Since the last post I've built a cab back from scratch, the supplied one has a hole in it whereas this prototype doesn't, and fitted the roof in position. So far apart from the buffer beams, every single bit of the 14" Barclay locomotive kit has had to be altered to make the 12" version. More work than I had expected but it's actually quite fun.
Detailing kicks off with the handrails. The worst of these are the ones on the saddle tank sides. I marked a centre line along the tank and then guestimated the position of the first handrail using the photos. A scrap of paper was then marked up with the distance from centre to handrail and used to transfer the dimensions to all points that required them. A ruler wouldn't work here as you would have to wrap it around the curve.
Unsurprisingly the supplied safety valve is a couple of mm too tall but being cast brass proved reasonably easy to modify. The top part was cut from the base and shortened. The base itself lost some height too as well as an extra fitting not seen in the photos. Then the base was soldered to the tank followed by the to, all using a resistance soldering unit for a neat finish. One thing that surprised me was how long these tiny casting held heat - ow !
The tank filler is a spares box leftover suitably modified. This marks a special moment, I'm soldering whitemetal and not brass which means the end is in sight for the body at least.
Finally the cab steps. For some reason this isn't my favorite job on any loco but I get to do something different here. I don't know what was going on when these were fitted in real life, possibly extra step was required for a shunter to stand on while travelling, but this steam loco didn't leave the factory with anything like this. Some strips of nickel silver did the job here with dimensions gleaned from photos. It was only after the first one went on I realised that I'd made it too long as there is a lump of wood at the back of these buffers. Oops.
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