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I'm still waiting for my motor and gearbox from ABC, so with nothing better to do I decided to make the brake and water scoop operating links to the front of the tender chassis. I should also add the rods under the footplate, although the one for the brake was covered. However, I think they will only be visible when the tender is separated from the loco so may leave them off. I also bought a storage box from Ellis Clark, as the one the kit come with is too small for the completed model. This is the large one but he also does a medium and small size for smaller locos. It comes with various bits of foam to protect the model. Here it is with model. To identify what's in the box I photographed the Gladiator labels, printed and cut them out, then stuck them on the box. Cheers, Peter

You're welcome Rob. Be rude not to. Cheers, Peter

Hi David, Looks good. The resin casting must save hours of work. Is it hollow so that those who like to fit sound chips etc have space to add them? Cheers, Peter

Many thanks Terry. Jeff, If the wow button is for my work then thanks to you also. If it's for Roger Scanlon's work on Western Thunder, then I agree. Rob, For the regulator, I filed a flat on some 0.7 or 0.8 mm rod (can't remember which), about half the diameter. I did the same on the flat lever then soldered both together, then filed the remaining half round on the rod flat. This side goes to the back. The handle is then trimmed and clean up. For the fire door levers, with dividers I took the dimentions between the pivot points from a drawing, marked these onto suitable lengths of waste etch and added a bit extra to allow for drilling, before cutting to length. The pivot points on the casting were marked with the dividers and holes drilled for 0 7mm rod. Lengths of rod were then added to the back plate and soldered from the rear with 145 solder. The lever with the handle was bent to shape and then the three of them placed over the pivot rods, soldered, the rods trimmed to length and filed to clean up. Hope that helps. Cheers, Peter

Nothing much to do until I receive the motor/gearbox, but have given the firebox a whisk of primer just to highlight any blemishes that need filling or rubbing down. There's one or two but nothing major. In the meantime it tidies things up after I brush painted the white plastic parts with grey enamel. I didn't need to do that but it was annoying me. Shame it's not brass with a white metal front as on the Seven Duke. The models do look nice in brass when clean before painting, but they soon tarnish as it's doing already. By the way l came accross a thread on Western Thunder in Area 51 called "A West Midlands Works". It's by a guy who goes under the name of Scanlon. Go take a look. He's done some cracking builds! Cheers, Peter

Hi Pete, BR lined green with the early logo. Cheers, Peter

Hi David, Thanks for the compliment. No worries about the hijack. Not sure if I can get to Reading but if I can I'll bring the Duchess and you can see it in the flesh. Cheers, Peter

Thanks again to all for the kind words and positive ratings. Thanks also to Richard Lambert (Dikitriki) for his inspirational Finney 7 build on Western Thunder. I gave the model a strip down and clean with Viakal (apart from the loco chassis which still needs some work for the pick ups). Here's how it breaks down for painting. And reassembled. I had an e mail from ABC to say they expect to dispatch the motor and gearbox next week, but I'm travelling on business so won't get any bench time. Like Jeff P I'm going to miss this build. I have really enjoyed building this kit and would highly recommend it, especially after David has sorted out the firebox. From my point of view the firebox was not an issue, just a bit of a challenge that needed to be dealt with. After all, "Are we not men?" In the main the castings are very good and certainly all are usable. I did replace 3 with Ragstone items and one or two parts needed to be made from scratch. I'm particularly proud of the valve gizmo under the ejector next to the oil box, so here's another gratuitous shot of that. Seven pieces not including the pipes. Anyway, I still have to paint and line it, so it could still all end in tears. Cheers, Peter

