D51 - Parts 23
The two sounds made by the effect generator certainly confirmed the "end if nigh". Parts 23 and just two sets to go, time has flown by. Parts 23 involved the effects generator that involves the sounds RUN and WHISTLE. The RUN certainly sounds like a steam engine on standby. The whistle is excellent. Not sure what a D51 whistle sounds like but the sound generated is a little American. Also in parts 23 we added the ballast pieces and the sleepers followed by the rail pieces. The rollers went together fine and fitted well between the ballast. The wires from the effects generator were threaded through the hole in the base. Finally the wheel chocks (as pictured) were fitted. At present I am curious what the cut outs that remain on the bottom of the frame joints are for?
Regards Dennis

Looks very tidy indeed. Off the topic, but I haven't been around for a while - does anyone know what happened to all the old pictures and whether there's still any way to see them, or is everything gone for good? Everything posted before this week seems to be gone, at least at my end.

Hi Jase,
Thank you. Regarding the sunny day I am reasonably clued up with Photoshop which allows some manipulation!
You have confirmed it must work!
Cheers
Dennis

Hi Kremmen,
Thank you for your comments. Regarding the pictures my understanding from what has been said is they will be reinstated. However this may take some while because of the sheer size of the task.
Regards
Dennis

Hi Andy,
As always, thank you. Two more sets of parts and I can finish the build.
Regards
Dennis

Parts 24 - the chassis
Having the final parts of the D51 chassis in parts 24 meant the chassis could be assembled. The chassis including all the suspension plus all the parts to be attached were sprayed. I decided to use a small spray gun rather than an airbrush. The gun will also spray with 30 psi air pressure but there is little need to thin the paint which was a major advantage. The meant paint covering power. The problem with spraying is it is directional meaning it is so easy to miss parts than are in the shadow of the spray. Whilst spraying to avoid this obviously, a touch in brush is used afterwards as required. In the same way as the tender I sprayed everything once degreased with a light coat of etch primer. Once dry a light coat of primer/filler was applied followed once dry by the black. I decided the black finish on the tender was too matt (to be resprayed) and therefore more gloss was added to the mix. Once the paint had hardened then assembly began. Parts which are to remain unpainted I either mask off with masking tape or use liquid mask (such as the brass work on the steam chests). Any cross head screws that I used had the heads filled with high build superglue before touching in with a brush. This technique certainly helps the screw heads look like rivets. Hexagon headed brass screws were also used. However the screws do have a rather deep head. This was therefore reduced by simply holding them in a battery drill chuck and using a file whilst spinning. I am pleased with the result. The work carried out so long ago now on the motion gear looks good. I will leave the body since a few parts are included in the final parts set 25. Once they are fitted the body will be sprayed and fitted to the chassis. The motor works fine having tested it as suggested in the instructions.
Regards dennis

Thank you. I am pleased with the results. Worth the wait definitely. Let's hope the body is as good when finished.
Kind regards
Dennis