The dimples you have pushed out on the cylinder block are actually for the valve rods and glands to attach to!
Looking at the "rivets" it will be quite simple to rectify as and when. I doubt if there will even be a slight altercation with the captain, never mind a battle.
Today, it was all filing and fettling of castings and laminates, so not a lot to show for my efforts. First the other crosshead had the top piece soldered in place and the slide bars were fettled to allow a nice free sliding fit. Afterwards, the connecting rods were laminated and then pinned to the crosshead wit the cast nut and bolt.
As this image of 563 shows, the rear vertical edges of the connecting rods are rounded. I have curved the ends as best I can to match, but with the outer big end overlays in place it was not easy to get the curve just right. For anyone doing one of these in the future it would be easier to leave the big end overlays off until the curve is made.
To align the slidebars and piston gland for soldering, I found that an 8BA bolt could be inserted in the gland and then held against the cylinder block with a nut and washer on the inside. First I needed to file the flange on the gland so it was flush or slightly recessed on the inside of the cylinder. Here they are lined up ready for soldering.
And fixed in place. I added a blob of solder with the iron, then refluxed and ran it around the casting with the Solderpro flame.
And with the crossheads inserted.
A quick trial in the frames shows that clearances are very tight between the rear of the crosshead and the rear bogie "mudguard". Why on earth did the Victorian engineers put on these embuggerances? (stole that word from Heather K, but she stole it from Terry Pratchet).
These are the crankpin "nuts" on 563. It's clear that the Slaters nuts and washers won't pass muster. I've got some Slaters bushes on order and I've got an idea how I can emulate the crankpin fixings. The other option would be to replace with Derek Mundy crankpins as suggested by Funtleyworks. We'll see.
Cheers,
Peter