, , ,

Your Builds: Here We Go Then

Well – here we go then! Something I never thought I would be saying but between myself, my wife and my grandfather we are going to build a 6″ Foden C type.

It will be named Elizabeth after my late Nan, who is the one responsible for the steam fix. Yesterday was the big day of finally getting the kits back home from storage – it would have been a lot sooner but I won’t go into reasons why not – but finally the workshop is completed enough to get them home.

We were lucky enough to be able to acquire all of the kits in one go – part of that was due to timing but mainly due to the fact I want my grandfather to see it, and given his advancing years we thought it best to have them in one lump to try to get through the build as quickly as possible. After all – he’ll definitely want to see it in steam!! For the most part I will be following the normal kit-by-kit approach on the build as recommended by Dean, but with some chances to expedite things a little quicker; for example all 4 wheels can be processed and painted in one batch rather than waiting for each kit to arrive.

I’ll be trying to maintain a build log to give something back – I’ve been a long term forum reader before registering and the build threads on the Steam Traction World forum were a MAJOR part in finally taking the plunge – special thanks go to the Crystal, Frederick and Black Beard threads but I’ve read most on here and all have been appreciated.

Today I’ve mainly been opening the first few boxes to work out what I’ve got to do, what tools I will need, and a large amount of online shopping. All early paint requirements, the few tools I didn’t have, and some other consumables are now on their way and it won’t be long before I can start in earnest. I’ve a few jobs ongoing to finish before I can start really focusing on it; My tractor needs some final fettling which will be done alongside the Foden, and the garden is currently in the process of having a lot of pathing put down to help my grandfather get around easier.