A Vintage Blue Pullman

[cctransuk]

Some sixteen years ago, I decided that I had to have a model of the Midland Pullman; it was introduced in the same year that I entered secondary education, and the Pullman passed the end of the school playing field in sight of most classrooms. Attention was lacking each morning, around the time that it was due to pass!

 

Almost concurrent with the introduction of the Midland Pullman, Kitmaster produced kits, at 4mm. scale, for each of the three different cars that, two of each, made up the six car rake. I recall staring at these kits in the window of my regular model shop but, at 10/6 each, they were way out of pocket money range.

 

I did, however, manage to save up for a Kodak Instamatic camera, and my first colour railway photo was - yes, the Midland Pullman.

 

So - forty-four years later, by which time disposable income was easier to come by, I set out to acquire via Ebay six Kitmaster Midland Pullman kits; the total cost was significant! I then further 'splurged' on a pair of 'Black Beetle' power bogies for the power cars.

 

I wanted the completed train to have some super-detailing compared to the basic Kitmaster mouldings, but to retain the feel of a 1960s kit-built model. I have fitted close-coupling in the mounting of the buffing plates, which have miniature rare-earth magnets embedded within them for inter-car coupling. The cars are assembled in the style of the original Tri-ang Hornby Mk. 1 coaches, with three long screws, up through the floor, attaching the roof via threaded inserts in a false ceiling.

 

The interiors are removable, being attached by screws to the sub-floor. Upholstery, carpets and partition murals were scanned from colour photos of the prototype, and printed and applied as waterslide transfers. The interior decor follows the results of considerable research, having alternating red / blue and blue / red themes. Adrian Swain of ABS - sadly recently deceased - cast the table lampshades to scale, and they were threaded onto nickel silver wire for mounting. Raised moulded exterior detail, such as door handles and handrails, was removed and replaced; again with nickel silver wire.

 

During the build, Bachmann announced their RTR model, and I was able to share my research material with them. Pete Waterman had acquired the original Metro-Cammell large format works photos that Kitmaster had used to design their model, and Pete had been kind enough to let me have copies. During my discussions with Bachmann, I was offered a pair of test etches for the power car scavenger fan grilles, and these were used in place of the Class 47 grilles that I'd intended to fit.

 

When it came to painting, I decided to follow 1960s practice and brush paint the model - perhaps not the best decision when I own a good quality airbrush. The first attempt was a disaster, and the entire rake was stripped back to bare plastic using Mr. Muscle oven cleaner!

 

At this point, there was an hiatus of several years, until lockdown provided the stimulus to have another attempt. The paint finish is by no means up to 21st century airbrush standards, but is certainly better than I could have achieved in 1960.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rake is what it is - sixty year old kits, built at a time when my modelling skills had matured with experience, and painted using 1960s techniques. As such, I'm very pleased with it as a 'layout' train, and it certainly deserves the Vintage Midland Pullman name, both from the age of the kits and the time that it took to build them!

 

John Isherwood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by cctransuk

[bgman]

A very interesting read and models  John, I also remember pushing my nose against the local model shop window looking at these, and like you, it was out of my pocket money range too !

 

If these were made available now I wouldn't hesitate to purchase them, just for the shear fun of the build.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

G

[Sheffield]

May I assume from the first paragraph of your opening posting that you attended a Leicestershire Grammar school that was ideal for those interested in the Midland main line? I spent many happy hours at the fence at the bottm of the play ground.

[Northmoor]

Superb job John and so much more interesting than opening first your wallet and then opening the Bachmann boxes.  But I know what you mean about Kitmaster prices on eBay......

[andyman7]

A lovely set. If your experience is anything like mine, one of the benefits of waiting until you are well grown up to acquire a kit that you coveted as a child is that you stand a better chance of actually building it to the kind of standard that would likely have eluded you had you been given the money to buy it back then....

[cctransuk]

1 hour ago, Sheffield said:

May I assume from the first paragraph of your opening posting that you attended a Leicestershire Grammar school that was ideal for those interested in the Midland main line? I spent many happy hours at the fence at the bottm of the play ground.

 

Abington High School and Guthlaxton Grammar School, Wigston Magna; copped 10800 HAWK on test from Brush (Loughborough), one school lunchtime.

 

I only put myself forward for Prefect as they were allowed to go along the railway bank, and turf off the minion trainspotters!

 

Happy days,

John Isherwood.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Whose transfers are they?!!!!!

 

Mike.

[Barry O]

I have a Kitmaster Blue Pullman set in the "roundtuit" pile.. I may just need to get on with them as I already have a very nice set of transfers for them!

 

baz

[PhilMortimer]

Very nice modeling and a great story. Thanks for sharing.

 

 

[Richard_A]

I have one of these and a triang with southern pride etches and correct bogies to do, would the transfers be able to buy?

[cctransuk]

1 hour ago, rka said:

I have one of these and a triang with southern pride etches and correct bogies to do, would the transfers be able to buy?

 

The external transfers are available as Sheets BL62 & BL63 at https://www.cctrans.org.uk/products.htm

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[Richard_A]

7 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

The external transfers are available as Sheets BL62 & BL63 at https://www.cctrans.org.uk/products.htm

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

Thank you, would the interior ones be available or were they a one time production for yourself? 

