Entry posted by JZ
486 views
Recently picked up a Lima 3 car class 117 at a very reasonable price. Originally I was going to finish it in green with speed whiskers, but as it will have a home on my next layout, I will be having small yellow panels and gangways, which places it about 1965.
So, what needs doing to bring it up to a reasonable standard.
1. Glazing. I had one before and fitting flush glazing makes a huge difference. SEF supply this.
2. As supplied, you get two DMBSs. It is highly unlikely that they ever ran as this combo. DCKits sell the original Silver Fox conversion parts.
3. Wheels. As I will not be using it to cut pizzas, I will be changing the wheels. Alan Gibson do the wheels and they are available on 24.5 axles to suit Lima. For the trailing axles on the power car, I have ordered some from Ultrascale.
4. Motor. I am not a fan of the Lima motor, so will be replacing it with a Black Beetle. I did consider getting a newer Hornby chassis from a 121, but after looking at my sons, decided not to go this route.
5. Headcode boxes. They look just too small. Options for this are plasticard and filler or whitemetal ones from Craftsman models.
Other things.
Buffers on my purchase were 12" ones. I am going to fit whitemetal ones the the outer ends of the unit and sprung ones between the cars.
Couplings. This is a given. The ones at the outer ends are removed completely to allow full buffer beam detailing. Between cars I will fit Kadees.
Marker lights. The 117s didn't get these until quite late in their lives, so they are removed. This also saves on getting a lighting kit.
Interior. Slap a bit of paint over the seats. Paint the wall, doors and partitions, add a crew and some pax.
Exterior. Two coats of Halford's Vauxhall Pine Green over their grey primer matches the green on my Bachman 108 pretty well. Tranfers from ModelMaster Decals, including the SYP.
Photo's will follow as I get on with it.
I also picked up a spare trailer for a song to run it as a four car set, though I have no evidence that they ever ran like this. Two photo's I have seen of them in four car sets, both have a 101 trailer in the formation.
-
2
1 Comment
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now