Maestrophone Stirling Hot-Air Engine Horn Gramophone, 1910

A tribute to the early history of recorded sound and the fascinating engineering behind antique music machines.

For the Back in Time – Antique Props Challenge by Sierra Division, I chose to recreate a Maestrophone horn gramophone from 1910, featuring an unusual Stirling external-combustion engine as its drive mechanism.

What attracted me to this particular object was the combination of mechanical complexity, decorative craftsmanship, and the distinctive visual language of early 20th-century sound-reproducing equipment.

The asset was created as a game-ready prop, with a final count of 9,554 triangles and a single 2048×2048 texture set.

Thanks to Sierra Division for organizing the challenge and providing the opportunity to work on such an unusual and inspiring prop.