Sir Nigel Of Gresley Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Hi all, I've just bought, (via eBay), 3 of the old PC Models Gresley carriages, and was wondering if anyone had any hints or tips to aid buliding them?? I'm not to happy about the vac-formed ends, but other than that, all seems ok...at the mo!!! I've got the Harris and Campling "LNER/Gresley Carriage" books to aid placement of partitions, etc, but as this is my first go at doing a PC Models carriage, I'd just like a few pointers to watch for potential pitfalls. As always, any help is greatfully appreciated. Grant Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Dredged up from the depths of my memory: very obviously the alignment of the body shell construction is crucial to the finished appearance. Check that all the metal components are straight and true indiividually if planning to build the kit as supplied. Measure the roof and all the printed acetate side and end components that will have to butt up neatly to form a 'seamless' exterior construction, and decide exactly what the external dimensions you are going to build to are, in order to trim them to the right lengths. (This was a factor when these kits were new, and acetate is not absolutely dimensionally stable.) After building a couple using the metal angle parts, I went for bonding a strip of forty thou plasticard to the metal baseplate, and then using more 40 thou plasticard shaped to the side profile to build the lower body side to which the acetates were glued. The plasticard made it much easier to get the polystyrene vac formed ends secured, and that in turn made the roof attachment better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 Going back a bit. They were around ??2.30 when I last saw them for sale. Agreed about the dimensions varying a bit. Also the use of plasticard for the lower body sides rather than the metal angle that is provided. The vac formed ends work OK but need cutting out very neatly, especially where a window comes close to an end. If you have a brake vehicle where the luggage area is narrower than the compartment section then don't trust the width of the partitions. Trial and error to get just the right amount of width difference and still manage to get the roof to fit. Be very careful not to get adhesive on the windows. Some had bogies with a cast stretcher others, latter ? had a strip brass version that provided some movement. The cast ones from memory did not perform too well and I adapted this version to a compensated type. The plasticard angle iron trusses were a pain to cut out so it might be better to fabricated your own from plastic or brass strip. A jig to cut the seat mouldings square might be a worthwhile aid to construction. As the previous poster pointed our squarness and fit of all the butting up parts is essential. A dry run to check that the length of the acetate sides is the same as the length of the roof with the ends fitted should give you a sporting chance of a reasonable build. The roof moulding always struck me as being rather good. Better than a lot of others that I have come across. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Nigel Of Gresley Posted November 26, 2009 Author Share Posted November 26, 2009 Thanks lads for the tips. Looks like i might pass one off to a good modelling friend to let him try one first Grant Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.