Phoenix Class 143 Body end castings

[timbowilts]

Not being able to afford a Realtrack 143 and having several spare Hornby 142 bodies, has anyone purchased and used the class 143 end castings sold by Phoenix? They look pretty ropey in the image on the Phoenix website.

Any information gratefully received.

Tim T

Modelling South Wales Valleys in EM

[JDW]

I'll be honest (and with apologies to Phoenix) but they look awful. I'm guessing they are the old MTK castings.  If no other options were available, I'd say go for it and see what you can get.  But to be honest, they are poor, and would probably not produce a decent result. The 142 is actually very different from a 143 and would need a lot of work anyway (apologies of you already know this!) - the roof profile of the 143 is much more rounded, and the sides are smooth - which makes the joint between body and the lower body (which is part of the chassis on the Hornby 142) stand out even more. 

 

If you really want to try it though, I have a pair of Realtrack class 144 cabs that might be of use to you. I'm not sure how well they'd match the Hornby bodyshell though in terms of height/width, although a quick check says they don't look a million miles away apart from the roof of course.  Actually, come to think of it I also have a pair of DC Kits resin cabs too, I don't have them to hand, I'm not sure if they'd be a better or worse match. 

 

Let me know if either of these would be any use.

[Riseburn Simon]

I bought a pack July/August time and they aren't brilliant; the moulds must be ancient, as there was a moderate amount of flash (it's easily filed off, however).  

 

The detail on them is very ill-defined by modern standards but they're still usable with a lot of work.

 

But one of the castings was defective (there's a window surround missing), for which I'm still awaiting a response after I told them (about 3 or 4 times now) about it.  So now I'm left in limbo with a model I can't even start.

 

The combination of a substandard product and service means I  wouldn't bother. 

 

You'll possibly have better luck getting someone to 3D print the cabs.  I dare say the bodysides and roof are also 3d printable, given that both are made up of several panels.  The panels  could probably be printed and then joined together if that's easier for the printer.

 

if there's a way to split the design costs, I'll go halves with you, as I really want to get 1 or 2 class 143s on my late 80s layout.  Let me know if you want me to start looking for a 3d print provider.

Edited November 21, 2019 by Riseburn Simon
Added important detail on detail

[Riseburn Simon]

On 22/06/2019 at 00:12, JDW said:

I'll be honest (and with apologies to Phoenix) but they look awful. I'm guessing they are the old MTK castings.  If no other options were available, I'd say go for it and see what you can get.  But to be honest, they are poor, and would probably not produce a decent result. The 142 is actually very different from a 143 and would need a lot of work anyway (apologies of you already know this!) - the roof profile of the 143 is much more rounded, and the sides are smooth - which makes the joint between body and the lower body (which is part of the chassis on the Hornby 142) stand out even more. 

 

If you really want to try it though, I have a pair of Realtrack class 144 cabs that might be of use to you. I'm not sure how well they'd match the Hornby bodyshell though in terms of height/width, although a quick check says they don't look a million miles away apart from the roof of course.  Actually, come to think of it I also have a pair of DC Kits resin cabs too, I don't have them to hand, I'm not sure if they'd be a better or worse match. 

 

Let me know if either of these would be any use.

If those cabs are still going, I'll gladly take them off your hands!

[JDW]

They're gone I'm afraid. Reading your first post above, I can't help thinking that if you want "one or two" 143s you'd be better settling for one and buying a Realtrack one, by the time you've 3D printed all the parts, bought the donor 142s (or spares), paints, etc, for a pair of them you'll have spent probably as much as you would on one single Realtrack version.

[Riseburn Simon]

22 hours ago, JDW said:

They're gone I'm afraid. Reading your first post above, I can't help thinking that if you want "one or two" 143s you'd be better settling for one and buying a Realtrack one, by the time you've 3D printed all the parts, bought the donor 142s (or spares), paints, etc, for a pair of them you'll have spent probably as much as you would on one single Realtrack version.

 

I think you're right.  Trying to get the parts is becoming a nightmare.  Even getting an engineering drawing of the 143 is going to cost me £65 from Serco. 

 

It's just a case now of finding one, preferably somewhere other than Ebay!

[JDW]

For a general arrangement drawing, and plenty of pictures, you'd be better just to get hold of a copy of the relevant issue of Modern Railways Ilustrated, which covers LEV's and classes 139 to 144. 

But yes, I suspect even at Ebay prices, probably a better route to one good one than two cheap ones.

[Riseburn Simon]

On 22/11/2019 at 23:22, JDW said:

For a general arrangement drawing, and plenty of pictures, you'd be better just to get hold of a copy of the relevant issue of Modern Railways Ilustrated, which covers LEV's and classes 139 to 144. 

But yes, I suspect even at Ebay prices, probably a better route to one good one than two cheap ones.

I managed to acquire the drawings (eventually!)  The Realtrack 143s aren't available and haven't been since I posted, so I'm almost tempted to press on with the conversion and scratchbuild where necessary.  I'm totally new to scratchbuilding anything but buildings, so it could be a fun (albeit long) process!