GONK43 Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Hello All Need some assistance with an ongoing project please? I am doing some lima blue grey mk1 coach upgrades. Have attached a photo. They have round buffers. Looking to add some upgraded buffers, something like slaters 4070. Do I keep the round buffers or do I have to change to oval buffers, and if change to oval, the reasons why? I am also struggling to find reliable info on interior corridor colouring. I have painted these with a wood effect. Is this correct? I have seen someones work showing lower half blue, and upper half white, with wooden door surrounds in wood. Ta very much for all info provided. I do realise there is no roof attached! gonk43 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Yes, you want to fit oval buffers, those puny little round rivets that Lima called buffers bore no relation to the actual equipment fitted to Mk1s. Most if not all loco hauled compartment Mk1s had wood panelled interior corridors so your guess is correct. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GONK43 Posted March 4 Author Share Posted March 4 Thanks andyman7. Have measured a Bachmann tpo, and they are roughly 7mm x 4mm. Do you know where I should be looking for good quality buffers please? Brass or steel would be better, as looking to remove buffer head with saw, and drill through remaining and fit a thin pinned type buffer, eg slaters 4070 type, oval not round. Ta very much Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 I'm sure others will have good suggestions - I'm at that stage where I'd go to my box of oval buffers accumulated over many years and dig out four matching ones of indeterminate manufacture, on the basis that it will look a lot better than the Lima ones! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCB Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 A few nails and a decent file will soon create some decent buffer heads, especially if you have a lathe. You would be hard put to make anything worse than the Lima buffers The usual mistake with MK1s is that the buffers are modelled in the extended position whereas they are retracted when Corridor Mk1s are coupled to other BR standard corridor coaches and use the buckeye coupler for buffing and as draw gear. The buffers are only extended when coupling to stock without buckeye couplers I close coupled several Lima Mk 1s with Peco couplings and some with mainline ones by moving the couplings inward so the corridor connections almost touched when propelling around 2ft radius curves. The improvement in appearance was dramatic but sadly the pics on RM Web disappeared a while ago and I can't find them on my many discarded computers and SD cards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GONK43 Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 Funny enough DCB, I do have a lathe which I could utilize. Good idea. Yes understand the retracted buffers. I have adapted some Bachmann commenwealth bogies with nem pockets and 12.6 wheels. These are the nearest to 14mm I can get without fouling the body work. They improve the look no end. Oddly, the lima moulded buffers have one retracted, and one semi retracted! Probably for going around bends maybe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Geep7 Posted March 5 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 5 You'll be wanting to use these: https://www.dartcastings.co.uk/mjt/2934.php ex-MJT BR retracted coach buffers. I used them on my Lima Mk1 coaches back in the day. Snip off and file back the original buffer to the buffer beam, then drill out a hole big enough for the locating stub at the back, and superglue in place. Then obviously they need painting black. Technically you should have un-retracted buffers at the ends of a rake (which I think you can get from Wizard Models), but unless you're going to be running fixed rakes, i'd just stick with the retracted type. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 For fairness of other manufacturers I'll post the links. https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/shop/carriage/c41/ https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/shop/carriage/c42/ I think Lanarkshire Model Supplies also make them but I can't seem to get on to the website. Jason 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Works ok for me, just now. http://www.lanarkshiremodels.com/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Yes. Working for me again now. Must have been a server glich. Unfortunately Lanarkshire don't make that type, but plenty of other useful types. Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinofLoxley Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 4 hours ago, Geep7 said: You'll be wanting to use these: https://www.dartcastings.co.uk/mjt/2934.php ex-MJT BR retracted coach buffers. I used them on my Lima Mk1 coaches back in the day. Snip off and file back the original buffer to the buffer beam, then drill out a hole big enough for the locating stub at the back, and superglue in place. Then obviously they need painting black. Technically you should have un-retracted buffers at the ends of a rake (which I think you can get from Wizard Models), but unless you're going to be running fixed rakes, i'd just stick with the retracted type. Just out of interest if they (buffers) are all manufactured with a silver finish why paint them black? Is it just dirt? Otherwise they could have been painted black to start with Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Geep7 Posted March 5 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 5 19 minutes ago, RobinofLoxley said: Just out of interest if they (buffers) are all manufactured with a silver finish why paint them black? Is it just dirt? Otherwise they could have been painted black to start with The MJT cast buffer also includes the buffer shank and mounting point, which are black along with the underframe.... The actual buffer head, whilst being a silver finish when first outshopped, would soon weather down to a dullish brown/black colour from all the grease.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GONK43 Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 Excellent , thanks all.Very informative. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
