Boiler fitings

A few minutes with the Zap-a-gap glue and my P Class loco is looking far more like a steam engine.

The castings are pretty good quality. There aren't any serious moulding lines to be dealt with. Nothing more than a quick scrape up both dome and chimney and then a polish. I drilled the later out a bit as although it's not supplied blind, I like some depth there. Perfectionists would probably replace it with a turned brass example but I'm too stingy and not that bothered. It looks all right to me.

At the cab end a little more work is required. The safety valve lever (not the right term but the bit on top) should poke though the front and a hole has to be drilled for this. A square hole would be preferred but I don't have that sort of drill bit to hand.

Either side there are some things with valve wheels on the top - or at least there should be on one side and not on the other. I didn't spot this to start with which is why I have an excess hole in the cab front. I've found the right casting now and fixed this.

Either side of the smokebox, the instructions show some oilers (I think, castings that I can't identify) but photos of both the preserved P on the Bluebell and a Southern example don't show them so I assume this was an early change. A drop of superglue to fill the holes and that's that job done.