They are a little brittle, but spares are provided. As it was, when I felt one crack, I stopped reaming and the crack didn't cause the end to fall off. A good wash of ABS solvent stuck them into the body and fixed the rod in place.
To add a little relief, some half-round strip runs around the body. Tacked in place with Revell Contacta cement, more ABS solvent fixed it. Once dry I sanded the corners for neatness.
A spray of pimer brings it all together. I'll need to attned to all the corners as I didn't get them as snug as I'd like. Working with clear plastic makes it difficult to see what you are doing, or at least that's my excuse!
Now I've got this far, the plan to just get on with it is proving right. I like the look of the model, and while I can see some tweaks to come (should there be a step to help the driver in and out of the doors?) the proportions look right, so I'm happy.
7 comments:
Were you not tempted to leave it transparent? A ghost loco would be cool and interesting to watch the innards tick whilst running.
I'd not thought of that. It's an excellent idea, but too late now. Maybe another day.
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Given the doorways are immediately above the centre buffer/couplings, I would think steps unnecessary.
CP
I'm thinking the same, although as I need to stick a hook in the top, it's not going to be convenient for the driver!
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Phil
Giving the matter a little more thought, a suitable example of end doorways over the couplings might be found in the 2ft 6ins gauge Alford and Sutton Tramway. There is a photograph here of loco No 2 (scroll down to the 5th shot) -
http://www.tramwaybadgesandbuttons.com/page148/page4/styled-136/page559.html
- that shows what might be a step underneath the coupling.
CP
It's also occurred to me that the hook is a model thing - on a real tram, there would be a coupling bar sticking out of those slots, so the driver could stand on top of the coupling in real life. Probably less convenient than the step in the photo, but the management of my railway isn't as generous!
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I agree about the top of the coupling block. I would suggest checking the scale height off (say) the railhead. If that is a reasonable human step up - fine. If not add an intermeniate step - perhaps to one side of the block.
CP
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