Build Log: The "Resorter"

[mistel]

Actually, I have already built much of the model at this point but I wanted to post some pictures. I am only an average builder and I am open to suggestions or advice.

I bought the boat on Ebay, it is a very old boat as you can see, maybe 1950's. It was very dry and I had problems with the balsa bulkheads cracking. There were some very thin pieces that I had to glue back together with CA. The model was originally mean to be free running with a .049 gas engine. I am going to try to make it RC, but it it very small, only 12".

Here are some pics, that is polyurathane glue that I used, it looks pretty bad, so I think I will stop using it in the future. I use it because it seems to get into gaps really well as it expands, but it looks like crap!

[Tug Guy]

Mistal For some reason I can't seem to view the pics. :confused:

Don

[ropanach]

I don't see them, but my eyes arn't what they once were.

[mistel]

Let me try again
There we go!

It is really small, for a motor I am going to try a modified motor from a "mini-z" type car. For an ESC I have a small forward only airplane ESC. For batteries I bought some of these

http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=521

the idea is I will have 4 batteries running series/parallel for 6v/ 1800mah

I have had to hack the back seat up to try and fit a steering servo in. You can see where I will try to place it.

It has a soft top cover on it that should cover some of the RC gear

[mistel]

ok, thats 1, here are 4 more

[jeepers1940]

Hello Mistel, I'm enjoying your thread on your Sterling 12 1/2" Resorter model. I see that you are pretty far along with your build; if you would like to see some other Sterling boat models, including a couple of long-completed Resorter models, with and without the soft top, do this:
Google "Vintage Sterling Model Catalog"
The first site listed should be 1. Vintage Sterling Models. Click on this.
You should see, in red letters, Vintage Models Collectors Resource Site. You'll see Sterling Links. Click on this.
If you will scroll down, you'll see " Examples of Completed Sterling Boats." Click on this and scroll down the page.
Also, if you look in the catalog contents, your model is shown in the boat section of the 1955 Sterling catalog; it cost $ 3.25 back then. You just might have paid a wee bit more than that on eBay to purchase yours. :) Good luck with yours and thanks for the pictures.
Bill

[toesup]

Looks very similar in style to the Hornet i am (in the run up to) building.. at least in similar to a great many speedboats of the 'classic' era.
For some interesting full size details http://www.classicboat.com/boats.htm has a lot of info :eek: and some beautiful boats!.

Are you planning on having the 'canopy' Mistel?

[der kapitan]

Hello Mistel, I'm enjoying your thread on your Sterling 12 1/2" Resorter model. I see that you are pretty far along with your build; if you would like to see some other Sterling boat models, including a couple of long-completed Resorter models, with and without the soft top, do this:
Google "Vintage Sterling Model Catalog"
The first site listed should be 1. Vintage Sterling Models. Click on this.
You should see, in red letters, Vintage Models Collectors Resource Site. You'll see Sterling Links. Click on this.
If you will scroll down, you'll see " Examples of Completed Sterling Boats." Click on this and scroll down the page.
Also, if you look in the catalog contents, your model is shown in the boat section of the 1955 Sterling catalog; it cost $ 3.25 back then. You just might have paid a wee bit more than that on eBay to purchase yours. :) Good luck with yours and thanks for the pictures.
Bill

Hi Jeeps,

This was a kit that a kid in the 1950's could "almost" afford to buy with his paper route money. For you to be so well versed on it dates you into the
middle geezer category. Was this your "treasure" back then?

Of course I'm only speculating, as I'm far too young to have been there---.

[toesup]

Of course I'm only speculating, as I'm far too young to have been there---.

..allegedly.. :p

[jeepers1940]

. . . of course . . . :)

Yep, I had the paper route in the early to mid fifties. Had eighty customers, could make about $ 40 a month - if you could collect all the money owed you. Purchased an OK Cub .049A engine, put it on a free-running airboat. Still have both of these items; the engine has a problem though. Have a Cub .049B engine which still runs.
Regrettably, didn't really get interested in boats like this Resorter or larger ones. No good place in which to run them. R/C components, batteries were expensive, bulky and unreliable then, not at all like today's equipment.
My (very) few hobby shops tended to carry U-control (control-line) airplane kits, engines, not much boat stuff at all. Electric motors then were small and weak; I didn't know about Pittman electric motors. Batteries were typically non-rechargeable D cells. Using them could get a bit expensive.
Bill
Middle geezer, semi-codger, whatever -

[mistel]

Thanks Bill

I had a look at some of those old models, looks good. My problem is I usually get something about 95% done then move on to the next project. I think with this boat I should really try to spend some time on the fit and finish. The kit comes with some nice pieces of hardware, a windshield and a piece of cloth for the soft top.

I paid a bit over $100 for it. $3.25 originally!, well adjusted for inflation, it works out about the same.

You can even see in one of the pictures $3.25 handwritten on the box, but scratched out.

Peter

[Kmot]

My problem is I usually get something about 95% done then move on to the next project.

Is that a problem? Uh oh............... I think we are all problem children! :p

[Tug Guy]

Mistel you could always strip down a larger servo to use as the motor and esc. That would give you decent running time and might not interfere with how the boat is built.

Don

[Tug Guy]

Indeed!

Don

..allegedly.. :p

[Aerominded]

. . . of course . . . :)

Yep, I had the paper route in the early to mid fifties. Had eighty customers, could make about $ 40 a month - if you could collect all the money owed you. -

Oh boy, that brings back memories!!! The stack of invoices the paper would print for you to go door to door with at the end of the month- People were always home to read their paper but oddly, were never there to pay the bill! you were still obligated to pay the paper even if you couldn't collect- At age 11, that was my first 'business' and it failed- the papers no longer have their carriers do the collection and most routes are done by adults...

