Faced with the daunting task of laying the ballast, I've taken a break from the layout and have picked up a loco project which I started ages ago but didn't get very far.

It is a Stanier (Ivatt!) Caprotti Black 5 based on a Comet kit. Previously, I'd built up the basic footplate and cab, but without the splashers, and soldered the frames together and marked out for the compensation beam pivots, but that's about it. Anyway, I've knuckled down over the past few weeks and now have a wheeled chassis and footplate/boiler unit, as shown below.

First the chassis from above, showing the compensation beams (twin at the rear and single at the front. This transmits weight direct to the fron bogies wheel sets, so the bogie frames pivot and slide on side bearers, without any vertical movement, as on the real thing) and the High Level gearbox, complete with torque reaction link (at the rear):

A shot from underneath showing the keeper plate with the dummy springs and ash pan sides, and the front bogie (which uses various Brassmasters bits):

A couple of shots with the body attached. There was a lot of adjustment and filling with low-melt solder to get the boiler and firebox something like. There will be some minor filling required to the firebox over the wheel splashers. The dark blotches on the boiler are where I splashed excess phosphoric flux on the castings and didn't wash it off quickly enough:

The coupling rods are already made, so the next job will be to open up the crankpin holes and sort out the crankpin bushes. Then I'll find out if the quartering is OK or not. I used a GW wheel press/quartering tool to press the wheels on, but there's a pit of play between the wheel locating stubs and the axle bore in the wheel which allows some slight variation between wheel sets.

Dave.