Railbus for the PMR

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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by Big Jim » Fri Dec 08, 2017 3:39 pm

Thanks for the kind words.
Until I got this far with it I was not sure that it was going to get finished. It definitely looks less toy like.
I think I will leave a small gap between the skirt and the body, it seems to look better than having them flush.
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IrishPeter
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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by IrishPeter » Fri Dec 08, 2017 3:50 pm

Absolutely cracking, Big Jim! :thumbup:

Peter in Va
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by steamer68 » Fri Dec 08, 2017 4:13 pm

A splendid job Jim the skirts look great. :thumbleft:
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Kevin

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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by Big Jim » Fri Dec 08, 2017 4:14 pm

I was wondering about the colour. The PMR passenger livery is dark green, with black lining/detail. I/C engines are all Oxford blue. (As opposed to Norwegian Blue which keeps falling off what ever it is painted onto unless secured by nails)

The 'speed-whiskers' and prominent lights remind me a lot of DELTIC so I was wondering about pale blue and cream for the whiskers?
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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by FWLR » Sat Dec 09, 2017 6:24 am

The skirts look great Jim :thumbright: ...have you looked at the colour of the old Blackpool Trams...a light cream and green stripes I recall.

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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by Big Jim » Sat Dec 09, 2017 8:53 am

I did think of that. But I am not sure that that much cream is a good idea in the mud patch that is West Wales.
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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by bazzer42 » Sat Dec 09, 2017 1:34 pm

Blue and cream and call it Celtic as you're west Wales...

With a few passengers the floor issue will go away I reckon. It was a few passes of Peter's bus before I realise it was full of amputees if you need to create an illusion or space for batteries.

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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by Peter Butler » Sat Dec 09, 2017 3:39 pm

bazzer42 wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2017 1:34 pm Blue and cream and call it Celtic as you're west Wales...
That is just brilliant!
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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by IrishPeter » Sat Dec 09, 2017 9:38 pm

Oxford blue lower panels, cream upper? Close to the old GNR(I) railcar livery which was a variant on the locomotive livery.

Peter in Va
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by Big Jim » Thu Dec 14, 2017 7:15 pm

Blue and cream of some description is probably the way forward. I hope to get into the shed tomorrow as I have an empty diary (for now anyway). I will post pictures of how I get on.
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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by Big Jim » Fri Dec 15, 2017 6:02 pm

No pictures as I forgot to take my phone out to the shed.

I have been having some thoughts about the body, I think the lower pair of lights need to go. The single head lamp is okay and seems to fir but I am thinking that lower pair are way too large for taillights. Anyone got any thoughts?
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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by IrishPeter » Fri Dec 15, 2017 6:44 pm

Big Jim wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2017 6:02 pm No pictures as I forgot to take my phone out to the shed.

I have been having some thoughts about the body, I think the lower pair of lights need to go. The single head lamp is okay and seems to fir but I am thinking that lower pair are way too large for taillights. Anyone got any thoughts?
Take a look at some photographs of the original British Railways Railbuses from the 1950s and see what you think. I'd be inclined to leave them. However, your railway; your rules!

Peter in Va.
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by FWLR » Sat Dec 16, 2017 6:05 am

I would too. :thumbright:

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RylstonLight
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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by RylstonLight » Sat Dec 16, 2017 3:26 pm

I can see what you mean about the 3 lights being a bit “heavy”. But overall the three light configuration does tend to look balanced. Why can’t the two outerlights be white and the central one red though? Tail-lights seem to be singletons and it might give better balance? Just a thought.

I discarded the idea of getting one of these to convert as I couldn’t see how to convert it from its toy dimensions. I forked out on a Swift Sixteen railbus, whilst very good, is in a totally different price bracket.

Your excellent results have made me realise that I was wrong in giving up before even buying a donor model. Well done.
Andy S. at the Rylston Light Railway

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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by Big Jim » Sat Dec 16, 2017 6:11 pm

I think two head and one tail might be the way to go. When fitted with LED's and lenses they might not look so prominent.
I discarded the idea of getting one of these to convert as I couldn’t see how to convert it from its toy dimensions. I forked out on a Swift Sixteen railbus, whilst very good, is in a totally different price bracket.

Your excellent results have made me realise that I was wrong in giving up before even buying a donor model. Well done.
Thank you for your kinds words. I have always considered scale in SM32 as being rather elastic. You can get away with much by not placing particular items together. Just by raising the height of this 1/2'' seems to have made all the difference, the longer doors should help as well. I was having a think about the painting scheme and I think picking out the 'whiskers' and the lower swage line (possibly filling in between this and the edge of the body in a contrasting colour) should also help make it appear wider than it actually is.

It is a bit of a moot point about how much of the original is going to be left when the model is finished and there is always a balancing act between effort in and results out.
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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by IrishPeter » Sat Dec 16, 2017 9:35 pm

RylstonLight wrote: Sat Dec 16, 2017 3:26 pm I can see what you mean about the 3 lights being a bit “heavy”. But overall the three light configuration does tend to look balanced. Why can’t the two outerlights be white and the central one red though? Tail-lights seem to be singletons and it might give better balance? Just a thought.

I discarded the idea of getting one of these to convert as I couldn’t see how to convert it from its toy dimensions. I forked out on a Swift Sixteen railbus, whilst very good, is in a totally different price bracket.

Your excellent results have made me realise that I was wrong in giving up before even buying a donor model. Well done.
One of the BR railbus types had two whites and a red, but the red was always supplanted by ye olde tail lamp.

Peter in Va
Traffic Pattern? What pattern? Spuds out; grain in, but cattle, sheep and passengers are a lot less predictable.

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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by Big Jim » Sun Dec 17, 2017 3:59 pm

A few hours peace and quiet allowed me to have a bash at the doors, These will possibly the most tricky of all things to get right on the build as they need to look original.

I know that some of our more experienced members may have their own methods of cutting out and shaping rounded edged holes but this is how I did it.

first the window hole was marked out and a drill was used to check the radius of the corners on the existing windows.

This radius was then marked inside the marks for the hole and drilled with an ever increasing size of bit turned between the fingers. I allowed a small amount of extra space in case the plastic started to spilt.

Image

Holes completed

Image

The rest of the plastic was cut away carefully and the hole filed out to size.

Image

Now the clever bit, using microstrip a frame was made for the hole. This is quite simple to do but you need to be careful not to use too much MEK in the corners as the strip will snap. This will need some tiding up and possibly a little filler to make it look okay.

Image

The new door in place temporarily. It may need doing again of it doesn't tidy up.

Image
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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by ge_rik » Sun Dec 17, 2017 4:09 pm

Very nice!

Rik
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steamer68
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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by steamer68 » Sun Dec 17, 2017 4:12 pm

Hi Jim taking shape nicely nice job. :thumbleft:
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Kevin

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RylstonLight
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Re: Railbus for the PMR

Post by RylstonLight » Sun Dec 17, 2017 5:50 pm

Something missing . . .

Oh yeah, wheres the customary fingerprint in the Mek? Mine always comes with them!

Looking seriously good.
Andy S. at the Rylston Light Railway

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