I've set the tender aside for now, fall plate might need adjusting once connected to the loco, but that is to come ...

Bodyshell was fettled and filed, this took much longer than the tender, but then it is a much more complicated casting. It cleans up really easily and what initially looks like a bit of a dogs breakfast very quickly looks the business.

The blower and duct/tunnel cover was scraped off with my trusty Swann Morton #10 and smoothed off. The cab backhead etc was epoxied in place and secured with a free Royal Mail elastic band then left overnight.

Today I've fitted the lower door and some of the other fittings. The front of the chassis needs filing back a bit to clear the lower door - only about 1mm and the standard body fixings still work after this mod.

Must say, all the bits once trimmed up fit really well together, no hassles at all so far