When I worked on oil rigs I used to help write the morning report. The easiest days were during periods of bad weather when no operations were possible, then the standard abbreviation was WoW - Waiting on Weather. The past few days I have been waiting on the wind to die down so that I can paint the 4F body and prime the Compound's tender. This is because I spray on the balcony and it faces the frequent wind direction, the NW la Tramontane. And when the wind blows in the opposite direction from the sea, it's called le Marin and is very humid. So waiting for ideal conditions can sometimes take days. Tomorrow may be calm enough.

My modelling interests have therefore reverted to soldering and the current project is the Compound's engine chassis. This is going together nicely. I have made a decision not to install the working inside motion kit from Laurie Griffin but make the kit according to Davd Andrews' basic instructions, that is neither sprung nor compensated. This decision also means I will be building a second Compound later on, using the inside motion and also adding sprung horn blocks. There is a common belief that a kit builder needs to get his or her head around the kit designer's particular style and as this is the first, but certainly not the last, of my David Andrews' kits, it makes sense to learn his rationale.

This is my first loco chassis build using the Poppy's Builder Box:

And with the huge 6' 9" drivers attached, it went for a test roll at Legge Lane. . . .

. . . . and passed with flying colours!

David Andrews is semi retired and his kits now have to be ordered at particular times of the year. I just placed my order for the second Compound as well as a Fowler Patriot. This class was another frequent sight at Birmingham New Street, often on the old MR side when I was trainspotting but they were also used on the London two hours expresses before the Jubilees took over. Compounds also often piloted the London trains when extra carriages were added, so the variations for passenger motive power will be most suitable.

While modelling this afternoon I ran out of CA glue and so walked down to the local quincaillerie to buy a new tube. The owner advised me that there is a specialist shop for model trains (ancienne, or old, he said) in Perpignan, called Droguerie Ducasse. I need to check this out.

Edit to add: The Poppy's Builder Box was converted specially to accommodate the 9'6" spacing between the drivers. If you model a 7mm Compound make sure you ask for this modification!