Progress!

And here it is - with the toughest part done (the tender is still a substitute, but that will change as soon as I get the body shell weathered and assembled). The real challenge with these models is the chassis, valve gear, and motor; get those working (and more importantly, working once they've been painted), and you're in business.

There are always some challenges, and this kit was no exception. The valve gear was generally easy to get together, but some of the punchings were too small to accomodate the rivets, so I had to bore them out. Once it was all together, it was just a process of assembly, testing, disassembly, fixing, reassembly, retesting......and eventually it all went together. The crossheads gave some trouble, but a lot of filing (of both the crosshead and the rails) and a little lubrication finally put things right.

Once the mechanism was perfect, I tested it with the boiler and cab, which will provide most of the weight. While wheel arrangements are really not a good indicator of anything, this engine did have some prototypical qualities: like a real Atlantic, it had "too much git, and not enough dig." It did have power - but it's so light on the drivers that the engine slips very easily, and I don't expect it to start a heavy train. I may try to remedy this by pouring some low-melt alloy metal into the boiler to add weight. As you can see in the picture, it still has the stock trailing truck. This has a surprising importance - it's not just decoration. The rigid wheelbase is very short, and there's a definite tendency to tip backwards if the trailing truck isn't installed. The stock truck comes with a flat plate atop the truck structure, which serves as a slide bearing for the rear of the frame. It looks like I'm going to have to do something with the Hodge truck to ensure it can bear the frame, perhaps install a small u-shaped brass plate, which may take some doing if it's going to be kept inconspicuous.

All the paint on this engine is Scalecoat; I put on a base of loco black, weathered it with Bragdon's powder, and then added a flat varnish layer. The rods were done in graphite, and the results are subdued, and with a light dusting of reddish and yellow powder give the appearance of road grime. I masked off the driving wheel tires, and I'm pretty happy with the results; the look is of a well-maintained engine that's been logging a lot of road time.