Building a 5 inch gauge model of 4472 Flying Scotsman

Hi everyone…

I started this model approx 2010, or should I say the first picture was taken then. This is my build of 4472 Flying Scotsman using Don Young’s ‘Doncaster’ design as the basis but also many works drawings to improve in detail where required. The drawings were purchased in 1998 from Reeves 2000 along with Don’s ‘words and music’ from his ‘Locomotives Large and Small’ publications (LLAS). Back in 1998 the magazines were still available so I have all of the originals, today, alas, if you buy from Reeves you’ll most likely just get photo copies of the relevant pages involved.

I am starting this blog in 2020 to help me keep an accurate account of the build, both in the write-ups but more importantly in the images. I have posted my build on a number of social platforms over the years and will continue to do so, alas the first ‘ MECH proboards) where all this began now has images blurred out due to the fiasco a few years back when ‘Photobucket’ caused a stir when demanding money from what was a free service. It’s not so much that they wanted money or even the ridiculous amounts demanded that caused such a stir in the community, it’s more the way in how they did it which is why I will no longer use them. I think the writing is on the wall that other free image hosting services today will soon follow and thus I have created this blog where all of its contents will be held on a private server where they shall remain safe.

It may take me some time to catch up with the other platforms; after all, this build has been ongoing for 11 years now which means a lot of details have been written down with images attached. Hopefully as I try to move everything across to this new platform it will still make sense and follow a logical procedure. Some details may be a bit sparse to begin with, they were, as I was very much on a steep learning curve back then. As the years rolled by I grew in confidence and have tried to give much more detail in how I approach the parts being constructed.

I hope that the information contained within these pages (there will be many) is of interest and more importantly, of use in helping others who are on a similar journey to myself. To help encourage others, this is my first entry into model steam locomotive building, some may say chose something simple as your first model, I disagree for two reasons. First, everyone has different levels of skill that have developed throughout their lives’, be they young or shall we say of more advanced years. My background in Film/TV was very much working with models that needed to not only look real but also needed to work first time. Add that to building models as a hobby for dare I say over 50 years now and you naturally gain a lot of experience in making miniatures, no matter what their subject matter.

The other point and this is probably of more importance, is to choose something that you really want to make. Don’t start a model that you don’t really like but think it will help you gain experience for building what you really want later. No matter what you choose, there will be good days and bad days, it’s when you have a ‘bad’ day that you’ll need that little bit of extra encouragement to keep going, building something that you love will get you over any hurdles which may be thrown at you.

As I said, this is my first model and it’s by no means an easy design to begin with, if I can do it with my very limited tooling, then so can you, have a go, I’m sure that you’ll enjoy the ride just as much as I’m enjoying my own. Please forgive some of the pictures, the early pictures were taken on a pretty low resolution phone camera, as phones have improved so have my pictures.

With this introduction I include a few images of the build as she is today, it will give you an idea of where this story is leading too which hopefully will be one of/if not the most, detailed model of this locomotive built in this gauge. I plan to have as much functioning as both humanly and what physics allows to be possible in this size. This will involve most of the fittings being built true to scale, all these details will be announced as I progress further into the build.

A couple of images to wet your appetite...