G'day everyone...

I've been working slowly through this kit for a number of reasons, the main one being that I did not want to rush, the other being that I simply had to fit it in around other things. The past two months progress has been with the chassis and working parts, as you can see below:

Firstly, the axle pump was fitted:

Followed closely by the painted bufferbeams:

WIth these parts in, I could being to construct the valve gear, probably the bit I dreaded most...

And we're done! Having been tested and extensively run on air, she's not perfect but it'll do for now, fine tuning can be undertaken after running on steam:

A quick test fitting of the unpainted boiler gets us a little closer to the complete engine look:

Back to painting, the two footplate assemblies and the first stage of the cylinder covers:

And the last picture for today, the boiler, finally painted in Rustoleum Black:

Not much to say really at this point, the pictures can say more than I can explain! I've now got hold of some high-heat silicon and therefore the boiler can now be fitted to the engine, that'll be the next step - hopefully in the not too distant future. Lastly soldering up, painting and fitting the saddle tank/cab will mark completion, estimated to be before the end of 2017. Then the 2018 job is the build a tender and look into making a removable cab roof, as build she's only an open cab and I wouldn't fancy that in the rain...

Cheers for now...