1 - Body castings out of the box. These need to be washed in metho and/or warm soapy water & thoroughly rinsed.

2 - The sides are cast in pairs.

3 - Various etched, turned & cast brass detail components.

4 - Separate the side castings.

5 - Remove all traces of the joining gates.

6 - Remove all flash from the window apertures. First the verticals....

7 - ....then the horizontals.

8 - Remove shiny surface from back of castings. First up & down window band...

9 - ...then horizontally.

10 - Drill out holes for the commode & door handles.

11 - Separate the compartment partitions that have been cast & machined to width as matched sets.

12 - Remove machining burrs around the rebates near the seats to allow subsequent fitting of the optional etched brass interior panels.

13 - All traces of joining gates need to be removed to ensure a square body assembly.

14 - Remove all flash & put a slight champfer on these edges. It will help the superglue to wick into the joints.

15 - Gently roughen the backs of the WC components on a sheet of 400 wet or dry paper.

16 - Clamp a straight edge to workbench & glue centre WC section to a partition with door. Ensure both parts are in alignment..

17 - Attach another door partition to complete a WC compartment. Squareness in vertical & horizontal planes is essential.

18 - Insert compartment alignment blocks into windows & position the WC compartments.

19 - Insert alignment blocks into second side, position WC compartment as before & check with engineer's square.

20 - Glue second side to the WC compartments.

21 - Assemble two pairs of plain partitions.

22 - Check for alignment & tack glue. The partitions must be in perfect alignment in two planes.

23 - Add glue to bottom of these components for a more secure bond.

24 - Place plain partition assembly on the 1.5mm styrene alignment sheet & adjust position before tack gluing.

25 - After checking body is square in all planes, place more glue in the various joints for maximum bonding strength.

26 - Everything should now be nice & square!

27 - Separate the pair of ends & ensure all traces of the joining gates are removed.

28 - Drill out the corners of the step pockets with a 0.55mm drill held in the pin chuck. Drill should project from chuck by about 3mm.

29 - The top of the ends will need to be filed or sanded to fit within the roof profile because of unavoidable variations in shrinkage.

30 - It's very important to take as much care & time as is needed....

31 - ...to ensure that the end fits into the roof profile in perfect alignment.

32 - Attach the ends to sides, again taking as much time as needed, keep fingers out of the path of the glue. (More explaination needed)

33 - Insert remaining plain partitions using 1.5mm styrene sheet for vertical position. Width of partitions will need to be slightly reduced

for a sliding fit between the sides. Apply minimal glue on the corners only. The partitions & ends are NOT to be laminated as this will cause the ends to bow inwards.

34 - Prepare body for painting by inserting the paint masking blocks into window apertures & securing with Tamiya low tack masking tape

or similar. Press the tape into the corners with a rectangular piece of styrene then fold tabs over top of side as shown.

35 - Prepare a wooden holding jig roughly as shown, drill through the three holes in the WC compartments to hold secure with 50 x 2mm flathead nails.

1mm top sheet & 1.5mm thick bottom sheet protects interior from the spray paint. (Further explaination)

36 - Pull up tags & remove. Gently wash assembly in warm soapy woter & rinse. Use soft brush to ensure that masking blocks are not disturbed.

37 - Spray on etch grey primer. A double-action airbrush will achieve the best result....

38 - ...although a single-action airbrush may suffice. Spray cans will not allow proper control of paint flow & fine detail easily obliterated.

39 - Leave primer to dry out for a couple of days then mask off body ready for the Russet window band.

40 - Spray on the Russet. I used Dulux Beach Casuarina High Gloss Enamel & mixed with Diggers Enamel Thinner. Applied in very light coats.

41 - Leave the Russet to dry out at least 3 days & mask off window band ready for the Venetian Red colour. (Dulux High Gloss Enamel)

42 - Both main colours on! Set aside for another 3 days at least in a dust free enclosure.

43 -

44 -

45 - Etched brass interior panels shown for reference only. These are optional components that can be easily added when body is complete.

Interior side compartment panelling to be available as an optional accessory.

Unpainted 2AD bogie fitted with my own exact scale wheels.

2AD bogie with exact scale wheels. These were made for my own amusement & are not for sale.

Underneath view of 2AD bogie.

Note V grooves in the bearings that make removal & insertion of wheel sets easier. These have to be filed in be the kit builder.

The brake set etch for the 2AD bogie. These are separated into three pairs of subframes, folded over and sweat soldered together.

The etch brass fret for the 2AD bogie. There are bolster options on this fret to suit Kadee couplings, LFX & LHG type screw couplings.

This photo shows the difference between the exact scale tyre width of 1.46mm & RP88 tyre width of 2.20mm.

View of functional bogie main frame minus the outer cosmetic side frames.

2AD bogie with SEM 10 spoke RP88 wheels, as supplied standard in the kits.

Another view showing the 2AD bogie fitted with SEM RP88 10 spoke wheels.