Reworking the Lima ex-GWR Railcar

[cctransuk]

 

It never quite captured the look of the real thing, did it?

 

 

Having compared the model with a drawing, the deficiences became apparent, and a list of improvements was drawn up.

 

WINDOWS & WINDOW VENTS; (too shallow, completely spoiling the proportions of the model).

 

BUFFERBEAMS; (they should have a much deeper coupling recess);

 

DRIVER'S CABSIDE WINDOWS; (the model represents these as a printed line on the glazing);

 

LUGGAGE DOOR WINDOW POSITION; (the droplight and blank doors are transposed on one side of the model);

 

GUARD'S DOOR WINDOW BARS; (these are missing);

 

GUARD'S & PASSENGER DOOR STEPS; (the recesses are too shallow);

 

PROP. SHAFTS; (for the BR period, the shafts which join the axle gearboxes were removed);

 

ROOF VENTS; (too two-dimensional);

 

HANDRAILS; (moulded - should they be replaced with wire?);

 

WHEELS;  (poor profile and oversized, leading to the model being too tall);

 

COUPLINGS; (for my purposes, these need to be Peco Simplex, but mounting them in NEM pockets would be ideal).

 

MECHANISM; (it ran reasonably, but control was poor and the whole thing was unacceptably noisy).

 

FINISH; (poor rendition of early DMU green and generally toy-like finish).

 

 

 

This is how it turned out.

 

WINDOWS & WINDOW VENTS; the horizontal sections of the vents were removed and a new full width horizontal was fitted, and the windows themselves were deepened by 0.75mm. - see below.

 

 

BUFFERBEAMS; the buffers were discarded and replaced by cast ones fixed to the chassis moulding; recesses were cut in the bufferbeam to fit around the resited buffers. The coupling recess area was cut away from the body to reveal the chassis moulding, which was fitted with drawhooks and vacuum etc. pipes.

 

DRIVER'S CABSIDE WINDOWS; the droplights and adjacent window pillars were modelled in sheet and strip plastic card; the droplight frames were solid sheet, with the window openings subsequently drilled and filed to shape.

 

LUGGAGE DOOR WINDOW POSITION; a new droplight was filed in the LH door, and the incorrect window in the RH door was filled with plastic sheet and filler. A sharp blade enabled me to remove and resite the moulded door furniture.

 

GUARD'S DOOR WINDOW BARS; the new window bars are transfers applied to the inside of the glazing; (as are the passenger window curtains).

 

GUARD'S & PASSENGER DOOR STEPS; these recesses were cut right through the body mouldings; thin plastic strip was cut and fitted to the chassis moulding within the recesses to produce a clip-fit body. This enabled the body fixing pillars and screws to be removed / discarded.

 

PROP. SHAFTS; the redundant sections were removed.

 

ROOF VENTS; these were filed off and replaced with cast items.

 

HANDRAILS; I decided that, on balance, the moulded items were to scale and that I could not really better them with wire.

 

WHEELS;  Alan Gibson 12mm. DMU wheels were fitted.

 

COUPLINGS; I fitted NEM pockets to the modified Lima bogie mouldings, within which are fitted modified Peco Simplex couplings. Any NEM standard coupling can therefore be fitted if required.

 

MECHANISM; a High Level Lo-rider (scale 8' - 6'' WB) was obtained and built, adapting it slightly to accommodate a Mitsumi rather than the intended Mashima motor; pick-ups are fitted to all wheels. The result is far-and-away the smoothest and quietest model mechanism I have ever produced or seen.

 

FINISH; the mouldings were stripped in minutes using methylated spirits, and the body repainted, mainly in Phoenix Precision BR early DMU green; the chassis and bogies were sprayed with Halfords Satin Black primer. The transfers are my own items.

 

I know that a new RTR model is on the horizon, and if it equals what can be achieved using the Lima model as a basis, it'll be excellent.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

 

 

Edited October 5, 2019 by cctransuk