Horsetan

Tooling technology means you can create one main tool for the footplate, splashers and cab. Separate tools could then cover the two main smokebox / boiler / firebox types: you just clip in / screw in the one you want onto the footplate assembly. The loco chassis is the same, anyway. The only real complication is the tender: I'd agree you would need dedicated tooling for each tender type, and that's where the real expense is.

Richard Pue will be covering the 800s later in his ongoing series of monographs on various Irish locomotive classes, but he's doing all the GNRI and NCC ones first. His books are limited to 500 copies per class, with proceeds going to the BCDR Trust.

I think SSM includes all the names in the express engine kits, e.g. the "S". The classes were so small, it doesn't cost that much extra to fit all the names onto the etchings....

I did wonder if the Mainline/Dapol/Hornby Gresley N2 would have given you a better head start, as well as a ready-made 0-6-2T chassis (5'8" driving wheels)....

I wonder what became of this?

As long as they don't take away sales from SSM

Meanwhile, one "S" class continues to take shape......

Smokebox front overlay soldered on tonight - the bottom of it has an upward curve, which had to be formed using the handle of a needle file to get close to the right curvature. Front frame laminates also assembled but will not be added to the footplate until the smokebox wrapper is on...... I think I have made a mistake with the buffer beam. Can anybody spot what it is.....?

Chris will be pleased, though.

Well, you could try building a loco kit from Studio Scale Models......

All except no.4 available as SSM kits. And even no.4 may yet emerge as a full-ish kit from Worsley Works......

I think only the J15 and NCC "WT" have any prospect as RTR, and even then they would need to allow conversion to 21mm. Most of the other Irish steam classes were mostly small in number, reflecting in part the lack of money of the railways that had them built. I derive my fun from building kits, and having a J15 in RTR means one less sale for SSM.....

Ah, that's a shame. Lost in the mists of time. Never mind, it was just a question that occurred to me as I went along. You'll have to build it, though....

Will he not get some sort of cash prize...?

It's not all plain sailing, as we will now discover. First, I took out the post-1938 front frames (Part P16 and P17) from the etch: These have two layers, with the riveted layer being attached last of all. The inner layer has no tabs at all along the base, so trying to hold it in place is going to be the very devil: Note that the left-hand frame has a tiny notch in the top - this is where the lubricator and its bracket will be places. Now, let's have a look at the underside, so yis can see what I mean: if the slots in the footplate are going to be that long, why not have tabs on the base of the front frames to fit into these, and provide a stable location? "Weshty": what d'ye think? Is it worth modifying the etch artwork?

The interior shots were filmed at the former Bushey School (which was already being developed for expensive private housing whilst all the filming was going on!) near Watford.