Following from my earlier post I’ve now sourced a second 3F, this being a ‘keyhole’ variant, so called due to the sandbox filler which is visible in the lower centre of the side tanks. That sandbox filler looks a bit like the keyhole in the side of early tinplate Hornby O gauge, hence the nickname. I’ve got a further keyhole variant on the way, and will source another plain tank version for a sequence build later in the year. In the mean time I have to source some more data, the WSP book is being looked for at the moment, a few more Brassmasters detail kits, some bits from Mainly Trains, and a real one. Fortunately there are a few at the Butterly Midland Railway centre, so I may be able to crawl over one of theirs.

The RHS locomotive is as it comes, the LHS loco has had the body dissasembled, the rear window bars removed, cab roof vent removed and cab sides thinned. I’ll now await Mrs postie to deliver the other goodies.