Re the Century kit, I would really like to get my hands on one of those!!! :)

[bluesy]

Hey all....

A trip down memory lane (hope I don't forget the way back). I had the cherry route of our district, give or take 270 papers at one address. It was a senior citizens' residence and they were always home for collection. I had that route right through high school. Christmas was incredible for tips and gifts. Some days it would take forever to get through the building because of some lonely senior wanting to have me in for tea and cookies.

I just recently got a KnK Jupiter from the 60's from e-Bay. It is a cabin cruiser design of the period so should be fun (gotta get the African Queen fininshed first).

[mistel]

I got some more done today. I started the soft-top frame. It's all balsa wood, thin pieces with big notches. Only cracked one, fixed with CA. You can see how I did my motor mount. I cut two side pieces to get the right height and angle, then I used a small spacer piece in the middle the same thickness as the keel. I epoxied it right to the motor. It then slides down snugly over the keel where I will fasten it with a drop of CA

Peter

[Rex R]

a bit of tracing/tissue paper glued to both sides helps avoid the 'weak wood bits' problem.

[rlboats2003]

How big/scale is the Resorter Model, I just got two seamaids from ebay recently after referbing on for the President of the the Niagara Frontier Antique and Classic Boat Society. Go to the Century Owner Assocition Home page, the have pictures of Flags and side Decals as well as a lot of Historical information. A real Seamaid is my dreamboat, but we have a 57 Century Palamino. I was just talking to Loyalhanna Dockyard recently and I was told that there supplier of cloth flags made the century pendant for the front flag. They also have the Nation Yachting Ensign Good Luck on the build I will enjoy watching this one.

Happy Modeling,
Rich

[ThrustTugKeith]

<<it dates you into the middle geezer category.>>

From the 50's???? Im vintage 1960, and MY kids call me "Old Geezer".....
I think hes in the Extra Old Geezer...classification. LOL....

Scott

[green-boat]

I thought it was Old Geezer, Extra Class.

[jeepers1940]

Hello Rich,
You asked about the size of the Century Resorter 20; it appears that the prototype boat is 20 feet long. The model is 12 1/2 inches long and has a 4 1/2 inch beam.
Twenty feet works out to 240 inches in length for the real boat. If you divide 12 1/2 inches into 240 inches, you (I) get a scale of 1:19.2. Interestingly, this is the same scale that the kit maker, Sterling, used in designing some of their other scale boat kits.
Some that come to mind include the Chris-Craft 50' Catalina (31 1/4"), the Chris-Craft 63' Motor Yacht (40 ") and the Richardson 27' Cabin Cruiser 17"). I imagine there are other Sterling kits in that 1:19 scale. Sterling seemed to like that particular scale, along with some other oddball scales.
The Resorter model appears to be one of the smallest boat kits that Sterling made. In its' day, it would have been a free-running proposition or a static model. Today, with really miniaturized R/C equipment and batteries available, it can be radio controlled, but I understand that it can be a bit spendy.
Sorry, didn't mean to maunder on so.
Bill

[rlboats2003]

That was some great in put - I guess back in the late 40 and 50 when the sterling stuff was kitted they didn't think of doing it 1/20 so you could use 2006 garden railway stuff.
Before my father died he started a Sterling Harborco 40' cabin cruiser that I have almost completed fairing the hull (almost through the balsa on one side. The topsides did not fair well in the move to the Buffalo area 15 years ago, but there is enough there to make new parts. My father hadall the parts and fittings including the Brass gas tank and .049 motor in the box. Needless to say I have to pull and plug the single shaft and put in the dual electric power. I think the only old sterling kit that I am still looking for is the Richardson. My wife and I ride past what is left of the factory either in the Century or on bikes during the summer.

Now if I could just find someone who would Manuder on about the colors of the the 1895 tugboats that Hand and Johnson a Buffalo Harbor towing company used, that would save me a trip to Detroit. I have a little project going, being an East Coaster - I wanted to do something where I would learn about the Buffalo Maritime Heritage what better way than having to research and build a model. The Criteria was built in Buffalo, used in Buffalo. How is that for Manudering.

Happy Modeling,
Rich

[Kmot]

maunder, manuder?

I think you meant "meander"? :D

[jeepers1940]

Nope, Kmot. Maunder is the word. It means to "talk or move in a confused way." That was my lame attempt at a bit of self-deprecating humor or irony. But I believe my observations about the Resorter and Sterling Models are correct and not actually confused. :)
Bill

[Kmot]

I learned a new word! :)

[mistel]

Here's a couple of more pictures. This is the soft-top. You have to drill holes in the top rail of the boat and the front goes in then you tilt it down and the back wires go in holes at the rear. The instructions are to cover the top with "dope", I used marine polyurathane. This is with one layer of fabric, I still have to put another one on then paint the top white and I thought I would paint the wires either black or silver

[jeepers1940]

Looking good, Mistel.

[larryg]

wow i really like your boat i wish i could find plans for a small runabout like yours, i like the classic look great build....

[Aerominded]

Any updates Mistel? Looking good!

[Tug Guy]

LarryG this guy sells some plans for different runabouts you might send him an e mail.
rudy020@email.com

Don



wow i really like your boat i wish i could find plans for a small runabout like yours, i like the classic look great build....