Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Stuart No.9.. I waited a long time to buy one of these engines, they are rare... expensive ..and sometimes built badly but hopefully this one falls somewhere in between on the price and condition rating.
The engine runs well on air although with noisy clunking bearings, i did some adjustments and added a fibre washer to the crosshead on the piston rod and reduced the clunks by 50% which i find livable and sounds industrial
The engine was originally hand painted in a Blue paint which i didnt like so it had to go,  it was stripped down completely and the blue paint sanded down and removed from the brass parts with paint stripper, i used the original blue paint as an undercoat applying a primer to any bare metal areas...all the parts were then de greased and hand painted with my new choice of colour a Pale Grey gloss using Humbrol enamel ..this is an experiment for me hand painting a Steam engine, anyone using Humbrol enamel paints on model aeroplane plastic kits would know the covering quality of the paint and a streak free finish ie. no brush marks if used correctly, when you open the can of paint tip away the clear thin liquid on top and just use the stuff at the bottom which when stirred gives you the consistency of thick milk thats what gives the best results... paint with even fills of the brush and consistent brushing covering small areas at a time .
I am happy with the finish and will hand paint again in the future...Here are a few pictures of the strip down and reassembly plus a Video of the engine being tested running on air when almost finished, i will add another video of it running on steam shortly...Steve

STUART NO.9 ON STEAM


STUART NO.9 TEST ON AIR
   

  [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]  

Hello Gil thank you for your comments, i had to reload the pictures as it failed the first time but successful the second time ...Steve

Your hand painting of the Stuart No. 9 turned out very well as usual (I would have been quite surprised if it hadn't knowing your skills) and looks quite nice in grey - well done!

Nice work as usual Steve, and it looks very industrial with that paint job and the extra studs/nuts used compared to the average Stuart.

Hello Nick it is a nice looking engine, i have had it running on steam today 8 runs at 15 to 20 minutes each..it gave a faultless performance other than a few leaks and a bit of knocking ...Steve

Steve you did a great job hand painting that No9.

Hello Jim just another option to spraying..the humbrol enamel appears very durable  during todays marathon steam run..
video later....Steve

It certainly looks infinitely better in grey. You did a fine job on this one, Steve.

Hello Benny nice to speak to you again, i paint all my engines in grey, this one is hand painted in pale grey gloss...i think it performed well under steam it has had 8 runs today all around the 15 - 20 minute run time it has performed faultlessly ..i will post a video on steam later today...Steve

Well, you certainly made a silk purse out of that one!

Thanks Bob the knocking i can fix anytime really i just wanted a No9 that looks reasonable and runs well...Steve

nice engine, who ever made it sure liked making studs

Hello Kev i had many thoughts about the chap when i was making the gaskets