I've fitted the Shawplan etched brass window frames, these are a replacement for the ones on the Lima version which I gather are a little on the thick side, Some of you may have encountered this at some time!
Surprisingly these fitted almost exactly into the space between the corner stanchions, I guess the drawing I worked from must have been replicated from a Lima model because the chassis I've used is a Lima one and that fitted, or rather the sides cut from the drawing fitted the Lima chassis too.
So I've spent some time fettling various bits, one mistake I made right at the start but which didn't become obvious until now is that one end was attached to the sides lower down than the other end, by some 1.5mm, the resultant gap under the windscreen frames has had to be built up with strips of card and then reshaped.
It wasn't possible to remove a corresponding amount of material from the bottom of the panel as that would have made the lights too low, so it has had to remain, it's not like anyone would view it from both ends, it's just that I know it's there.
I have attached the roof to the body, after careful consideration to make sure I wasn't restricting my access anywhere. I used a contact adhesive for this to make sure it was firmly bonded because the joint between has to be filled as the sides and roof on this loco are all in one and I didn't want any cracks appearing in the future.
Some way back in this post there was some discussion as to what treatment to give the card to firm it up, well I was somewhat concerned that the Halfords red primer I intended to use might act on the various glues I'd used and soften them to the point where the whole thing fell apart. I used one of the sides I'd previously stuck together and painted to test for reactions. The layers separated! I'd used a pritt stick type of glue to bond these and consequently it broke down when in contact with the Halfords paint, which I suspect might be water bound as there's no real solvent fumes when sprayed. So I coated the painted side of the test piece with a hair lacquer spray, no reaction, then I sprayed it with primer, no reaction, bingo! that's the way to go.
A few coats of hair lacquer and a good coat of primer, produced this.
I'm now filling and rubbing down ready for the top coat. Sorry this post has been all gabble and few photos but this stage is a lot of labour with little to show for it.
More soon
Roly
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