RMweb: RMweb -> Judith Edge Steelman Royale pipes, pipes and more pipes.

At the moment I'm going to concentrate on the footplate/chassis detailing. So today I've been looking at the bufferbeam pipework. There are 4 pipes each end for air and stuff. I've used Hornby pipes from their class 31, available as spares, part number X5326. Mine came from Abbiegails Hornby Spares, so cheap that I bought 4 packs. Well, they might come in usefull again... The pipes as supplied will not fit, they need bending out away from the buffer beam. Easily done by holding the plug end, the part that fits into the bb, in a pin vice and waving a hot soldering iron near enough to soften the plastic but not too near to melt it. As it warms up you can persuade it to bend slightly, just don't overdo it... Another reason to buy several packs. As it happens I needed the contents of 2 packs anyway.
Thanks to New Puritan for advice on what to use and sending me the link to Abbiegails.
Here's some photos, untouched pipes in the foreground for comparison;


The dodgy looking pipe has since been sorted.


I also fitted the sandpipes today, just straight brass rod. I felt that it would be too much effort to try to replicate every kink and bend. First I soldered the rod to the frames then bent them to shape. More photos;




Finally, I went to Maplins in Stockport th check out the flashing LED that Alastair suggested. Here it is;


A bit too big perhaps, but as it was only 69p I thought that its worth a try. Unfortunatly Maplins don't sell battery holders for button sized batteries, the only thing that would fit into the bonnet. I think that I'll go for a non-working option.