Blog- Meadow Lane, MSC Railway in P4 - Exciting parcels and burnt fingers!

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After placing an order about a month ago a lovely little white box was waiting for me when I got home today.

 

Yes at last my Judith Edge 230hp Sentinel kit has arrived. 4 weeks seems a long time, but not when you consider Charlie at DC Kits kindly ordered a P4 Black Beetle especially for me for this project.

 

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So after pulling out the etches, the Black Beetle and the instructions I was itching to start - but reighned in my enthusiasm. First things first I checked the contents (good job as one or two things missing - buffers and nuts) and the operation of the Black Beetle (it works!).

 

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The bogie really is tiny - 26mm axlebase. Seen here posed with a standard Conflat A wagon from Bachmann (something I've been letting my daughter play with on her Harry the Hauler trainset - great for putting cars on!).

 

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And here you can see what I'm hoping to put together! The Rolls Royce Sentinel. Good written instructions from Judith Edge - and a nice arrangement drawing and parts list.

 

I was planning on reading everything before diving in but enthusiasm got the better of me and out came the snips, files, vice, soldering iron, 145deg solder and flux... and after 10 years I soldered my first kit! Cutting the parts out carefully, cleaning up the tabs lightly with a file, checking how bits fitted together and I was ready! The first thing to do is bend the sand box covers in to the frames - which I achieved with the flat face of a screw driver pressing against the edge of a vice (to small for the hold and fold). Then I was ready for solder... After an initial struggle with not having three hands I got myself sorted and wow what a difference having 145 degree solder makes. Admittedly if I started again things would be neater (and probably squarer) but the confidence I gained in soldering these 5 pieces of brass together has set me up for the rest of the kit.

 

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You might well laugh but I'm one proud man - my first etched brass kit (proper) and first soldering of a kit for 10 years. It's solid, square(ish) and looks great.

 

So here we are - the slippery slope. Already my mind is wandering and dreams of fully sprung 0-6-0 outside framed Sentinels falling together easily on my workbench are flooding my mind. Reality is this will probably progress slowly! That's it though, progress has been made - and the days of out of the box RTR may be one step further behind me.

 

 

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