Ivatt 2-6-2 Mickey Mouse tank engine in 7mm scale

Also got a lot of work completed on the side tanks, only got the tank stays to fit now and the vent breather pipes, then the front step with oil feed reservoir below will see the tanks finished.

 

And here is the firebox with Ivatt whistle added and washout plug covers, the water level gauge near the drivers side spectacle is on the tank, the holes on the tank top will take the stay brackets. Some filler stopper is needed to eradicate marks in the white metal buildup of the firebox front corners... it is the best i could do trying to mould the contours with a hot iron and some sanding back with the mopping wheel.

 

Boiler and top end not far off dressed... only the tank stays to fit and then I'll start the oilboxes, mechanical lubricators and associate plumbing, which once the tank steps and cylinder exhaust steam pipes are fitted will conclude this part of the build. Some stoppering repairs are needed in places to smooth out surfaces such as the damaged steam collecting dome rim edge and the join between firebox flange and boiler.

 

I feel confident I can repair this casting with some careful two pack fillering, I have replaced so many sub standard and missing castings in the quest to upgrade the finish of this loco i decided there were some castings such as the chimney and tank filler lids which could remain. The dome casting was damaged when I got the kit... it was bent on the rim... probably dropped and it wouldn't straighten out without leaving a ridge so I cut it off. When Peter Cross did his ACME Ivatt 2 kit he replaced the dome with one from Laurie Griffin which was a poor quality one having a badly pitted surface... it put me off a bit since a replacement would not be that cheap, interestingly I encountered the same kit issues Peter did but despite some of the etch detail being a tad "loose" compared to the GA drawing the loco is dimensionally correct.

 

I have a side profile of the dome on the GA drawing but I don't know the boiler diameter at the point where the dome fits because the barrel etch is open underneath. The dome is also fixed down to the etch now so I'm going to leave it as is.

 

There are a few bits of fillering to do yet but I shall get the remaining bits soldered on and once the body is cleaned down with a final de-fluxed washing I'll get on with the pre paint stoppering.

 

Thanks for the kind offer Dundee... its much appreciated and so I take it that Easter is the new drop off date for things at work?

 

Well what a carry on shaping all those folds forming the hopper part of the bunker but i got there in the end, there were three differing angles all converging to match with the back wall and the base of this item which had to match equally on each side otherwise the whole piece would appear lop-sided when viewed from the top. anyway success at last and with a dry fit onto the frames to check how everything matched up with the cab front and side windows already located on the tanks. Once happy with that little brain teaser i decided to punish myself further by scratching the bunker access folding door catches which were not included on the etches, these were made from 0.30mm wire and some very thin scrap nickel strip to form the latch keep and the pivot hinge. The back handrails are now fitted as well, I now need to add the window slide rails and frame (another lovely scratch build), a two feed oil reservoir on the fireman's side and both cab seat brackets which I'll attempt to make hinged. The backhead, reverser and handbrake column will come later.

 

Now the rear access ladder presents a problem in this ACME hand draw copy version of the old College Models kit because the ladder is too long and will need to be shortened, it should end somewhere in line just below the centre point of the rear truck wheel so I'll have to take a wrung off.... pity really as that's isn't really the answer but i just don't feel like scratching a new ladder. the cab roof profile has been made as well and i just need to attend to that corner by the rear cab window which is just a tad offset... reheating the join and pulling the etch in will close that gap up on the roof slope behind the doorway. The remaining lamp irons will be fitted once i have made up the rear buffer beam... I have a plan for that !

 

So now a nice little tank engine starts to emerge from all those tin shapes and packets of castings, its all needing a lot of stoppering to fill gaps and the cab area is just dry fitted but once the body is complete i can return to the frames and complete the motion, plumbing and other stuff. the next "intense" job is to plumb in the pipework on the Silvertown mechanical lubricators which are just placed there loosely on the front of the footplates.

 

The lubricators have six forward and six rear oil ways along with two front feeds and the pump winding handle so that means 15 tiny holes to be drilled on each casting which is about 10mm in length and 7mm wide. I'll fashion the pipework from fine copper jewelry wire fanning it into a loom which will run along the edge of the smokebox saddle, then I've got the two six feed oil reservoirs which sit just below the small step on the tank ends. All the bottles of alcohol in the background are not mine but i suspect Toto and Dundee will assist in their disposal at some point soon. Anyway that rounds up work done this last week.

 

The ladder was a disappointment since I'd made it up some weeks ago and thought then it looked strange but the penny didn't drop... I have to move on and cannot justify more time correcting someone's poor artwork with new scratch work. I think it will look ok once shortened and painted. Now Toto will love this one (in house Platform 1 joke) ... according to Jim Snowden on the GOG forum the roof slope is correct but another well known luminary doesn't... so what do I do ? Right now it is dry fitted and still needs an internal roof frame to pull the contours down correctly but it does follow the cab end profiles and whilst not entirely accurate to the GA drawing curve profile it not that far out in my opinion. Ivatt tanks had three different cab profiles thus looking at the late ones preserved such as 41298, 41312 and 41313 have different cabs. The only one near like the example I'm doing is 41241 at Keithley and my model will be Rhyl shed's 41244 cut up at Cashmore's Great Bridge in April 1967.

 

Happy to know you like it Andy and thanks... from my research the Ivatt roof differed from the previous Stanier / Fairburn fully arced roof profile in making use of a flatter face which curved only at the change of angle into the side slopes, even this changed on the later ones by adopting a curved cantrail to the cab sides similar to their later Riddles successors. It was probably all due to post war economies in manufacture, BTW did you know that preserved Riddles Class 2 78019 was a Stoke 5D engine ?

 

you saw those bottles on the shelf in the back lean to didn't you Toto... never mind I won't drink them ... honest and they will still be here at Easter for you and Dundee.