The forward cabines under the bridge are now painted. Tough to reach in those small holes. and you see the name proudly on the side of the hull, the logo is also onthe rear now. The bridge will get its windows the next weekend but it becomes recognizeable as the Voyager of the seas.

 

Before I will be starting the pool area, I will be installing the remaining electronics and batteries. I hope to take her for a first trial on the water in a month. Certainly before the fall really begins, those leaves get caucht in the propellors. More pictures to come.

 

John

[A&L_Ont]

Your work is amazing John.

 

If this Canadian is ever in Belgium a stop to see your ship models is one destination I would want to make.

 

It is a passion that you have.

Andrew

[ds99jove]

I think the word awesome has been used a couple of times in this thread, but it can't really be said enough!

 

Awesome! I really hope you'll video tape it when you take it for a test in real water :)

[erbunny]

Amazing work ! I had just checked this thread yesterday to see if there was an update, and here you are ! It is beautiful, and I am looking forward to your next update. The pictures of her "sea trials" are going to be fantastic.