Still grinding along on the A2, a case of two steps forward and one back.
Pretty much complete except for the one very big elephant in the room, and, being as we all like to show and tell I shall do so, painful and bad as it is, maybe y'all learn where I didn't.
The final view, looks fine doesn't it.
The completed cab, sans doors and fall plate., they've been left off as they pose a high damage risk for the next and hopefully final stage.
Right folks, just to show not everything at castle Mickoo is unicorns and skittle rainbows.
Remember the firebox, sure you do, the one that was too narrow at the crown, and the grafted in slice to rectify, well it's come back to haunt me.
The correct thing to do was to throw it in the bin and make a new one, I didn't, I sliced it, backed it with a large plate and inserted a slice heavily dosed in solder. That was all trimmed back and the last final vestiges of the joint filled with Milliput and sanded smooth, smooth to the touch but sadly not smooth enough for Warrens ultra thin skim of paint he uses to get that lovely smooth finish.
In fairness neither of us spotted it early on, only when it was back lit did it become obvious.
The image has been processed to highlight the flaw, it also shows that no matter how much you clean the model they attract dust that digital cameras just love to highlight for you
.
As time has passed it has gotten worse and there is a definite visible joint now showing under most conditions, such that the fix is not going to be easy.
In addition to that, two patches have appeared on the cab roof below the gutter, I suspect there was some flux trapped under the angle and it has seeped out to attack the paint from underneath, that'll have to be cut back to the metal to make good I suspect, pahh.....
Clearly the safety valves had to come out one way or another and whilst doing so noted that the originals were not right either, actually quite cross I didn't spot that before fitting them.
The originals are the right diameter but have a big nut mid body, the Thompson ones are like the generic LNER ones with two rings mid body as seen by the spare Finney7 one (temporarily) placed to the rear. Sadly the Finney7 body is slightly small in the girth (0.4mm) and too tall as it's designed to sit recessed.
The slimline waist I can live with, turning down the height might be a chore; it would probably take longer then it would to draw up a correct (waist and height) one in 3D and print a couple off. I may well do that anyway and speak to the client and seek his preference.
Most, if not all valves were a dirty black in regular use, it seems to be a preservation thing to polish them, therefore base material is not a factor.
Not really sure how to deal with the firebox top though, the Viking in me wants to attack it with big files and smooth it back, there's plenty of material underneath to do so without fear of weakening it, but that might make the painters job near impossible to blend in. It's the right (painful) thing to do and looking back at previous build photos it look like it's the Milliput that has/is failed/ing, so it really needs digging out and the joint redoing.
I also need to to fill the small rings around the filled washout plugs that were etched in the wrong place in the kit! Why would you do that, etch holes in the wrong place, know and recognise you've done it and then tell customers to fill and drill new ones, sorry, that's just so wrong on many levels. Do the right thing, pay for new masters and take it on the chin, don't unload your cock up onto the customer.
All in all it's just bad cricket, but come what may, it'll not leave here until that joint is perfectly smooth and I am quite prepared to drop the whole lot in thinners and strip out that whole section for a new one and rebuild, then pay for anew paint job myself.
; those, the speedo cable and fittings need a touch of paint to complete and I've caught one or two other areas that just need a small dab to blend them in.
