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Hachette coach mods - silk purse from sow's ear?

pbkloss

Entry posted by pbkloss

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Well I ran out of cash for all those juicy Bachmann Mk.1s I need for my 1961 period express / through services, and so turned to that cheaper knock-off the Hachette Mk1 SK which has some resemblance to the Bachmann Mk1 .... to see if with a little work (which cost me nothing but time which being retired I should have lots of. but somehow don't really) I could make something approaching the quality of a Bachmann Mk.1

 

BTW - why use the Hachette rather than Hornby? because I want the close coupling mechanism, which has been kept in the Hachette

 

Since every layout in the BR mk1 period needs loads of SKs, a Hachette coach is a reasonable substitute if you can cope with the chunky prism effect of the windows, the solid under frame detail, the moulded roof detail and handrails and the plastic axles in the bogies.

 

Some of these things are not to hard to deal with - for instance, the solid under frame can be cut about to give daylight.  The wheels can be replaced. The roof detail can be detailed with replacement vents and wire pipes.

 

What if you want to turn it into a different coach altogether - like me, finding that I've run out of money for the CKs I need for my maroon Pines Express rake (not finding a Bachmann CK on eBay for less than £25, i need two, and one needs to have Commonwealth bogies etc)?  Well, i thought I'd give it a go having got quite a few Hachettes to play with.

 

So for my first CK, I had bought very cheaply an early Triang CK, happened to be in green 'completely knocked down' and I'm having a go at putting the sides and the interior into a Hachette SK, and transferring the Hachette's windows once I've painted and lined the sides.

 

It isn't that hard, a bit slow, but will save me at least £20 which for me is worthwhile.  However, you discover those minute differences between Mk.1s by different manufacturers, like the window sizes, (Triang / Hornby almost 0.5mm bigger all round), side length (Hachette at least 1mm longer) and side height (Triang / Hornby slightly lower) and possibly the side profile (Triang / Hornby could be flatter) .....

 

So what I've done is, so far:

 

Hacked the under frame so daylight shows - reasonably successfully

Removed the windows from the Hachette sides I want to use in the CK sides

Removed the window bars from the Triang CK sides

Removed the lining guidelines from the CK sides

Thinned the ledge at the bottom of the sides to fit into the Hachette chassis slots for the sides

Added microstrip to the inside of the CK window openings as they are slightly bigger than the Hachette windows

Cut off the SK positioned  vents in the roof and drilled holes in the CK positions to take new white metal vents

Carved off the SK style water pipe detail and rain strips

 

Also had to add microstrip to the ends of the CK sides as they are fractionally shorter than the Hachette sides

 

Still to do:

 

Make and stick on a wide strip with slots pointing in at the top of each side to mimic the strip on the Hachette sides that the roof locks into

Rub down sides

Restore some lost hinge detail on sides

Paint and line (Maroon), add numbers

Glaze with Hachette windows plus some kit master windows for the corridor side narrow (2ft) ones

Add grab handles and door handles

 

Fix roof vents

Add rain strips in correct location for CK

Add toilet tank fillers

 

Detail interior (more about that later)

 

 

Assemble

Make and fix tank filler pipework

 

Do something about those wheels which don't run that well in the cheapo plastic bogies (I've crudely cut and filed them to take P4 wheels)

 

See if it will run (!)

 

Some photos of the sides sitting in the chassis before I attached all that microstrip with original roof ...

 

IMG_2607.JPG.c8ef96deec986225f19d429c10df6b0a.JPG

 

Corridor side, some blurry Hachette originals in the background

 

IMG_2608.JPG.f0e74ad51aa901ebc3e2624f033862d1.JPG

 

Compartment side

 

We'll see if its worth while in a bit

 

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Ravenser

Be careful - the NEM pocket on the Hachette is well above correct height. You may be ok with the tension-locks supplied but anything else and you have an issue

 

Phoenix Precision do a plastic Mk1 underframe truss which I've used

Edited by Ravenser
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pbkloss

Thank you Ravenser, I've checked and what I didn't say is that my intention is to only use Hachettes coupled to Bachmann Mk1s, which also appear to have the pockets at the wrong height - photo to show with my Hachette bare chassis coupled to the Bachmann BSK I've been working on ... (the Bachmann one droops a little, will be interesting to see how this works in a long rake)

 

Hachette-Bachmann-couple.JPG.f6105716384dc7c5ac8ed7f417883699.JPG

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