Hello Jim,
Just a short info about the known/suspected locations of GE museum models
and plans:
I suspect that the so called builder's model of the Great eastern can be
found in the San Francisco Maritime Museum. I wasn't able to obtain any more
info from them.
The National Maritime Museum of Greenwich is very cooperative. Hence I know
100% for sure they have: a block model with simplified detail (a b/w photo
of it appears in the book "Brunel's Ships from 1999), a great topographic
model which is actually a diorama of the construction and a full hull model
with simulated outer hull strakes (the only one) depicting the cable laying
period: black funnels, cream/beige upper paddle boxes, white (!) lower hull
including the screw propeller. The NMM also holds and sells copies of the
builder's plans of the GE but these contain some errors since they are by
John Scott Russell and "as planned".
Jim, it would be great if you could get some pictures or at least info about
the SF model. We can get glimpses of this model (we suspect but don't know
if it is the SF model, it isn't any of the NMM Greenwich models) in
"Eyewitness books: Titanic) in color and in the Great Eastern book by P.
Beaver in b/w. None say where this model can be found.
The research goes on...
Christian