Macforrest

The finished TSOT....

It's taken a long time to get to this point..... but finally fitted the 'Buffet' board on the inside of the coach window. Prior to re-assembly of the body and chassis, I filled the battery compartments with 'liquid lead'. As with the Mk2f, this has added enough weight to give the vehicle a more 'substantial' feel. Masking tape was applied over the filled holes and the proprietary steel weight put back in place before the seating insert was bonded in place with a dab of epoxy adhesive at either end. This seems to hold everything in place pretty well. Photo of completed TSOT to follow....!

Some 'small work items' over last week..... having received the TT scale Buffet/Restaurant pack from Railtec I set about cutting and painting some Plastruct strip to fabricate the non-trolley bay side window boards. Gloss black mixed with a small quantity of matt brown created (unsurprisingly!) a browny-black colour for the melamine or heavily varnished wood effect. Decals applied and pair of boards ready for one nearly finished and one not yet started conversions.

And typically I randomly chose 6502....

One solution would be to cut out the window detail entirely, cut away the frame detail and fill part of the aperture and fit a Mk2d-f toilet window along with a replacement etched frame. This entails quite a bit of fiddly work with plenty of opportunity to screw it up so instead, I've opted for a compromise by removing the grille but retaining the window bar. The resulting opening will be filled with a window moulding for the brake corridor vehicles which is included in the SE Finecast packs for Mk2a/b/c.

I managed to get sidetracked back to the previous project whilst looking for 10 minute wins; I also managed to find myself a whole new 'problem' by chancing upon a black & white image of the exact vehicle I'm modelling. This shows the toilet/store room compartment windows of vehicle 6502 to be similar to those of the air conditioned Mk2 stock. I was fairly sure I had seen a less clear picture confirming this before, but had found a better one which shows windows with the vent grille and it was this that I based my modifications on....

As if that project hasn't been put to one side for long enough.... I'm going to go back to basics as a bit of a refresher and tackle another Mk3 from the 'archive', as much to see how the Laserglaze works out on this Lima buffet

A bit of a long break and a tiny amount of progress made on the TSOT.... too many things on the go at the same time! I finally managed to get hold of some 'Buffet' legends of the correct size for the obscured window on the trolley bay side. I painted a spare SE Finecast window moulding in the same colour as the coach bodysides and to this I applied the waterslide decal. This was then pressed into another (clear) window moulding already fitted into the window aperture. This gives the impression of reverse-printed lettering on the inside of the window!

SLEP 10542 is currently undergoing roof repairs at WSR. It will be used (in the short term) as volunteer accommodation at Bishops Lydeard but the intention in the longer term is to preserve it in the condition in which it left service in 2019. It will remain in Caledonian sleeper livery and some cabins will be restored to their revenue earning service appearance. Already it has undergone a preliminary internal strip and clean, with restoration begun on some of the fittings found to be in poor condition. Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway/Museum of Scottish Railways also have a project underway to exhibit their example of this type of vehicle alongside earlier sleeping carriages. Didcot Railway centre have utilised their expert volunteers to quickly get their Mk3 up and running as accommodation minimal modification to the electrical systems to provide the motor alternator with a direct supply (415v 3-phase) and the systems do the rest to supply the correct voltages to the fire alarm system, low level lighting, air-con and cabin lighting. WSR are looking at similar modifications.

Some of the other modifications that differentiate a TSOT from a standard TSO are an obscured window on the trolley bay side, partially covered up to the window lights by a panel which displays a 'Buffet' legend and on the opposite side a wooden board fixed across the window also displaying a ‘Buffet’ legend. From memory, this board was heavily varnished plywood but I might be wrong in my recollection! These will be easy enough to replicate once I can find some white Buffet decals without having to also purchase a whole sheet of other decals I really don't need.... Railtec produce a reverse printed representation of the board but I want to do it the hard way. In the meantime, I thought I might put some effort into making this look a more convincing conversion as opposed to a full passenger coach made up to look like a TSOT from the outside, so rather than retain the seating in the buffet section, I removed a pair of seats and tables from the insert using a razor saw and using the interior ends and the curve of the inside of the roof as a template, cut two compartment dividers from plasticard. A section of ‘floor’ was inserted between these to cover the holes left by the removed seating. The trolley bay was built up from more plastic strip using drawings found online for reference and with the seating masked off, given a coat of grey aerosol primer. This works well to fill any gaps between sections of plasticard. The dividing sections were painted by hand brush in a creamy satin paint to try to recreate a melamine panel effect and the top of the serving 'bar' will be a glossy dark brown finish.

