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Improving some Kirk teaks Part 1

JaymzHatstand

Entry posted by JaymzHatstand

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A few years ago (around ten I suspect :O) I built a few Kirk kits, rather badly! I have decided that I'm going to have a go at renovating them and hopefully end up with something a little better looking and also useful!

 

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They are an Open First (crimson & Cream), Brake Third (maroon) and Open Third (maroon) and were all built without interiors (except the internal partitions) with rather tight bogies and other problems (gangways on backwards is one of the major problems :scratchhead:) so they are getting stripped down as far as possible and rebuilt with interiors and a reversion to proper LNER teak finish.

 

In my yoof I did at least have the foresight to fit whitmetal buffers so it's not all bad I suppose, but that's not much of a silver lining! Work has commenced with the removal of the roof units of each coach which was reasonably damage free (the Open Third suffered a little, but this should be hidden on re-assembly).

 

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The Open First has had the body removed from the floor and glazing stripped. Fortunately I'd not glued it very well, so it just snapped out with no residual damage, the same applied to the gangways, which will now be cleaned up and fitted the correct way round!

 

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It sides/ends and roof have now been joined with plastic weld, so should be a lot sturdier and ready for some paint stripping! The bogies have been removed and the bearings for the wheels seated a little better into the holes, giving the wheels a little more space so they now roll freely, which should in turn make them more reliable performers.

 

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The Brake Third is probably the sturdiest of the three models and the body doesn't seem to want to separate very easily, but I'm sure a day or two in the freezer will solve that!

 

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That's it for now, but I'm more than open to suggestions from anyone about what modifications I can make to these to improve them.

 

Cheers

 

J

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MikeTrice

I can spot a Kirk Gresley from a long distance by the curve of the domed roof. The real thing is a much better shape. If you can restore this with Milliput you should then be in a position to replace the undersized corridor connection.

 

If you can separate the roof then check the roof height against the side height. The roof is too high for the sides. Reduce the roof height at cornice level, remove moulding draft from the sides then add a thin trip of plasticard to the sides to increase their height.

 

Removing the moulding draft from the window apertures also improves their appearance.

 

You can also replace the roof with an MJT one.

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JaymzHatstand

Thanks for that and for the example photos you PM'd me, they are most informative. I was aware of the shape issues of the Kirk roof, but as I'll struggle to get the bodies to pieces completely without any damage, I don't think that modifying them for a new roof is completely practical (although it would be nice!).

 

The window apetures wil most likely be treated though, its not something I'd ever thought of before. Is this just a result of the way the sides are moulded in the first place?

 

Would an MJT roof require the body modifications too? I can't remember if it was one of theirs or a modified Kirk roof in the photos!

 

Cheers

 

J

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