I haven't posted for a while, I'm afraid Mrs Wenlock has decided that the house needs decorating. Funny how painting walls is nowhere near as satisfying as painting models! The William Clarke goods shed has progressed to the stage where the walls are cut out, but I'm suffering from a lack of motivation to finish it. I think the time spent constucting the station building, got cutting plastic card out of my system for a while! One of the things that I love about this hobby of ours, are the number of different processes involved in constructing a layout. They say "A change is as good as a rest", so with that in mind the Plastikard has been put away and a new project has been started!

 

I've fancied building an engine with a tender for a while, so far all the locomotives that I've built have been small tank engines. The Dean Goods has long been one off my favorite locos, so I've been collecting information and photos of the class. I want to model the loco as running in 1907, with a round top firebox, polished brass dome and 2500 gallon tender.

 

I've not built one of Martin Finney's 7mm kits before, but they seem to be well thought off so I've bought a Dean Goods loco kit, along with a 2500 gallon tender kit from him.

 

I'm not sure how frequent, or of what interest the posts will be, but I thought I would take some pictures during the build and chronicle the loco's construction.

 

Chassis and Slaters Plasticard wheels

 

The wheels have been chemically blackened and the chassis assembled following the detailed clear instructions included in the kit. Care needs to be taken to ensure that the horn blocks move freely, but once this has been done the beam compensation included in the kit works well.

 

The instructions state at this stage that the body needs to be completed before the chassis can be finished.

 

Tender footplate and water tank substructure

 

 

 

 

 

The slot and tab construction technique makes it easy to achieve a neat square substructure. The tabs were folded over and then soldered using solder paste and a mini flame.

 

The tank overlay is then wrapped around the substructure after forming the flare and soldered in position.

 

Buffer beams and valances

 

Front and back steps, buffer beams and valances in situ.

 

 

Sand boxes, coal plates and tank filler

 

Flare corners soldered then shaped and coal rails in situ. I'm not really happy with these, to my eye they are one of the weaker parts of the kit. The prototype rails are round in cross section, the flat etched brass doesn't simulate this at all well. I'm not sure what to do about it, I may try to solder some half round wire to thicken the rails.

 

 

 

Brake, water scoop standards and sand boxes in situ

 

Rear hand rails, lamp irons, steps and buffers.

 

Tool boxes, water feed valves and pipes

 

That sees the body almost completed, so work can begin on finishing the chassis, which I'll save for the next "thrilling" instalment!

 

Thanks for reading

 

Dave