The Showcase > Engines

Another Stuart Launch Engine

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Old Bill:
The only plus point of all this Covid business is all the bonus workshop hours in the last twelve months! I have made up a Stuart launch engine. It is a very common model so no blog but here are a couple of pics for interest.

This project started in 1988 when I was a student apprentice in Portsmouth. I went alonng to the local model engineering society where I had the opportunity of buying a set of castings for this model from a model boater who had had them on the shelf for ten years and thought it time somebody made them. Little did he know that they would be on my shelf for another 32 years! Anyway, the feeling came upon me around Christmas and I took the box off the shelf and blew the dust off, literally!

I had started the base when I first bought the bits but had stopped at the thought of drilling the main bearings. It is amazing what a bit of experience does for ones confidence and that was soon sorted.



One particularly challenging component was the transfer pipe which has some very tight bends at the end. It is a real feature of the engine and I really wanted to get it right. I used the pipe bender that I made for the Mercedes engine and started with 20swg tube. I could not get this tight enough without it collapsing but 18swg worked just fine and I am very pleased with the result.





I had never turned a crankshaft before either. This was supplied as two blocks vacuum brazed to a bit of rod and more or less to length. I marked all of the centres in two blocks using the dials on the mill to position them and then Loctited them to the shaft. After turning, I warmed them up and they came off so that worked nicely.





It does all work although the LP piston is a bit tight and I think I need to ease it a bit, again, when the feeling comes upon me.



It now lives on the bookcase collecting dust again in a more ornamental way!

Steve  :)

Don1966:
Nice looking engine and a great job on it. Pity you don’t have more built log photos.


RegardscDon

propforward:
That's a lovely engine - fantastic finish, a real show piece.

Chipmaster:
An impressive model, those pipe bends are excellent.

Andy

Dave Otto:
Beautiful engine Bill, nicely done!

Dave

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