Despite having two sets of coaches on the go already , I seem to have drifted into starting a third. Admittedly the LNWR set is almost done - just a bit of weathering still to do , and the new project is supposed to be a quick win....

When, early this year, I decided to use various steam era kits and bits I had accumulated to operate a steam period on Blacklade I quickly found I was very short of brake coaches. As money was tight at the time , I looked for the cheapest options to plug the gap and bought a Ratio MR suburban brake 3rd and a Dapol CKD LMS non-gangwayed lavatory brake third. The latter cost the princely sum of £9.30 at St Albans show

The original idea was that this would run with an unbuilt BSL kit for a Gresley steel composite. It was only later, on digging the BSL kit out of the cupboard, that I found that it was a corridor coach. Plans have since been revised , and I now intend to get a maroon Hornby Thompson CL when they are available in a few months time to pair with the LMS brake. The BSL kit will ultimately be paired with a Mailcoach/Kirk Tourist Brake third open kit which I bought at Ally Pally

As a CKD kit this ought to be quick. However there are various improvements to make asit's an old model. I won't give a blow by blow account, as the ground has already been covered here:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/64375-Dapol-ex-lms-non-corridor-lavatory-coaches-a-review-of-sorts/

SE Finecast flushglaze was sourced at Ally Pally, and fitted with UHU. This is a substantial improvement. It's necessary to carve away from behind the curving "rail" at the brake end to get the glazing in. Arguably I should have taken this "rail" - actually the toilet filler pipe I believe - right off and replaced it with some .45 handrail wire standing proud of the end . But by this time I'd painted the ends , and I wasn't sure of my ability to form the necessary curve neatly and accurately - so I chickened out on this. The alarm gear on the other end is a bit flat. I'm sure etches and detailing bits must be available to do a better job (from Comet?) but I didn't have any and chickened out again. Arguably you could replace the moulded handrails on the sides in wire - but that would have meant a complete respray , and one attraction of the CKD route is a finish to RTR factory standard.

The number is applied on the left hand side , and has no suffix letter. The Modelmaster Ms I had were visibly not in the same font as Dapol used on the coach, so I couldn't add them. Numbers on the left applied from mid 1949 to late 1951 according to Parkin's book on Mk1s : lack of the origin company suffix letter points to the first year or so of BR liveries, so as produced by Dapol the finish represents a vehicle repainted in 1949-50

I did tackle the roof . The coach is supplied with the roof from the composite , so most of the holes for the vents are in the wrong place . I fitted ventilators into those holes that were in the right place, lined the moulding up against the drawing in Historic Carriage Drawings Vol 2 LMS , drilled pilot holes in the correct places , and filled the wrong holes with filler, which was sanded down with an emery board. Two and in some cases three applications were needed to get the holes filled absolutely flush. The new holes were then opened out with a larger drill and the vents fitted , with solvent/cement applied from the underside of the roof.

The underframe was reworked largely in line with the pdf linked in the thread above, but I retained the truss rods and therefore the moulded regulator. Coachmann in this thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/67996-making-use-of-Dapol-lms-coach-kits/ demonstrates sawing the back off the misplaced battery box and reusing it (they're tight with their brass in Lancashire). I tried, but my razor sawblade was too wide to allow me to get it in between the truss rods to make the horizontal cut . The plastic moulding had to be carved out, and as I had a Comet battery box casting I glued it back to front behind the moulded representation of the battery box front . Since most of the detail was at the top, and is therefore hidden by the solebars , and the whole thing is painted black anyway, this bodge is not visible . Comet whitemetal LMS buffers , vacuum cylinders and dynamo and etched V hangers and crossframes were added with superglue.

Kadees have been added to the bogies :