westernfan Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 GONK43 Other people have answered your query far better than I could, but I have a question for you. How did you disassemble your Lima coaches? I have a rake of Mk2B's I would like to add interior details to, but cannot find a way of separating the components; they seem to be glued together, unlike the Hornby ones which simply have a screw. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
25kV Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 53 minutes ago, westernfan said: How did you disassemble your Lima coaches? I have a rake of Mk2B's I would like to add interior details to, but cannot find a way of separating the components; they seem to be glued together, unlike the Hornby ones which simply have a screw. The glazing and roof (grey section, not the curved ends) need to be released first - and they're clipped at the ends and low down below the windows. After this, the body can be separated from the underframe. There's a video showing how to do this here. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steamport Southport Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 55 minutes ago, westernfan said: GONK43 Other people have answered your query far better than I could, but I have a question for you. How did you disassemble your Lima coaches? I have a rake of Mk2B's I would like to add interior details to, but cannot find a way of separating the components; they seem to be glued together, unlike the Hornby ones which simply have a screw. With Lima you normally need to gently prise them apart. Use a thinned down lolly ice stick or something similar. I have seen people saying use a screwdriver but that seems a bit too harsh to me, and more likely to damage the model. Jason 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giz Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 The easiest way to open up a Lima 2b is to hold both ends and twist in opposite directions. The roof will pop out of its clips and can then be removed. Sounds brutal but works. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GONK43 Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 Hello westernfan. I have not got to the mk2`s yet. Looks like others have given you some advice. Think customising our own fleet is a pretty good idea personally. Looking at the price of new coaches now. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GONK43 Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 OK, I have attached a couple of pics to show the improvement you can do with a bogie and wheel upgrade to lima coaches. Also did an nem pocket change to. I appreciate others have already done this. Lima original on right, upgraded on left on first pic. Upgrade bogie on second pic. Original bogie on third. Just need the buffer upgrade now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ISW Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 22 hours ago, 25kV said: There's a video showing how to do this here. Nice video, but 2 things to beware of: The Lima B4 bogie moulding has the angled bar (?) of the secondary suspension the wrong way round. You need to turn the bogie 180-degrees to be correct. Therefore, any couplings have to be fitted on the 'naked' end of the bogie (away from the tension coupling). If you remove all of the side 'window' area, there is nothing to keep the seating moulding in position. Turn the model over, and the seating 'falls out', pushed by the weigh that then rattles about. I always leave the toilet window (and the same piece on the opposite side) as part of the roof to 'retain' the seating moulding. The added advantage of this is that it retains the 'white' appearance of the toilet window. Ian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ISW Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 6 minutes ago, GONK43 said: Just need the buffer upgrade now. And renumber the coaches correctly. I use my RCTS Coaching Stock book from 1974 to 'select' a number that is suitable (B1 bogies, etc). Ian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GONK43 Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 So ISW, are you saying the Bachmann bogie that I have bought is incorrect? It came with the coupling at the wrong end? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GONK43 Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 Oops, read it again. Sorry ISW, you did say LIMA bogie. I am not using those. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWR-fan Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 At one time I had more Lima Mk1 coaches than I have fingers and toes but they were relegated to the eBay bin after my stock of Bachmann and Hornby Mk1 stock improved in quantity. Then I found a rake of three Lima mk1 coaches on the now defunct Hattons pre-owned site and purchased them. Someone had spent a lot of time on this set of three Southern Region coaches, with the installation of flush glazing being the most impressive improvement I have seen. From a distance the coaches could be mistaken for more expensive versions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giz Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 Here are a couple I did over 30 years ago, unfortunately the flushglaze has yellowed over the years: The maroon one has Replica commonwealth bogies and I had to cut holes in the floor to accommodate 14mm wheels. The blue and grey one has Lima B4s, reversed to get the traction rods the right way round and it did have Mainline couplings fitted but one appears to have fallen off. I fitted them with oval brass buffer heads that I obtained in bulk from somewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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