I came across this “mutt”. A 1/19 scale 50 ft Chris Craft Catalina. The original kit was produced by Sterling sometime between 1950 & 1980 when Sterling models were popular & Sterling was still in business. I really enjoy this type of building challenge; replace broken parts, repair less than stellar work, figure out how to get to areas in need of repair, & making it sail at some reasonable level.
Some photos showing “as found”.
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I came across this “mutt”. A 1/19 scale 50 ft Chris Craft Catalina. The original kit was produced by Sterling sometime between 1950 & 1980 when Sterling models were popular & Sterling was still in business. I really enjoy this type of building challenge; replace broken parts, repair less than stellar work, figure out how to get to areas in need of repair, & making it sail at some reasonable level.
Some photos showing “as found”.
It's nice to know that someone else is restoring a Sterling classic. I have a Chris Craft Corvette (4' long) that I bought at a local auction that I have been been periodically working on for about two years. Finding PDF copies of the original Sterling drawings and scaling them up has made detailing much easier.
The photo shown is one of the original auction photos as I plan to do a build log of this model in the future as my progress advances.
The first order of business was to give both the inside & outside two coats of flowable epoxy giving particular emphasis to the keel, turn of the bilge, & stern. Filled the hull with water to a bit above the waterline & didn’t see any leaks. Couldn’t put it my test tank since a recent medical procedure restricts use of my left arm. Ballasting trial in that tank coming soon.
I am beginning to think that I’m the second person that began restoration on this model. From the filling job that was done.(in a rather haphazard way) indicates that someone else started the restoration and gave up on it. Apparently many glued in place components such as the windshield, mast, etc were broken off from the underlying balsa.
[{"id":"17832805985","name":"17832805985.jpeg","caption":"After sanding off the filler used by someone else. Many dings, gouges, and scarred areas remain in the balsa\r\n.","url":"https:\/\/model-boats.com\/media\/17832805985\/l","thumbUrl":"https:\/\/model-boats.com\/media\/17832805985\/s","isImage":true,"ext":"jpeg"},{"id":"17832807925","name":"17832807925.jpeg","caption":"More filling and sanding to follow.","url":"https:\/\/model-boats.com\/media\/17832807925\/l","thumbUrl":"https:\/\/model-boats.com\/media\/17832807925\/s","isImage":true,"ext":"jpeg"}]
After sanding off the filler used by someone else. Many dings, gouges, and scarred areas remain in the balsa
.More filling and sanding to follow.
The first order of business was to give both the inside & outside two coats of flowable epoxy giving particular emphasis to the keel, turn of the bilge, & stern. Filled the hull with water to a bit above the waterline & didn’t see any leaks. Couldn’t put it my test tank since a recent medical procedure restricts use of my left arm. Ballasting trial in that tank coming soon.
I am beginning to think that I’m the second person that began restoration on this model. From the filling job that was done.(in a rather haphazard way) indicates that someone else started the restoration and gave up on it. Apparently many glued in place components such as the windshield, mast, etc were broken off from the underlying balsa.
On my Sterling Corvette, I admire the work that the original owner did with the balsa hull skin and what looks like 3/4 oz glass cloth and polyester resin. I wanted this Sterling's hull to be "bullet proof" so I sanded his work and redid the entire hull exterior with 1 1/4 oz glass cloth and West Systems epoxy.
I never had enough epoxy to do the interior properly, so it has been sealed with about six coats of thinned spar urethane .
I have a newly found respect for the builders of these early balsa models. The softness of the balsa required a delicate touch to create a worthy model.Soft balsa & hard, brittle mahogany. What a contrast in materials.
Well, photos & rather extensive narratives lost when I edited the title.
I have a newly found respect for the builders of these early balsa models. The softness of the balsa required a delicate touch to create a worthy model.Soft balsa & hard, brittle mahogany. What a contrast in materials.
Well, photos & rather extensive narratives lost when I edited the title.
Lost while editing previous post title
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After three iterations of Prime, fill, and sand the fore cabin’s roof looks respectable, but certainly not perfect.Portions of the cabin side where there were connections to bulkhead, etc. were filled with the same mystery filler. Sanded down and then primed with an undercoat of tan and red paint.
Port window pillar for forward windscreen also missing.
A couple of foredeck planks broken.Opened up the deck and found no support for the deck planking forward from the last bulkhead to the stem. Cobbled together some structural support for the deck planking.Repairs completed and close the deck. Didn’t open up the starboard side to brace the planking. Didn’t want to poke the bear.
I decided to give the hull a bit of attention so it doesn’t look quite so bad just sitting there.
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Surprisingly the hull sides are in pretty good shape when compared to the forward cabin. Another person obviously began to redo the hull sides.
A coat of epoxy had been previously applied & was done rather well. I am puzzled though why there were random spots with no coating. Repaired those spots with epoxy, did some filling, primed, sanded, & decided to let well enough alone.A coat of white & it doesn’t look bad at all.
I decided to give the hull a bit of attention so it doesn’t look quite so bad just sitting there.
The photo shown is one of the original auction photos as I plan to do a build log of this model in the future as my progress advances.