Here is a 111b I picked up from a local antique shop. After removing the horrible green gloss paint, I saw it was embossed and had a couple of unusual additions. There are 2 skids on the bottom and a nut on the drop down hatch to keep it off the ground/snow. There is also a brass hook/lid stop at the back. Has anyone seen these modifications before? The original underlying colour seems to be dark green, does anybody know of the correct colour code or a modern match? The cork pips, slotted SRV, flame ring markings, tool clip high on the lid, all lead me to beleive it is an early 1950s model. The brass parts cleaned up nicely, just waiting for my order of new seals to get it lit.
Some stoves come with a little mystery and history. Those modifications strike me as something a previous owner just enjoyed adding for some personal use or reason we can only speculate on.
Nice Eleventy-One, I've never seen the runners before. Your guess would be better than mine. The usual paint color for Optimus 8R and 111s was a light metallic blue. Pontiac Engine Blue is close, and a hi-heat formula, but probably hard to find outside the USA. In the Stove Gallery, I've seen other colors, metallic silver-grey, even Red. Olive Green is sometimes seen on military issue stoves. The residual color on yours looks like Coleman Forest Green. Maybe a PO repainted it to match his Coleman 2-burners?
@Colin McCarthy I've not seen these before, but I agree that your guesses make sense. Either lifting above a scorchable surface or a cooling one seems most likely. The hook to prevent the lid opening too far would be to enable the lid to always function as a windbreak. And since a windbreak, perhaps an outdoor rather than indoor use. My guess is actually as a tea maker, sitting on a car. The mods being driven by a need to prevent paint damage. Mind you, that requires whatever protrudes from that front nut to be softish.
I agree, it's also got me thinking about the future of the stove regarding its colour. I would like to retain the original colour, but if thats not going to work, having seen the red & white model elsewhere on this site, I thought, why not do something radical? After all, its only paint which can be removed later, as long as the stove functions as intended. Current ideas in my head are the Union flag, Swedish flag, maybe Swedish splinter camo. By the way, I love the phrase 'eleventy-one'
I think I have a couple cans of Hunter Green on the shelf. I have a pair of beat-up old 8Rs. One I'll fake out to be a 99. I have most of the parts. It will have a Coleman Peak1 top lid. The other 8R would look cool in Hunter Green. I just need to lose the rust. Looks like it saw a lot of sand and saltwater in a brutal past life.
