Increase your length by 7 inches!

(Send all your money now!)

 Am_Fet actually upsets the balance of the universe and does the following:

One of the joys of completing the J5 project was getting my grubby mitts on Cabbages glorious etched brass underframe. And what a beauty it is.... The only problem I have is the J5 itself. At 15' over headstocks, its an incredibly weird-ass length as compared to the standard 15'7" underframe that appears under numerous other wagons.

SO....instead of getting Cabbage to re draw and resubmit to Scotland to account for those pesky 7", I started to wonder if the chassis could be stretched to account for the missing meterage without bothering his Royal CADness.....and although you might think that 1.5mm overall isnt worth worrying about, scribbles have shown (to my eye at least) the wagons look slightly truncated, meaning its more noticeable than you think.

After purloining a collection of 2mm wheels and bearings from Schloss Dandruff on Sunday, Monday afternoon found me in the lab at work with a hot soldering iron and lashings of Carrs solder paste.

                                   

Actually, the pic above shows me ahead of myself....at that stage I had already bent up the axleboxes in a fit of enthusiasm using only a Stanley knife and the engineers square shown. Another thing I did that Cabbage will castigate me for later is that I didnt remove the etch from the sheet as instructed. It made more sense to me to do it like this as I had more "handles" to hold it with. After this photo was taken I soldered in the bearings (losing the obligatory one on the floor) before folding the rest of the axlegaurds over the top of them; to my mind it helps with the alignment while folding and gives you a satisfying "Pop" as it all clicks into place. Another quick squidge of Carrs and its good to go.

                                     

So this is where I left it this afternoon with one solebar folded up as well as both coupler pockets. The fun bit from here will be to remove the headstocks and add in the extra 0.75mm at each end. One thought I had was putting two laminations of the 0.3mm etch material from the fret between the solebars and the headstocks, and thats what I might try next time I sit down with a warm iron.

I was really amazed at how easy this kit is going together (Well Done Cabbage!) and how easy Carrs soldering paste is to use. It really is a case of smear and heat. I'm sold!