My favourite niece, Katie, a Cleaner at the Bluebell Railway, decided she wanted to build a loco in 10 1/4".
What a nice idea I thought - a nice little B4 or Pug - maybe even a little 0-6-0 perhaps......

Oh no - it has to be a 9F.... and do you think Uncle would be so kind as to draw up the frames...?

The laser cuttings for 9F mainframe assembly

at around 2pm it was a pile of laser cuttings, and by 7pm it was this.... fully welded and primed! (Welded by Katie, incidentally....)
The frames made an appearance at Ally Pally later in the month.......

A drawing to make clear what I mean by 'Secret Slot-and-Tab' - The tab is recessed back from the finished surface, and the weld is fully in the slot cavity. I've devised this form of joint (it's easy with laser cutting) in order to make the process even easier and quicker....