Many thanks Dave. Glad you found it useful. Today I added the final details to the cab and replaced the white metal brake handle on the back head which broke. The cast seats are modelled in the up position, but with some filing of the bruackets I fitted them in the down position using epoxy. The reversing mech comes in 3 parts but is missing a cog wheel next to the handle, so I knocked one up from a spare thumb screw off a spring bow pen. It's not perfect but looks the part and fills the gap. I also thought the cab box on which the reverser sits was too tall, so I removed it and cut 2mm off the bottom to lower it. Here's the reversing mech and cog. And in the cab. The seats are tucked away behind the side sheets. Here's the replacement brake handle. I found it in the spares box and with a bit of fettling it looks the part. Glad I broke the original before it was all painted. And with the roof on. That's it for now until I receive the motor and gearbox from ABC. Once that's in I'll fit the pick ups and get it running. Cheers, Peter

I have now completed the back plate. As mentioned yesterday, various bits and bobs from the spares box have been butchered to represent some of the missing bits (not provides in the kit). Today some scratch building was in order to replace the white metal regulator handle and the fire hole door operating lever. I still need to fill those holes above the tray and I think the regulator stuffing gland is too low. It is in the hole provided in the backplate but was already fixed in place before I realised, and I didn't want to risk damaging it by trying to remove it. Here it is in the cab. And with the roof on. Speaking of the roof, here's how it attaches. I've solder some wide strips of brass either side near the edge and it just slides in from the back. I'll solder a strip of brass to the cab in front of the safety valves so that there's I bit more area to glue it after painting. The half etch turn ins on the top of the side plates and the slot in the roof sides will be masked for painting. I just need to fit the reversing gear and seats to complete the cab interior. Here's the whistle temporarily fitted. I drilled the base of the whistle and soldered in a spigot which fits into a hole drilled in the firebox top. Again it will be glued from the inside after painting. Cheers, Peter

I made a start on the boiler back plate tonight. First thing was to modify the fire hole doors which are incorrect. Here's how it comes. The runners above the top rail needs removing and the top edge of the doors rounded. Looking at photos in books and of DoS and CoB, its clear the a number of fittings are not provided. To improve the Spartan appearance I added some bits from the spares box, but there's a lot of modeller's licence involved. This is how far I got. And in the cab. The two holes above the tray need filling. These were for locating the tray, but I lowered it to the correct position just above the rail. It should pass muster inside the enclosed cab when finished, but it's a bit of a compromise. I also modified the piping on the frame in front of the left hand cylinder. This is for the brake pipe and I had routed is as per a de-streamlined engine with split footplate, after seeing CoB. Looking at reference photos and photos I took of DoS showed the piping to follow the curve of the front drop plate. I also made a represent the condensation trap. Cheers, Peter

By the way Pete, Your photo of the firebox top show some preservation mods in terms of the bolts at the cladding joints at the top. According to the clothing arrangement drawing for non streamlined engines in the LMS profiles on the "Coronation Pacifics", there should only be 2 bolts in the first section and 5 in the second. Looks like they have gone belt and braces in preservation and added more. In the section between the dome and the next boiler band there is 1, then two from the boiler band to the top feed then 4 in the last section. Have a look through my thread as I have copied the drawing. This is City of Birmingham. Unfortunatley I did not have my camera so couldn't zoom in close, but this shows only 5 rivets not 9 between the rear and next boiler band. In both these pictures the mud hole covers are missing but they are on your first picture in your last post. Cheers, Peter

Hi Pete, There is a fold up etching in the kit for the battery box, plus other bits and pieces associated with the AWS. If like me you are modelling DoS in early/mid 50s BR Green with the early logo, then you don't need them. Same goes for the speedometer but in any case that is not catered for in the kit, although easy enough to make. Section 80 to 84 in the instructions cover the AWS fittings. If you're ordering some parts from Ragstone, then I recommend you also get some safety valves. The etch part in the kit doesn't pass muster. Cheers, Peter

