Cherry Clan

The detailing on the boiler required some some 1/16th copper wire, I added the regulator valve, clack valves and pipework, washout plugs etc. The supplied castings are superb and very clean with very little if any fettling required before fitting. This… Continue Reading →

The next task in the instructions moved onto the coupling rods. Take care here as this is another situation where you need to have a good photograph of the loco that you want to model. The early build locos had fluted… Continue Reading →

Another component to require a bit of detailing before all the bodywork is all assembled is the firebox. The instructions recommend drilling all the holes for the washout plugs, mud hole cover clamps, safety valves and top steam manifold. All lots… Continue Reading →

Skinning the tanks The side skins for the tanks are half etched for the majority of the side so that the beading around the windows and along the top of the tanks is prominent. However this does mean that they… Continue Reading →

So continuing with the valve gear for the 4MT, the next job in the instructions was connecting the rotating arm with the expansion link. Now the instructions say to use nickel silver rod as pins and solder in place. However I like… Continue Reading →

Building the valve gear. In the instructions the motion building starts with the expansion link and radius arm so these are the bits supplied. They are all brass castings, two halves for the expansion link and cast radius arm. The… Continue Reading →

Now we can get on with building the main tanks for the loco, which starts with the front spectacle plate for the cab. This has another half etched overlay which provides the rivet detail around the top visible part of… Continue Reading →

Building the rear bunker. Next in the instructions we move to the rear of the loco to start building up the bunker. We start with making up the rear of the cab with the fitting of the coal doors. The… Continue Reading →

Building the front footplate The next sub-assembly to build is the front footplate unit. We begin with finding all the etched parts for the platework, these form the saddle and the front dummy frames visible above the footplate. The component… Continue Reading →

Forming the boiler Whilst cleaning up the multitude of castings for the springs, hangers etc. for the chassis,  I thought I’d make a little progress on the bodywork so I’d get the feeling of getting somewhere. The bodywork initially is… Continue Reading →

Moving on to the cylinders The cylinders are a fairly hefty brass castings, and the rest of the components, cylinder end covers etc are more nice castings. Thin overlays provide the etched detail for the cylinders, which means that the… Continue Reading →

The rear bogie again is a mulitude of etchings and castings but it is all clearly covered in the instructions. There are 4 hefty castings for the axleboxes and this may be the only small problem if building the bogie… Continue Reading →