I've been fettling away at little jobs today, and really don't feel like I'm getting anywhere. The reality is, of course, this build is nearing completion, and it's the little jobs that take the longest.
One of those jobs was tackling the buffer plank paintwork. Most red paints don't have much covering capacity, and the received wisdom is to undercoat with white first. I don't actually have the correct paint for the actual colour, which is a red of the orangey variety, so I decided to undercoat with yellow in the hope it would impart a slight orange tint to the top coat. I think it worked. For the record, undercoat Humbrol matt 24 yellow and matt 60 red. I'm letting things dry for a day, then gloss varnish for the transfers.
I ordered a set of plates from Severn Mill some time ago, which have been conspicuous by their absence. I contacted him today, and they should be with me soon. I am impatient, so I bought some caution plates from CPL on Saturday. Very nicely printed, but the base sheet is a mite too thick for my liking, add to which one has to physically cut the plate out from the sheet. I used a craft knife to score, then pliers to bend and snap, cleaning up with the whizzy disc and fine files. The plate has been stuck into the cab with a dab of PVA, as have the gauges. The PVA is meant to be a temporary fix, pending better adhesives, but I have to be honest I think I'll leave it alone as it's holding stuff a treat.
One of the CPL crank pin nuts. Nice, isn't it? I've never been very convinced about the rivet used to joint the coupling rods. For one thing, the kit items are an exact match for the thickness of the rods, so while you can punch the back to grip the inner rod there's not much actual grip, and nothing to bulge over the rear surface to help. I've had one fail on me already, just rolling the loco up and down my three feet of test track. I am going to replace the rivets with a nut and bolt. Yes, it won't look like the rivet - which does match the prototype quite well - but I think it'll provide a better engineering solution and avoid the situation where the client has been playing with their new toy on the club test track hauling a huge train at speed only to find the coupling rods have parted and caused mayhem.
So, the rods have to come off again to perform the surgery, and the crank pin nuts will be fixed properly after that.
I am looking forward to getting the transfers done, because that'll mean a final top coat of varnish and I can begin the weathering. Really looking forward to making this loco work stained.