Boiler chopping

The process of building a Super D starts with some destruction. The steps sticking out below the footplate. They get in the way when I'm working on the model locomotive - I like it to sit down on the workbench and so they are more of an inconvenience at this stage of the project. A quick blast from the gas torch melted the solder so they fell off and were dropped in the bits box for possible re-use later.

Next, the biggie, the boiler. I reckoned that some heat would be required but first, I wanted to separate the front and back parts. A couple of fine blades in the piercing saw later, it was chopped in half. The firebox end turned out not to be attached at all so it was easily removed. At the front, the boiler pokes into the smokebox so I'll need to dismantle this to remove the offending metal and replace it with a nice round item. This probably means the whole smokebox will fall apart but that's not a huge issue. After all, it's no worse than building a kit.