Thursday, March 18, 2010

Boxy body

Y6 BodyPeople say diesels are boxes on wheels - well this definitely is and it's a steam engine !

While it looks simple there are a few niggles to keep the keen modeller amused - the ends are double thickness so you can have planking inside as well as out. There is a second footplate which has to have it's hole enlarged to match the one atop the chassis. The windows are better (IMHO) glued in place as getting excess solder out of the plank lines is a bit of a nightmare. Looking at photos, these locos rarely ran with the windows shut either. Presumably with the boiler, smokebox and firebox inside the body it was warm enough for the crew even in winter !

On the roof there is a bell and mechanism. The wire are the thinest fusewire I could find soldered in place. The bell was the only casting not provided and took a bit of niffy whittling of a spare sprue. Getting that shape was much more difficult than I had expected. Well all know what a bell looks like but sit down with sharp implements to try and make one and you end up scraping away all the base material in search of the perfect form.

The sharp eyed will notice a distinct lack of cab handrails. I did try but the results looked rubbish so I decided the model looked better without them.

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