kes

The cab roof is not stuck on yet so I can get the crew inside easily. That is a job for next week.

Well, I finally managed with a fan heater to get the shed warm enough to spray the 56xx. Maggie said I could not do it in the house! A couple of coats of Humbrol enamel green, then when dry Ronseal satin varnish. I don't think there is going to much more progress outdoors this year. The photos were taken at 7 degrees centigrade. The engine needs weathering down as the green is a bit bright at the moment.

I finally got chance to spray a coat of aerosol grey primer on the engine. Next colour is the green using my airbrush.

Hi John, it would be quite easy to fabricate a fire box out of plasticard. Do it as a box, and reinforce the insides of the joints with more plasticard, then when it is set hard you can file and sand the radii. Washout plugs can be drilled through and then thin sheet added on the inside, which can have smaller holes drilled in to insert bits of wire for the plug heads. Kevin.

Finally got away from the distractions and added some more detail to the 56xx. It now has tank fillers, steps, injectors, handrails, sandboxes. Still more to do on the body.

There has been slow progress recently whilst I have been solving an engine management problem on our car. The 56xx now has a recessed bunker made by cutting out a section with a razor saw, and cutting a slice out of a suitable platic tube, which was glued into the hole. The engine looks more balanced with the larger bunker.

Here is an oo model for comparison

Here are some photos of the boiler resting on the loco so you can judge whether the result is acceptable. Cheers. Kevin.

I find in 7in scale I am more concerned with how the loco looks rather than exact scale, so my engines may not be totally right.

I searched on Google for 56xxx drawing, then went to images. A good site is greatwestern.org and follow the links to locomotive drawing layouts. If you click on the loco name it opens a drawing. Kevin.

Hi, with this one as much of the boiler is hidden by the big side tanks I cheated and used two parallel sections of tube. On a Stanier mogul I rolled the boiler from a cone of plasticard.

Looking and moving well.

Thanks Amanda. Standard water pipe is sold as 32mm internal, which is 34.5mm external diameter. 40mm is 43mm external and 50mm is 56 mm ext diameter. The pipe needs aggressive solvent like plasticweld. The 34.5 mm pipe scales out at about 5 foot diameter. I start with a drawing showing the dimensions from a book or off the net. I scan this then enlarge it on the printer until a known measurement scales up to full size for 7mm scale. i.e 8' equals 56mm. I then use the drawing with a pair of digital calipers to transfer the measurement to plastic sheet. You could pritt stick the drawing to the

The rest is made from an old 4f firebox and some plasticard. It is progressing gradually.

I found a length of waste pipe in the shed, and the rest is history!!!