In a previous post I described the preliminary stages of making a canopy for my Wilesco toy traction engine. In this post I commit my design to metal. I cut the cross members from 1.5mm thick brass sheet. This was the first time I’d used a piercing saw (also known as a jeweller’s saw) since … Read more
Since I bought a toy traction engine I’ve been thinking about all sorts of ways to improve it. I’ve already started scratch building a better canopy and have nearly finished making a simple trailer from a kit. In all of this it’s important to remember that it’s a tin-plate toy, not a scale model. Excessive … Read more
One of the less realistic parts of the Wilesco D415 (kit version of the D405) traction engine is its canopy. It’s too long, too high, and in my case doesn’t fit very well (although the fit could be improved with a bit of tweaking). This post describes the preliminary stages of making a replacement canopy. … Read more