Lately it's been a lot of work on individual parts, but things are about to start going back together. The boiler shell is now completely cleared of all detail, holes I don't need filled in, and new holes drilled for handrail stanchions, etc. I finished rounding the firebox, using JB Weld, and you can also see how I had to add material to the front wall of the cab. I ended up not being able to keep the original rear boiler band, so I fabricated a new one with metal from a soda can. The PRR cab is rather short, although the overall height is correct for the Southern one, and I had to extend the cab down about a scale 8". Here you can see how I did that with metal from a coffee can. I'll add decal rivets before painting. The running boards are correspondingly lower (in the rear half, higher in the front), and I'm now trying to figure out how to mount them since they can no longer be mounted to the boiler shell. Some things will be a compromise, but when it's done you tend to forget about them!
