TPO NSA: Modernising a Bachmann POS
Entry posted by The Fatadder
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Thanks to a lazy postman not bothering to leave a card saying my parcel had been left in the children’s playhouse, I didn’t realise that my latest ebay purchase had been delivered on Friday. This in turn has restricted how far I could get on this project over the weekend. The aim, conversion of a Bachmann Mk1 TPO NSX into a refurbished NSA.<p>This will encompass:
- Conversion of the chassis to air breaks (and the associated removal of the vac break parts)
- Remove the end steps
- Repaint the ends black (there is circa 2mm of wraparound of the red on the ends.)
- Remove Bachmann glazing on the corridor side (whist keeping the body retention clips)
- Replace large windows with the small secure type
- Replace doors with secure type
- Find a red paint which matches the Bachmann shade in order that the new windows can be painted without fully repainting the side. I have the Phoenix shade, and a close match from Vallejo is on its way.
On to the work…The first step was dismantling the model, first up the bogies were removed to uncover two small screws which hold the body to chassis. Before removal, I drew around the body location clips in order to assist refitting. Glazing could then be prized out with a scalpel followed by the removal of the roof (which unclips). Other than saving a few pence of masking tape, the main reason for the removal of the roof was that it gave better access to the upper half of the window frame. The roof removal consisted of removing the toilet filler pipes, then undoing several clips along the length (one of which was glued solid.)
With the model in pieces, the first job was replacing the body retention clips, so after chopping off the rest of the glazing they were glued into place with Limonene. Next up was the ends, carefully carving off the surplus steps with a curved scalpel blade (I think it is a no10a) before cleaning up with emery paper. As an aside I find these blades really useful for carving off detail, but the blade extends too far back so I am forever cutting my fingers, a useful solution is to cover the rear half inch or so with masking tape.
Next up were the doors, the plan here is to fabricate a new rectangular section containing the new window, this will be fitted, a skim of filler applied, then painted. The main reason is that it keeps Bachmann’s printing on the stripes, and avoids damage to the handrails (I dread adding these to my NUA / NTA builds!)
The final area for preparation was the window frames, again carefully carving off with the curved blade. The remains were then sanded smooth with my usual Sofitel emery board. The left hand windows are a little trickier in that the white printing for the Royal Mail logo goes very close to the window, there is no option here other than damaging the paint (so it will either need a new transfer or a touch up with white paint).
With this done, the next step (tonight) will be working on adding the window blanks & preparing the new windows. I also need to do some CAD work in order to draw up a new window frame… I have still to decide if I will remove the dividing bars in order to fit one long replacement window strip, or fill each existing window separately…
I have however managed to find a decent drawing showing the revised window locations, so thanks to the Barrowmore MRG for sharing the drawing. This will be a huge help in getting the new windows into the right place.
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