Quite a task ahead for you with the flushglazing but made a lot easier by how easy it is to fit Laserglaze - really great product! I'm sure these will look really good. I bought the pallet vans as I'd circled these in the 1989 Lima catalogue!! Some minor mods (wheels, Accurascale sprung buffers) should have been straightforward but can't get hold of etched rectangular buffer backplates anywhere, so on hold for now.

SE Finecast flushglazing now fitted, having filed out all of the window and droplight openings - this is the most time consuming part of this project! No smoking decals were added; again these are the Railtec reverse printed ones which are crisply reproduced and really enhance the look of the model. In operation these coaches had a red buffet stripe over the first window on either side at the trolley bay end, so this was painted on with a brush (not worth setting up the airbrush) in gloss red. A satin finish might be more suitable.... The new numbers and NSE branding have also been applied, straight onto the original paintwork, a coat of satin varnish applied to seal them and this also does a good job of blending them with the factory finish. Vehicle numbers are 6502 & 6517. Again, there are some differences in where numbers appeared on the prototypes; some were positioned centrally under the window and some aligned with the edge of the window frame closest to the door. A 1990 'Platform 5' photo shows a TSOT with the latter, though I have no reference for the specific vehicle being modelled (6502).

Back to the underside, I have fabricated air distributor valve brackets from plasticard, these were fixed in place with liquid poly, and cast valve and air tank added. These provide just enough extra detail without too much effort. Buffer beams were cut away and a ‘split’ one added (to accomodate Kadee buckeye couplings) from 60thou x 5.8mm plastic strip, which is pretty much correct scale depth for Mk2 buffer beams. MJT retracted buffers were added, located in 1.5mm holes drilled in the new beam checking for correct centre spacing with a digital calliper. Once assembled, a coat of primer then satin black aerosol finish the task.

Now the detail has been added (folding brass lamp brackets is still my least favourite activity though I now have a hold’n’fold which helps) a coat of grey primer was applied to the coach ends followed, when dry, by satin black and gloss varnish to provide a good surface for decals to adhere to. Once thoroughly dry, C1, warning flash and ‘AG2C’ decals were applied. There isn’t the space to include the ‘Electric Heated’ legend due to the tank filler being moulded in a slightly lower position than the prototype. There is space however for ‘lifted’ dates, but the standard Railtec ones are dated about 12 years too late! A coat of satin varnish completed this step.

First step as always is removal of the coach end mouldings, this time including the jumper cables! Before fitting of brass handrails and lamp brackets, I decided to do the window filing, necessary for fitting the SE Finecast glazing as the frames taper inwards. This avoids damaging the added detailing and also means I only have to clean the bodyshell once.

The next project is to ‘convert’ a Lima Mk2b to a Mk2c TSOT. Most West of England expresses carried a trolley ‘buffet’, usually placed between the two BFKs of a 9-coach train. As I’m building up two rakes, I will need two of these so will do it as a pair for ease. Firstly, I have noticed a couple of things about the prototype and the Lima model; unlike Lima’s Mk2f, the distributor valve bracket is not part of the moulding, so I will have to fabricate these myself. From what little evidence of this type of coach I can gather, it appears that many Mk2cs displayed their number and NSE branding the opposite way round to the Mk2b’s, or certainly to the way round Lima have printed them, so I’m going to have a go at remedying this on at least one. There are probably numerous other differences (including roof vents) but the aim is to make it recognisable as a TSOT rather than fully prototype accurate.

