The underframe begins
Heather Kay
Western Thunderer
Yay! All done bar the paint. I'm hoping I can find enthusiasm and energy to complete the other three pairs, but for now, these will do. On with the rest of the coach.
In fairly quick order, on my new sheet of plate glass, the floor and solebar halves have been assembled. I just checked, and in classic Slater's fashion the coach will actually fit back in its box - but not with buffers and gangways. Hmm. Anyway, I was hoping to crack on with this today, despite the weather and our cat being out of sorts (he's not actually ill, but something spooked him early this morning and it's taken a while to get him to feel settled again). However, my enthusiasm has diminished, as it occasionally does with some builds. I think it's the prospect of having to deal with more etched brass bits, plus…
… gaps in the solebar. I'm pretty sure that's not right. I noticed the problem before I glued the solebar in place, and opted to leave the gap in the middle. It will be easier to plug here than at the headstock ends. I also checked I hadn't missed something painfully obvious in the instructions. I seem to have followed them to the letter, so I'm not sure quite why there's a gap.
So, with the Mrs Mojo opting for time out, I think it's time for some further armchair modelling on these coaches. I would really like to pin down things like vac and steam pipe routing, as well as handbrake linkages under the floor. I'll also consider further details for battery boxes and other underframe fittings.