Thread: The Green Yacht - can you help...?

The green yacht is one of a pair. The other is red and black. They are aluminium-hulled, with wooden decking and a heavy lead counterweight on the keel. They were built from scratch by my Grandfather when he was chief maintenance electrician at Vickers Armstrong in Weybridge in the 1930s. They were not just for show - he was ex-navy and used to sail them on the local ponds and lakes. When I was a child the aluminium masts and canvas sails were still around, but they were lost in a house move at some stage. The old photo shows my mother; she was 5'10" so that gives an impression of scale. The second shows the yacht in my back garden today. I still have both hulls and I would like to restore one or both. If anybody has any skills or knowledge on, for example, stripping paint from old aluminium I would be grateful to hear from you.





More photos here:

The Green Yacht - a set on Flickr

Can you help?

the only thing I can remember about painting aluminium is that you have to use an etching primer ... but I bet if you google "painting aluminium" you'll get more info than you'll ever need (mind you, much of it will probably be conflicting )

my 2 cents would be to leave them as they are. A beautiful patina. I know nothing of stripping them, but I have heard that Coca Cola will loosen everything up and I know it won't eat through aluminum since they sell it in cans.

they do Luke but the inside of the can is coated with a lacquer to prevent corrosion and taint.

Bill I was wondering if there is a nearby model boating lake where you might ask enthusiasts? Or simply a local model-building club or society who will have experience of similar?

Bill, the Model Yachting Association will have a list of clubs on their website. The models appear to be freelance and not made to any design rules that I recognise. It's most unusual to hear of an aluminium hull, difficult stuff to join to anything, particularly given the date at which they were built.

Barrie