Sometimes things don't quite go to plan.

In this instance, the plan was to use a pair of 2P bodies to build a B5 'Fish' engine. Last time, I had gotten as far as hacking one body up and splicing in a length of boiler from the second, and beginning to look at welding the new boiler onto a running plate from a Patriot.

Unfortunately what then happened was that it all went wrong. The new boiler was from plastic so thick that it didn't sit at proper height, and then the new running plate, having been carved up to suit the chassis and the drawings, proved too slight to be of much use. Eventually it reached the point of being hacked up so much as to be less effort to start over than it was to continue.

So I made a fresh start. I used the firebox from the Patriot that had previously donated its running plate, and then I found a length of 19mm brass tube in my spares box. A few evenings' work with a mitre saw and a file got the tube down to size and appropriately cut up to fit the motor, and then I took a few pieces of 0.5mm plastic sheet and wrapped them onto it. I secured these with rubber bands and then immersed the lot in boiling water, quenching it under the cold tap.

This thickened the boiler barrel up to 20mm, and I then bonded it onto the firebox.

Onto the new running plate. This time I used a length of 0.5mm plastic sheet, cutting it very carefully to fit over the wheels and motor, and then I took a length of 2mm square plastic section and bonded this to it to firm the whole thing up. I then took the amputated front 'lowered section' of the Patriot plates and bonded it to my new scratchbuilt upper running plate.

The boiler was then lowered onto the running plate, and the smokebox saddle built up to keep the whole thing level.

Onto the splashers. I cut these from more 0.5mm sheet. The offcuts from this particular component were then glued to the boiler to remove the gap between running plate and boiler. Yes, I know technically there should be a gap but on the other hand if I left it there all we would see would be the motor and the cutout of the boiler would be more pronounced. Swings and roundabouts- it's not ideal but better than the alternative.

Anyway, a few photos of progress up to last night- typically since then I've added more to the model, in the shape of the cab sheets.