My father made a steam engine he machined from a kit of castings, then he made a variable pitch marine prop, (from scratch), a boiler,( from scratch), and finally a model tug to put the gear in, also from scratch.

How he went about making the steam engine, boiler and so on are detailed in his web site. The tug goes really well,however my father now suffers from macular degeneration and while the degeneration has been stopped, his modelling days are over as he just can''t see well enough any more. (It is impossible to get sight that has been lost, back, with this eye condition, although it is now possible to stabalise the condition) However with assistance he still enjoys getting steam up and sailing the tug, at 85 years old which I think is not to bad.

http://steamtug.orconhosting.net.nz/<br type="_moz" />