Someone recently asked me what happens between a locomotive chassis being seen in the brass and the stage you see here - the same thing painted and with all the mechanicals in place.
Well, since I last blogged this part of the loco, I've removed all the moving parts and given it a thorough clean up in the sink. After this a hairdryer ensures all traces of moisture is removed before a coating of Eastwood Etching Primer
Next I used "Weathered Black" as the base colour - it's not really black but a charcoal grey and looks great on a model that is going to get a good coat of muck all over it later. This paint needs 24 hours to dry to a fully hard state. If any work is carried out before this happens it's very easy to damage it. You can get away with it but it's better not to try.
All the bearings require re-reaming to remove traces of paint and primer. At the same time I like to give the axles a quick wipe with fine emery paper to shine everything up. The wheels go back in and the rods on. If all is well after a quick test the retaining washers are filed down and soldered in place.
All soldering at this point makes use of Carrs Red Label flux - a non-corrosive that doesn't need to be cleaned off. I can't dunk the chassis in water any more ! This applies to the brake gear - hangers and pull rods too. The later are a bit of a problem as they have to bend slightly over the firebox but you can't tell when the model is on the track and they do fill up the space down there. Of course I remember the "good old days" when you wouldn't worry about brakes never mind the ancillaries. Much easier !
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