Ancient to most of the younger folks here, Male or Female! Low Pressure Riverboat and Steam Ship Engines.What is that you say? Well, you all know what a steam Engine is for RailRoads, Right? Okay, now imagine a Triple action engine or even Double Action engine for Maritime use. Triple action? Yup! They used every Bit of useable steam in the system for power in the Three Cylinders. And, Yes, the Cylinders were different sizes and some rocked back and forth in time with the Pushrods!
Crazy huh? You have seen photos of vessels with the “Rocking Beam” type of low pressure engine.The Steam Piston turned a flywheel that transferred power to the Shaft for Paddle-Wheels or Two Bladed Screws. Mostly Wheels of some unique nature. Some wheels added to that with articulated Blades, Thus giving greater thrust through the water. Now, My idea has always to add details that Can Be seen through the Kit’s Engine Room Windows.
The Low pressure Two stage Steam Engine driving the Drawbars that connect to the Drive Bars for the Stern Paddle Wheel. A great kit for this was the one from Life-Like or Lindberg. It came in two sizes so you don’t want to try it in the smaller one unless you are a real Glutton for punishment! The Engine room is about two and one half inches by three inches, More than big enough to create the engine, it’s bed and even the moveable pistons in the two different cylinders, the crank and the drive system for the SternWheel!
Don’t worry, If you have never seen one of these. There’s enough photos and drawings both in your Local Library(Gotta love those places) and of course on line. Give it a try with the models available of the Stephenson, Tom Thumb, and other antique Rail Engine Kits! Okay? Then scratch build one in a Boat! Yes! You can make strong enough pieces to make everything Move! DON’T try the Articulated PaddleWheel with this though, Unless you are good at creating P.E.cams and other parts and the facilities for doing this!
I have a stationary large steam engine in my stash, which I do intend to build when I get a round toit. I think it was Airfix.
I built a a North River of Clarmout a couple of years ago I(forget brand) and by my research it seems to be pretty accurate, considering that we have no drawings of the original. A so-called replica was built for some anniversary, and we don’t know how acurate that ship was.
Anyway, the kit has an exposed steam engine which does seem to fit the written descriptions of the engine. It has a boiler too.
I love to build engines- been a gearhead all my life- and have built three of the great Williams Bros radial kits. I also do scratch engines- A Hispano Suiza Spad engine and an Offy racecar engine with another Offy half done.
I would really like to see more steam engine kits. There is a fair selection of gas and diesel engine kits out there, but the Airfix kit is the only steam I know of except for the expensive operating steam kits.
I believe there were three. One by Airfix, one by Entex and one by Imaii. They were is a larger scale I believe in 1/12 or something like that. They were fun to build too! The thing is, due to their rarity(they weren’t very popular) they were a nice break from Model Cars and Boats!
I built the Maudslay’s steam engine kit several years ago. It is a nice kit, and I got to practice my metallic paint finishes.
There was apparently a motorized version of this kit, as there were parts that went under the base to mount a motor and provide space for batteries. The motorization bits were not included in my kit.
Got into a commission. I just finished that, so it’s back to MY models. One of the things I am doing with mine is taking the Bearings and Locations on the Crank small enough to fit my homemade foil chrome. Why? Again , to be a Smart#$@. This way I can motorize it and use real model railRoad white grease to lubricate it without damaging the plastic. I have done two that are smaller and fit in the Lindberg river towboat model. NO! Not the small one! Everything turns or moves( I left enough tolerance to make it easy.) And they still, after all these years catch folks fancy.
That is what I remember most about the canadian Steamship " Canadiana" that ran between Buffalo N.Y and Crystal Beach, Ontario. The engine room was viewable from the main deck inside .The Kids(Mostly boys) would be lined up at the glass looking at all that gleaming Steel, Copper, and Brass going up, down and whirling around. Oh, how fascinating it was!
Just checked my Maudslay’s steam engine build, and it still turns, even after sitting in a display case for years. The crankshaft is so long and spindly that I’d not risk motorizing it w/o first working on the clearances, like you’re doing, but it still turns. Alclad paint FTW!! [:D]
Airfix. Good luck finding one though. I got one when it first came out (rerelease the motorized one was from the sixties I beleive) around ten years ago and sold it a couple of years ago for a massive profit. It is pretty cool.
EDIT: Well there are a couple on Ebay right now and not as much as I got for mine!
Yeah, The Crank on this thing was a worry for me. I have often wondered why they didn’t make the crank a wee bit better than they did. Oh well, it still garners attention! I got three when I was involved with The V.A. Group rec therapy. They were supposed to be one of each, the “Maudsley,” the “Rocket” and the “Clermont” steamboat. All I got was a triple dose of Mr. Maudsley!
I was thinking of doing a dio with part of a ship’s engine room with the Maudsley center stage, Greasy, Dirty but still running! Trying to find figures in that scale has been almost impossible.
Well, I always move the wheel AND crank at the same time when trying to turn the thing. I don’t think I’d ever try to turn it otherwise, because, as you said, it’s kind of worrisome. That, and the crankshaft itself, while probably quite robust in real life, is kind of spindley in plastic.
I went back and forth about how to display it, feeling that something like that would hardly every be clean, but really wanted to test my skill at metallic painting, and figured that any attempt to weather would be a disaster, so ‘brand spanking new’ it is!
IIRC, I think I got it Hobby Lobby years ago. Not sure I’d pay $75 for it, but it is a very unique subject, and really goes together well. For $10-$20 i might consider getting another copy.
I really like engines, and have a few in my stash, and have put together a couple of them. My Mercedes Benz WWI aircraft engine was a favorite. I also have an Atlantis Allison turboprop engine in the stash, and, being a RX7 fan, have a copy of an old Renwall Visible Wankel engine to do.
