Let's see your Airfix/Kitmaster kit

[JDW]

Seeing this reminded me that years ago I built a pair of Dapol (ex-Airfix of course) railbus kits. Sadly they were among items submerged in a flood a few years ago, and whilst I spent time cleaning and repairing all the other stock, I never bothered with those. They have sat on a shelf still with the remains of silt dried on, and minus logos etc which washed off, looking sorry for themselves.

 

 

The Arriva one had logos and the yellow stripe as per the original Arriva Trains Northern livery, the other is obviously WYPTE colours.

 

[Booking Hall]

I'd always wanted to motorize one of the railbuses, and got my chance when I won an old EAMES motorizing kit on Ebay. The interior was scratchbuilt.

[SR71]

I have quite a lot of airfix in one form or another as they get used as a source of parts if not built as intended. I'll start off with this though;

 

The 04 is actually on a fleischmann 0-4-0 chassis because it was A cheap, B available, & C fitted. I guess the lorry should have been a Sentinel rather than Cooper Craft but I don't know where that is. Also I've just noticed the driver of the lorry hitching a ride.... not sure H&S would allow that now!

 

 

[John M]

 

 

Dapol rather than Airfix

 

 

Irish 5'3" gauge ESSO Class A tank wagons

 

 

 

 

The Airfix/Dapol tank barrels were extended with tank sections cut from a spare kit. 

 

The solebars were packed out 1mm each side for the wider gauge.

 

I have an earlier conversion of an Airfix tank wagon somewhere with MJT internal suspension units, better quality plastic than the later Dapol wagons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Trainshed Terry]

This is what I did with my Kitmaster "Gronk"

Edited February 18, 2019 by Trainshed Terry

[EHertsGER]

How much kit bashing are we allowed? This is my 04 conversion to the W&U tram style version using the old Impetus kit and Branchlines motorising kit. I have another about to be built as a later 04 on a Branchlines chassis too.

 

 

best,

Marcus

 

[Booking Hall]

29 minutes ago, EHertsGER said:

This is my 04 conversion to the W&U tram style version

Nice!, that's on my 'to do' list too.

[Jeff Smith]

Here's my Dapol/Branchlines Flower Class from the City of Truro kit in P4 with Gibson wheels.

[Halvarras]

I recall back in the 1960s a mate's dad had built a green Kitmaster Mark 1 BSK which had been supplied with two identical sides, so no matter which way round you held it the brake end was always on the right! I built quite a lot of Airfix steam loco kits in the late 60s, they kept me occupied for hours in between school homework. They got stored in a few lofts over the years, gradually falling apart and were eventually dumped just over a year ago prior to a house move following retirement (I'm sure there was a tear in my eye.....!)

I had one of those 'Shredded Wheat boxtop' Kitmaster Class 08 kits back then, I gave it to a fellow modeller in the early '70s who scratchbuilt a chassis for it, painted it blue and handed it back to me to add wasp stripes and transfers. I numbered it 3607, a Swindon shunter local to me at the time, and a photo appears in the 'PSL Model Railway Guide 7 - Modern Railways' by Michael Andress (1982), for anyone who happens to possess this period piece!

In the late 80s I motorised a Dapol-produced Railbus kit using a long-wheelbase 4-wheel chassis from a Lima trainset diesel shunter. I assembled the bodyshell with the doors fixed in place to keep it rigid but left the roof off, scraped off the raised lining, sprayed it cream, hand-painted the yellow panel areas, masked off these and the lining and sprayed it green. The glazing was then added, the windscreens having to be split down the middle to get them in. It looked great and ran OK in typical Lima fashion but as things turned out I didn't have it long and took no photos. When Hattons offered the Heljan model of exactly the one I did (SC79974) for £69 a while back I couldn't resist........but Version One cost me a tenner!!

[locomad2]

Airfix 9F, triang X04 motor in firebox, romford wheels, trianf 9F running gear. Quite a good haulier plenty of lead in the body, pickups on all driving wheels, standard early airfix body & tender, not kitmaster moulding

[Gibbo675]

Hi Folks,

 

Here is another Rocket kit bashed into Sans Pereil:

 

 

 

Gibbo.

[33C]

On 11/02/2019 at 16:08, Killybegs said:

See how many Airfix/Kitmaster kit builds you can spot among this lot. Boy we used to cram them in when we were kids (late 50's/early sixties). Dad did the baseboard, embankments, hills and oil refinery, an uncle wired it up and we did the rest.

 

That's a proper train set!

[33C]

Here's a few of mine.......W.D. uses Kitmaster, motorised wagon power in the tender, Dukedog uses Triang diesel motor bogie in the tender, Aberdare uses Lima 08 chassis, No.1 uses the "Lord of the Isles" chassis. The others you will know! The green "Battle of Britain" uses the original princess wheels, filled with P38 and tampo detail, The Schools uses the kit valve gear, it's fine! Incidentally, the mineral wagons are Airfix kits, 2 rakes of 10, weathered.

