Staying with We375 for another instalment.
The mechanicals are still a little way off, so it's all been about sorting the 'pretty' bits, checking, rechecking and sorting what can be sorted. Everything is either press fit or just placed.
Sand domes were printed and are a bit high. I went with the drawing, but twixt top and bottom castings is a sheetmetal band. I didn't have the measurement for the We, but went with it's parent the B. Unfortunately they are 4" or so too high, but easy fixed. The lids are separate, which is neat as I can fix them slightly askew. But the real benefit is they drain of resin after printing which saves a mess. Almost all the remaining parts are on hand, but their assembly and fitting can wait. There is a lot to go on and it's like a pile of spaghetti, but nothing fit critical.
Pipework and valve gear (Walschaerts) are slightly problematic as I don't have stock of wire, pins and tube appropriate to 9mm. This is slowly being accumulated though.
Sub assemblies like brake hangers are also done. Brake cylinders and cranks are soldered in. Handrails were a gentle press fit in the tanks. These are castings based on the We drawing, so dead right.
If tyres don't arrive, it will be the bogies next. They need tyres too, but the front one is still a bit of a black box. It's a simple looking thing though so should be OK.
The crosshead is a clip together assembly, the slide bars have been touched up with files and the whole thing lapped in with diamond paste. The clip arrangement is a fiddle in 1:64, but a breeze in 9mm. Piston rods still to be added, and the assembly will be honed again after that.
This is the crosshead from behind. The blue part is a press fit and is shaped to positively locate in the main crosshead part. This only works with really accurate castings, and this was pretty simple. If necessary (and as a late step) the blue part can be invisibly solder fixed via the through holes shown here.
