Wb 3 - A splash of paint and grot

DB comes out of stasis:

And just to let you know where the Wb got to. This post was actually drafted in July but I don't think this was posted .. I've added the last picture and a few paragraphs at the end.

I decided to spray a top coat. Mainly flat black but a drop or two of that weathered black included to take the edge off. 

Looks better from the mandated viewing distance and under less-yellow lights. There is still a bit of faceting on the domes, but the black hides it a little. Z scale couplers were also added fore and aft after the coupler slots were somehow opened out with files, without either breaking something or dropping the top onto the floor.

The chassis remains a stumbling block. I tested it today (December) and it runs fairly well - even in this state without the additional tender pickups, without the original cast boiler (for weight) and with rubber traction tires on the front wheels (these could be removed). 

I can probably cut off the fancy valve gear (the Wb had internal valve gear). And I'd extend the cylinders in a forward direction.

The stock attached decoder, which used to be in the tender, is too big unfortunately.  My original plan was to have it up above the loco (inside the top of the side tanks) but there isn't enough vertical room. 

There is room to put a Digitrax DZ143 or similar into one of the side tanks. The rest of the tank and bunker space could be filled with weight. Or maybe a 'stay alive' chip/capacitor depending on how big those are. 

I wonder if its feasible to put pickup wipers on the truck wheels? 

So overall, not much progress on this in the past few months. And there may not be for a while as I'm embarking on some improvements to the train room.