I was concerned about this, but Regner has improved the design to eliminate the need for the flame shield/deflector. There are now only two small holes for the steam and exhaust to pass through the front of the smokebox, there are no other openings in the front which would allow flames to burn up the cylinder springs. That tall vertical slot in your pic where you have the deflector just isn’t there on the new models.
I have had no trouble getting the flame to pop back into the burner, which I read was a point of frustration in earlier iterations. I did have to take the jet out after the first run to reverse blow it for crud that I guess was left over in the tank from manufacturing. Other than that, pretty straightforward for my first runs with this engine.
A very nice feature of this kit is that the brackets to hold the three servos (regulator, reverse, whistle) are included in the standard kit. I’m going to try to get those installed over the weekend.
