Thanks, Don. Glad to have you in this thread
@Erik – good point but it may not be enough in this case! The problem here is that the locomotive’s wheels are outside the main structure – you cannot reduce the gauge. The wagon’s wheels are inside the suspension assemblies, which are aligned to the longitudinal structural parts. On picture 15, you can see that the wheel hub consists of a small cylinder on either side of the part that materializes the 6 spokes. The outer cylinder is flush with the suspension and cannot be moved outward. So, it is easy to get a small gauge (just move the wheel inside, along the axle) but the upper gauge limit depends on the relative position of the spoke part and the outer wheel parts. With the parts provided in the kit, the spoke part should be on the same plane as the wheel flange. If the outer hub cylinder was thinner by 2mm, the spoke part could/should be moved outward 2mm, too and be placed more or less at the middle of the rolling surface.
A big “plus” of this kit is that the model is colorful! The closed wagon is grey, the open one is brown, the passenger cars are mostly blue, the locomotive is mostly black but with red parts and some embellishments.
The pictures show the closed wagon main walls. They took a fair share of rivets. Be careful when assembling the parts on top of the door openings. They should have the exact length, otherwise the floor would be curved and would not fit the wheeled frame.