Marshall5

I'm no expert on LMS NPCS but the photo to which you refer shows the CCT in B.R. livery with most of the lettering on the right. The model you acquired was in a mixture of LMS & BR lettering eg. the number would not have been prefixed "M" in LMS days and would be a different font and shaded. Do you intend to finish it as LMS or BR? Ray.

Hi Jazz, I was very pleased to see to progress you've made on your Chowbent 2-6-4T as I built one some 10 yrs ago. I don't remember finding any problems with the body although I'm still not sure i got the flare on the bunker sides right for 42626 but I did have to scratch built new (larger) bunker tank vents. The notes I made at the time show many mods to the chassis particularly the cylinders and motion - maybe you've not got that far yet. On my kit the slots in the frames for the motion bracket set the cylinders/slide bar asembly at way too steep an angle. In the end I re-cut the slots and made the cylinders/motion as a bolt on sub-assembly. I admit I did't notice the cylinders were too far forward but I did find that the slidebars were too far apart as designed and it was quite a lot of work to get it right. I found that, contrary to instruction C27, the missing valve rods/buckles were noticeable and new holes were needed in the combination lever. If I was doing another I would certainly spring or compensate the chassis as I found the long wheelbase a bit rigid where there was any twist in the track. I'll get the loco out and see how I secured the body to the chassis. I'd be happy to pass on any notes if they help. Best of luck with your loco - a most under-represented class. Cheers, Ray.