westernviscount

Working doors on passenger stock, particularly sliding doors will likely happen id say. My enjoyment of such developments will, like many im sure have to be vicariously through watching them at exhibitions as new RTR gets further out of reach for some of us. To be honest, the older I get the less I care about "developments" in the hobby. New RTR is for other people.

A reminder of the intent and a before and after. https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lmsparcels/h157ec466 Not quite as bought but pretty near. Ex-works condition prior to weathering and glazing. Almost there!!

This project is reaching it's conclusio and I am pleased with the results. I opted for hand painting the body which was achieved using 5 thin coats of Phoenix Precision BR Blue. The Roof was painted humbrol 166 light grey. I failed to spot the cantrail and roof ends are painted br blue so I am currently applying coats in the correct places. Transfers are modelmaster, the numbers being applied individually. The body was sprayed halfords matt laquer which I impatientpy sprayed on a cold afternoo after work which did not leave the best finish. There was also a bit of froating on the underframe from humbrol matt spray, again applied in poor conditions. Weathering is carr's powders applied by brush and fixed with a vigourous but short shake of a humbrol matt spray varnish. Anymore and the colours become muted. 5 amp fuse wire was used to model the safety bars on the windows. Couplings are roxey etched screw links which will be manually coupled and uncoupled. Finally, the roof will be completed with light weathering and completion of the blue painting. A spot of white on the brake wheel should draw an end to this most enjoyable project. Lima BR GUV and Lima BR CCT next I think.

Almost there...

You've clearly inspired some excellent modelling Tim. After a long day, I will need help to understand how the doors have been hung backwards? Much head scratching has ensued.

Fantastic!! Doubly so when considering the scale. Very entertaining read!

The bfi cliche department have been informed ;-)

In the video Clive, is the window on the camera side at the end next to the door the toilet?

Clive, here is the link to the youtube vid I screenshot above. The coach in question passes at 15mins 45 seconds. As far as I can see the single window at the passenger end of the coach looks conventional and I assume the toilet is on the other side and also conventional. Just a guess really!!

Some progress has been made with the Lima GUV/cct. A coat of red oxide on the the body revealed some nasty gouges where I scraped the beading away. Obviously lacked the finesse/patience!! Imperfections were sanded, filled with revell plasto (only thing they had in hobbycraft but rather good) and further sanding. The bogies where sprayed black, wheels popped in and sides glued on. It is quite tough getting wheels in and out without bending the frames out of shape once the sides are fitted. Contact glue was used. A further coat of red oxide on the body to cover the filler. Rivet detail was added to the underframe using plastruct rod. The sole bar rivets are drilled holes. Alot easier and they look fine if not better than my plastruct efforts. The underframe was primed then sprayed black. A general view of the work so far. Vac and steam heat pipes are added before the black spray coat. These are vac pipes by Lanarkshire model supplies, the steam heat bent and cut to mimic a steam heat pipe.

Ac models? Lendons of cardiff?

Yes I do. I find the opening stages of any project are a buzz. However, dependant on the project a lull happens somewhere in the middle. Flow state is a very delicately balanced state of mind and if the challenge to skill ratio is not spot on, motivation can be quickly lost. The best result I have had recently is a comet coach kit. Totally new process and deeply engaging throughout. But, if I am honest it was completed at a time when my work was returning to normal and i perceived that expectation of performance was low and the "it's coz covid" excuse could be deployed legitimately. Thus stress levels were low and modelling time was guilt free. No longer I am afraid. So projects stall and chances to become absorbed diminish. Now in the back of the mind is bloody work and my creative brain is now given over to attempting to match up the BS expectations of bosses against reality. This is such a mind bender, there is little room for applying myself fully to a project and the will to complete disappears because I want to do good modelling! This ebbs and floes of course but the mountain looks all the harder to scale from the valley floor.

Yes, I think this is a nervous tic amongst those who want to be on youtube but have little to actually say which is of any use. Much the same as the introduction to kit building vids with the tools continually fondled as the video gets absolutely nowhere. I saw a vid where the model maker introduced his fibre glass scratch brush and proceeded to stroke the bristles. Fair enough, a bristle in the finger isnt that bad but the topic for the video was one which might, we are told, appeal to the younger viewer as it involved 'steam punk'. No disrespect to steam punk being a sci fi fan myself and also no offence to younger modellers who probably know full well not to stroke the end of a scratch brush and also love railway modelling without the gimmicks some grown ups seem to think are needed for children to love this hobby.

I actually used the vernier calipers to measure the existing body side strips (.75mm) then used .25mm (sorry for metric;-)) plastikard sheet, using the calipers to mark the cut line. I have always been put off by the price of evergreen packs and although cruder, i prefer making my own. Any narrower then I am sure strip is the way foward. A brass chassis to solder the bits and bobs to would work nicely I'd say.

My efforts so far adhering roughly to John's method above...

