It looks right at home on that fire box Ben , I don't know if you painted the base or not.... But its gorgeous. Well done Sir !
Thanks Bruce! This is a Wilesco D5/6 kit engine, but a newer product (not sure when they came out)
I had ordered a kit version D5 from ministeam, website said 1 unit left in stock, but it was not really there, Susann talked me into change my order to this unit, a "D100E" model, it is a normal D5 kit engine with the following changes right from Wilesco:
-Black high temp paint on firehouse and chimney.
-The base is painted Silver metal-flake vs the current bright blue.
-Extra parts that also come in the D100E kit are:
-small generator with mount
-bag of basic electronic components like LED bulbs, resistors, capacitors, wire, alligator clamps, on/off switch and "bread board"
-easy to read manual that explains the interesting history of producing electric power with steam from early times to present day(suggested an Atomic power plant is kind of a "fancy" steam engine)
and then goes on to give about 10 experiments you can do with your steam engine + generator + parts, after you build it.
The kit is designed for older school children, but as I work very little with electrical, I found the basic instructions/experiments interesting and Very helpful (to me)
An example of one of the basic experiments is if you spin the generator to fast it will burn out the LED bulb, the manual shows how to use some of the provided components to protect your bulb from over voltage. The experiments do get more involved than this but build up so as not to lose the beginner.
I am sure an electronic minded person might have found the kit boring, but I Do recommend the kit if you have very little electronic skill or if you have Never used a generator before, Or want a D5 in a Very different factory color.
If anyone wants more details on the D100E kit, I would be happy to try to answer the questions.
Also possible of interest, if you like the silver base but want copper bricks? There IS copper under the black paint! You may have to carefully remove the black paint with some sort of paint stripper? I am sure any attempt to sand off the black paint would damage the thin copper plate. I originally was going to strip the paint but since I have learned the first Wilesco in 1950 was black firehouse....well let's just say I have come to really like this D5/6 variant!