Saturday, July 05, 2008

Brass Porter cab


Brass cab
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.
The biggest job on the Porter locomotive is building a new cab. First you have to pick you floor - long or short (short) and then form the side. The slots that the locating tabs fit through needed a lot of cleaning out - a surprise as the etchings are excellent quality.

The beading is added by soldering 0.7mm brass wire along the edges, aided by a half etch rebate. It's fiddly but well worth it. By soldering along the edge a neat finish is obtained. Half etched lines in the inside are then extended to the top and used to locate the roof supports.

The roof itself is pre-formed and pre-rivited, something not normally found on a UK kit. It's intended for the long Porter so I took the option of spinning it around and lopping a bit off the back which restores the proportions a bit. Getting the thing level involved some fiddling, tack soldering, measuring and a bit of swearing. Not a job you can skimp on or the model will look terrible.

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