Not much modelling has been achieved in the past few months as I’ve been using all my spare time to train for an Ironman distance triathlon on the 1^st June. However a bad calf strain has all but put pay to that ambition. The silver lining is that I now have a more time for modelling.

Fearnan is at one of those stages where any advancement is being resisted. The fiddle board has warped, well it would wouldn’t it? It’s the one I skimped on the bracing; I figured the small size meant it wouldn’t matter, ho hum. I am also considering replacement of the points with fully copperclad constructed ones. This seems to follow in true 2mm tradition, it seems obligatory to rip out and replace some trackwork otherwise it doesn't qualify as a 2mm layout.

A change in direction was required to get some modelling enthusiasm, so I decided to stop procrastinating and get on building the Worsley Works etch of a 439 tank I bought before Christmas. The engine being modelled is 55222 as there are some superb shots of the engine in late 50’s on the Killin branch in Backtrak Magazine vol 14 number 11, the loco is in fact the cover star! http://britishrailwaybooks.co.uk/magazine/backtrack/2000novemberv14n11.html

First job tackled was to assemble the bogie. This appeared innocuous enough. 2mm association bearings would not fit the side frames so I’ve ignore them with axles bearing directly on the frames.

I’m not sure how this will perform in the long term but then the mileage is hardly likely to be great on a boxfile layout. Next issue to address is that the etch is not designed for split frame pick up and is too narrow to fit the 2mm Association axle muff between the frame faces. The frame was duly cut into 2 and soldered to a small piece of (gapped) copperclad board. The axle holes we then opened out until the wheels ran smoothly on a glass surface. This seemed to take an age to sort but I got there eventually.

Next up is the body. This is the first scratch aid kit I’ve tried so quite a bit of head scratching was required to sort out the order of construction, I soldered the first buffer beam in position only to discover it is way undersize, I would guess this is the result of the kit being a shot down etch? This is easy enough to resolve with a fresh piece of brass, I really should add some rivet detail visible on the prototype in the later years anyway.

The rest of the body went together fine (other than some dodgy soldering on my part that required correction). It’s starting to look the part with the boiler dropped in (the boiler is not soldered in yet).

I am puzzling how to do the rivets around the smokebox door. They appeared later in life on these engines are similar in size to those on the Smokebox wrapper which comes nicely etched in the kit. The problem is my riveting tool doesn’t generate a fine enough pimple, I’m wondering whether Archers rivet decals might be the answer, but I am unsure if they are a) fine enough for 2mm or b) easy enough to apply in the curved regular pattern, I suspect no rivets would look better than irregular ones.

What's a really daunting prospect is the Chassis. I've reached an impass here as my broach set to open up the axle hole only goes up to 2mm and my tapered reamer starts at 3mm, a virtual trip to Eileen's Emporium is called for......