Class 25 side skirts

Under the Class 25 body on the etch were some odd dangly bits. The general consensus was that these are supposed to represent those parts seen under the locomotive body. Or that the designer had a brainstorm and went a bit mad. Whatever, they aren't there in the real loco, so I cut them off and threw them in the bin.

The underbody bits on diesels are a bit of a nightmare and working out exactly what should be there isn't easy. The plans are confusing and the photos not much help as they show all the bits at once and I have to try and work out what they are and what order to make them. Eventually I think I worked out the basic skirts, or at least figured out enough to be able to cut something out from a sheet of very thin brass.

Cutting was entirely with the Olfa Plasticard cutter and a small disposable knife. No scissors or sawing this time as the job called for lots of straight lines and I'm rubbish at sawing these. You can cut brass with a knife, it just takes lots of gentle cuts. The stuff is thinner than paper and so if you push too hard it will distort.

Fitting to the chassis involved scribing some lines and using these as a guide. A hot iron, lots of flux and speed were also required as the metal is so thin, heat can distort it if you linger too long.

Finally, the buffer beams are whitemetal castings. I think the buffer shanks are a bit short so had to pack the beam forward with a strip of metal, but it looks the part and that's what matters. To me anyway.