Darius43

Close cousin of the Class 306, the Class 506 is now on the workbench. The Lima DMU bogies and pizza cutter wheels that came in the box won't be being used - and neither will the truly awful MTK motor bogie. Made a start on the DMBSO coach body today. Aluminium body roof cut away and replaced with a scratch built plasticard roof. The cars driver and guard compartment doors were a bit coarse so I replaced them with scratch built laminated plasticard doors. This also gave something other than aluminium for the white metal cab front to be bonded to. Cheers Darius

The Anglias are recognisable from their distinctive radiator grilles (my Dad had one in the late ‘60s). The others are Populars/Prefects and the larger 4-door Consuls. I didn’t realise that the Cork factory was the first one that Ford opened outside the US. Cheers Darius

Added peops and a driver. Cheers Darius

I couldn’t possibly say… Cheers Darius

Coach numbers and other decals added. Chassis weathering to finish. Cheers Darius

Interiors fitted and buffer beam details added. Cheers Darius

Driving motor coach interior completed - somewhat truncated due to the motor bogie being in this coach. I did consider putting the motor bogie in the guard’s compartment in the centre coach but space was too constricted due to the white metal castings for the guard’s doors. Cheers Darius

Hi Michael, The seats come from a bag of assorted model coach seats that I obtained from eBay a few years ago. The seats are about 24mm long so I cut them into smaller length seats as required or glue on new sections to make them longer. Cheers Darius

Centre coach interior completed. Cheers Darius

Hi Robert, The seat covering is a homemade decal - based on a swatch that someone posted on RMWeb. Cheers Darius

Driving trailer interior constructed. …and painted. Cheers Darius

Three cars together. Still need to add interiors and sort out couplings. Cheers Darius

Driving trailer chassis completed. Cheers Darius

Driving motor coach chassis painted. Cheers Darius

MTK supplies flat strips of aluminium sheet (without the folded edges) for the chassis, which are totally useless. I made my own chassis using 1mm and 0.5mm thick plasticard, with the MTK undergibbons cleaned up and glued in place. The MJT bogies have still not arrived so I used modified Hornby 2-BIL bogies (obtained as spares from eBay some time back) with 14mm wheels. I know they are not the correct type but they look very close. They were fixed with 8BA bolts and nuts. Cheers Darius

Cab glazing fitted along with home made decals and jumper cables. Cheers Darius

Step boards and coach side glazing fitted. Cheers Darius

Coach body painting completed. Cheers Darius

Coach bodies primed. Brass wire handrails and door operating buttons fitted. Cheers Darius

Alas I can’t make it to Warley this year but hope to be there next year and to catch up with Leslie and Robert. Cheers Darius

DMSO coach body assembly completed. Cheers Darius

TBSO coach body assembly completed. Cheers Darius

Joints filled and sanded. Roof panels scribed and ventilators fitted. Cheers Darius

Hi Robert, The 306 ends required quite a bit of dry fitting and trimming before they were finally glued in place - followed by some more trimming filing and sanding of the joints. The main goal is to get the ends fitted square, which, with MTK, is invariably not the best fit position. Cheers Darius

As if I haven’t punished myself enough lately… Cheers Darius