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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2008 23:25:54 GMT
Has anyone build one of these? I am still narrowing my options for my next project as I complete my small Stuart 10H steam plant. I love the Corliss engines, but I am scared off by their complexity. I want a model of substantial size and visual interest, but not with so many parts that I'll never be finished.
Lately I have been leaning toward the Brunell tandem compound mill engine. This fits the bill well, but I am not fond of its bronze castings for parts that should be iron. I see that Southworth Engines has a similar model in there Lincoln slide valve engine, that is made of iron.
Can anyone comment on the merits of this engine? I would be considering the tandem compound, or the twin tandem compound.
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Post by alanstepney on Dec 5, 2008 7:04:43 GMT
I wouldnt decry the use of bronze.
For many items it is an ideal material, was used in many early engines, and the major reason for using iron was economics rather than technical.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2008 12:04:30 GMT
It's mostly a visual issue for me. I tend to think engines look better with the polished shiney bits being iron rather than gold colored bronze or brass. To my eye it just doesn't look right when the whole engine is made from a material that the protoype was not.
That said, a nice paint job would remedy most of the problem.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2008 15:49:20 GMT
ztarum - use whatever materials you feel comfortable with. That's the beauty of model engineering because we can all please ourselves. No-one has the right to tell us what to do
Except
If the finished model pleases you so much that you would like to enter it into competition, the use of inappropriate materials is likely to get you marked down. A good paint job can help, but its sometimes difficult to disguise everything, and of course if there is something left unpainted on the prototype then your going to have a problem. Some of the worst examples I have seen have involved bronze flywheels, the rims of which were left unpainted if the belt ran on them. Some suppliers used to provide a casting for every part possible, even if it was totally incorrect. Just a good way of selling more castings.
A few years back I saw a model of a marine triple expansion engine in competition. It was all in brass or bronze and was highly polished - all wrong. It was just a mantelpiece ornament. There was a rumour that the judges, quite correctly, had marked it well down, but the organiser thought that it 'looked nice' and over-ruled them. Fallings out, I suspect.
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Post by GWRdriver on Dec 7, 2008 15:58:07 GMT
ztarum,
I have a set of the Lincoln engine castings (I've forgotten which version) which are currently being "seasoned" under the workbench. The castings look superb and there was a detailed construction article published in ME, written by Stan Bray and beginning in October 1992.
I also would prefer that engine castings, at least major castings, be cast iron but as ulster says, it's all down to you and what you feel comfortable with.
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