Water Clock Restoration Day 20

Not the normal view you would get of the Bouquet in the centre of the Water Clock. Looking straight down the detail in the bouquet is once more apparent after blasting. There is a piece of foliage missing but everything can now be seen for what it is. There is a central steel structure with a ring of copper tubing at its base. The tubing carries the water to the copper pipes and their terminal spouts. We now know that there is a small stop tap - it had been completely obscured by thick layers of paint. Three of the copper pipes have parted company with the ring so will need re-soldering.

Bouquet from above

Clean but awaiting re-assembly and polishing.

And here's one for the aeromodellers. We have now identified the colour of the main structure of the Water Clock from the sample found under the Central Control Box. The Control Box hasn't been removed since the Clock was assembled by Rowland Emett so the platform on which it stands has escaped repainting. It turns out to be one of the colours defined by British Standard 381C. It is BS283 otherwise known as 'Aircraft Grey Green'. This is the standard colour that the interiors of RAF aircraft such as the Spitfire were painted. We will know the identity of the colour of the Control Box itself tomorrow when the inside of the control box door is scanned.

Paint fleck for colour matching.