Galileo Restoration Update - Jan 2012

[Search4]

It's been a while since we updated the TrekBBS on the progress with Galileo... thought you might enjoy this.

The purchase completed in June 2012 and we went to visit "the old girl" in July to secure her and prepare for restoration. The visit was very successful, and we also met someone with the capability to get her shipped to the restoration.

Here's Galileo after we secured her in Ohio.


It took a few months to determine the best way to get Galileo restored. Mostly, we wanted a very high level of craftsmanship, a "real" shop (not a part time restoration), dedicated people, and facilities. After a great deal of looking around found a facility in New Jersey, a boat-repair specialist who works primarily on wooden boats. It is Master Shipwrights in Atlantic Highlands. They have extensive experience with this type of constructions and were thrilled to get the piece.

We shot video during the arrival in October. This is about three minutes, edited from an hour of video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeuoYctp2fo.

And then the facility got flooded by Hurricane Sandy!

Fortunately Galileo was not affected but we lost some time as they had to replace many items and the power tools/motors in the shop.

Restoration is well underway. Primary documentation is on the site, http://www.galileorestoration.com. But a few pictures...

Getting the existing letter sizes, and such:


Early December




Early January, hard at work:


Late January:


We are in discussions with a number of museums about the donation, but nothing definite at this point. If any of you have direct, real, connection with major appropriate museums feel free to PM me.

And yes, we are saving all of the old wood & metal & signage.

The old girl is coming along...

[Melakon]

Good luck with the project!

Maybe the mods can correct the thread title date.

[Search4]

Thanks - got the date correct.

[ZapBrannigan]

Large props and mockups, especially ones as large as this, are notoriously hard to sell. They're expensive to properly store, and obviously past owners let this thing sit outdoors for a long time.

But I thought the Galileo had been restored, and had appeared in several places including a convention and a "New Voyages" episode with the late William Windom.

Either that shuttlecraft was a reproduction, or the original was restored to something decent-looking and then it completely deteriorated again.

One type of place that might be willing to display this huge thing indoors, because they have the space and it might attract people, would be a shopping mall. The 28-foot ship miniature from TITANIC (1953) was displayed in a mall for years; it is currently at the Marine Museum in Fall River, Massachusetts.

[Mytran]

That's a lot of replacement of material going on! How much of the original material is actually rescueable?

[Hambone]

Mytran wrote:

---

That's a lot of replacement of material going on! How much of the original material is actually rescueable?

I was wondering this same thing.

A friend is restoring a 1957 Ford Fairlane. When he told me he had $250,000.00 invested in it so far, I asked him "What's left of the original car?" He just looked at me like he wanted to punch me.

[BoredShipCapt'n]

"This axe has been in the family for 200 years. It's had four new handles and three new blades."


I love the look of that TOS plywood. It says "Enterprise corridor ceiling" all over it.

[Metryq]

Ditto what Zap said. I thought the studio mock-up had already been restored. Just the same, I thought this was a thread about Galileo Galilei. The church de-excommunicated him, or at least apologized for their past actions, a few years back. I guess the pendulum finally swung the other way.

[RAMA]

Neat project, glad its in my state.

[Dalen Quaice]

I saw a restored Galileo at the 20th Anniversary Convention in 1986 in CA... supposedly the original. Is this the same model that was abandoned along the line?

[ZapBrannigan]

Regarding the "Ship of Theseus" paradox, it looks like the original metal frame is that which survives. Having 1:1 replacement wood components and an accurate paint job is essential, and probably a lot harder than it sounds.

[Gary7]

Wonderful to see the restoration REALLY getting underway this time.

Once it's working, where do you plan on taking it for the maiden flight? I could see something like this:




All kidding aside, based on the size... seems like The Smithsonian would be ideal. However, I suspect that even with their massive halls, they're probably short on space for new exhibits as it is. Still, maybe they could take it for a temporary period like a year or two?

[Forbin]

ZapBrannigan wrote:

---

Regarding the "Ship of Theseus" paradox, it looks like the original metal frame is that which survives. Having 1:1 replacement wood components and an accurate paint job is essential, and probably a lot harder than it sounds.

The woman who owned it for the last 20 years asked the Smithsonian how much she could replace and still call it a restoration. I think they told her as long as it's more than 50% original, it was good.

[Galileo7]

I good to see it is still around and I look forward to seeing it completely restored.

[Keith1701]

Gary7 wrote:

---

Wonderful to see the restoration REALLY getting underway this time.

Once it's working, where do you plan on taking it for the maiden flight? I could see something like this:




All kidding aside, based on the size... seems like The Smithsonian would be ideal. However, I suspect that even with their massive halls, they're probably short on space for new exhibits as it is. Still, maybe they could take it for a temporary period like a year or two?

You guys did an Outstanding Job for sure....