Jon Gwinnett
Western Thunderer
Been dabbling with a bit of N as a break from 4mm and Dutch HO.
After seeing Tornado at York last weekend
I thought I'd have a go at modelling something modern. BachFar sorted Tornado herself, although the tender has a distinct lean(!), but the converted BCK support coach needs more work.
The kind people who run Tornado supplied a list of the modifications made to the coach, the most prominent being the loss of a door on the other side to the photo above, and the changed roof fittings. There's also LED tail lamps to consider.
The model is based on a new BachFar Blue Riband BCK, however having chosen one in Crimson and Cream it has BR1 bogies, so these need to be swapped for Commonwealths (The Tornado BCK is a 1961 Swindon built example).
A cheap Pullman serves as donor:
The bogies need to be modified to fit the Blue Riband Mk1 (if you have a new MK1 with Commonwealths these should be a straight swap, but I couldn't find a cheap example knocking about.)
Rapido box cut away, and bogie mount hole reshaped
7mm wheels inserted in place of the underscale originals
With the larger wheels, the ride height is still too low and the wheels foul the body, so a spacer is needed. Initially I used a Kadee 15thou washer cut to fit, but I've now added 20thou plastikard shims.
Both bogies have been done, although I lost the spring wire for one close coupler. The smallest replacement I had to hand (15thou) is too thick and strong, so I'll need to find some thinner spring steel wire.
The roof modifications have started, with the periscopes and roof pipes (and fittings) being removed and the resulting holes filled. (Photos to follow) I need to move ventilators, not sure whether I'll try and shave off and reuse the existing ones or take them all off and replace - I think Ultima do a sprue of plastic ones.
Cheers
Jon
After seeing Tornado at York last weekend
I thought I'd have a go at modelling something modern. BachFar sorted Tornado herself, although the tender has a distinct lean(!), but the converted BCK support coach needs more work.
The kind people who run Tornado supplied a list of the modifications made to the coach, the most prominent being the loss of a door on the other side to the photo above, and the changed roof fittings. There's also LED tail lamps to consider.
The model is based on a new BachFar Blue Riband BCK, however having chosen one in Crimson and Cream it has BR1 bogies, so these need to be swapped for Commonwealths (The Tornado BCK is a 1961 Swindon built example).
A cheap Pullman serves as donor:
The bogies need to be modified to fit the Blue Riband Mk1 (if you have a new MK1 with Commonwealths these should be a straight swap, but I couldn't find a cheap example knocking about.)
Rapido box cut away, and bogie mount hole reshaped
7mm wheels inserted in place of the underscale originals
With the larger wheels, the ride height is still too low and the wheels foul the body, so a spacer is needed. Initially I used a Kadee 15thou washer cut to fit, but I've now added 20thou plastikard shims.
Both bogies have been done, although I lost the spring wire for one close coupler. The smallest replacement I had to hand (15thou) is too thick and strong, so I'll need to find some thinner spring steel wire.
The roof modifications have started, with the periscopes and roof pipes (and fittings) being removed and the resulting holes filled. (Photos to follow) I need to move ventilators, not sure whether I'll try and shave off and reuse the existing ones or take them all off and replace - I think Ultima do a sprue of plastic ones.
Cheers
Jon