I've got most of the Ragstone castings on now. First the smokebox door handles. The spigot on the kit casting was much bigger than the replacement, so I bushed it with a short length of tube. The washer was soldered on first to represent the base ring. And with the handles pushed in. Here is the hole in the door cleaned up and slightly counter sunk. This is so any solder at the back of the tube/washer joint doesn't prevent it from sitting flush. Easier than cleaning the joint And complete. Here are the cylinder relief valves ready to fit with the kit ones to the left. And the front ones added. The rear ones will have the spigot sawed off and will be soldered to the rear plate behind the slide bars. Easier than drilling a hole with the gear all made up. Here's the Ragstone ejector along side the kit one. As well as the rear flanges being aligned horizontally instead of vertically, it's also slightly too long. I could have got away with it but the brass one is much better. And in place. That's it as far as the external detail is concerned, apart from the whistle, couplings and sight screens, which will go on after painting. If anyone thinks I've missed anything please let me know. Just thd cab interior and back plate left, and once the Maxon motor and ABC gearbox arrive I'll get the pick ups sorted out. Cheers, Peter

Hi Pete, Nice bit of scratch building. I decided to live with the etched bits in the kit. If those domed brass rivets on the valve cross head are left as they are you may have clearance problems when you put the slide bar casting on. Might be better to file them flush. Cheers, Peter

Here are the castings from Ragstone after a clean up. Compared to the ones in the kit. The Gladiator door handles and ejector are OK but Ragstones are better. As they are quite prominent I thought it worth spending a few extra quid. The cylinder relief valves lacked the flange at the rear so I decided to replace those also. The kit only provides the ones for the front so I bought two pairs. The ones on the back are obscured by the slide bars but what the heck. Cheers, Peter

Hi, here's a video showing the Duchess being shunted. It's just scraping round the 5 foot curve so hopefully will be OK on 6 foot radius. I ordered a smoke box door handle, injector and cylinder relief valves from Ragstone which arrived today. Decided to upgrade the ones in the kit. By the way, for those who are not aware, Laurie Griffin now has a new website which includes pictures of all of his castings, so you can see what you're buying before you order on line. It has all his kits and videos of his various inside working valve gear so a big improvement on the old one. Cheers, Peter

Hi Steve, Mr Gladiator has one on his range and it's on my radar for the future. I'm not one for buying kits and hoarding them so there's nothing in the pipeline. I still have to finish her ladyship, and the L1 is still not painted. On top of that my brother has 4 or 5 locos and 4 coaches that need lacquering and weatherin, so lots to do before I start building any thing else. Cheers, Peter

Many thanks John. Here are a few shots with the Duke of Gloucester for Mr Fay. And one of the Duke on his own. I'm still adding external details but will move on to the cab interior next. Here's the left hand injector after I modified the drain pipe and added the little tap at the bottom. It's not clear in this photo but I have cut back the rear of the cab doors to give clearance on the curves. I realised the tender front was missing the operating lever for the water feed to the loco, so I knocked these up from waste etch . And in place either side of the coal shute. Getting the nut onto the thread of the front buffers is a real pain, so I made this very crude nut spinner from brass tube. The tape is just to identify it as a tool and not just a bit of tube in the toolbox. Cheers, Peter

Once again thanks to everyone for the positive ratings and comments. Steve, When I get a minute I'll get the Duke out and take a picture for you. I've been meaning to compare the two models anyway. Pete, Don't take the p*ss. I'm a serious modeller and when I play with my trains I chuff chuff! Cho chooing is for Thomas the Tank engine. Dave, That's the beauty of 7mm. What you can see on the prototype you can put on the model relatively easily. That's why I switched from 4mm as I found it too hard to do what I wanted in terms of detail in the smaller scale. Don't get me wrong, it can be done but it just takes too much skill to do it. I've seen some incredible 4mm stuff in the past with working inside motion, sprung chassis and the whole nine yards in terms of detail. God knows how it was done. Anyway speaking of detail, I've some more. The slide bar brackets were missing the webbing at the ends so I've knocked the up from waste etch. Here's the cylinders and a couple of the parts before fitting. In this view you can see the tube I added to the valve cover for the valve piston to slide in and keep it straight. I drilled a breather hole before fitting so the oil would not be compressed and cause resistance. Here's webbing soldered to the bracket. While I had the cylinders off I took the opportunity to add some pieces of thin brass sheet to the inside of the wrapper to close the holes on the shoulders. The holes are still visible but now you can't see daylight through them. Next the ejector. This is a white metal casting which is OK but needs additional detail in terms of piping. Here it is after modifying and ready to fit. The flange at the front was round instead of oval. I filed it to the correct shape, cut a groove with the piercing saw to represent the joint and drilled holes and added wire for the bolts. I drilled a hole in the back of the body and added a spigot to facilitate fixing it at the rear. Here it is with the spigots pushed into the holes in the smokebox and boiler. Again as with the handrails, it will remain loose until after painting and lining when it will be glued in place. Once again the removable boiler made fitting the ejector so much easier. Here's some shot after I put it back together. Cheers, Peter

