I cut 3 scale inches off the back of the cab to agree with the Tatlow drawing, and this resulted in a real problem because the boiler was now too short; I’d opened up a 6" gap between the boiler and the smokebox: now what! I put the boiler/firebox assembly to one side and decided to work on the smokebox; perhaps I could make some progress in this direction. However before I started I thought it was high time that I bought myself some rolling bars to make a decent job of rolling the smokebox outer myself; so over the ‘phone I purchased a "GW Models" 6" Mini Roller and Rail Bender machine and very nice it looked when it arrived a couple of days later. It made a grand job of rolling the smokebox outer; just put it in and wind the handle! I soldered this onto the smokebox front and onto a rear former that I made to produce a very accurate sub-assembly that slotted onto the frame extensions that I’d already fitted into grooves etched in the footplate. I had to make a disc to fit into the etched recess in the smokebox front and I found this difficult as I don’t have a lathe to true it up and it needs to be really accurate to look right. I filed the disc to shape by eye, but I’m not 100% pleased with it yet: how much easier it would’ve been if the kit designer had provided this item on the etch. I added the cab sides and front splasher/sandbox sides to the footplate then soldered up the coupling rod splashers. There’s an article by Laurie Griffin which is helpful at this stage; it’s in the HRJ No.56 on Page 11. Before I fixed the cab front in place between the cab sides I bought some turned spectacle plate lookout surrounds from LGM, which cost me a fiver. When they arrived they proved to be slightly smaller than the openings in the cab front, so I soldered these on the outside, which formed a step into which the glazing would fit nicely later on and be held in place by the smaller outer rims: the inner etched surrounds, which matched the openings, were soldered in place to finish the job.
