165DS Bonnet part 1

Now for the fiddly bit. The bonnet sides are half etched and the first job is to fit the half-dozen doors. A smear of solder at the bottom will do as fitting the handles will fix the tops. Or at least that's what the instructions tell me anyway !

Handles were bent and fitted using the Formica spacer. A good blob of solder inside and plenty of flux will hopefully handle (pun intended) all the fixing duties. I cut them roughly to length and will do the final finishing once the bonnet is finished. This is a trick learned from the Gauge 1 version !

The bonnet ends are fitted to the cab end of the floor, like the cab this is a separate item that can be bolted down, sides are attached and then the front former goes in 'cos now I knew where it had to be. Amazingly everything looks pretty square at this stage. I'm still summoning up courage to bend the top...