Given the heat of the summer, I have next to no interest in doing any soldering. This is a bit of a problem when it comes to the need to finish a few locos that require etched chassis...

As a result, I have decided to bring forward my second 2251 and use the Ultrascales that I was going to use in the etched chassis for 2220.

A quick conversion later and it is now running. However it is not that smooth a runner, and seems to have very poor slow speed control. I suspect the latter is not helped by the poor quality DC controller (and will hopefully improve under DCC fitting.) I have just decided to switch DCC controllers, having recently ended up buying a second hand ZTC 511 (with the intention of upgrading it to the 611 later in the year.)

After making a small profit on selling my original 511, I've ended up getting this one for about a third what the old one sold for back in the mid 2000s...

Anyway, back to the point, the 511 has a DC capability (which was missing from the Powercab I currently have) and will enable a better test of this locos slow speed control.

More of a concern is the jerky running, there is a bit of slop in the coupling rods (the ultrascale crankpins not being a good fit in Bachmann's holes.) Other than that there is a possibility of a quatering issue (one wheel had slipped on its axle, before I reset it and applied locktight.)

Getting back to the model,

It has had the BR shed code and smokebox no plate removed, along with the smoke box dart. This will now be replaced with a separate part, along with some evergreen strip for the door bracket. the large amount of flash along the boiler top joint has been carefully carved off, which will now need a touch up to blend in along with a little weathering. (If I can find which box the airbrush's paint cup ended up in when we moved, the plan is for some spraying GW green over the weekend...) It will then be renumbered to 3215

The tender still needs to be rebranded (according to rail UK introduced in December 1947, I'm unsure as to whether this would have been released to traffic with the G W R logo, the new British Railways in GW font or just a plain green tender. For something a bit different I am thinking about going for GWR on one side and British Railways on the other)

Longer term, the loco will eventually get a new chassis from High Level, along with similar body mods as 2220 once that loco is complete and working...