May I ask how you achieved them?
Hi jonte,
Steph has I think answered this, and for sure this tender is an order of magnitude easier than a GW tender! thanks also for the kind words about my build, but if you lay a rule along the bottom edge of the flare in the photo, the truth will out!!
I was surprised by the instructions (it was thirty years ago when I built the last one!) and I just did a quick check and it is in the 51xx instructions that he specifically mentions this point - apologies for misleading.
Steph is also right that Martin mentions not soldering the coal plate in the LSWR tender, however, he does not say why - just that he " ... did not find it necessary ... " and I did notice that the instuctions are a lot briefer these days than formerly. Martin is a great bloke and as good a 4mm modeller as there is, but maybe he forgets that us mere mortals need a bit more help! The new owners (in 4mm) also know they have occasional blind spots in the instructions department!
There is scope for a better book on this subject - sadly, for me at least, Ian Rice's effort was not quite up the job as he does not attempt any of these quite sophistcated, high-precision kits where, to get any result at all, you need to work accurately. And some of his soldering was not the best example!!! The Blacksmith kit he worked on was stone-age (its forebear was the first kit I built - a Mallard "Duke" in 1972 - etched in nickel-silver!) and looking at pages 53 and 74, Ian struggled more than yourself with the tender!
I think a far better book would be that by the late Geoff Holt, published in two volumes by Wild Swan - there is a lot in there you don't need (yet) but it is first-class stuff. The older volumes by Guy Williams are also good, though they really are more about scratch building.
As others have said, don't beat yourself up that you struggled - it is a GREAT kit but that is not the same as "easy" - scour ebay and you will find dozens of half-finished kits - now you know why - they are worth paying a few pounds for just as practice material.
Meanwhile, get it on the stove, melt it all to pieces, wipe all the molten solder off with a damp cotton cloth, clean it all thoroughly and have another go. I guarantee it will seem easier the second time. It won't build a masterpiece as many of the parts will have stretched, but you will build your skills!
Best Wishes,