CAB ALTERATIONS
The first step is to remove the handrails by gently levering them out using tweezers. Do try not to damage them as at least some are to be reused later. The curved cover for the handbrake must also be removed and it is simply a case of unclipping it. The brake column also needs to be removed by levering out with tweezers. Push the clear plastic windows in with a screwdriver and discard them. You may need to clean up glue residue from these on the inside of the cab.
This, now, is where we take a deep breath and get serious. Take a scalpel and score the rear panel of the cab along its joint with the roof. Repeat the same on the inside and carefully get it to a point where the back panel can be cleanly snapped off. The joint area on the underside of the cab roof is what matters here and clean up with a file if necessary. Taking the removed rear cab panel, score (arrowed A) and remove the upper part and sand the top of the lower section flat. Some prototypes had a back panel to the cab, even if they only gained them later in life, so if you do want to model one, be sure to find prototype photos as they were different from the type modelled by Hattons.
The raised ribs, where the cab side grab rails were located, need to be sanded flat (arrowed B). Because the tank assembly now sits lower, the clips on the inside of the cab front panel need to be trimmed at the top by the same amount as was removed from the bottom of the tank assembly (arrowed C) in order for the clips to locate in the tank assembly.
ADDING WINDOWS
As previously mentioned, the windows in the cab front are already too high for the prototype that Hattons has modelled, but even more so for our chosen style, with its lower-pitched boiler. To rectify this either make discs from Plastikard, or take slices of plastic rod to
