D 844

Bachmann Class 43 cab interior.  It can be improved by cutting the floor out, just leave the seats and the front frame, the chassis block needs thin card or good paper to cover the wire channels, then add seat bases level to the bottom of the frame. It clips back in fine and looks better and a lot better when cab lights are on.

This pic is the Class 43 on the Mainline chassis, I still think Mainline wheels are the best, maybe the best of both worlds, as such no need to fiddle with cab steps and the bogie frames could altered, the new ones won't swap easily

I didn't know about d811's emblem but as for two hole wheel sets, most early builds were all like that and then they became more widespread during overhauls, even on to Class 43's. D821 now has one on each bogie. Here is D824

The steps are one piece with a loop behind the valence and glued there so the buffers don't get strained. I also liked doing the two hole wheel set on D824 as it always had at least one, just a little filler and paint job.

Just finished cab mods on my third Class 42 and to me look a lot better, it takes about one hour per loco and the cost is nothing, also done seats from scrap coach interior.

When should we be expecting the new Class 42 Warship, it seems a long wait. The Class 43 shell does have minor mould seems near the roof so they are prepared for different roof details. Perhaps running quality needs a re-think, certainly the gearing and pickups. Interesting on Ebay recently, some trusty older Class 42s have been going for higher prices than Class 43s. The new Class 42 will have to be spot-on to be a winner for Bachmann and us.

Bachmann Class 42 and 43 body swaps, The later 42 with 21pin is just the same as earlier bodyshells, so to fit it on to a 43 chassis the only option is to trim the 43s bufferbeams.  As said before about the 43 shell on a 21pin 42 is easy but the 21pin blanking plate is high so I removed the fan housings just to be sure, they are hardly visible anyway.

Bachmann class 42 and class 43 body swaps, The class 43 shell is a fraction longer than the 42 chassis so it fits very nicely onto Mainline, early Bachmann and later 21 pin. The only need to alter is the rear end of the cab interior to clear the bogie tower and pcb on the 21 pin, the screws line-up, job done. I expected the lights to work but they don't they do look different internally. On the Mainline chassis, cab interior to clear the motor and slice a bit of their light holders, the screws don't line-up of course. As the 42 shell is a fraction shorter than the 43 classis, the only things I can see is to trim the buffer beams on the 43 and trim the cab interior.