by Alessandro Cerini
1/25 Antares (Scratchbuilt)
I already submitted a WW2 ship a PT-269. This time I decided to build something different. I found the plans and building instructions of this old italian run-about on the Internet. I think the plans date back to the fifties or sixties. The challenge was to build a working naval model in a country (Paraguay) where there is absolutely nothing available for naval models with the exception of beautiful tropical woods. Even the propeller made of 7 brass pieces is completely homemade. The propeller shaft is made of a copper brake hydraulic circuit of an Alfa-Romeo car! The hull and the cabin are made of five different tropical woods: chancarana (looks very like mahogany), guatambu, cedar, paradise and lime wood. The superstructure and upper works are made from brass screws and latten brass. She is equipped with a small electric motor and I added a full lighting system (front, inside and red and green positioning lights). One could find surely some imperfections, but given the circumstances I am quite happy with the result.
