Those that know me and are local to the St. Louis area know this story already. Twenty some odd years ago, I answered an in the local paper for "balsa wood planks, 2"X12"X36", $1.00 each. It turned out that these were life preservers from the old excursion river boat "The SS Admiral" that had been a fixture on the St. Louis river front since the 1930"s. I bought one to saw up and test, and went back to buy a few more, and ended up buying the whole shootin' match, 640 pieces in all. Enough to fill my then two car garage! I have built many , many models out of this stuff, sold some of the heavier ones to collectors, cut up some of the rotten ones to get useful blocks and pitched the rest. Several of you guys have gotten block material from me that came from these planks. Jim and Todd Lee come to mind right off the top of my head. My two Shark 45's have considerable "Admiral wood" in them and my old Yates Dragon was built entirely from these including sheet stock that I cut. I was warned by a few people that it wouldn't be any good after all that time, but they were painted with a silver metalized paint that preserved them perfectly, and have had no problems with it. The Dragon was even painted with World War Two vintage Navy surplus dope that is another long, interesting story. One of these days when I have more time I'll type it up and post the complete stories behind the wood and paint.. In the mean time, enjoy your Ecuadorian Gold!!!
Good luck and have fun,
Dan McEntee
Topic: Received a nice gift (Read 771 times)
