Robert Rattazzi Jr. has fond memories of family vacations on Lake George, NY while he was growing up. He recalled water skiing behind a small boat that his dad, Robert Rattazzi Sr. had bought and restored. It was a 1952 wooden Trojan 14’ runabout with a 35 hp Mercury outboard motor.
Mr. Rattazzi loved the boat so much that years later, when the wooden hull started to rot and was no longer safe, he used his considerable skills as an engineer to document every detail of the boat. He made mechanical drawings not only of the boat, but also of the motor and trailer. Then, Robert Sr. set about scratch-building his 1/12 scale model Trojan runabout. This model, which is on loan to the Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum, has been preserved by the Rattazzi family and remains a treasured reminder of Robert Sr.
This 1/12 scale Trojan runabout was scratch-built by Robert C. Rattazzi, starting in 1967 and finished in 2001. The motor alone includes 40 pieces. The hull is a 1952 14’ Trojan runabout. The engine is a 1959 Kiekhaefer “Mercury” MK 35A. The trailer is a 1960 Mastercraft that Mr. Rattazzi modified with a tilt mechanism on the tongue. Every piece of the model was hand-crafted from available raw materials with one exception–the trailer tires came from a kit. The final photo below shows the original Rattazzi family Trojan runabout in its heyday, hooked up behind the family’s 1959 Chevy station wagon and ready for a trip to Lake George.
