Over Christmas I finished the bogies, apart from a few extra castings which I just found at the bottom of the box, and also completed the basic detailing of the underframe. I say "basic" as, to be accurate, there should be four sets of trusses at the bottom of the coach, not just the two on either side. And perhaps I'll get around to adding the middle two at some point, as well as the brake linkages and dynamo belt, but for now I've used all the bits in the kit and it's certainly on a par with my other GWR coaches.

I also tackled the door hinges. After some experimentation, I decided that I didn't want to be soldering on the inside of the coach, so I decided to represent the hinges with small slivers of plastic strip - very much an impressionistic approach, but I think they'll look OK once the coach is painted. I ruled felt tip lines onto the outside as a guide, then tweezered the hinges into position over tiny dots of cyano. They seem durable enough, especially as my stock doesn't get handled all that often.

I'd like to add the door and commode handles now but they'll get in the way when I mask off the top half of the coach, so - on balance - I think I'll leave them until I've applied paint and lining. Next up is the roof detailing and then the interior, followed by buffers and MJT corridor connectors.

I've certainly enjoyed getting the coach to this state, and although there's still quite a bit of work to do, I'm strongly motivated to build a matching 70 foot brake.

May I wish you all a happy and healthy 2016, and thanks for all who have read and commented on my blog, as well as offering advice and guidance.