Scratchbuilding in 1:35

1. I designed a freelance steam loco based on the designs of Fletcher Jennings- I did do some vague sketches, but I mostly made the dimensions up as I went along.

2. Then the interesting part started- I used plasticard to build the model around a Hornby Smokey Joe chassis- it’s cheap, usually around £15-£20; I was given mine. Although it is cheap, it still runs well enough and can fairly simply be hardwired to DCC should you so wish, and it has roughly the right dimensions for an NG loco in 1:43 or 1:35, as demonstrated by Christopher Payne so well on his Portpyn layout to name one example.

So this is where I was at after a couple of hours work:

I used an old Hornby 14xx boiler and smoke box for practicality, with balsa buffers and the original chimney with a bit of tube to extend it up. Couplings are made using the old Airfix kit couplings at 90 degrees to how they were designed, and cylinders from more tube.

3. More details! Coal rails, filler cap (from an N gauge wheel), valve gear covers and more made the model seem a bit more realistic.