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

It depends.....

In general, I try to keep them as original as possible.  But, sometimes, that just isn't feasible or possible.  And, other times, I just don't like the look of it in the condition that I receive it. 

I know that Danny (@Nuvolari) and Brent (@parallelmotion) have strong opinions on this subject; and for really valuable and rare engines, I agree that they should be kept as original as possible.  Frankly, I don't have their skills and would leave important engines to them for restoration.

I have been working on a Bowman M122 for the last week.  There are thousands of these out there.  They are not particularly rare.  But, they are well made and fairly easy to disassemble. I hated the bronze lacquer finish that was on the boiler and decided to make it all shiny and new.  The base was in decent shape; so, I cleaned it and treated it with some car wax to protect the paint. I also made an exhaust pipe for it out of brass tubing.

I paid very little for this engine and did it the way I wanted to do it.  I am very happy with the outcome.  I am sure others will think that I ruined it.....

I will be posting a video and pictures soon. 

Everyone has their personal preferences and I don't judge others for their choices.  Each to his own!