Owing the fact I'm going to have some time in an apartment I'm going to be working on a rebuild of an old IRC cruiser, the Salt Lake City. It was originally built as the Pensacola by Brian Spychowski back in the 1981 and 1982 seasons...yep the ship is probably older than most people participating in the hobby today. Mike Demarco acquired it from Bob Spy several years ago and is itching to get it on the water, it's his favorite ship. The hull in general is in pretty good shape and the superstructure is all penetrable (I'm sure some of you old timers remember those days!). It is going to be refit for Treaty style combat. Anyway, I'll be posting some pictures of the progress t9 finished product and hopefully do the ship right.
Well been working off and on on the ship over the past few years. Will be getting more pictures as I get them. I know I've done more, on the ship but just don't remember everything. Here's a short list: 1.) Marked off the 1 inch below the waterline and put in a stringer (at that time, all areas of the hull must be penetrable) 2.) Removed 35 year old balsa...not fun! 3.) Added balsa blocks to the bow and stern and shaped. Still need to trim the bow blocks 4.) Removed the inboard shafts and rudder posts. 5.) Reinforced multiple ribs due to being used to hang old hardware and for internal clearance. This wasn't to bad and there was only 1 rib that was broken. 6.) Repaired dry rot in all areas present. 7.) Sanded ribs to remove old polyurethane paint from ribs and recoated with spar varnish. 8.) Added internal water channeling through the bottom of the ship. Will cut down ribs and remove between the water channeling once hull is fiberglassed. Got quite a bit more to go obviously. Like adding the new inboard shafts, rudder and finish the water channeling. Mike stopped by on his way to his mothers place and dropped of the original deck (with some penetrable superstructure still in place) for me to cut so he can have easy access to his tank and batteries. Getting there, hoping to have it done by the end of summer so Mike can enjoy the ship.
Was out as Scott's yesterday and got the bow block trimmed back tot he 2" from the forepeak/stem and got the bottom, bow and stern glassed. Need to let it totally cure before I do the final trim and sand smooth. Talked with Mike last night on my way home and decided on a strategy with the motors/props/rudder. Going to draw up a template for all then cut out. I think this ship is going to be fine cruiser once it's done and back on the water. With not having the rudder servo in the bow and using the Goldenrod push/pull system I know it is going to perform better, lol! Pictures will follow once I get them from my phone.
Gotta blow the dust off this one... Finally got the ship done and ready for pickup. Here's a shopping list of things done to the hull ... Here's the inside of the old swayback. It's not as elegant as most would do now with building from scratch, but I was attempting to save as much of the original 1980's wood as I could. Trying to keep it as original as possible. I stripped the ribs of as much of the old Formula3 polyurethane pant as I could then repaired several that were very thin and cracked. The bottom of the hull is original and the sprue for the water channeling was inserted through the bottom of the boat. I also had to realign the prop shafts to give the clearance necessary to the rudder. The bottom was fiberglassed and the bow and stern blocks were added and glassed. I filled the voids between the ribs to elevate the water channeling the use self leveling concrete (silicone -gasp! The horror) to bring it up to to top of the channeling. The hull was built with standard plywood so I was battling the weight as I went along.
For those old-timers that remember penetrable superstructures for the stone age, here's some pictures of one that's older than most people in the hobby
Here's an interesting way they held the decks down years ago. This was s model airplane guys used to hold hatches down. I thought it was an interesting character of the model, so I left them
And final shots of the ship on my end. I am finished buttoning up the hull getting it ready to hit the water again. It's all set and ready to go home with Mike tomorrow. He's got a plan to do the superstructure and add the guts. Looking forward to seeing this old dog in the water again.
