Cheers John! We aren’t going anywhere next week - that I know of!
All three coaches - built so far - now have passenger communication gear installed. I’m going to tackle the bogies starting tomorrow. That’ll keep me quiet for a while.
One job I need to think about is roof fixing. Magnets seem favourite, and that gives Best Beloved and me the excuse to polish off the shortbread we were given for Christmas so's I can chop the tin up! Current thinking is to attach a small round magnet or two inside the upper part of each end, and glue some tinplate strip under each roof. With some added ridges inside the roof, it should make it a nice clean fit without being too awkward to align. I also plan to add some cross braces to the bodywork to prevent it being crushed at gutter level if picked up awkwardly. Slater's, sensibly, assume the modeller will glue the roof in place, giving strength to the assembly that way.
Once the roofs are arranged, I can make up the toilet tank filler pipes. The period these coaches are set in being the early 1960s, it’s reasonable to assume most, if not all, vehicles had been updated to the platform/track level fillers. As the "pipes" will need to unclip from the roof for the latter's removal, making such things will be about the last thing I tackle on the bodywork before painting starts.
Some cursory research on interior colours and fittings has taken place, too. It’s all beginning to take shape. Well, it will, once the final brake third is put together.
Time to eat, I think. Toodle-pip until the morrow!