Below are some of the improvements I have attempted on the Lima LMS GUV/CCT. The coach was a chance find item in a chance find model shop on a day trip to Gravesend. The model was in "as new" condition before an inital brake fluid bath to remove the paint. The fluid did not manage to shift everything but as I intended to file and sand away alot of tge beading detail I felt removol of the lettering and numbers would be enough. Detail was scraped away with a brand new chisel blade. Preaching to the converted I know, but a sharp chisel blade must be used for good results but more importantly to avoid injury! I removed alot of the beading to match a vehicle photograph by Paul Bartlett in 1968 https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lmsparcels/h157ec466 Additional beading was added to match the photo. All the chisselling and sanded was made harder by detail I wanted to keep like hinges and doors bumpers. I decided to just go for it and replace later with door furniture made of comet brass hinges I had in the stores, brass .45 wire for door bumpers and .33 wire for hand grabs and handles. Lanarkshire buffers, hooks and torpedo vents were also added. At this stage the the chasis was untouched and I looked around for ideas on how this could be improved. I came across a thread by @brossardabout the upgrade of this coach and decided to essentially copy his method. The most obvious fault with the lima model are the bogies, using BR1 type bogies, not the LMS 9ft bogies. Bogies are in the process of being built and I have opted for the comet welded type as there is a picture of a vehicle fromt he same lot as mine with the welded type. I have never scratchbuilt anything in brass so decided to tool up with a piercing saw and .41mm brass sheet to build the truss work underneath. The reason for the amount of work is that the battery box side is a little crude and the trussing is more exposed on the real thing. LMS v hangers, dynamo, vac cylinders, lighting regulator and battery box were used from the comet range. I mounted the vac cyinders so they hang too low but at this stage I felt the butchery required to correct them would be too much. The truss work is cut with a piercing saw and made use, like @brossard of the tatlow book on NPCS vehicles. The side trusses were made with 1mm brass L angle and .41mm brass sheet cut witht he saw. I hope so far that this account shows how modellers influence and inspire the work of others. I have done nothing original here but have enjoyed my first efforts using brass to scratch build with. I hope to get further along with the project this weekend!

I have spent a very relaxed day hacking mine about. A chance find in a shop which was itself a chance find on a family day out. Less than a tenner for what I think is a very nice model north of the solebar isn't bad at all. The weaknesses of the model are the very stuff of happy modelling. A perfect representation of this vehicle would just be yet another model I couldnt justify buying and it would be like everyone elses. I have used John's brass truss fabrication as inspiration to have a go at cutting brass for the first time!!

Inspired by this thread, I am giving this a go as well John. I managed to get a bargain priced Tatlow book to aid the underframe rebuild. I am hoping to recreate a later lot vehicle which appears to have lost its beading and acquired some vertical panel beads. https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/lmsparcels/h157ec466 There is also a picture on Paul's website showing a departmental vehicle from the same lot with the later welded bogies. As the example I want to create has the bogies in shadow I have decided to go with the welded type.

Your results are superb Dave. Just to confirm, you have not used an airbrush here? I havent got one and am always looking for examples of non-airbrush work. Excellent stuff.

I never knew the man Don Rowland but have benefitted from his superb books and the books of those he has inspired. He has certainly contributed to my growing concern with all things 4mm "wagonry". A sad loss.

This is fascinating. I have said a couple of times on different threads that the more "serious" modeller is likely to have a more live and let live approach. This is my experience anyway. It seems anyone being seen to be taking something seriously is fair game for sending up as a rivet counter, but the other end of the spectrum is lauded as not taking themselves too seriously and a few are celebrated for dismissing the hobby as just toy trains and of little value ultimately. Again, I have not encountered Chief Inspector Rivet Counter and his junior officers are few and far between. I think there are a few who will point to the lack of necessity to make things as a way of posturing about their ability to buy expensive things. This status signalling is at best tiresome and at worst discouraging and best confined to Instagram.

Lendons of cardiff are worth a try.

Here is my first model. I cannot remember exactly when I got this but I am sure it was for my 6th or 7th birthday. I loved it then and although I dont model the appropriate period, I would never part with it...

I am not sure of your personal modelling philosophy but I find that youtube just doesnt cater for me on the whole (i understand it is under no obligation to do so). Perhaps this is your problem also? I have found a handful of vids which genuinely engage me and I "identify" with but on the whole I am left cold. I am sure most would protest but I think some youtube modellers have taken their eye off the actual hobby and start paying more attention to the form and content providing. Perhaps this has always been the case with modellers creating layouts to entertain and appeal to exhibition goers. I get it, but that isnt my approach. I heard on a podcast (which I do enjoy) thqt the top starter kit for modellers should include tripod and camera!!! Also, there does seem to be a cult of "mistakes are my friends" these days. Yes we all make them, but must they be celebrated so heartily, and packaged as success in their own right? Acknowledge mistakes, learn from them and be honest about them, but to broadcast them seems a little odd to me and perhaps leads to them not even being noticed as mistakes. I recommend not watching youtube at all as the form has hidden stressors we might not immediately perceive. Youtube savvy folk might be able to offer tips on managing your feed but the word "managaing" and leisure time are not good bed fellows in my opinion.

Thanks. Unlikely to get hold of it for less than £100 no doubt.