My order from Metalsmith arrived this week so I moved back onto the Slaters brake van build.
The order from Metalsmith was chiefly for 4mm x 2mm angle which I have used to make replacement stepboards in brass.

The reasons for this are twofold, they will be more resilient to handling and I can solder them to the cast brass stepboard supports provided in the kit.
Conversely I have swapped the cast brass buffer stocks in the kit for some spare Parkside ones of the same style which I can glue more easily to the plastic headstocks.

I aslo cut out and cleaned up the axles boxes and springs ready for fitting and ran in to a little problem.

I had previously fitted some triangular (well almost) etched corner plates to the underside of the headstock/solebars. as you can see from the photos these now prevent the spring hangers from sitting flat under the sole bars. A look at the GA reveals that the spring hangers have been cut to allow the plates to be fitted but I feel that I may have fitted them in the wrong orientation and plan to remove one of them to check how it fits with the plate turned through 45 degrees.

As many will know Slaters do a really nice casting for a brake van stove. The problem with them is that they are based on an LMS(Midland?) design and although I have used them myself on other builds I have always hoped that someone would do an LNER version.
For this build having got a drawing for the stove, (thanks Dave) I thought I would have a bash at making one.
I am quite pleased with the results and I should have taken a shot with a 5p piece to show how big it isn’t…

I will have to straighten the jaunty chimney angle before final fitting though

Finally a couple more shots of the interior as it is at the moment.

Although I have been busy in the workshop all day I have been distracted by fitting buffers to a good number of part finished models. I did manage to get the door on the brake van hung though and it does open and close.

Finally a better shot of the internals than I managed last night.

Firstly my appologies for the crap photos’s I haven’t anywhere set up to take them at the minute so I had to do with poor lighting and try to make up for it with software but it isn’t up to much.
I managed to get my hands on some styrene so the last couple of days while it has been raining I cleared a space and set up the cutter. First I cut the parts for the new door and the internal lockers/benches etc. 
Sadly it didn’t go without incident and on the very last cut it moved out of registration and scrapped them all. Undeterred I cut them again and they came out okay. 
I glued the layers for the door together and laid them between two sheets of glass to dry and it was only when I was rubbing the edges down to remove the layering that I realised that I had a few layers too many – the completed door was a scale 4″ thick. I must have been thinking I was building a bullion van or something…
So third time lucky as the saying goes we have the new door sorted. And after all that I forgot to take any photos of it.
While the door was drying I made up the lockers and from the drawing added hinges, and hasp and staple to each locker area. The drawing also says that the guard was to be issued one padlock, so only one of them has a padlock.

Having added the lining detail to the interior I set about making the Guard’s vacuum gauge and the automatic van valve etc.

All made from styrene rod and tube of various sizes. I have just realised that I have missed of the guard’s handle I will add that before final fitting.
Here are a few shots of things just resting in place.

Just ready for the stove when I finish drawing and cutting it…