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Beattie 2-4-0 well tank in 7mm from one of the original Roxey kits. The build story appeared in the Railway Modeller magazine some time ago. A Diversion Into Something A Bit Bigger... In recent years, Gauge O has had something of a renaissance. Yet that sheer mass and size that is the scale's very attraction, can be a double-edged sword. Scaling up 4mm mechanisms, materials and build methods, doesn't always produce the sort of durable and rugged model that can survive repeated handling and perhaps even the odd excursion into the garden. It's one reason why I now try to replace any whitemetal parts from a 7mm kit by lost wax brass castings, or else make my own turned or fabricated replacements. For rigidity, I am moving to using mainframes from 1.5mm thick steel or brass strip. They may not have every last rivet or stiffening angle detail upon them, but they won't twist, and if the locomotive runs into the stop blocks a bit sharpish, the only thing that hopefully will get dented is the operator's pride.... 
Of all the models I have ever made, this is the one that I think I would have wanted to keep. Not that straightforward a build because of the mix of whitemetal and etched brass, and perhaps because too, I wanted to try out a number of new techniques by way of a desire to 'improve the breed' as it were. 
Bunker view of the well tank. After the rebuild of these engines by the Southern in the 1930s, the front buffer beams were of metal but the rears remained wood. There is also a small but noticable difference in buffer heights front to back after this time - something that needs to be replicated in miniature if the model is to be an accurate one. 
Cylinders of the Beattie 7mm well tank. Slidebars were made up from mild steel strip rather than the usual etched nickle-silver, and nestling coyly between the frames, is a front axle sprung by a series of four individual coil springs. I even made a special cranked spanner (which I still have...) to tighten up all the nuts that hold the whole arrangement together. And yes, that lovely fine brake rigging does come right off by unscrewing a series of 14 BA nuts each side, should the driving wheels ever need to come out... 
From left: assembled buffer, stainless steel head head awaiting parting off after turning shank and thread screwing, completed large head with spring and BA retaining nut, Once the head is parted off, the buffer can be reversed and held in the chuck by the shank and rounded off with careful use of a file. Bare stock housing (machined with large round base which was then filed freehand square to size before final parting off). Actually, only the heads ended up being used, as after having made the replacement paralell stocks, I found that this loco received the standard Southern-pattern round-base type. 
A last look. Never mind, I'll build another one (again) for myself one day. 
Slaters' 20 hp 'bent frame Simplex 'Trench Tractor in 16mm scale. This runs on 32mm Gauge 0 track gauge, and is one of the growing number of kits aimed at the finescale modeller working in what was once seen mostly as the preserve of the live steam narrow gauge fraternity. 
Bonnet all buttoned up and tractor ready to roll. Despite its size, this is actually quite a delicate model, partly on account of the great amount of detail that it incorporates (you should just be able to make out the spark plug leads in one of the other pictures...). And also because - in my view - both the type and thicknesses of the materials chosen by the kit's designers are too lightweight for the scale. 
This model was finished in a semi-matt 'industrial' green shade, which perhaps does not do true justice to the finer points of detailing that this large size makes possible. Even a slight patina of weathering, can provide the needed contrast between shadow, colour tone and light that can make a model like this really come alive. 
Coupling bars and pins. Merely sections of steel strip, heated to cherry red and then quenched in oil to give a dull grey finish that won't rub off as easily as paint or chemical blackener. The pins are turned from bar stock in the little Pultra 1750. I always make a spare set (or two), as however careful you are, they always seem to wander.... 
Major sub-assemblies for the Simplex. From left top clockwise - cylinder block, seat, resin fuel tank (not used), folded up and soldered brass open-topped and backed fuel tank, radiator with fan. Roy C. Link managed to build his with a working fan, but I'm not as gifted, so this one is fixed. Radiator has additional taped hole for securing screw as well as the moulded-in locating dowels. Holes in the base of the fuel tank are intended to let the sound out from an on-board speaker. 
Chassis of the Simplex mounted into the main body moulding during the build. DCC socket under guard iron angle at left of picture. Note 'P' clips at the top of each axle hornguide to allow dismantling, and the way that the brake rodding has been joggled to clear the delrin roller chains. What you can't see is how the turnbuckle is only soldered in at one end, so that the two sets of brake beams can be slipped apart to free the wheels, should they ever need to come out. 
'Driver's side' of the Simplex. Other side of the bonnet is flipped up to reveal open side and top of the dummy fuel tank. At some point, the client hopes to fit a sound system to the model, and the fuel tank seemed to be as good as location as any to earmark as the location for the speaker.
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