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I've incorporated some of the BR additions to the WD cabs, such as the rarely in the closed position sliding cab windows. They are left over from a DJH Ivatt and will just be seen in the gloom of the cab. Cab seats are unused Sanspareil BR standard steps mounted upside down - thank goodness for the scrap box! Cab doors are scratch built using fine tube and 0.5mm N/S wire. The reverse casting was too low, so it's soldered to the spectacle plate and a dummy base added from scrap. I think I can put the roofs on later. It's a sit in the sun and a beer next I think.

After a break to go partying and a few days by the coast it is back to the workbench. The aim is to get the chassis' finished so that they can be painted and tested. It's that dilemma about when to paint. Preferring to reduce the number of times the loco is dismantled, the painting will be started in the short term. I hate doing the sand pipes - but that is done now. Part of the joy of loco building is the engine picking. 90383 was fitted with AWS in '61, so for my chosen period of 1962, it had to have it. 90492 was not fitted thankfully. Most of the pipe clips are made from phosphor bronze strip or 5 thou brass pressed over the pipes with square ended pliers. Now here is something I didn't know, the AWS bang plate is slightly off centre, I noticed that whilst I was lining up the rivets.. take a look next time you see a picture of one. For the pickers, 90383 has the rear oilers at right angles to the frames and 4 lubricator feed pipes from the cab running down the boiler on the fireman's side, some locos had 2 pipes each side of the boiler. The infinite minutia of loco detail! So some cleaning up to do and the steps to add this morning, don't worry Andrew, 90492 will be following immediately!

I've been away on a jolly and working wiring up a DCC garden railway, so at last it's back to the workbench. I write all over the instructions when I do a build, so there could be a few amendments! So the past two days have been spent on the boilers, and starting from the top, I felt the top feed sat a little high, so I cut the spigot off, filed the flange down, then drilled it out and soldered in a new piece of brass rod to mount it on. If I was doing the join between the firebox and boiler again, I'd leave out the double former. I've had to resort to Milliput. The half etched boiler bands are a little chunky, so I used Slaters phosphor bronze strip, which is a fraction too wide, but gives a more 'flush' appearance. I added the top feed cover from 5thou brass, it's so thin it can be cut with scissors. As you can see, we have original and Doncaster fireboxes. I countersunk the holes for the turned washout plugs so that they also are more set into the cladding. Anyway,they are getting that industrial look of the WD's. Next to finish off the detailing and attach the steam pipes.

I have all 3 WD's, my first was the Oakville a good few years ago. That kit has been through several owners and is buildable with a bit of work ( as Jim said in the instructions, 'it's not a kit where you rattle the box and produce and instant scale model'). I've not started the JLTRT one yet. It has some lost wax castings for the loco that are better than Snowhill, but the white metal castings are not as good as the Snowhill - and the resin boiler of course - if you don't want to roll a boiler. Swings and roundabouts. A question for Jim - parts 243, 244, 245 on the cab roof etch - I'm not sure what they are, maybe I missed them in the instructions somewhere. Could you advise? Thanks Tony

With parts just placed together , and still requiring cleaning up, cabs and boilers are now made.

Thanks Jim - I shall cover that when I get to it. Regards Tony

Did it with an iron Pete, I must try the hot air gun method sometime.... Regards

I spent the day on and off fitting the various wrappers to the end plates. Here I've been using copper wire, twisted tight to pull the wrappers tight to the formers for soldering.

Thanks Pete - do you know, I think that's the one tool that I don't have! As promised, here's how the firebox waist was formed, obviously my hands are missing as they are holding the camera!

Morning all, a week in Majorca, and a week working away, garden and then some weathering jobs have delayed progress. The chassis are both rolling with valve gear and with a few hours to spare I decided to roll the boilers etc. All these units are etches in 22 thou brass and I was a little daunted that I would be able to form them. Geoff Holts advice is good, I rolled the components cold initially - and the boiler and smokebox was no problem using the GW 10" rollers. The firebox was tricky, once the initial shape was formed , the reverse curve to the waist would be like trying to form a spring. So as my exploding gas torch has not been replaced, I resorted to my plumbing blowlamp outside on a brick, just heating the lower sides and letting them cool. I don't like annealing sheet really, 'cos it can distort the sheet if you don't get the heat evenly spread. However all was well and I was able to form the reverse curve using 15mm steel rod and the curvy bit of some ogee skirting board. I'll add a pic to illustrate.

Saturday evening, not out on the town ( yet ) so onwards.. I wasn't happy with the positioning of the motion bracket, with the outer plate being outside the running plate, once added, it should look like it's top is behind the running plate flange. I should have checked the positioning before I added the running plate. So I cut the brackets out with the disk cutter and repositioned them further inboard. Also the top fold of the bracket was visible just below the running plate edge. I didn't like that, so added a strip of 5 thou brass that gives the flat appearance of the prototype. The outer bracket plate was then soldered over the top.

It's in the shadow inside the frames where the left hand cylinder is Jeff.

To make the cylinders demountable, I removed the top flange of the backing plate and soldered a 10 BA nut to the topside of the cylinder mounting tab. This allows the securing screws to be fitted to underneath. I'm trying to get the chassis as complete as possible, so that it can be sprayed before fitting the wheels.

Thanks Jim - the kit rods are fine Andreas, like any etch lamination, they just need careful finishing to get a tidy result. Sidetracking the topic? Not at all, Andreas - it is here for discussion. Best Regards Tony

Hello Andreas - I am glad you are enjoying the build. I have used Premier rods in the past on other loco's although I did not see a need for them in this case. As long as you are prepared to put the time into cleaning and polishing up the rods, they should be fine. Regards Tony

Trick of the camera Jim - 162 is there - I can't see in on the photo either!

Hello Jim - I'm still thinking about that one, I like to make the cylinders removable on my models and seem to have achieved it so far. I'll let you know what I come up with! Regards Tony

I spent yesterday fitting the brakes and making up the cylinders. The wrappers in the kit are 20thou brass and as I had to consign my exploding gas torch to the bin, I only had my plumbing torch to anneal them. So instead I made my own wrappers from 12thou brass, which is easy to form cold. I've been reading Geoff Holts book!

Ah Ken - you've been spoilt now! I have done 3 MOK kits - they are a joy to build...

Thanks Jim - The frames are progressing well. I had a little difficulty with the hornguides, until I worked out I force the fold further out by using the edge of a ruler to control the bend. The majority of the bearings then just dropped in without any fettling. The half etch tab is on the outside of the fold. The frames - with one inverted. Brake fitting next.

You'll be spoilt like me Ken! I have built 3 MOK kits now, they are a joy to build, everything fits, enjoy! Best Regards Tony

Thanks Peter - well, it's not quite the slot and tab of an MOK, but everything fits, you just have to make sure you check the drawings/pictures to get things in the right place. The main thing is that the castings are all in brass, which I much prefer working with than white metal. Regards Tony

So I'm buzzing along with these tenders now, the axleboxes and springs consist of several parts, so there is a days work in cutting off sprue, cleaning up and fitting 16 of them. I soldered them all in place with 145 degree solder.

The WD tenders are distinctive by their plain slab sides, but one noticeable feature are the row of bolts along the bottom edge that hold the tank to the frames. These are not represented in the kit and with no hope of me measuring accurately 28 holes, I knocked up a drilling jig from scrap fret and tested the hole position on some other scrap. The edge of the 'butting' piece was then filed away until the hole position was correct. It's shown hooked over one the 'bolts' made from 0.7mm brass wire:-

Finished weathering jobs, just a few final touches before delivery.