Scratchbuilt Ivatt 2-6-0
This is the loco that tipped me into Scale7
This is my longest running project, started in 1985, and it still not finished! I started building this loco to the current practice in O gauge at the time, 32mm gauge, but as I built it up I was finding it harder and harder to get it looking right. The standard O gauge frame width caused all sorts of problems in getting the cylinders looking right. Then as I fitted the running plates it started going awry.
Studying the prototype photos showed a light nimble looking loco, mine just looked like it's ugly kid brother. As the frames were narrower than normal I had to make the running plates wider than they should be. It's only a couple of mm but as the running plate is only 22mm wide this is a large percentage error. Things like the fire iron tunnel now look wrong, on the prototype it sits on the inside edge of the running plate. On this model there was a large slab of running plate behind it.
There didn't seem to any solution to the problem so I lost interest in finishing the loco. Then along came Scale7 and I could finally put the frames in the right place. One day I'll build a new chassis and finally finish it to Scale7 standards.