New Paint for a Columbia Sabre

radicalcy · Post by **radicalcy** » Sat May 28, 2005 10:55 am

Photo of 1965 Columbia Sabre Wild Swan (New Paint) This is an ongoing project so don't be too critical......

Larry Wilson

radicalcy · Post by **radicalcy** » Sat May 28, 2005 11:02 am

Post by **Tim** » Sat May 28, 2005 12:56 pm

That's a very cool-looking boat! Looking good!

Do you own the second one in the picture also?

radicalcy · Post by **radicalcy** » Sat May 28, 2005 7:53 pm

Yep, ain't obsessions grand? Looking for more of the Sabres if you hear of any let me know. This is what the Wild Swan looked like when I found her.

radicalcy · Post by **radicalcy** » Sat May 28, 2005 7:54 pm

OOPS........WHAT DID I DO?

radicalcy · Post by **radicalcy** » Sat May 28, 2005 8:12 pm

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/radicalcy ... /my_photos

Maybe this will work. Sorry to load everyone up with postings.
Larry

Post by **Tim** » Sun May 29, 2005 7:30 am

Is it just me, or is the large port in the boat in the foreground at a completely different angle than the one in the other boat? The builders must've cut the hole for the crooked one on a Friday afternoon or something...

radicalcy · Post by **radicalcy** » Sun May 29, 2005 7:34 am

Nope, it's not you. Columbia had a tendency to use whatever supplies they had on hand at the moment. The overall design is the same, but they must have run out of the raked port frames. There is a two year difference in age also. The boat in the background is a 67, the boat I'm working on is a 65.
Larry

jhenson · Post by **jhenson** » Sun May 29, 2005 8:44 am

Larry,

It is a Small World. I see you bought this boat from Matt Mckenzie. He sold me my Triton, and I believe I remember seeing your boat at Edgewater when I picked up my boat. Nice Guy.

This picture shows my boat moored in what looks like the same spot as yours was:

your picture:

http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/users/418fe212 ... CBK2XQr9We

The vegitation shows that these pictures were taken about the same time ot the year.

Is it just me, or is the large port in the boat in the foreground at a completely different angle than the one in the other boat? The builders must've cut the hole for the crooked one on a Friday afternoon or something...

You're not the only one who has deadlight holes cut at the different angles. After I got my boat home, I kept noticing that one of the deadlights was twisted. I just assumed that the opening was cut oversize, and the frame was installed incorrectly. No such luck. The opening was cut 3 decrees off plane from the others and really looked bad. A not so good day for craftmanship at the Pearson factory, I guess. I have since laminated new material over the opening and recut the hole.

I enjoyed seeing your pictures.

Joe

radicalcy · Post by **radicalcy** » Sun May 29, 2005 9:57 am

Joe,
I thought that shoreline looked familiar. lol......Small world indeed. Where are you and your boat located?
Good work by the way, you're doing a much more complete job than I am. I just want to get the Sabre in the water, looking good enough that I won't be embarassed if I run into someone I know. lol. I'll do a more complete restoration next year.

Jason K · Post by **Jason K** » Sun May 29, 2005 4:25 pm

Joe,

I really like the "eyebrows" on your Triton. They really contribute to the classic part of the plastic classic. Did you add them yourself?

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Sun May 29, 2005 6:50 pm

I love the eyebrows too. I plan to add eyebrows to mine as a termination-accent for where the dynel cloth ends (traditional origins of eyebrow trim). Tomorrow, coincidentally, is the day I start laying out the locations. Can you give me some dimensional sense of how far down from the edge yours are located?

I'm going to start my layout with them juuuust below the break of the curve, and adjust from there, but I'd love some good info-from-the-field!

Larry, NICE WORK on a really sleek boat. Very sexy.

Jason K · Post by **Jason K** » Sun May 29, 2005 11:55 pm

Tomorrow, coincidentally, is the day I start laying out the locations

Shouldn't you be out sailing?

jhenson · Post by **jhenson** » Mon May 30, 2005 12:18 am

Thanks for the compliments. The boat is so torn apart right now that its nice too hear something positive about it.

I really like the "eyebrows" on your Triton. They really contribute to the classic part of the plastic classic. Did you add them yourself?

