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

Great tip Nick. I've bought so few items from Amazon that a little detail like that is of real value to me!

There was a little damage that is most likely from the way it was shipped. One of the base slots had the thin outer edge broken in, but the pieces were still in the package so a bit of white glue after assembly and you can't even see the repair. It did still work fine without that slot's outer edge piece, but because it was one of the front-most slots, it was very obvious. Also, one of the front corners of the top piece was a bit crunched, but it hardly shows in such a light wood. If I were to stain it dark like walnut, it would probably be much more obvious. If I find that it bothers me too much, I can always take a file and dress that corner smooth.

Pulling the plastic protector sheet off the acrylic panels was no problem at all ....... once I got the sheet started at a corner, which was a bit of a challenge!

Still have to decide whether or not to put some kind of finish on this raw wood. I rather doubt it will take stain very evenly given that it is composed of finger jointed laminations of several different grains of wood. Perhaps just a good spray down with a clear finish will do the trick for me .... or maybe stick with simply naked?!?! 

I do remember in the long ago, that I used to really like naked!!!      ;c)