Sounds like you have plenty on your 'to do' list, should keep you busy! Whilst there are some very good models available now from Bachmann and the slightly improved Hornby Mk2fs, I much prefer to try out my modelling skills by working on what I already have. Otherwise it just becomes an exercise in how deep you wallet goes. Even though I have supplemented my original pile of stock with several e-bay purchases (paying only second hand and not 'rare - collectible' prices) it's only cost the equivalent of a couple of Bachmanns to extend each of my rakes by two coaches! I'm also learning stuff from those with much more knowledge of prototypes and modelling techniques than myself and although the cost of the Laserglaze and other detailing parts, paints and decals obviously increases the cost somewhat and this to me is what the hobby is about and not just how may super-detailed out of the box products you can afford.... I don't expect everyone to agree of course! Thanks to all for your ongoing interest and suggestions.

Bodysides, however, were finished with satin varnish as the original colour had a very flat matt finish. The undercarriage was primed and given a coat of satin black (although I have since learned that dark brown would have been correct!) and the plastic wheels replaced with 12mm Gibson wheels which improves the running. No Mk2d BSOs were assigned to the IXXC pool so I have renumbered this as 9484; allocated to Old Oak Common for Western Region duties, perhaps it could have found its way into a cross country train!

Both coaches had some extra internal detailing applied; seats and tables painted, window bars added using 0.6mm brass wire (a little over scale but creates a good effect) and window handrails from microstrip, painted silver.

Good progress being made! I've followed a similar process for the blue/grey version, though on this one the coach ends were repainted once the brass detailing was added and Fox OHLE warning flashes, Railtec ‘C1’ and custom Rainbow Railways vehicle type decals applied. The combination of satin Railmatch Rail Blue and the gloss varnish resulted in a finish much shinier than the original paint, so a coat of matt varnish was used to tone this down.

After an airbrushed coat of gloss varnish, the red & white stripes, INTERCITY logo and new numbers were applied, ‘Microsol’ being used to try to form the stripes to the curve of the end doors which have the fiddly door bumpers moulded. Where the bodyside breaks for the doors I found it easier just to cut the decal and leave tiny gap rather than trying to form it to the moulding. New numbers and brake compartment load limits from Railtec were also added, all sealed with a final coat of satin varnish. Following the fitting of the windows ‘No Smoking’ decals would also normally be applied, but the excellent reverse printed ones from Railtec are the earlier type and not suitable for the later livery (though I am sure some examples could probably be found with the earlier round window stickers). I will have to wait until these become available…. PS John Peck at Precision labels was able to produce some reverse printed 'No Smoking' decals and these have now been applied and these are just about visible in the pictures.

I guess single fan is logical.... half the fans for half the seating capacity! Thanks for the pictures, good research!

By no means definitive knowledge, but as far as I am aware the 2ds are equipped with Stones units (Platform 5 1990) and these were generally twin fan. The Lima aircon models have a single fan unit (Temperature Ltd units) which marks them out as 2fs. I'm sure there were variations, exceptions and refurbishments!

First step is a quick respray of the Inter-City ‘light grey’ (beige!) to ensure a more consistent colour through the rake. This also covers the Intercity logo and vehicle number. I have left the coach ends alone, aside from fitting handrails. Although the livery being replicated would have necessitated new style data panels but I couldn’t bring myself to paint over the original printing, so it stays!

The underframe mouldings do not really require any work; most of the equipment is replicated including the air tank and distributor. The Stones air-con units are correctly represented for the Mk 2d variant. There are only three minor issues; the underframe of the blue/grey coach is moulded in a brown plastic. The lower bodyside colour of the ‘Executive’ version does not look right, or at least is too dissimilar to the Lima and Bachmann variation, so I’m inclined to repaint it. Finally, they have strange, almost curved, buffer beams but I will leave these alone for now!