Four or five years ago I bought a Dean Sidings L1 kit, which I built and finished in mid-1930s condition and livery as that was my period of interest at the time. (The construction of that kit was one of the first projects I documented on this blog, if anybody feels like going hunting up the original build- the photos have long since been deleted but it was a simple enough build).

Of course, since then my interests have moved back 15 years or so, soI decided that it was about time my L1 became a 1B.

The majority of the work is a repainting job; there's a lot of lining to be added. But before I could do that, I had to add a feedwater heater. I distinctly remember when I bought the kit it came with a whitemetal casting for one; however my failure to find it this morning maybe hints that at some point in the last four years I decided I had no use for it and threw it away. So I had to fabricate one from scratch.

Fortunately it's not a particularly complex shape to form; a short length of 2mm square section plastic strip, filed to a concave arc on one face and then topped off with a few short lengths of brass wire, is a suitable replacement.

That done, I gave the loco a new coat of matt black paint preparatory to lining out.