 
The entire project presented a string of significant challenges.
For example, the nearly eight-foot hull is too large for
conventional modeling techniques such as "bread 'n butter" or
"plank on frame". Eventually Perspex (aircraft windscreen
material) was used for the interior hull structure. The outside
is made of 0.040-inch styrene plastic, obtained from a
commercial supplier in four by eight foot sheets. I cut them
into several hundred strips and bonded them to the acrylic with methylene chloride, an extremely volatile solvent. The hull was
then finished with fiberglass cloth, epoxy resin, and spray
painted in an aircraft hanger.
The funnel has no straight lines in its design; there are curves
along every axis. After thinking literally for months about its
construction, a bread `n butter approach appeared feasible. The
core of the funnel consists of ninety-five individually cut
pieces of styrene, which I stacked, bonded, smoothed, and
completed with scratch built grillwork, exhaust stacks, and
cooling louvers. A total of 340 parts were used for the funnel
and its housing.
The collision area was another "months of thinking about"
experience. The staterooms include beds, pillows, closets,
dressing tables, model railroad figures, wall pictures, and
wallpaper (cut from a print dress in a Victoria's Secret catalog
- I looked forever for what would pass as scale wallpaper!)
The following are some details regarding the construction:
|
Total labor hours: |
1,600 |
|
Number of parts built: |
4,200+ |
|
Weight of the replica: |
75
U.S. Pounds |
|
Cost of materials: |
$3,200 |
|
Time spent planning the work: |
One
and a half years |
|
Time spent building: |
Nearly six years |
|
Materials used: |
Acrylic and styrene plastic
Wood decking
Brass doors and airports
Cast metal anchors and propellers
Miscelleneous woods, brass, etc. |
|
Adhesives: |
Methylene
chloride
Cyanoacrylate
White glue
Epoxy |
The brass plaque on the baseboard reads:
Andrea Doria
First Passage, January 1953
Passage of souls, July 1956
|
