The parts for the traction engine are a range of fabricated sheet metal, machined parts, and castings that have been machined.

They are generally unfinished, meaning that I have to de-burr holes, smooth off edges, and for the castings, grind off the seam lines left by the moulds. For grinding I either use grinding disc, or for some of the finer work, a small grinding tool on a Dremel. Otherwise finishing is usually done with an orbital sander or a flap wheel on the drill.

STW try the first part in a batch against their model in their factory to ensure it fits okay. From then, the parts in the batch should be identical. Sometimes, however, I’ve found that holes don’t quite align, so I have to open them out a bit so the screw will fit.

There have been a couple of parts I’ve had to return. The rear cylinder cover had a blow-hole in the casting; not ideal for high-pressure steam! But STW are very prompt replacing any faulty parts, so it’s rarely held me up much.

FINISHING & PAINTING

1/3-scale burrell traction engine

I’ve never been keen on painting, but have tolerated doing it around the house over the years.

I have to say that I’ve quite surprised myself with how I’ve coped with painting this project! Mostly it’s been two coats of primer, two of undercoat, and two of gloss. Then the lining. Oh, and finally two coats of varnish.

Apart from the primer, I can only do one coat a day, so it does take a while. It can be quite frustrating to only be able to do half an hour’s painting when there’s so much more to do once that’s dry.

The lining also is a labour of love as only one colour can be done a day, with touching up in between (that’s black, red, and cream). I also found that the black lining needed a few days to cure before sticking lining stencil tape to it for the next colour, or it peeled off again.

I used pinstriping tape to do the thin straight lines. I created stencils on my stencil cutting machine for the fish-tails on the wheels. For the wide curves on the tender, I was able to place individual pinstriping tapes each side of my line, but tight bends I had to do free-hand using a very small brush or a paint pen.