Italien School Ship Amerigo Vespucci

The Amerigo Vespucci's home port is La Spezia. She is primarily used for the maritime training of officer candidates of the Accademia Navale. The Italian Navy commissioned the construction of two training ships in 1925.The design was inspired by the large 74-gun ships common in the late 18th century.She was built in 1930 at the (formerly royal) Castellammare di Stabia naval shipyard in the Bay of Naples. She was launched on 22 February 1931 and was commissioned on 6 June of the same year. With the exception of the Second World War, the Amerigo Vespucci has been in continuous service. Most of the training took place in European waters. However, she has also sailed to North and South America and crossed the Pacific. A round-the-world voyage took place from May 2002 to September 2003. Since her commissioning over 80 years ago, she has been used exclusively as a training ship.

The Amerigo Vespucci is a full-rigged ship. The hull itself is made of steel (riveted), the sails of canvas. Due to the specification of the maximum size and number of crew, it was necessary to build in height. This is how the frigate shape came about. Its characteristics are the high freeboard, the stern gallery and the painted white wicket bands. It resembles only slightly the slimmer clippers and windjammers, the cargo sailing ships, but more a warship of earlier centuries. In the superstructure, among other facilities, are numerous navigational instruments.

The ship has three decks above the waterline: gun deck, foredeck and poop deck. It is the only sail training ship with three decks and yard rigging.

The hull with its three masts is made of steel ribs. The hull is painted black with two white stripes running around it. These stripes indicate the ships' two gun decks, which were the basis for the design. The ship's planks are made of teak, which is replaced every three years. The front and the stern are decorated with elaborate ornaments. There is a life-size figure head of Vespucci at the front. The stern gallery is only accessible via the captain's saloon.

The regular crew consists of 264 soldiers, including 15 officers, 64 non-commissioned officers and 185 enlisted men.

Source: Wikipedia

The kit is a complete construction kit and contains all parts necessary to build the model. There are two boxes bulging with cast metal fittings and brass etched parts needed for the very delicate components. The detailing is very high. The sheer number of parts (more than 600) promises long building fun. Keel (MDF) and frames (plywood) are precision laser-cut parts, for the planking only selected good woods are used.  The kit comes with a colour step-by-step instruction booklet that shows all the steps in great detail. Detailed photos show complicated steps and provide quick orientation. A simple model stand is included.

Not included are paints, adhesives and tools. Due to the many small details and countless parts only experienced modellers should dare to build this model !

On Youtube, the manufacturer OCCRE provides small videos showing individual construction sections.

Technical data:
Scale: M 1:100
Length: 980 mm
Width: 304 mm
Height: 560 mm