 

Edited April 27, 2022 by 33C
added detail

[33C]

And 3 takes on the Truro! As they all use the "Nellie" chassis, are they "boshes!" Bottom Truro uses the Lima King tender drive.

 

Edited April 27, 2022 by 33C
added detail

[Gibbo675]

HI Folks,

 

Here are some more of my Airfix/Dapol loco bashings:

 

City of Truro meets a Saint.

 

Two 9F's collide in a fabrication shop.

 

Northumbrian form a Rocket kit.

 

 

Rocket and some Keyser coaches.

 

A pair of swing bolsters from Rocket tenders, the loco parts will form a model of Lancashire Witch.

 

 

There are more but I shall have to find and photograph them.

 

Gibbo.

[locomad2]

Standard 16T mineral wagon undergoing coupling test, both 50p "finds" from toy fairs, repainted awaiting transfers. I've found from experience that coupling are the weak points, main problem been broken pins, instead I use loco bearing with peco coupling. Note also bent lead between the frames, cheap easy to fit, this is a must for longer trains as prevents collapse inward on curves. 

[The Johnster]

On 05/01/2021 at 22:05, 33C said:

Here's a few of mine..

Now, that takes me back.  I had a 56xx, Jinty chassis, and a large prairie, Black Princess chassis, very similar to yours, and cobbled a 63xx out of a City of Truro and a large pairie with a Black Princess mech, and a cab full of motor! which I failed to hide with a canvas weather sheet made out of painted elastoplast, not my proudest moment!  My greatest offence, though, was probably a 42xx; CoT boiler, large prairie tanks/cab/bunker, and HD Stanier 8F chassis.  Another cab full of motor, the wrong axle driven, and the cab and bunker profile so far off as to be from another planet.  Oh, and there was a cut down Black Princess Black 5 as well, which never managed to achieve proper working Walchearts valve gear and became a shed lurker with the rest of the Airfix kit brigade.

 

It is good for the soul to confess the crimes against modelling sanity of one's misspect youth.  I learned a lot from these efforts, mostly to never attempt them again...

[Coal Tank]

On 23/12/2020 at 16:09, Jeff Smith said:

Here's my Dapol/Branchlines Flower Class from the City of Truro kit in P4 with Gibson wheels.

Nice loco Jeff, are there any photos of your layout 

John 

[Jeff Smith]

It is really more of a scenic test track and photo vehicle.

[33C]

3 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Now, that takes me back.  I had a 56xx, Jinty chassis, and a large prairie, Black Princess chassis, very similar to yours, and cobbled a 63xx out of a City of Truro and a large pairie with a Black Princess mech, and a cab full of motor! which I failed to hide with a canvas weather sheet made out of painted elastoplast, not my proudest moment!  My greatest offence, though, was probably a 42xx; CoT boiler, large prairie tanks/cab/bunker, and HD Stanier 8F chassis.  Another cab full of motor, the wrong axle driven, and the cab and bunker profile so far off as to be from another planet.  Oh, and there was a cut down Black Princess Black 5 as well, which never managed to achieve proper working Walchearts valve gear and became a shed lurker with the rest of the Airfix kit brigade.

 

It is good for the soul to confess the crimes against modelling sanity of one's misspect youth.  I learned a lot from these efforts, mostly to never attempt them again...

You should have seen my Schools/Princess to S15............

[33C]

A few of my Drewery builds. First is standard "Nellie" chassis and skirts, second uses the "Perfecta" motorising kit, third is straight, non-motorised attempt at "FORD" works of Dagenham shunter and the fourth is just a "let's see if it fits on this!"

Edited April 27, 2022 by 33C
added detail

[locomad2]

Currently on work bench, 2nd hand 50p toy fair body buy,   J96 0-6-0 Austerity, with a cast Aluminium chassis cut out to accept Triang XO4 motor

[Coal Tank]

On 10/01/2021 at 19:51, Jeff Smith said:

It is really more of a scenic test track and photo vehicle.

Very nice Jeff

[The Evil Bus Driver]

Here's a 16 Ton Mineral wagon I put together from an old Dapol kit I found while moving house. Came up pretty well. I didn;t have any grey so I painted it Bauxite instead so It'll be getting a brake pipe once I can remember which box I packed it away in and where that box got stored. I have a horrible feeling it might be in Bexhill, which given the current plague situation might pose a problem or two.

 

[locomad2]

Spotted this relic on current layout, made by myself 50 years ago and not bad job considering I was about 12 years old with limited tools. Recently following a derailment top came off and found it had some 5 half pennies (1/2d) in it as a weight. Having probably cost just one shilling and six pence (7.5p), its lasted 4 layouts, 5 house moves, survived myself, children and grandchildren, wife, friends etc, etc.

 

 

 It's been on some layout somewhere all its life, surprisingly its lasted very well.  Fitted originally with peco coupling probably robbed from a "wonder wagon", and still with original split airfix wheels, its given excellent service.