Now where was I?

After a rather busy couple of weeks with things both work, and non-work, I've a moment to catch up with progress.  At the start of February, I'd got to the stage where the cab interior was nearly completed and I simply had a few details to attach to the firebox back.

As with all of the kit that I've completed so far, the parts are beautifully prepared, and assembly is a joy.  This picture shows the etched regulator handle shaped and soldered to a length of straight brass wire.  This was prior to cleaning up, so fitted it looks a little neater.  But for comparison of the size, the object in the background is a fibreglass burnishing pencil...

 

A tip for anyone contemplating doing something similar.  Not only did I solder the join through the pivot over-length and then trim it back, but I left the whole of the length of the wire in place as a handle.  I drilled through the entire firebox back and soldered it in place from the rear.

 

 

I then snipped it flush and filed down the rear to remove the solder blob.  I then repeated it for the two pieces of wire that form the firebox door handles.  And this is the completed item.

 

A masterpiece in kit design and manufacture...  So that's it for the cab interior at the moment.  More on other areas later.  For now, I've got an Alan Gibson E4 kit to drool over.