I think the Wee Ben is really begining to take shape now, gloom and despair has given way to albeit restrained pleasure in the progress I’ve made recently. I’m managing to get a couple of hours work in most nights and I think I’m keeping the lid on expenditure which hasn’t reached anything like the level of that of my previous Skye Bogie project.
The boiler is not fixed in place yet as I need to make the splasher tops before I can solder everything together. The splasher tops in the kit won’t fit of course now that I’ve "waisted" the boiler, or firebox I suppose it is really, between the splashers; you can see this characteristic feature quite clearly here. Note too that the vertical part of the firebox leaves very little clearance above the wheel tread and that the flange is actually inside the firebox, so no side play is allowed on the driving wheels at all!
