Cosmetic replicas

I have made simialr comments in the past. Computers (and other technical artefacts) are not fine art, and don't necessarily need to be covered by the same rules. IMHO the London Science Muaseum's policy is broken. I discovered this when I offered them some flip-chip boards to replace missing ones in one of their machines. They refused because mine, although the correct types, were a couple of years later than the machine. I would have expected them to have marked them as replacements, to keep a log book, and so on. But surely a complete machine is more use than an incomplete one. And to top it all, it was as machine that had been used and taken out of service, and then donated to the museum. I would be _very_ suprised if none of the flip-chip boards had been replaced during its working life. To comment on some other points that have been raised in this discussion. Yes, a log book can get lost or separated from the machine. This is not a reason for not keeping one (IMHO a log book should be kept for any rare machine that you're working on), it's surely a good reason to keep multiple copies of the log. Yes, it's _possible_ somebody will want to research the paint used on a classic computer some time in the distant future. I think it's more likely, though, they'll be more interested in the electronic design of the machine, in the programs it ran, in the uses it was put to (e.g. 'This machine was the first (popular home comuter)|(machine to bring word processing to the masses)|(etc)'), and so on. So IMHO machines should be kept running as far as possible. With reference to the comment that a reproduction front panel constructed differently to the origianl might confuse future researchers, why do the vintage radio crowd insist on re-stuffing electrolytic capacitor cans? That IMHO is very likely to cause confusion as to the original construction. I won't do this, I simply mount a new, suitable, capacitor in place of the old one. And I've been flamed for doing so. Another thought. I read a monthly magazine called 'Clocks' which not suprisingly is about antique clocks, both the history and the repair/restoration. Many of the clocks described and repaird there are rarer than most of the computers we deal with here. But almost always they are repaired, it it considered normal to cut a new wheel, bush the pivot holes in the plates, and so on. And it appears no record is kept of this work. A related thing could be the Salisbury clock (the oldest mechanical clock still running IIRC). It was found stuck in the catherdal tower about 80 years ago, and fortunately somebody recognised what it was. It had been converted from the origianl foliot balance to a pendulum at some point in its life. Anyway, it was cleaned up, and converted back to the orignal design (as far as can be determined). The new parts are painted a slightly different colour, so they can be identified, and of course records have been made of what was done. But it most certainly has not been left in the ' as found' condition. And that is a much rarer and much more significant artefact than anything we deal with on this list. -tony