Thanks to all for the ratings and favourable comments. In answer to Black Country Mon's question, yes I will be painting and lining the model myself. As to leaving it unpainted, unless it was lacquered the brass would soon tarnish. Nickel silver would be better as it stays clean much longer. After cleaning yesterday the brass is already tarnishing just from handling. Back to the build starting with the cover for the pipe work coming out of the cab front. I made this from 1/8 brass tube held in the vice vertically and gradually sawed it in half to the length required. Here it is after cleaning up. I left it attached to the rest of the tube so I could hold it to tidy up the saw cut with a file. I then cut it to length and soldered in place. I managed to take some photos in daylight today, so there are some better shots of the detail added yesterday. This is a representation of the operating rod on the large injector. I have now soldered the smoke deflectors to the handrails. After nipping up the etched brackets at the top, I only needed to solder the one the the front to position the plates and this saves on cleaning up. For this shot I put a drop of super glue at the front edge to keep the plates snug. I can easily prise it off later for removal of the deflectors and hand rails for painting. Here's a better shot of the ashpan and operating lever. The cab doors are now added but may need some adjustments to clear on the curves. And some gratuitous shots on my brother's layout. I've been pushing it around the curves to see what it might negotiate, and after some jiggery pokery with the drawbar and the gap between loco and tender, and in the bogie area, it's just about scraping through the 5 foot curve. Fingers crossed it will therefore be OK on a 6 foot radius. Cheers, Peter

So back to the loco. There are a couple of support brackets for the rear of the running plate that fit behind the valance under the front of the cab. Here's one in place. It needs to sit further back so you need to file a slot at the back edge of each bracket. Then they will fit as they should like this. I have also added the cast injector pipe and the other pipework from copper wire. The pipe unions are made from scratch. Here's some wider shots of the pipework. You can just see the ashpan operating lever added from waste etch. To reduce the daylight above the frame extensions I have also soldered on some strips of brass to extend the sides of the ash pan. And here is the pipework on the other side. The pipe union on the larger pipe is in the kit but the triangular one behind in a modified casting from the spares box, as is the mud hole cover clamp. Here's a shot showing he reversing lever. The pipe work from the cab front has been added from copper wire with 16BA nuts for the unions. The pipe run along the side of the firebox needs a cover which I have still to make. Having the boiler detachable makes it a lot easier to add this detail and safer to have the resin firebox out of the way. I have now added the detail to the back of the smoke deflectors. These will be soldered to the handrails before painting and then glued to the boiler after the lining is done. I have added a length of square brass section along the running plate to which the bottom of the deflectors will be fixed with glue. I also managed to add some parts to the cab. Nearly there. Cheers, Peter

Hi Pete, I would suggest you don't paint the running plate until you have built the boiler and firebox and fitted it. At this stage you won't know what adjustments may be needed later and then end up damaging the paint and having to redo it. Better to complete all the soldering then dismantle to do the painting. Cheers, Peter

Hi Pete, Many thanks. Good luck with doing the pipes. I trust you have already drilled the oil boxes to take the copper wire, or it will be a pig put to get them to fit. I prefer to solder them in place before painting, then brush paint the copper (and brass) afterwards. It looks the part on pipes and oil boxes especially after weathering. It wouldn't do for a copper cap chimney or brass safety valve thought. Here's how it looks on my Black 5. Cheers, Peter