[Erik Zwaan]

Hi guys, back with an update and thanks once more for your reactions.

@Marcin Jakubiec: The model was already printed, I didn't download it. I've scanned it and printed a few sheets for use in case needed, but that's a laser print. Color differences exist but not too tremendous.

@ Ricardo: The fitting issue it's not as bad as it seems and was solved easily. The wheels are made up of two circles of which the inner is slightly greater than the outer, with a tapered running tread in between that rests on the rails. The core of the wheel is made up of the laser cut former. The laser cut is slightly too large as the tread (part no. 140c) cannot be closed. It’s just one millimeter too tight so the former needs to be trimmed a little. Using thinner paper won’t help the situation. Because the outer circle (part no 140) has the same diameter as the former, this should also be made slightly smaller. Resulting in a correct wheel, with a small rim around the inner circle that nicely fits within the rails. It's shown in one of the pictures.

It took a few hours to finish the wheels, axles and other suspension related parts. The wheels fit exactly in between the “caves” of the undercarriage, which helps to position them properly.
The four axles were rolled into a tube and butt glued. To shape them properly I pushed in sections of a skewer with a few wraps of thin paper around it to get an exact fit. I won’t advertise it but those corn skewers of KFC are extremely handy for this purpose. I slightly narrowed down the axle diameter to ensure a better fit at the wheels.
At first I thought to make a rolling assembly but as the wheels fit so tightly in the chassis and the fact that the locomotive will not be able to move, there’s no point in doing so.
The easiest way to install the wheel assembly is to glue the wheels pair-wisely into position by aligning the holes through chassis and wheel center, and then push the axle right through and a final check if everything is straight and level.
The axle ends stick out on either side of the chassis, which will be covered by part 139. I’m not sure what these are called but I reckon each contains a spring to act as a shock damper. I still have to finalize other suspension parts and am considering detailing these a bit further.
Next will be the brake section and the scoop-like structure at the bottom side (part 137). In one of the pictures you can already see the laser cut core of the braking bars with brake shoes and other rods/bar connections.
I didn't take a picture of it yet but when you place chassis and body onto each other it definitely starts to look like a tender!
Cheers,
Erik