Here's an update on the Hornby B12 re-work.

Having successfully got the Portescap RG4 motor and gearbox installed and running in the original Hornby chassis the next step was to sort out the horrendous front pony truck.

My original intention was to replace it completely with a scratch built one but I had a rethink and in the end used the original, as the wheelbase, whilst too short, visually suits the Hornby model better than one with the correct wheelbase - although I have moved it forwards, just a tad, as it also sits too far back from the front buffer beam on the old Hornby model.

The biggest problem with the Hornby bogie is that it has more 'slop' in it than the average prison dinner - to the extent that the bogie physically moves back and forth by at least a couple of millimetres when the loco is reversed. And even more, if tat is possible, from side to side. That had to be sorted.

The rivet holding the connecting bar was drilled out and all of the pivot holes in both the bar and the bogie itself were bushed with brass bushes before reassembling it, which sorted the fore and aft problem. At the same time the bar was extended very slightly to push the bogie forwards, as noted above.

The side to side slop was taken out at the same time as fitting new scale (Alan Gibson) bogie wheels, which alone make a huge difference in appearance. There is still some work to do on it but at least it now runs properly and guides the loco into curves, as it should.

Finally the front of the bogie was machined out to accept a Kadee coupler in due course.

Next, the body, which sits way too high on the Hornby model to clear the original bulky Triang mechanism, was lowered to match the B17 tender with which it is being paired. This also brought the front buffers down to the correct height - another distinct improvement. The lowering of the body was made relatively painless by virtue of the Portescap motor/gearbox, which takes up far less room inside, although I did have to provide new mounting points for the body at both ends.

At the rear I have attached the body via a new screw inserted from below into a hole drilled and tapped into the chassis block. Whilst at it with the drill, two further holes were made - one for the new tender drawbar and another to take the wires though from motor and pickups (these will terminate in a standard Hornby 'plug & socket' to connect to the tender, as per their more recent locos.

At the front I dispensed entirely with the crude steel chassis extension bar which on the original protrudes in a most unrealistic fashion through the front of the loco under the boiler, and made up a new mounting block which goes across inside the frames in line with the brass sandbox fillers, which have now been added to the footplate forward of the front splashers. This is proving entirely satisfactory.

Other work done so far includes hacking/sawing/filing off much of the more crude moulded on detail, filling the slot at the front where the aforementioned steel bar once came though, adding a new chimney, snifter valve, whistle, air pump, etc., etc. I also carved off the horrendous thick outside steam pipes below the sides of the smokebox on the original model (which only the very earliest B12's had) and rebuilt various other bits of pipework, as seen.

I decided to retain the original Hornby dome. Although this is not quite correct I felt I could well do irreparable damage to the boiler if I tried to cut it off. I did however, add a 'pip' to the top of it, which improves the appearance.

New buffers have been added to the front buffer beam.

There remains an lot to do of course, notably the boiler washout plugs (which have just got to go) and adding all of the new handrails, with finer (Gibson again) knobs. In this regard, it will be noted that the two rear handrail knob holes have been filled - they are in the wrong place on the Hornby model. New holes in advance of the rear boiler band will be drilled in due course.

There is obviously much general tidying up and cleaning up to do and a fair old bit more detail work, such as lamp irons, buffer beam details (guard irons, vac pipes, etc.) and more, to be added before it will be ready for the paint shop .....and I suppose I am going to have to attack that 'mould line' alongside of the boiler as well...although that will look less obvious when black and weathered.

Alongside all of this, the speaker is in the tender and the sound decoder is ready to install too once I have the re-worked wiring sorted.

Here's where it's at so far..........still not a scale B12 - but one heck of a lot better looking already than the basic Hornby model.