No, in fact I think they had been on the boat for quite some time. The mahogany was not in very good shape at the time of purchase. I have since removed them with the plan to re-apply new ones on the boat in the same location after the deck is repainted. I would like to make them continuous (instead of the breaks at the corners) but I realize that the corner pieces tend to be very fragile due to cross-grain orientation. So, I don't know if I'll do it or not. I think these were made with too delicate of a profile and that I'll increase the thickness of the molding and maybe the width. Quartersawn timber would be a big plus if one could get it. These had a lot of wild grain that accounts for their poor condition. They really seem to add a nice effect to the boat though. They would be very appealing when finished.

I plan to add eyebrows to mine as a termination-accent for where the dynel cloth ends (traditional origins of eyebrow trim). Tomorrow, coincidentally, is the day I start laying out the locations. Can you give me some dimensional sense of how far down from the edge yours are located?

I am out on an airline trip right now, but will be home tomorrow night late. If you can wait a day or so, I'll get some exact measurements for you when I get home. I think that the eyebrows are about 2" or so from the upper decks, but that is just a guess. This seems to be a good place for the visual effect since it tends to "tone down" the height of the coach roof (by dividing the distance a little between the coach roof and the main deck), and makes the coach roof look thicker than it is. Also, I'd guess that they are a little less fragile an inch or so below the "corner of the decks and cabin sides. However, mine actually touch the tops of the foward portlights which looks OK but may be a little low.

Joe

Post by **Tim** » Mon May 30, 2005 7:08 am

That forward section is so low and narrow that it's probably tough to fit eyebrows without almost touching the ports, especially the forwardmost one. It would be nice if one could be made that could end up leaving even a small gap between, but there isn't much room there, to be sure.

The later boats (600s somewhere), with their different deck mold and higher forward section, have more room for an eyebrow up forward.

In either case, eyebrows over the large deadlights really bring down the visual height and look great. Properly done, they're a good addition to almost any boat. I may have to get on that project myself.

jhenson · Post by **jhenson** » Tue May 31, 2005 8:35 pm

Figment,

Can you give me some dimensional sense of how far down from the edge yours are located?

I got a chance to measure the eyebrow locations today while I continued working on my cockpit reconstruction work. I laid a piece of 1X4 on the upper deck with one end extending beyond the side of the deck. Then I measured the vertical distance from the bottom of this piece of lumber to the top of the molding profile. This distance was surprisingly consistent on the upper deck at 1" and 5/8" on the lower deck. Again, it appears that the lower deck is a compromise to have the molding as low as the portlights will allow. I think one could make a simple "L" shaped jig out of scraps of lumber to mark the top of the molding along the cabin side.

The dimension of the molding itself is a half round that is 7/8" wide and a little less than 5/8" thick ( although I suspect they may be worn down by repeated sandings). I think I'll try to make mine a little thicker to start with than these were made. Mine were attached from the inside with 1/2" #8 brass wood screws every 4" that were countersunk into the inside cabin sides ( and left visible). Incidentally, when grinding inside paint, I found that the upper deck had a molding attached forward (between the upper and lower deck just aft of the mast) that was removed and the holes filled. I suspect it either didn't look right, or was in a location that was too prone to damage from working around the mast.

I hope this helps! Please let me know if you need any other measurements.

Joe

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 1:20 pm

You the man, Joe!

Can you believe that Julia and I spent a solid half-hour debating wether or not to do that eyebrow across the front of the upper deck? In the end we decided to do without it and I'm glad to hear that someone else learned that lesson for us and we're not just being cowards.

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 1:22 pm

#218 wrote:
Shouldn't you be out sailing?

heh. Shouldn't we ALL?!!

alas, I think I'm still a month away from launch.

jhenson · Post by **jhenson** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 9:05 pm

Figment,

I'm glad to be of help instead of pestering everyone here for advice. I look forward to seeing pictures of the eyebrows on your boat when completed.

Joe

Plastic Classic Forum

New Paint for a Columbia Sabre

New Paint for a Columbia Sabre

A couple of more pictures of the Sabre Paint job

Link to yahoo photos of Sabre as I found her.