# Something Different...Airfix 4-Stroke Engine



## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

Just thought I'd share my latest project with you...it might make a change from all the Aurora/Moebius/Monarch posts(although I'm as much to blame for those as anyone)

Anyway, this is a fairly hard to find Airfix kit of a Four Stroke engine which last saw the light of day in the early 70's. Airfix have just announced they are re-issuing two of the other engines in this series so maybe this one will get a release again soon.



I scored this off eBay a while back and started it but then put it on the back burner for a while.







As you can see from the instructions it's a fairly complex kit. The scale is about 1/2 judging by the size of the spark plug and it doesn't represent a particular type...it's more a generic model designed to display how the engine works.



The kit is designed to operate via a small electric motor which isn't included. As the original Airfix motors are no longer available I've adapted another type to do the job.


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

Here's the crankcase assembled...although the piston is detailed with rings, none of this will be seen when assembled so I'm not going to paint it as it's already a snug fit inside the cylinder and I want it to operate as smoothly as possible. 





The timing gears all work as you'd expect although I need to apply a couple of drops of light oil to ease them a little. 
The hardest thing so far was getting a decent finish with the yellow over dark green plastic. 
My airbrush is out of action at the moment so I'm brush painting this one. 
I discovered that by painting alternate coats of enamel and acrylic I could quickly build up a nice deep yellow. 

This view shows the cams that operate the push rods into the rocker box. 



No need to lose the joint on the crankcase as the real one splits in the same place. 
Last pic here is the coil and points assembly. This is moulded as a single piece so careful painting and a variation of colours brings out the details. 

Before 


After


So far this kit is great fun to build, I just hope Airfix see sense and re-issue it so more folks can enjoy it.


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

In case anyone's interested here are the others in the series...

Beam Engine




Maudsley Steam Paddle Engine




Trevithick Steam Loco




These are the re-issues...


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