Hornby Pullman convert matchboard to smooth sided

[ikcdab]

I acquired a rake of the 2003 Hornby pullman cars. They are lovely models (apart from the couplings....see another thread).

But, in my haste to bag them at a decent price and without doing enough research, I have ended up with a rake of matchboarded coaches. As my layout is set in the 1960s, I understand these are an anachromism as most of the coaches were converted to smooth sided in later years.

The Hornby models also suffer from the matchboarding being far too coarse, i feel I can see the grand canyon between each vertical plank. This has caused the lining to be interrupted and look more like dashed lines.

I have lived with these issues for  a year, but now I need to address it.

One option is to sell the coaches and buy the correct smooth sided ones. This will cost me by the time i pay ebay/PayPal fees. 

Other options are to use some kind of filler to smooth off the sides and then repaint, attempting to match the existing model paint. I want to rename/renumber the coaches anyway.

Then the thought occurred to me that I could glue on a sheet of 5 thou plasticard  instead. The planking is recessed and I think would take 5 thou ok. Then paint and letter the plasticard.

I am thinking the filler is the best option as it would just fill in the canyons and retain the recessed look. I also think it will be easier to do.

Any comments or feedback?

Ian

 

[DCB]

I reckon putting them on eBay is favourite, Folks will have prezzie cash rattling around after Xmas for stuff like coaches.

You could smooth the sides, I had a scrap box  full of coaches I had modified, most now sold on on eBay,  but I found getting the finish anywhere near factory standards to be beyond me (and all but a tiny minority of modellers, )   Pullmans are probably the easiest to do but even so the hassle has to be less to sell and buy the right ones.

[John Tomlinson]

You might consider "Precision Labels", see http://www.precisionlabels.com/cr.html?

 

I find this website very user unfriendly, but it appears that you want item SL6, the adhesive coach side panels.

 

If you look on Coulsdon Works on here, you'll see these being applied, see page 6

 

John.

Edited December 16, 2021 by John Tomlinson
Added link to "Coulsdon Works"

[thegreenhowards]

As John says these precision labels are excellent. I applied them directly over matchboarded sides with no problems.

 

Andy

[ikcdab]

2 minutes ago, thegreenhowards said:

As John says these precision labels are excellent. I applied them directly over matchboarded sides with no problems.

 

Andy

Thats very helpful, thank you. I cant get their website to work for me at the moment!

How does the colour match with the existing Hornby paint?

[thegreenhowards]

12 minutes ago, ikcdab said:

Thats very helpful, thank you. I cant get their website to work for me at the moment!

How does the colour match with the existing Hornby paint?

I think it’s a very good match. It’s worth getting the top banner above the windows as well. This is one of mine.

it’s worth giving John Peck, the proprietor, a ring. He’s very helpful and will talk you through what you need. Contact details here.

 

http://www.precisionlabels.com/contact.html?new

 

Andy

[oddoneout]

Hello. I've also tried Precision Labels, a full waistband name change, and a Trianon Bar convcersion. Unfortunately in my case, both the 'umber' and 'cream' did not match the Hornby coach colour at all, and the conversion was abandoned; the umber had a distinct green hue. I may have been unlucky, or maybe the coach I used was old and the colours had darkened. Any views on this?

[John Tomlinson]

The Hornby colours can change if stored in direct light. I have a couple of cars I bought on ebay in just this condition, the cream is very pale, almost ivory, and the umber quite pale also. But that's the opposite of what you are saying.

 

Is your coach one of the old type, without lights and with moulded roof detail, or one of the new ones that has lights and also separate roof vents etc.? The ones I refer to are the new ones.

 

I assume your Precision Labels cover the umber parts, so is it possible for you to just paint the cream yourself, using say the Precision Phoenix or Railmatch product?

 

John.

[thegreenhowards]

They always seem to match reasonably well for me so, I’m afraid I can’t shed any light on your problem.