I've been working on a chassis and detailing kit for a Bachmann Ivatt class 2 2-6-0 tender loco for several years now with my friends from Brassmasters. Progress has been sporadic but we recently received another set of test etches from PPD and this time we got two copies, one is being build by one of the Brassmasters team using the full Easi-Chas approach using the Bachmann motor and gears and mine is being built using a High Level gearbox and motor. This later option allows you to fill in the front of the Belpaire firebox and move the backhead in the cab forward. 

The basic 0-6-0 chassis s is fairly straight-forward sprung using the Brassmasters horn blocks and springs. With the fold up design of the side frames and the soldered on rear and front the unit comes out rather nicely.  You can see that the front crank pin has been reversed and slimmed down to get the clearance behind the crossheads, a perennial problem in P4, less so in EM. The coupling rods are jointed in the prototypical manner. The motor ends up vertical in the smokebox so the gearbox is not in the correct orientation in the photo.

The cylinders are made up with brass tube for the piston and valve rods. Trying to design the etch to form the valve spindle rods/cover was a bit of a strain on the brain. Still I am quite pleased with the result.

The slide bars are a fold up etch, one of several deliberately designed with a frame around them to make alignment easier and add additional strength while fettling. There is an alignment hole to aid soldering the unit at the right angle when you get to that stage.

The cross-head may look ridiculously complicated but the fold up nature and the support/alignment frame actually make it relatively straight-forward. The parts can be tinned, folded, aligned with a couple of pairs of tweezers and then sweated together.

The slidebars, cylinders and cross heads can then be test fitted before you start making the rest of the valve gear.

I won't go blow-by-blow through the valve gear. I've been writing the instructions at the same time as building this and have probably gone a bit overboard with detail and photos of each bit of rod. Trying to remember your combination lever from your return crank from you radius rod is designed to exercise the grey matter. But if you go one bit at a time you hopefully end up with something that looks like this.

As a bit of light relief I worked on the tender chassis, much less fiddly but also sprung with continuous springy beams. 

Finally I have the chassis matched with the body, the brake-gear added and a Brassmasters Ivatt pony truck to match. The body is looking a bit mashed about as it has now been used and abused all the way through the design and build process. Also it is totally the wrong colour for Clare, deep in G.E.R. territory. Now I have a working chassis I intend to fit it under a second black Ivatt which will look much more appropriate.

So what is still to do before we have something which could be a kit? Well, as usual at this stage we have a little 'snag list' mostly of the 'make this hole a bit bigger/smaller', 'move this slot by .5mm', add parts on the etch for the early/later version of X.

But, it is coming along.....

David