Himself approached this kit knowing it had a reputation for being difficult, mainly on account of it being a scaled-down version of the 7mm scale kit.
It may, however, be the first one he has ever had to declare unbuildable - it is currently configuration at least.
Part of the problem is illustrated below in this picture of the motor / gearbox which appears to be more like one of those Chinese ring puzzles you get in a Christmas cracker than a drive unit.
The long shaft you see in the centre is suppose to pass through the bearing at the top - but as you can see from the picture there's absolutely no way that gearbox is going to fit onto it with the amount of clearance available. In fact the cog jams solid against the side of the motor.
What's more the entire assembly is also then expected to fit up inside the saddle tank in its transverse position.
Guess what? It doesn't!
(Not so much of an issue on the 7mm kit, I should imagine)
Right at the moment, though, this is the least of our worries because it transpires that the kit we were supplied with does not have a chassis.
That's right, I'll type that again. There is no chassis!
Himself has checked, double checked, and checked once again all the etches in the box but there is nothing in there that can be put together to get our Large England on the move. There are only components to make one of the small 4'6" wheelbase locomotives, despite the claims that the kit will do for both.
Attempts to contact Merican Models to seek their advice have also proved unsuccessful, which is most disappointing.
We appear to be rather stuck!
Mercian are usually very good at supporting people. As a one-man-band he could be on holiday of course. Both e-mail & phone usually work although giving Trevor a ring is usually a bit quicker.
ReplyDelete