Gallery shots
can be found on this link...
So, summing up.
I approached this build with a degree of trepidation. It's a lot of kit, and appears very daunting when you first open the box. Making the first cut is the start of a lengthy, occasionally frustrating, but ultimately enjoyable process.
This is the point. If you want a fast way to a Mark One coach, this is not the ideal route. This is a kit designed to be accurate when finished, but also to be savoured during the construction. It's a builder's kit. Everything about it encourages you to take your time and enjoy the process.
Now I have an MMP Mk1 notched on my soldering iron, what have I learned?
- Read the instructions, then read them again. Don't try to digest and understand them all in one go. Read a section, then read it again, perhaps even again. Some of the instructions only really begin to make sense once you are forming the metal parts. It becomes apparent that each paragraph also forms a section of construction.
- Take your time. Realise there are whole sections that may not be important or relevant for the build in question. Importantly, read, and read again, the section you're working on while you're fettling parts. I also found it a help to go through the instructions to cross out sections that were irrelevant to this build. All of a sudden, the seemingly complex instructions don't seem quite so daunting, and it becomes easier to find your place again while working!
- The instructions are for guidance, and you are free to go off piste - if you think you are clever enough. The construction sequence doesn't have to follow the instructions, but for a first time builder it helps.
- For this build I was using third party bogies, and adding extra complication for electric train heating, air braking, door corrosion strips and other modern changes. Initially this was a worry to me, but once I started - admittedly with a lot of willingly given guidance - it worked out just fine.
- Know your prototype. Whether you get the information from published sources, the web or a combination of both, you can never know enough about what you're trying to build. The kit has been designed to be an accurate 1/43rd scale recreation of the real thing, allowing for scale and materials, but sometimes you need to see what the real thing looked like to understand how some components go together. There are loads of heritage lines running Mk1s, so there's no excuse for not being able to find a real one for reference. By the bye, don't forget preserved vehicles don't always have the features they were built with. It helps to understand the way they changed during service so you can interpret what you see.
If I build another MMP coach kit - and it is a very big "if" - there are some things I would approach differently.
- I'd make better allowance for fitting the body to the frames earlier in the build. Having to hack about a finished underframe is no fun.
- I would assemble the gangways before fitting them to the body. This would make them easier to build, and makes it easier to paint. In fact, I'd leave the gangways off until all the fiddling about with internal details, roof fitting and mounting on the frames, hell, why not even leave all the fiddly end detailing off until the last minute, so you don't keep damaging it during the rest of construction! There are other sections I might work on out of sequence, too.
- I wouldn't worry so much. I spent a long time worrying about this build instead of just getting on and building it!
- I shouldn't be afraid of using adhesives instead of solder. While I prefer solder for strength it's not always the best way to fix things.
The end result certainly looks like a Mk1 RMB. All the extra fiddly bits that have been added to the kit make for a nicely fussy underframe. Could I have done a better job? Yes, of course. I made some proper hoohahs during the build, many of which came back to haunt me. The roof will live with me for many a year, and was probably the single point where I almost threw in the towel. It took over a year of worrying at it before I found workable solution, and that's no fun. I was determined to complete the model once that issue had been overcome, and it's been gratifying to see it move rapidly to the finale.
Finally, a big thank you to
@Bob-65B for all his assistance with various details and information provided, and to
@Dog Star for pushing me when I needed it. Thanks also to everyone who has commented on the thread during this rather protracted build. I couldn't have done it without you!
