Right, time for an update.
The power train of this build has been bugging me for ages. It's a Slater's box and motor, driving one axle with Delrin to a leading axle. From the get-go it had a nasty wobble, and although I've managed to calm the shimmy down somewhat, the client and I agreed the way forward was a proper motor bogie from ABC. Add into the mix I have his earlier build of 10000 which I have been tasked with matching the new build as far as DCC and sound, so we've gone for a whole motor bogie each. I collect the bogies at Telford in a few days, and I shall then need some method of restraining my purse so it doesn't float off into the stratosphere!
So, while I've concentrated in some other builds, including the three that were nearing completion and which are now either delivered or ready to deliver, in the dead space before we trek up to Shropshire I've been fiddling about with the bodywork of 10001.
Yesterday I tackled the aluminium side strips. More on that in a moment. Today, I decided to make up and fit a bulkhead that's clearly visible through the windows at the No 2 end. The bulkhead separates the control system clean area from the engine room, from what I can tell. What I've done is make a styrene sheet bulkhead with a simulated door and some confection of bracing and conduit (the latter I have no reference for but it looked very bare otherwise. The interior, and engine, will be painted aluminium. All period photos show the main interior colour is metallic, so that's what I shall go for.
Here's the 16SVT. Mr Thompson should look away now, as some surgery was needed to get the model to sit down properly in the body of the loco. Essentially, I've had to chop away the sump, a lower part of the dynamo/exciter, shave a little off the "side cheeks" by the exciter end, and add a little styrene block to support the other end. I had also asked for the turbo units to be created, but it turns out you can't see them, and they wouldn't fit with the roof on. Ho hum. Still, it looks great, and once it's had a dose of aluminium paint it'll fill the windows nicely.
Now, to the side strip. I had been letting this fester in the brain cell for ages, trying to work out how to best approach it. The strip is a raised moulding, and remained a feature of the twins for their entire lives. At first, I tried masking the sides, leaving the strip clear so I could brush paint it. The Humbrol metallic aluminium I have is like dishwater, and needs several coats to give good coverage. Anyway, the masking sort of worked, but the bits near the moulded grilles are a right royal pain as the strip merges with the grille framing, and paint still wicked under the masking tape. I still need to resolve this, and would probably countenance scribing a demarcation line if I were to do it again. In the end, I've brush painted the strip, carefully, and without masking. Some fettling will be required to remove the inevitable overpaint, but it'll be alright in the end.
If I was to start over, I'd probably paint the strips silver first, then mask them before painting the black.
I have also decided to attempt flush glazing the cabs, since I had to pop the glazing out earlier in the repainting process.
