Slaters 7mm GWR 3500 gall tender

[dpgibbons]

I'm building a Finney Bulldog in 1920s condition and looking for a suitable tender kit. Perhaps somebody can advise me whether the Slaters GWR 3500 gall tender (sold separately from their Saint kit) would be a suitable match as Bulldogs appear to have been paired with smaller tenders during the period I'm modelling.

 

Any construction details of this kit would also be useful. Presumably it's brass with whitemetal fittings and comes with wheels included, but how are those tricky tender curves/flares formed?

 

NB I'm aware that Finney7 now offer suitable candidates, but they are about twice the price with wheels included.

[Miss Prism]

Bulldogs didn't start running with 3500g tenders until the early '30s. In the 1920s, they would still be running with Dean 2500g or 3000g units.

 

[Hal Nail]

I'd be wary of mixing especially at a different price bracket, unless you've actually seen whatever you chose in the flesh - a noticeable difference quality, eg in rivets, whether etched or needing to be punched, would rather detract.

[Simond]

Notwithstanding Hal’s comment, Warren Shepherd has a range of suitable tenders.

 

all the flares I’ve done were “fingers” which were flooded with solder and then cleaned up.  I don’t know what Slaters include.
 

do show us some photos!

 

atb

Simon

[Guest Isambarduk]

I agree entirely with Simon, I would not worry at all about mixing loco and tender kits; I've often done it, you just need to be consistent in their building and build to your own standard.

 

Even today, the Saint kit by Slater's would be considered pretty good.  Yes, it is etched brass with cast whitemetal and brass fittings.  Slater's wheels are included in the loco+tender kit so I expect that they would be in the tender only kit.  The corner of the tender flairs are little brass cast inserts (I seem to remember - it was 1990!) and they were very easy to work with.

 

I made a bit of meal in building my Saint David (but then I always seem to be able do this) and it took me 657 hours over eighteen months.  Turned out all right, I think, and it still looks acceptabe to me.

 

 

David

 

 

[Hal Nail]

5 hours ago, Isambarduk said:

you just need to be consistent in their building and build to your own standard.

Thats all i meant really - poorly worded on reflection. I wasnt meaning to say don't do it, just make sure the tender is worthy of a nice loco kit thats all. 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Hal Nail

[markjj]

The Slaters tender is not as finely detailed underneath as the Finney or MM1/JLTRT tenders. If I remember right it has more etched parts and less castings.

As others have said Slaters does have the cast corners and the sides are all pre-formed but you do have to punch the rivets out if you need a riveted tender option. 

[dpgibbons]

Thanks for the replies. I bought the Finney Bulldog kit very cheaply as my first brass loco build, hence my interest in a lower cost tender that's straightforward to make.  Both Slaters and Shephard kits are well priced but my impression is that the latter appears to be a little more challenging to build.