Bought this beautifully build older Saito coastal freighter last Saturday, complete with early 1980's radio gear even! Very high quality build, was told the late owner built it, ran it once or twice then it sat on a shelf for 20+ years. He lived around the world including in Okinawa around the time the kit was purchased. So it might have been built while he lived there for several years. Either way, I am bringing his beauty back to live. Engine was stuck from oil varnish and the whole ship had an oily dust on every surface top side. I got the engine freed up, spent a good hour swabbing the decks using a small flat paint brush with stiff bristles as a "mop". Now that top side passed muster, and below decks was ready, the fire was lighted and the steam plant came back to life. First run was on manual mode, second run was longer and with the vintage RC gear powered up. He had to use an aircraft radio as back in the early 1980s, surface radios in the USA typically were only 2 channel, 3 are needed for this model. The old 72mhz Aero Sport by Hobby Craft still works perfectly, only the RX battery wouldnt take a good charge, the TX battery came back to life. I am upgrading the navigation lights to working ones from Harbor Models and hopefully finding some proper crew figures to bring the ship back to life. A water test is next on the list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akPgPcGUGzo
Author
Topic: Saito's Star Light coastal freighter (Read 696 times)