I am proud that two of my Italian models are shown at the Science festival in Rome. I’ve built bigger models of Pasubio and Bettolina for this Exhibition. It took 180 hours printing time for twelve pieces. The level of details is amazing. You can even see the steering chain that goes from the bridge to the rudder in the back and to the rudder quadrant

The 3D wreck prints are having a huge success especially from elementary and middle schoolers. Two 3D anaglyph prints are also very beautiful and make a very nice visual effect of depth to see. The Pasubio and Bettolina wrecks, given their beauty, have been protected by a glass case to avoid being damaged.

I’ve developed and built a measurement station to measure the water temperatures of the lake Kreidesee Hemmoor. It measures in different depths up to 50m. You can find the measurement-page with live-data here: tms.dive3d.eu
And my 3D-models of the UW-objects here: Hemmoor

Temperature vs depth

You can find some history data and graphs here: Link

The electronic

It is an own development. The sensors (Dallas 1-wire bus) are connected in a bus system and read out by the microcontroller. The data is sent by a GSM modem using SMS. At home my server receives the SMS by an other GSM modem which processes the data and sends it to my website: tms.dive3d.eu

Testing and calibration

I tested and calibrated each sensor in ice-water, because ice-water has a temperature of exactly zero degree Celsius.

Installation

Lars Konrad and I installed the measurement system in April 2024

I am very honored that my Red Sea models will now be exhibited in the famous Great Library in Alexandria, Egypt. Yesterday Dr. Emad Kahli, Dr. Marwa Elmakil and I opened the exhibition with two lectures on underwater archeology and photogrammetry.
You can find my Egypt models here: Link

Dr. Emad Khalil:
” Today we had a unique event, and one of the most successful events ever organized by the ACHS and AlexMed in the Bibiotheca Alexandria. “Echoes of the Deep” is the first shipwreck 3D printed model exhibition to take place in Egypt. It presents our amazing maritime cultural heritage of modern shipwrecks that have been attracting divers from all over the world.
The event was an example of collaboration between different sections, departments and individuals at the Library of Alexandria and beyond. However, the entire management of the event including writing the proposal to the Honor Frost Foundation to get funding, organizing the entire trip of Holger Buss and his lovely wife, sorting out all the printing details of the posters, handling every single detail, working late everyday, all this and more was done by my colleague and student Nada Kamel.”

I am honored to be our radio station’s Person of the Week
–> “Mensch der Woche”

In two short interviews I was talking a bit about wreck identification, 3D-Models and my job in real life. It was fun and I am pleased that I was chosen for this unusual honor.

We had a great few weeks in Greece and we scanned a lot of wrecks. But this wreck was our personal highlight: The Burdigala ex. fast steamer Kaiser Friedrich. It is 74m deep and 200m long. It’s a miracle that I managed to scan the wreck completely and without any failures. The model turned out fantastic and is the most beautiful model so far.
Link

Making of

The paddle steamer Patris in Greece was built before screw steam machines were invented. It had two paddle wheels and sails. On February 23, 1868, and with 400 guests on board, the ship hit the Koundoudos reef near Kea and sank. We scanned the wrack and the entire reef in September 2023. The scanned area reaches from 1m to 54m and it was quite a challenge to scan it, because of the currents in the shallow waters.

Continue here: PSS Patris

Making of video

The video also shows Alex aka DerWrackzeichner while creating the pencil art of the wreck www.wrackzeichner.de

I was in the Maritime Museum Rostock to hold a presentation about wreck identification and 3D modeling. There I handed the model of PASUBIO over to the head of the museum: Kathrin Möller.

The steamer PASUBIO was built in 1903 as MIMI HORN by the Neptun Werft in Rostock – so, the model found its perfect place in the exhibition!

My wife and I were invited by Roberta and Francesco from Megalehellas. We met at the BOOT in Düsseldorf and we went to Calabria (Italy) to scan two wrecks and the famous Scilla rock. The wrecks are from World War 2: the Steamer Pasubio and a wreck that is not identified, yet. Looks like it was transporting gas or gasoline.

