Something new and kinda sorta 100 years old looking

Thanks guys - the encouragement helps when one gets in over their head ...

Detailed it out which meant sanding it down again and repainting it then antiquing it and adding "solder" and "patina" to the "seams". Next I think I'll paint a broad black border on each face.

Thanks for the comments guys. The paint came from Home Depot. I'll let you know later what brands and colors I used because I'm actually going to sand it down again and paint it for the third time today. I'm trying to perfect the patina and I'm close but I think I can get it better. I'll also be repositioning the fender skirts today and hopefully some other stuff, so pics will follow.

The end product will be something rather steampunk - all brass and copper trim and power ... well ... if plans go the way they're headed now, I'll be selling the 4-stroke kit and putting a steam engine in it instead. I have the research done and the parts figured out and it's looking very doable. I'm not actually thinking of something all that practical so that makes the steam tech a lot easier and much cheaper. My hope is to have something I can fire up and make steam and propel it some. It doesn't have to have a lot of power or range.

Any thoughts on what would make a good color for the frame? Black - cream - hunter green ... ?

Oh ... and this means the fuel tank will become a water tank!

corgi1 said:

I watched a vid on u-tube awhile back on a steam bike and even a design built a hundred years or so ago they get right on down the road

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I've probably seen those, too - part of what got me going on this. That, and the fact that I worked on a steam sawmill for a short time (my sister now owns it) and have ever since been fascinated by steam. I helped an old bugger restore it and he had vast experience with steam engines. Now that I'm beginning to resemble an old bugger myself I thought I'd put together a steam project, on a lot smaller scale of course.

The reason you don't see a lot of steam bikes is because it's darn near impossible to put together something practical enough to make it worth the expense and trouble. Some people are just afraid of it because of the horror stories of exploding boilers. Well, I'm not trying to make something practical and I can't afford to allow it to be terribly expensive, so I'm looking to make something that will belch some steam and maybe putt around a little bit, more of an art project than a practical mode of transportation. I'll also be using a very safe boiler design that actually doesn't have a reservoir of hot water and steam other than a tiny amount in what's called a "monotube". The priciest part will be a proper steam pressure relief valve. The engine will be a converted 2-stroke rather than a purpose-built steam engine. It should end up looking Jules Vernish, brass and copper in a cloud of steam. If it actually moves off the spot, that will be a real plus!

Someone asked about the copper paint I'm using. Here's a pic. I got it from Home Depot. The brown paint is "Espresso Brown".



Below, is the third attempt on the tank. Copper first and then covered with a thin coat of brown. I'll lightly sand/steal wool some of this off to reveal the copper underneath. That's the plan anyway. The previous attempts were thwarted by the speckly surface the brown spray bomb made. If I had the right paint I could have used my airbrush I guess to atomize the spray better, but I think this should work and may end up looking more natural. We'll see.

This pic is the tank after being sprayed with the Espresso Brown. It's supposed to be a bit uneven, hopefully to yield a more natural looking patina in the end. Funny thing is, my flash reflected off the copper underneath so it looks a lot more coppery in the photo than in real life. It actually looks quite brown. But I guess that means the copper is just beneath the surface so should reveal itself nicely when I sand down to it.

Also got the mudguards moved today. Ground off the rivets and repositioned and welded them in place. Also welded up the old holes. On the fronts I moved the mud guards down to meet the flares. On the rears I moved the mud guards to the front of the fender.

Before pic:



After pic:



Here they are sorta in place. They're really mostly just sitting on the rubber, but you can get the general idea.

Here's the finished tank. Third time's the charm. It took a lot of restraint to keep from making it too perfect. For some reason, even without a flash, the copper shines through more in photos than it does in real life and accentuates the mottled effect. There will be a little more detailing yet.

To get the tank to this stage I painted it black then copper then dark brown and then sanded off most of the top layer with 220/400/fine steel wool. Then I painted along the "seams" to make it look like it was soldered - black, then gray. I also painted rings around the inlets to make it look like they were soldered on. I added a few copper highlights and a wash of turquoise in some areas to finish it up. The trick is going to be to make the rest of the bike look 100 years old, too.

Vistaman73 said:

Amazing work so far. I can't wait to see what's next.

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Here's what's next. Bought the beginnings of what will probably be a very undersized boiler, but should be enough to hiss and make a cloud of steam at least! I chose it because the size should be OK for mounting it on a bike and it is insulated double wall stainless. It's 6" on the inside, about 8 1/2" on the outside and 12" tall. It will have a 1/4" copper coil inside about 35' long and a 4" ring propane burner. I'll build a bracket to mount it near the right side dropout.