With the tender ready for the paint shop, I decided to turn my attention to the front end. The smokebox is about 10 scale inches too slim, but the anemic look is worsened by the oversized headlight, smokestack (probably to accommodate the Seuthe smoke unit), and those googly marker lights. Even the headlight bracket was too big to re-use. Here's the cleaned up smokebox front with the new parts ready to install:
Removing the stack was no easy task without a resistance soldering iron, but I got it off without dismantling the entire front end! Here's the new stack in place:
I also removed the air compressor, which will be relocated, and cleared the area in preparation for the Worthington feedwater heater:
No turning back now! There's a bit more deconstruction to do, and then parts will start to go back on. All the while I'm consulting photos of Ms-4s, and in particular the one I'm modeling, 4813. Until next time...