You can find the collection here: Italy

The Wrecks and the Rock

My big model of the BARON GAUTSCH found its perfect place: in the GALLERION exhibition in the Aquarium Pula / Croatia. They have an extensive exhibition of ship models from the First World War and before. The BARON GAUTSCH hit a mine off Pula in 1914 and is now a famous diving spot with 8,000 divers per year.
Here a report from Istra24

I gave a presentation there about the BARON GAUTSCH and photogrammetry

Yay, I’m nominated for the BOOT – dive award !
… please vote for me –> very easily and quickly –> without registering: link

Category: Innovation 👉Dive3D👈

Quote: “[…] While underwater photos are widely used today, the ability to create your own 3D model of a wreck sets new standards. This work not only serves as an attractive display, but also as an inspiration for divers who want their Want to combine exploration with a deeper purpose: “Dive with a purpose”.
“

Four weeks wreck scanning in Greece – what a fantastic trip! We managed it to scan 16 various wrecks. Some well known and some mysterious. It will take a while to process all the 3D-Models and I will post them here: Greece

Kostafastgarnix – team

We were a great team and we had really a lot of fun doing what we all love the most: Wreckdiving.

Alexey Konovalov

You may know him by his pseudonym: DerWrackzeichner (the wreck artist). You can find his pencil drawings in WETNOTES, on his Website and on Facebook.

Tim Ollmann

Tim was the captain and UW-Photographer of our tour. He speaks Greek and he was even asking fishermen on the sea for wreck positions. He did the main part of planning the tour and diving spots. You can find him here on Facebook.

Andreas Küver

As a doctor of chemistry, he is always looking for water samples from the wreck. He’s just as much of a wreck freak as we are. You can find him here on Facebook

Holger Buss (me)

I am a wreck fan and I love it to collect as many data from the wreck site as I can. I know I can’t digitize them all, but at least I will try… You are already on my Website and you can find me on Facebook or my articles in WETNOTES.

The Boat

Also an important member of our team: Tim’s RIB. Tim and Andreas strapped the boat behind the Crafter and drove the 2700km from Bremen to Greece. She needed some love and care during the trip, but she brought us to all the great diving spots.

Thank You

We want to say THANK YOU to:
– Stefanos Tzoganis from www.planetblue.gr for filling the many tanks and for opening the shop either very early or quite late
– Nikos Vardakas from Scubalife.gr for filling Trimix and Oxygen and bringing us to the PSS Patris. Thanks for for being so patient with us, even when we killed your nerves during filling 🙂
– George Monastiroglou from Thalassadive.com for bringing us to the Eurobulker and the German warship.
– Kostas Thoctarides from rovservices.gr for providing information and positions of the wrecks

Dive-Sticker.com made a new Red Sea logbook sticker set with 288 stickers. And I am very happy, that my wreck models found their way into the collection! This set includes stickers with: fish, coral, plant, wrecks – all images were taken in the Red Sea.

You can preorder your set here and they will be shipped from September 20, 2023.

Wrecks: SS Dunraven, SS Thistlegorm, SS Kingston/Sarah H, MV Kimon M, MV Chrisoula K (Marcus), SS Carnatic, MV Giannis D, MV Salem Express

Making of

We scanned the wreck of the light cruiser Cesare Rossarol (1914-1918) of the Italian Navy. The conditions were rough – bad visibility, waves and current. But I was able to capture both parts of the wreck in two dives. They lie in 50m water depth in Croatia and are 300m apart.

Continue here: Cesare Rossarol

We spontaneously set out to scan the TITANC of the Adriatic: The BARON GAUTSCH. She was the first casualty of World War I. Today she rests in 40m water depth and is a famous diving spot.

We had a great support by the Shark Diving Center Medulin and Rovinj Sub.

Continue here: BARON GAUTSCH

Opening of the new permanent exhibition in the Rostock Maritime Museum (Schifffahrtsmuseum Rostock) . My model of the wreck of the steamer ELSA found its way there.
My team Gezeitentaucher and I identified and modeled the wreck in the North Sea.