chrisstiffer Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I am about to start detailing a few old mainline class 45's that I have and to me the most obvious visual flaw is the nose profile. It seems to me the easiest solution would be to cut the top of the nose off and stick on a new profile. My question is, has anyone heard of such a thing being produced - either as a plastic molding or in whitemetal. I am interested to know if I could get hold of such a thing that would take a few minutes to fit before I get busy myself with the plastic putty and or try to cast some myself. I'm amazed when I think about it that the otherwise excellent Craftsman kit doesn't include a casting for this. Chris PS Here's a pic of my new layout just starting to take shape and loosly based on Penzance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the penguin of doom Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I did some Peak detailing a few years ago under the heading "A plethora of Peaks". I did intend to do a similar job with a Mainline split box nose but ended up just grafting the boxes into a Bachmann body. Since then, Bachmann have retooled their model and it's much nicer. I'll try find the thread and post a link. Cheers. Sean. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I reprofiled the noses of a dozen Mainline and Replica Peaks as follows. Using a razor saw, cut backwards from the nose, horizontally along the seam line, until you meet the intersect with the widscreen pillar. make a second incision vertically down where the windcreen meets the nose, leaving a mm or so of material to retain the bonnet lid in place relative to the body. Insert a fillet of plasticard at the nose front to raise the bonnet top to the correct height/ profile. Glue, fill and sand as appropriate. Note, there's insufficient meat at the bottom of the noses too. Again a sliver of plasticard shaped to fit will work here, laborious but effective. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisstiffer Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 Thanks Both, I agree the, Bachmann model looks great, especially now, and if I see a cheap body I will get one, I am just deliberatly trying to do it on a budget. I've found the thread for Plethora of Peaks http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=49957, and it makes very interesting reading. And cutting the nose and lifting it - that's a great idea and I can see that working. Chris. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the penguin of doom Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 No worries Chris. You beat me to finding my thread. I have, over the last year or so been aquiring some of the newer Bachmann bodies. I have nine now altogether so if you or anyone else reading want to save a bit of work, all eight of the ones in this thread will be looking for new homes before long. Give me a shout if any of them are of use to you?.... Cheers. Sean. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
emperordalek Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Hi chris.Just seen your fascinating articles on the modifications. I have the GBL Class 45 which i intend to convert and detail into '052 Satan. Is the South Eastern flush glazing worth bothering with, or, would I be better cutting pieces of plasticard (what thickness?) and preservering with these. Many thanks for your help. Regards Malcolm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 The trouble with the Mainline Peaks is all the other errors. They were superb models for their time, but things like the two rain strips spring to mind. The cab windows are pretty poor compared to the Bachy example. You can get hold of Bachmann class 44 and 45 bodyshells at shows. I have found that if you cut out the steps on a Bachy body shell, it will clip onto a Mainline chassis, which although pretty inferior in running qualities, gives you a good way to baulk out a Peak fleet on a depot, etc. The only problem is that the Mainline chassis is about 2mm too short, so there is more overhang of the nose over the buffers (when you fit a Craftsman or similar buffer beam detailing kit). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobach47 Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 the worse problem is the buffer beams attached to the body i cut mine off and made new ones and fitted sprung buffers then i fitted a Bachmann body i got for £4! never noticed the problem with the nose profile, the lack of a bonnet seam on 44008 is minor compared with the mainline body Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 On the class 44 you need to remove the air cylinders and boiler water tanks, so everything below the battery boxes. Also the inner sandboxes on the bogies were removed on most of the peaks.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdrider Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 I've just finished improving a mainline 45. I raised the nose a bit by cutting horizontally along the panel line and inserting a 1.5mm fillet of plasticard. The windows also came in for a bit of reshaping with new frames added along with flush glazing and cab interiors were added. I made some split head code boxes although they are a bit on the small side. I also made new buffer beams incorporating the original coupling. The redundant gutter was sanded off along with the nameplates. I'm quite pleased with the result. Not sure if the effort was really worth it but it was a fun little project all the same. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Genesis Models used to produce an entire cab and nose casting for this sort of thing. Not sure if anyone's used them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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