Side Tanks and Boiler Fittings

With the cab and boiler fixed to the footplate the last piece of bodywork that needed fitting was the side tanks. These were simple to fold up and attach, again using the blow torch; still no burnt fingers and this time not only did I not undo any previous joints I also didn't set anything on fire. With the body essentially complete except for details like hand rails etc. I couldn't help but fit the chassis and rest the chimney and dome/water filler in place to finally get a feel for how the completed model will look.

My first thoughts are that it looks prety good. The question is how well does it actually compare to the drawings in my childhood book that I'm using for prototype information.

Well it's not terrible although there are a number of things that jump out at me as being not quite right. I think the body is too tall; specifically there is way too much boiler visible above the top of the side tanks, which in turn forces the cab to be too tall. The dome (not actually sure what it is as it seems to have a lid, but it isn't part of the tanks) is also too tall compared to the chimney. I might see if I can design and print a better proportioned replacement. Also I can't see guard irons by the wheels in any of the original drawings, so I wonder why they were added to the model chassis. Trying to work out if I should cut them off or leave them on.

I guess the issues are that the original drawings are obviously 2D, and so there is no requirement that the dimensions shown also work across the width of the loco; i.e. with a boiler that small the tanks would have to be much wider (across the loco) in order for them to touch the boiler and be that close to the edge of the footplate. Making the tanks wider would have looked really odd, so they increased the boiler size instead which then stretches the height of the cab etc. Basically the model was never going to be able to perfectly match the original drawings and I think the designer has done a reasonable job of making something that looks about right.

All in all, I'm happy with how it's turned out so far. Next step will be sorting out some of the detailing parts (hand rails, steps etc.) and then I can move on to painting. I'll start with painting the chassis and wheels so I can then deal with the coupling rods and correctly quartering the wheels, before I attempt to paint the body.