Following a lead at the Bristol Club Rally, I went up to Tetbury on the XBR yesterday to see a collection of steam models. I came away with three Stuart Turners and another.
A 10H, complete but unpainted. Been run but little used. Not mounted.
An unidentified and somewhat larger ST horizontal engine complete with crank mounted eccentric driving a boiler pump. It is amateurishly painted & has been run but again seen little use. Mounted on a bit of plank.
A No. 9 in very good order but with a apricot coloured flywheel! Probably only run on compressed air. Properly mounted on Honduras mahogany with green baize under it.
All are well engineered, but the two smaller ones need a nut & bolt here and there.
Part of the collection was an all-brass mill engine which appears to be scratch built using a proprietary cylinder and flywheel. This I collected at the rally.
The real prize is a Victorian mill engine about 28"" long. It requires some TLC, but is in excellent general condition, bearing the substantial remnants of paint upon its cast iron base. The conn rod appears to be forge welded. Over the years, various things have befallen the mahogany base & it is rather sad & battered. It has been screwed to another base which in turn is supported by a thick plywood plank, edged in mahogany.
Now I have a problem & would welcome the input of the minds here assembled. I'm keen to renovate this model in a sympathetic way & feel the original base and subsequent efforts let it down. Therefore, I'd like to remount it on a decent piece of wood, possibly yew. Opinions are welcome. Pictures here
Kim Siddorn
Diplomacy done, plates spun, fires fought, maidens eaten - well, three out of four ain't bad