Archive for The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum The Original Unofficial Toy Steam Forum Established 2006 The biggest, most popular steam forum around! Accept NO imitations! We have a growing community of regular posting members who chat about all aspects of toy and model steam.          The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum Forum Index -> Collections and pics tmuir Steamco: My New Aussie Engine Here is a few pics of my Steamco engine I received today. The boiler is silver soldered and it is of a very high build quality compared to Mamod and Wilescos and although not as complicated it's build quality is atleast as good as Bowmans (Bet that starts a hot debate ). It is nicely finished and the only thing that is a bit of a dissapointment is they didnt really do a very good job cleaning up the flux from when the safety valve bush and thread for steam pipe was soldered in, but I should be able to fix that up pretty easily. Nice solid flywheel and lots of heavy brass. Here some pics so you can judge for yourself. I really like the nice big chunky overflow plug, much easier to get hold of and undo. How many other new engines can you think of that still has an overflow plug on it? Here is a comparison of overflow plug and safety valves to my Mamod Se1a ones. sparky very nice and very diffrent mate, i really do like them aussie engines ill have to try and get one someday Mamodman123 Looks nice Tmuir! Does it run well? tmuir Mamodman123 wrote: Looks nice Tmuir! Does it run well? Havent had a chance to fire it yet as only had it for a few hours. Will fire it tomorrow as I'm finishing early during the day as I'm going back to work from 9pm to 5am on Thursday night. So will fire it when no one else is home as my wife hasnt even noticed it.....yet........ Mamodman123 A lot of parts remind me of a mamod I don't want to be you when she finds out Sandman Really like that Tony. Just one observation. The finish polishing on the boiler and the cylinder seems to have been done with a coarse compound or fine abrasive. Usually it's finished with a fine compound and the polishing kept one way. That does away with the fine marks you can see criss crossing each other. This is just an observation and in no way a jibe at your engine. To be honest I'd love one in my collection. SPOKESMAN Looks solid! Well finished too. Not overly taken by the proportions of some of the detailing on it. tmuir Sandman wrote: Really like that Tony. Just one observation. The finish polishing on the boiler and the cylinder seems to have been done with a coarse compound or fine abrasive. Usually it's finished with a fine compound and the polishing kept one way. That does away with the fine marks you can see criss crossing each other. This is just an observation and in no way a jibe at your engine. To be honest I'd love one in my collection. You are right. I noticed that when I took the photos. As I said the final finishing around the bushes was a bit average. As far as I'm concerned the only let down is the final buffing on the boiler which I can easily fix as its a nut and bolt construction. I like the chunky look about it. It sort of gives it that more 'Aussie home grown feeling' about it as none of our engines tend to be as refined as the English ones. Just told my wife about it and got the look. Will vid its first firing. SPOKESMAN tmuir wrote: Sandman wrote: Really like that Tony. Just one observation. The finish polishing on the boiler and the cylinder seems to have been done with a coarse compound or fine abrasive. Usually it's finished with a fine compound and the polishing kept one way. That does away with the fine marks you can see criss crossing each other. This is just an observation and in no way a jibe at your engine. To be honest I'd love one in my collection. You are right. I noticed that when I took the photos. As I said the final finishing around the bushes was a bit average. As far as I'm concerned the only let down is the final buffing on the boiler which I can easily fix as its a nut and bolt construction. I like the chunky look about it. It sort of gives it that more 'Aussie home grown feeling' about it as none of our engines tend to be as refined as the English ones. Just told my wife about it and got the look. Will vid its first firing. Waste of time!! I keep all my purchases secret - Only share them with the forum - best way! Sandman Well at least it's out in the open Tony. Re the polishing bit. I'm quite surprised. As you quite rightly say, it would only take a few minutes to polish out so there's no harm done. I would have that engine any time. Looks great. Send on the vid. MTA Core blimey guvnor! That engine looks a million dollars! I must admit, I do like the engine frame stanchions and the oil collecting tray underneath Griffin A nice engine, looks well made and heavy with all that brasswork. I bet it is a good runner with that heavy fly wheel. Wallace Great engine there Tony. Not sure if you have fired it yet as I haven't looked at the vid posts, but what Mamod burner would fit in it? The general SE1a/SE2a evap burner? It's a nice engine that's for sure. Look forward to it running. tmuir I fired it a couple of hours ago now and will try and upload the Vid tonight but may not get a chance as I've got to go back to work tonight. A regulat vap burner just fits in but I thought the flames may be a bit high for it so I used my Luton Bowman burner in it and it ran very well. You could almost call it a stealth engine it ran so quietly and smoothly. But you will have to wait for the vid to decide yourself. SPOKESMAN Look forward to seeing/hearing this one! steamyman a good engine there Tony. it'd seems a shame to fire it. i like the design of the safety valve- very stylish! tmuir There is always one on ebay OZ and if you wait long enough you can get one for between $150 and $170 Australian which is much better than $230 in the shops. Graham-Jilly I found one might have a go at this one http://cgi.ebay.com.au/STEAMCO-RE...PageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem tmuir Yes thats the guy I bought mine off. I paid $156.50 for mine. He puts one on every week so keep an eye on them and dont bid much higher than $160 for them. This one just finished a few hours ago and went for $152.50 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISA...em=110096791439&rd=1&rd=1 They only come with solid fuel burners and the standard Mamod Vap burner is a bit big for them. I ran mine on my Bowman Luton burner which worked very well. If you havent seen my vid of it running here is the link. http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/about2286.html yosa [quote="tmuir"]Just told my wife about it and got the look. Will vid its first firing.[/quote] Is that the engine or the Wife? Top, top quality again mate. IndianaRog Steamco stationary Tony, a delightful engine. I agree with other comments that in some ways it is very much Mamod inspired (overflow plug for example)...but that boiler looks like a miniature one off a Bowman 101. It also has that air of Aussie built...don't know how to put a finger on it, but maybe it's a bit of the same thing when folks say "American Looking". I have the overtype Steamco in my collection, but it is one of the few that is so pretty I have yet to fire it!!! One of these days I must, but I enjoy having a couple of shelf queens to gawk at too! I understand they are made by a small two brother team...they are both creative and good craftsmen. cheers, Roger tmuir Yes like my Steamco and I just got another Aussie engine today a Kookaburra. I'm glad someone has already fired it or I wouldnt be able to bring myself to fire it either. Lewis i like this sort tmuir looks very nice http://www.ministeam.com/acatalog/info_STCO_04.html tmuir lewisop1991 wrote: i like this sort tmuir looks very nice http://www.ministeam.com/acatalog/info_STCO_04.html Yes I would like to get that one too but its considerably more expensive than the model I have. I've been waiting for one to come up cheap on ebay but so far none have. Lewis aye mate i like the look of the overtype if i had the money i would get one for some readon i like overtypes alot        The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum Forum Index -> Collections and pics Page 1 of 1