Plasma driver tips

[Millipede]

im a glass blower who's interested in trying out some handmade plasma art sculptures. i need a schematic for a reliable circuit that can be left running continuously. preferably one thats NOT driven by a 555 timer and can drive something other than a flyback transformer. i have a schematic for one that uses a hartley oscilator and claims to be pretty good but it uses parts i cant seem to find anywhere and im not certain i could trust myself to pick out equivalent parts. i'd like to keep it within a small encloser that can be incorporated into the base of each sculpture

[powerlabs]

I would love to be able to help you with that but my knowledge of high voltage drivers doesn't go much past the 555 design unfortunately

[Millipede]

heres the schematic i have: http://www.biltronix.com/pdf_files/PlasmaDisplays.pdf i have some little neon sign transformers that i think would be perfect. whats cool about them is that the transformer has some kind of feedback coil already wound on it that i think goes to some sort of built in short protection circuit. because when i turn it on and try to short out the two high voltage wires it wont work, but when i cut the feedback wires it works (briefly, until something fries).. anyways... i have 2n3055 transistors but i cant find a place to buy the other one in the circuit. i know it amplifies the feedback signals to switch the 3055, so what sort of transistor should i be looking for to do this? thats all i really need to know. also if theres anything else in there that can be tweaked slightly and still work fine. (like the 2.7 ohm 5 watt resistor, i cant find that anywhere either)

oh yeah another cool thing about the neon transformers i have is that they come in a cool little plastic box. so i can throw out the original guts and replace them with my own. they are rated for 4000 volts