A turn of the screw

So, after not being able to contain my excitement or patience to wait, I decided I would at least get the tender assembled and the hand water pump installed. That way, I could set it atop my dresser and make a dummy coal load before I set off on my summer break. So, after making sure I understood the process involved in assembling the tender trucks, I set to it.

Common sense goes a long way in assembling this, just like building other kits and models. I was pretty active in building small scale castles and buildings out of blocks poured from molds I bought using Dental Plaster as the mix. So, building things is something I have always enjoyed doing. This Aster kit fits my building desires like a glove.

A little machine oil, some aid of the screwdriver and the first truck went together like a well oiled machine and ran smooth as butter on the track that Aster has you construct. Nice touch.

A while later and the second one was rolling just as smooth. Man, that seemed to go too fast and easy. I realize that there was not much involved with the two trucks other than gathering all the parts and doing the work.

I took a break to eat some supper and get a tube of silicone bathroom caulk. Then it was time to install the fuel tank and sump. After gathering the appropriate hex bolts I would need, I poured out a bit of caulk on a napkin with toothpicks standing by. I took a Hex bolt and carefully applied a bit of the caulk onto the threads then placed it in the hex driver and carefully threaded it into the holes of the sump and tank. After a rinse/repeat, both bolts were snug as a bug in a rug.

Now, here I wondered if I had used enough caulk. Don't want any excess alcohol leaking out, but I can check that later after the caulk as cured.

Next it was onto installing the o-rings onto both the fuel cap and needle valve. Here is where some of the translation between directions and hardware packets may have stuttered a bit. After realizing the only 0 ring which seemed to match both the fuel cap and the directions was labeled PN-7, but the bag labeled it PN-7-1. Like I said, a bit of common sense helps and before I could say Yatzee, both 0-rings were on the caps and threaded into the fuel tank. A bit loose so as not to crush the 0 rings needlessly as the tank is still empty.

After this, I cleaned and closed up shop for the evening. Tomorrow, I'll put some fuel into the tank to ensure those two hex nuts hold their weight. Then it is a matter of assembling and installing the tender pump. I expect that this step will be a bit more involved, but I anticipate the challenges awaiting me.

After caulking had dried, I filled up the tender fuel tank with denatured alcohol using the syringe I got with the kit. I had the tender straddling a container should any leaks occur, but there were no leaks. The fuel came out the hose when the needle valve was opened as designed. I blocked off the tube and the chicken feed system worked again with no leaks out of the sump. I will put a very fine bead of caulk around where the sump sits flush against the bottom of the fuel tank for added measure.