[GWR-fan]

John,

          a marvellous set,  well worth the generational wait to build them.  

[cctransuk]

3 hours ago, rka said:

Thank you, would the interior ones be available or were they a one time production for yourself? 

 

I'm afraid that the internal ones were not designed in a format that would allow distribution for a wider usage.

 

It has to be said that this level of prototypical detail is largely wasted effort, as it is wholly invisible unless the car roof is removed.

 

 

 

What are very visible are the table lamps, and the ones provided by Kitmaster are, understandably, something of a caricature. I would encourage anyone detailing a BP to produce scale table lamps from a short length of white styrene rod, drilled for a nickel silver wire stem.

 

John Isherwood.

 

 

[BernardTPM]

Nice work, John. I did at one time have a home-modified Triang based BP. I made kitchen end inlays with styrene and the half window sections I didn't need were re-used at the outer ends to convert from WR to Midland format. Not as good as a Kitmaster one, of course (and powered with a Lima SNCF bogie as I'd bought the unpowered outers 'new' old stock). My better effort was in 2mm scale for Chiltern Green where I used more or less your suggested method for the table lamps, except that the white shade was wire insulation.

[Robert Shrives]

3 hours ago, BernardTPM said:

Nice work, John. I did at one time have a home-modified Triang based BP. I made kitchen end inlays with styrene and the half window sections I didn't need were re-used at the outer ends to convert from WR to Midland format. Not as good as a Kitmaster one, of course (and powered with a Lima SNCF bogie as I'd bought the unpowered outers 'new' old stock). My better effort was in 2mm scale for Chiltern Green where I used more or less your suggested method for the table lamps, except that the white shade was wire insulation.

Bernard,  I think the Blue Pullman was a game changer  saying "better effort"  nope - a brilliant execution of a difficult prototype.    Hopefully it still survives safely. 

Currently Worsley works has etches for 2mm and 3mm versions - the 3mm one is a fun build but thanks to Chris Ketley has cast ends and bogie sideframes . a WIP for the beat apart of 8 years. As with John lockdown has allowed some progress. 

Robert    

Robert 

[Sheffield]

23 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

Abington High School and Guthlaxton Grammar School, Wigston Magna; copped 10800 HAWK on test from Brush (Loughborough), one school lunchtime.

 

I only put myself forward for Prefect as they were allowed to go along the railway bank, and turf off the minion trainspotters!

 

Happy days,

John Isherwood.

I went to Kibworth, a little further along the Midland Mainline. The playground was surrounded on three sides by classrooms and the dining room, and the forth side by the railway. Lean over the fence and almost touch a train on the down loop.

[cctransuk]

On 01/06/2020 at 20:34, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Whose transfers are they?!!!!!

 

Mike.

 

Mike,

 

You may think that you know - but I could not possibly comment!

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[cctransuk]

Thank you to all of you have made such complimentary comments about this project, and to the other members who have expressed their appreciation via the response tabs.

 

When you get to your early 70s, you realise that your senses and physical abilities are no longer as good as they were, and that the time rapidly approaches when aspirations will have to be reined-in.

 

The decision to brush-paint the train was, I suspect (unconsciously), to see if I could still make a decent job of it. There are more than a few wobbles in the blue / white interface that are evident in close-up; (age or the long-term enjoyment of alcoholic beverages?); but it'll do for me.

 

There are still plenty more rolling stock projects in the 'to do' list and, if I ever pluck up courage to make a start on the garage to railway room upgrade, the prospect of a layout on which to run the ridiculous accumulation of sixty years' of stock building.

 

All the best - stay safe,

John Isherwood.

[SteveyDee68]

John

 

How on earth have I not seen this thread?  (Well, I guess it might be a combination of not getting great results with the RMWeb search engine, plus spending all my efforts on manually checking every entry of the 84 page long Improving and Detailing RTR forum without thinking to check the Kitbuilding and Scratchbuilding forum!)

 

Just to say this is a cracking looking model with, of course, the correctly shaped cab ends built in, so to speak!  This is exactly what I hope to achieve myself.  If my finish turns out half as good as on your model, I'll be very pleased.

 

Steve S

[Phil Bullock]

Cracking effort John many thanks for sharing

[macgeordie]

And there's me thinking you only made transfers 

Lovely job John, well worth the effort.

 

The drawings for the Insixfish you fancied are nearly finished.

 

Ian

[cctransuk]

22 minutes ago, macgeordie said:

And there's me thinking you only made transfers 

Lovely job John, well worth the effort.

 

The drawings for the Insixfish you fancied are nearly finished.

 

Ian

 

Thank you for your kind comments - I look forward to the INSIXFISH with great anticipation; as you know, the transfers have been available in my range for some considerable time !!

 

Regards,

John.

[kitmasterbloke]

Superb bit of modelling and lovely finish John! Just shows how good the original kits were.

[cctransuk]

On 02/06/2020 at 21:25, cctransuk said:

......  if I ever pluck up courage to make a start on the garage to railway room upgrade, the prospect of a layout on which to run the ridiculous accumulation of sixty years' of stock building.

 

I plucked up courage ......

 

 

 

 

 

John Isherwood.