Uwe's suggestions are spot-on. I''ve been using three different machines a lot lately.
*1946 Royal Quiet De Luxe - Beautiful to write with, perhaps the quietest machine I have. Although, I often have to regulate my typing speed on this one. It has a particular idiosyncrasy whereby it will sometimes join two wordstogether (like that!) if I type too fast on it. I have heard others say the same about there QDLs of the same era. But it's perhaps my favourite machine.

*1956 Smith-Corona Silent Super- this is a very snappy typewriter. Rock-solid, like most Smith-C's of the era, a delight to type on.

*1966 Olympia SM9- more "Mad Men" in its styling, and larger (and heavier) than the other two, but my one feels like it was hardly ever used before I got my hands onto it. Again, it's a snappy and responsive typewriter.

Otherwise, as Uwe said, any Olympia SM model would do the trick. I have a 1951 SM2 and a 1954 SM3. Both are great, but the SM3 has the slight edge because it has the TAB setting function AND it's the same shade of dark crimson like the model used by Helen Mirren in "Hitchcock" (Dir: Sacha Gervasi, 2012).
Also, have a closer look at the Olivetti Lettera 22, as mentioned earlier by you and I.
Hermes 3000? Never touched one, although I had a 2000 model which was nice, but had a very erratic 'a' and 'd'. Had to get rid of that one. It drove me nuts.
All of the typewriters mentioned are great for long-range writing. You could hammer out an entire novel on any of these.
Best of luck, and don't skimp on price. The nicer ones tend to be pricier. But they should last you forever.
 

beak wrote:

Uwe / Hermes 3000 - When you say 'work on', you mean repair, not type with?

Yes, I meant repair. They are very nice typers to use, but overly complex in some areas if you need to pop the hood and repair something. A fellow collector brought me a 3000 to repair - it had been dropped (not by him) and its main frame was bent - so I spent a fair amount of time working on it. My own 3000 has a messed up margin indicator system - stretched out springs - so even though, like most Hermes models, the 3000 is fantastic to type with, let's just say I can think of many machines that are easier to maintain.

RWWGreene wrote:

I have a Studio 44 that I like to type on

I have two Studio 44 models that were manufactured a few years apart and they're horrid to type with because of an overly heavy action (the touch control doesn't help at all). It's worth noting that they were both made in Spain, so it could be a characteristic of the 44s that came out of that plant and maybe the Italian-made ones have a better type action. I hope to compare the two some day.

teeritz wrote:

*1956 Smith-Corona Silent Super- this is a very snappy typewriter. Rock-solid, like most Smith-C's of the era, a delight to type on.
*1966 Olympia SM9

The Super-5 series Smith-Corona models are also top ten machines in my opinion. Take your pick of any of them (Clipper, Sterling, Silent, Super, Silent Super, or even the Electric), they're all outstanding machines. The best part is that they're a dime a dozen here in North America, so they're easy to find. I didn't think to suggest one because Shangas is in Australia and I wasn't sure if those machines were common down under. Did you get yours locally or was it shippped from another country?

The SM7, 8, and 9 (and Monica) are definitely pinnacle portables, but I tend to suggest the SM2, 3, and 4 only because I think they have much nicer styling. The last three SM models were thoroughly modern in their design, more boxy and angular, and would have been impressive in their day, but if you only have one typewriter on your desk I think an earlier SM makes more of a statement.

Ideally I think I'd like either a 22, or a RQD. But 32s are FAR more common here. As I think you know. They grow everywhere. 

I have both. The Universal (crackle paint, no tabulator, no "quiet function") is the more budget-friendly version of the Champion, which was named after Underwood's victory at a typing competition. The pre-war models are quite good machines, but I would stay clear of any Underwoods from the mid-fifties and later. Collectors will argue about this, but I've found the later Underwood portables (before they were bought out by Olivetti) to be dismal typewriters in comparison to Smith-Corona Super-5 models or even the Royal machines of the era.  

My '46 Universal: