The checklist is steadily getting smaller on this build.
I have been leaving the brake gear for some time. It's been worrying me, because I wanted to have the pull/push rods demountable (a) for painting and (b) to let someone else take the wheels out if they wanted to. I couldn't put it off any longer, so I slept on it.
My solution, which I am pleased with (though I expect the wiser heads among us will have thought of this idea and used it countless times), is to use 14BA bolts to hang the brakes from.
On the bolt, soldered into the frame, a brass tube spacer places the brake hanger at the right distance. A washer, followed by a nut, finishes the combo. Now the brake hangers stay where I put them, simply by tightening the nut.
The wise ones nod sagely, because they know all this already.
From what I can make out in the photos, the spreader bars on the front axle brake gear are fairly substantial. I had already worked out that to enable removal, I would use tube, with wire from the pull rods through the hanger. This much I had done some time back, before I decided it was much more interesting working on the pretty bits up top.
Of course, that still left the problem of the wrap-around rear pull rods. I wanted to leave a slightly unprototypical space around the rear axle to avoid the potential of shorts. More brass tube, and another 14BA bolt, a little adjustment, and fitting of the brake cross-shaft later, and it all kind of works. A result.
The plan is to "fix" the loose wire with a blob of PVA once its all reassembled after painting.
Electrical pickup is fairly orthodox. Without the complication of the valve gear, I took advantage of the open splashers and arranged phosphor bronze strip wiping on the back of the wheels over the frames. For fiddling with the brake gear, I removed the wiring and motor/gearbox, so you can see what's going on for a change.
At the back, I had originally had the pickups wiping on the bottom of the wheels, failing to spot the brake rigging would foul it. A swift rearrangement, and a bit of carvery in the cab sub-floor, allowed me to wipe on the top of the wheel, like the front. All this shenanigans is hidden by the proper cab floor, and happily with no shorts I can find at the moment.
Meanwhile, up on top, I worked out a way to ensure the dome and chimney fitted neatly with brass wire pins to aid the glue I'll use later. The chimney pins are fixed to the smokebox, and grip the inside of the chimney casting.
The checklist is getting shorter, but there are still some significant items to fit. I am still worrying away at how the whistles actually fit, so they are currently notable by their absence. I spent a good hour or two worrying away at the JLTRT cast screwlink couplings yesterday, and I chemically blackened the buffer housings and planks. Handrails need fitting, but I am leaving those for now to avoid damage. The main handrail, obviously, can't be fitted until the cab and boiler are united "permanently".
The hooks for storing the couplings under the left-hand buffer need to be fitted. I've posed all the main components to see how things look. Sandboxes, which are whitemetal castings, are supposed to be fitted to the frames, but the rear ones fouled the injector pipes. Instead, the castings will be fitted under the footplate - the rear ones to the back of the cab steps.
I'm really pleased with the fiddly bits progress this past few days. Balance weights need to be fitted to the wheels, of course. Now all the details are more or less there, 7752 is really looking like a proper engine, with the right amount of busy-ness in the right places.
Of course, there are some bits I haven't fitted yet...
I know they go under the rear frames, but I can't find any clear guidelines as to how. Any clues?
Some folk fill tube with solder so it can be bent without being crushed. I used brass wire. The pipe is effectively soldered to the back of the cab steps, with a securing blob of solder behind the hanging bar. I think I mentioned before this is the arrangement of this pipework as built. I have come to the conclusion the external pipe you see on preserved locos was done at the same time as the top feed was fitted to these locos.
