I mentioned in an earlier post that I found that the boiler supplied in the kit was too short, and I’ve just noticed that the holes for the handrails are in the wrong place too. Now, despite protestations to the contrary in the instructions supplied, the boiler is not "vertical from the front of the cab"; it’s one of the characteristic features of the Wee Ben that the boiler is "waisted" between the splashers, it doesn’t just go straight down. Anyway I determined that the best course to take, was to make a new boiler using the Tatlow drawing; so the boiler from the kit joined the ever growing pile in what I euphemistically call the "spares" box. Once the boiler is shaped or waisted-in between the splashers there isn’t much clearance above the driving wheels, so a lot of care has to be taken to ensure that the wheels will turn without fouling the boiler, yet enough material has to be left to fit the splasher tops without leaving a gap.
I cast a block of lead weighing 200g in the workshop and filed it to shape so that it fitted nicely between the sides of the ashpan and glued it in place; the tender also brings some weight to bear on the drawbar which is sprung, again using a Nick Baines method. The front bogie has a coil spring between it and the loco chassis which may be too strong at the moment though I may leave it until the loco is more complete before I add any weight to the front end.
