Jacques Cousteau's Calypso

This is a build of Jacques Cousteau’s Calypso research ship.

The original kit was published in Spain, given as a gift to the buyers of the first issue
of the collectable encyclopedia "Los Secretos del Mar" ("Secrets of the Sea")
probably by the end of 1982 or the beginning of 1983.


You can find several photos of the original release following this link:
http://ift.tt/2oniDzs



It is a very simple design, with some 34 parts spread over 4 sheets. The graphics are simple,
and the colors are very basic. Some small parts are duplicated in case the builder makes mistakes.

The finished model is 42 cm long, and almost 8cm wide. Which makes the scale of the kit 1:100
and represents the ship as it was in the early 1980s.


The Calypso as I received it came loose and without instructions. After some search
on the web I found the parts pages came originally in a kind of heavy cardstock
protective folder with information, and very general instructions along with the photo
of an assembled prototype. That reference photo shows what could be the beta model,
with slightly different graphics and some of the parts developed very differently
to what is provided in the final kit.




There is certain chaos in parts numbering, and no clue whatsoever on the building order.
Some fold lines are missing, and many of the placement marks for the sub-assemblies
are just wrongly sized or placed (if they exist at all). It is better to double and triple-check before gluing.
And even after making sure of the fit, it will not always result in a good build.


The pages of the Calypso are 52X23 cm (about 20X9 inches). I scanned the Calypso at 600 dpi,
and re-arranged the parts to fit double-letter size. However, the two longest parts of the hull
and main deck had to be cut because they didn't fit the 11X17 paper. I printed in laser,
and cut the new copy to preserve the original.




I got this kit earlier this year in a very unusual exchange with a peculiar person who is
remembered in my city for his less than honest ways in his now-closed model shop,
and who back in the 80s and 90s pirated and sold many recolored Maly and Geli kits under his own brand.
After a couple of weeks of acting and cheating to lure him I got some interesting original printed kits…
and he got nothing useful (I gave him a heavily distorted, cropped, altered, incomplete and impossible to build
scan of a kit he was looking for). I confess I felt absolutely no shame in lying to this pirate to get what I wanted.
(Hello Edubarca, I know you’re reading).

So, thanks to that one-in-a-lifetime chance, I got the sheets of the Calypso,
along with a rare 1986 gas station giveaway of a simple Williams FW11, and an even rarer
Colombian reprint (in Spanish) of the classic and well-known GULF giveaway of the
Lunar Landing Module.

I will probably share the build of the other kits in the future too. By the time being,
let’s dive into the Calypso’s kit.



Images talk louder than words. So here are some photos.






The kit itself falls in a middle ground between “unusually designed” and “naively charming”.
I won't dare to say it's bad or ugly. Because it isn't, given it's origins and limitations.
And actually, the 10-year old me finds it nice and exciting. But the experienced modeler in me
regrets not having a more modern and better designed kit.
Given the very few options available, I should be happy it exists at all.




Parts are very simple. The hull is built in an unusual way. And weirdest of all, after the hull is completed
you have to cut some extra paper under it.













There is a serious fitting problem when installing the main deck. Worried there was
some kind of distortion when I scanned I checked against the original kit,
but the parts were the same. So it is a native defect.








Most of the small parts are super simple. They’re great for practice. Or for a young/novice modeler.






I didn’t quite like the design of the towers and how they’re attached
to the other main structure (I’m really sorry I’m ignorant on ship’s terminology).
They look strange. You can also see some warping on the deck. Maybe my mistake when attaching it.
The handrail of the upper deck has very serious fitting problems. I had to trim and cut
more than I expected to make it barely usable. And you have to cut some slots
(not marked anywhere) to place it.









The observation pod is designed in 2-D on the kit, and there is an additional part to make a 3-D version.
I went the three-dimensional way, and it proved to be a huge esthetic mistake as you’ll see later.






Photos of the finished model: