I'm getting closer to being able to recommence working on 4472 again and in fact will do so before actually finishing the workshop, not so much the internal areas but the outside which still needs tiling and painting, once that is done, I can decide on the colours, or should I say those railway colours that I can get past senior management. Naturally, I want LNER but may have to settle for Midland as the red matches the house's front door.. the walls of both the house and the workshop will match being a cream which can cover both LNER and Midland liveries...we shall see...

Ok, so back to the inside and a few bits and pieces to do, first up is the last of the internal insolation sheets, this one being the truss over the large door, I'll board it later. This photo also gives a good view of the curved 1/8th white hardboard running along the middle, I'll add the larger side sheets to cover the rest of the roofing insulation later, I think there are going to be a few of these  'later's'...:)

Some small items now finding their homes, first, we have the rather dirty-looking spray booth used for spraying small detailed parts along with general model making. The filter and perspex will be changed later.

Also, we have the brazing hearth, my old one made up of fireproof MDF and heat bricks is being replaced with this lovely brazing hearth which I recently bought from a fellow member of NLSME. This is perfect for the remaining brazing sessions required for 4472, all relatively small now, and also for some of my other things to build, for example, a G1 Barretts King, one day. The first job for the hearth will be the reverser, more on that with the next article for 4472.

This next stage was most welcome, I finally have a good light source, 4 LED strips using daylight bulbs that are nice and bright, no good for painting ( need natural light) but perfect for everything else, at least I can now see what I'm doing. Forgive the photo, it is actually just the one picture taken from the far corner but due to the L shape gives the impression of being two images joined together.

My humble lathe is now on its stand, luckily for me two of my sons came to my aid and manhandled it into position.

This Warco WM300T lathe combi has served me well since 2000 but to be honest needs reconditioning, the bed is a little worn, and there's far too much slack in the cross slide, one day.

With most of the tools now in their homes, I'll show a couple of general views to give a better idea of my working area. This end where the hoist is situated will be where most assembly work takes place along with the spraying and brazing stations. Here I can lift the loco to work under her, spin her around, and also to lower her to the floor using the swinging gib. You can also see that some of the hand tools are now easy to find.

Now, this area will be where I spend most of my time, I have made this as nice a place to work as possible, I have plenty of light, both from the LEDs but also natural light through the 3 windows, the largest of which is directly in front of the main sitting area.

Here is a list of the next jobs written out on my whiteboard job sheet that lives on the inside of the small door. I may not tackle them in this exact order but I do plan to finish what's on this list before moving on...famous last words.

This picture shows that 4472 is indeed back where she belongs, with lots to do before completion but at least I'm now close to being able to work on her again.

One final picture to show the outside and perhaps if anyone has any ideas of what to paint which colour they may let me know. I am quite pleased with myself in how this is all coming together, not only have I built a reasonably sized workshop but also have the space for a carport to cover my classic car. I have moved the picket fence over to give me room for the carport which will sit to the right of this picture along the picket fence. The gate seen will be replaced with a large sliding gate with one of the fence panels being removed to give a larger entrance, the two posts seen behind the gate will be removed to give clear access to the carport, well at least that's the current plan. Looking at the painting, if I get away with being allowed LNER I'll paint the concrete panels in cream, as will the wooden cladding on either side of the doors and the truss panels. The LNER green will be on the facia boards and beam above the large door, roof will be slated in black tiles. I may have to concede to the picket fence not following LNER green, I may get away with using the cream or I guess that I could do it in white to match the workshop doors which will also be white. Other options for the green are Maroon red for Midland or perhaps chocolate brown for GWR. Decisions, decisions...