Cherry Hill’s latest model has just been unveiled in its unpainted state – perhaps the best time to see the outstanding craftsmanship that goes into her exquisite models. The model is another Isaac Blackburn Agricultural Engine, this one dating from 1863, photographed here at the Model Engineer Exhibition in 2009. Cherry will spend up to six months in 2010 painting the model.  This is Cherry’s 18th model, produced in a lifetime devoted to model engineering. Every model produced in the last 30 years has won a Gold Medal, plus many other awards, including eight Duke of Edinburgh Awards, the ultimate accolade in model engineering.

This is the second Blackburn engine Cherry has modelled, and as can be seen has an extraordinary arrangement of a boiler located inside a larger wheel. Every last rivet and chain link is made by Cherry, and all ‘castings’ are fabricated. All of her models are test run, and really do work. The model is built to scale of 3/4in to the foot, as have been most of her models. They have taken between 2,500 and 8,000 hours each to complete, with research taking up most of the time. Many of the components have needed special machining techniques to be developed.

Cherry made her first model in 1956/7, a Stuart No 9 horizontal engine, later donated to the Society of Model and Experimental Engineers. Apart from the first few models, every model made – the result of around 45 years work – has been donated to the Institution of  Mechanical Engineers.