Atkinson Walker - Polishing Off

Work has continued on the under-frame of the Atkinson Walker, adding details like spring hangers, track rods (perhaps?), and those distinctive sand-boxes, made from pieces of plasticard, microstrip and microrod. I even added sand-pipes from brass wire, though they are barely visible.

You may also notice a change in the buffer-beams. The plastic ones were starting to bow already, and I thought they'd be vulnerable, so looked again at the ones on the etch. They seem to be based on the Clougher Valley loco rather than the Redlake one, and were too deep - and too wide too - so I trimmed them to size with a cut-out for the couplings. Although not quite the right shape they are pretty close now, so out came the soldering iron again. They are soldered to the bottom of the body, the square valences help to locate them. The under-frame then had the plastic buffer beams cut and filed away until it was a snug fit between the brass ones.

A bit more work with scraps of plastic made the odd shapes in the foreground - can you tell what they are for? A bit of time cleaning up excess solder and polishing the brass with fibreglass brushes and pencils, and I think it's ready for the paint shop.