Routemaster RMF 1254 Conversion

[PlasticGangster]

Hi,

after completing my first conversion of the Routemaster (Breakdown Tender RM 66), i decided to go on with RMF 1254 as the next one.

I assembled the chassis and removed the section for the entrance:

Next step was the side panels:

After removing the section where the new entrance will be placed, i glued the cut out section to the back end and added the steps for the entrance.

On with the other side:

The first window was closed with some sheet. Then i added the emergency exit and the small window.

The interior needed some changes:

The benches were extended and a new bench was added to the back.

Luckily i had enough spare parts from the last conversion. Next was the front wall:

and the drivers compartment:

The front bulkhead had an angled window inserted to allow interaction between the driver and passengers.

Now i'm building the back:

Still needs lots of filling and sanding, but i think it will work. More to follow tomorrow!

Stefan

PS: Sorry for my mistake English!

[richellis]

Very nice!

[Selwyn]

Stefan

PS: Sorry for my mistake English!

Stefan.

Are you doing RML 1254 in the London Transport colour scheme, or of the Northern General bus company colour schemes that it spent almost all of its working life? (Northern 2145).

Selwyn

Ps, Nothing wrong with your English!

[PlasticGangster]

Selwyn, i'm doing RMF 1254 in the London Transport colour scheme. I want to build a few more Routemasters, like the unique FRM and the single deck RM 1368, and having them all in London Transport colours may look nice.

Meanwhile, i finished the front bulkhead:

Made some progress on the back, too:

Now its slowly starting to look like the real thing...

I hope you'll like it,

Stefan

[Okdoky]

That is a cracking conversion job you are doing there. Looks like this Revell kit is going to be quite adaptable and will give birth to a good few variations.

Lovely work

Nige

[richellis]

yep it is. I have found some FRM plans at a local museum I help at somtimes, and have that conversion on the bench now

[PlasticGangster]

Thanks for your nice comments! I totally agree, it's a great kit with many possibilities for conversions. Rich, would it be possible for you to mail me a copy of the FRM plans? I'd really love to do a "Fruitmaster" next.

Now on to the latest progress. I started the part i feared the most: the staircase. After doing some math i found out that i needed to get 180°. So i decided to make 10 steps on a lenght of 5,4 cm and an angle of 18°:

After cutting out the pieces:

After assembly:

To increase stability, i added some square styrene strips on the back:

Stefan

[richellis]

Ill have to see, as I cant bring the home incase somthing happens to them!

Im getting a bit stuck on how meny bits you need, almost a second kit!

[Radleigh]

Love how you done the stairs, Looking great..

[Hawkkeeper]

what a brill way to build a staircase, some lateral thinking there.

[Séan Pádraig]

what a brill way to build a staircase, some lateral thinking there.

Don't you mean Vertical thinking

[Mxyzptlk]

I intend trying to make a model of RMF1254. I found this plan of the interior which seems to show the staircase to (I presume) have 7 steps. From personal experience of other buses the steps do tend to be quite high.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23875695@N06/4198441242/

[Speckled Jim]

Absoloutley fascinating!

[richellis]

I hate to say this, but the stairs look wrong, I dont "think" all the steps are the same size and shape, and I could be wrong but I believe the stair case was modified from an Park Royal body Atlantean model.

I should have some pics of the Stevensons routemaster, pre-digital some where in my moms loft.

[Hawkkeeper]

Don't you mean Vertical thinking

very clever,

[PlasticGangster]

Thanks for your comments and advices. This is very helpful for me as i don't have the possibility to have a look at the original bus.

I made a new staircase with 7 steps:

Still needs some detailing, but i guess it's much better than my first attempt.

Stefan

[richellis]

Much better, but maybe extend the bottom step, Im sure it sticks out to give a bigger tread

[Mxyzptlk]

That does look good. From the plan I linked, it looks as if the strip on the edge of each step projects a little on the bottom one. It wouldn't be too much otherwise the cutout in the upstairs floor would need to be bigger to accommodate peoples heads when they come down the staircase.

[richellis]

The cut out is the size of the stair case.

[Pielight]

Hi Stefan

I couldn't believe my luck when I come across this. Having made an abortive attempt sometime ago to modify a Sunstar RM (couldn't rejoin after cutting body to insert centre section) I acquired the Revell kit to convert to an RMF. I haven't done kit modelling for many years so the tips I'm picking up from the superb job you're doing will be invaluable once I make a start. I've spent countless hours (including daily commute to/from school) travelling on Northern General Transport RMFs throughout their working lives as they formed my local bus services, ie: to/from Brady Square (renamed Columbia) bus terminus in Washington, NE England, so I'm determined to have a large scale model of one.

One bus stood out as quite different from the others - this of course was 1254 (NGT fleet no; 2154). I've always wanted a large scale model of one of these vehicles so the Revell kit is a perfect opportunity. I've only chosen 1254 for a first attempt, as it requires significantly fewer mods but if this turns out successful I will also do a more typical one of the fleet.

One detail to watch out for (you've probably got this in hand, but I'll mention in case) is the rear lower saloon window height is shallower than the RML size you have at present, i.e. it is the same height as the non-opening body side windows - this contributes to the distinctive character of the rear end of these RMs. Also, do you plan to convert the passenger window immediately behind the staircase to the opening type - as on 1254? The NGT RMFs actually had a cutout in the staircase bulkhead (at window level, where it adjoins the exterior wall of the bus) so this window was not partially blocked out from the interior by the bulk head.. as I remember, checker plate was used to close the cut out- presumably 1254 is the same. Somewhere, I have a load of interior pictures that I took of a preserved NGT vehicle - if I can find the memory stick I can forward them to you if you like - unfortunately I can't find any interior pictures of 1254 when it entered NGT service (the spec that i would like to model).

Please keep documenting/photographing your progress.

Many thanks

Paul

[PlasticGangster]

Thanks again for your comments! Rich, you're right, my staircase is a little too wide. I'll try to do a better one on the weekend... again...

Paul, thank you very much for your very nice comments and useful advices! I must admit that I almost forgot to rework the rear lower saloon window and the first passenger window behind the staircase. But thanks to your help, I could change it in time. So it would be great if you could find any interior pics of 1254, as i couldn't find any in Google, and i'm still not sure how to do the cutout in the staircase bulkhead.

And this is my progress with the improved windows:

Stefan

[Philbky]

The wind down windows on all LT Routemasters are no smaller in depth than the fixed windows. If you look closely at pictures you will see that there is a plate riveted over the top edge of each wind down window.

This is a draught excluder to allow the window to be wound down an inch to ventilate the vehicle without blasting in air or rain. The plates are visible on the model.

[PlasticGangster]

Hmm, the only windows i reworked were the rear lower saloon window and the first window after the staircase, which was was replaced with an "original" opening window from the kit. The height is exactly the same as of all the other opening windows. Maybe Revell simplified the windows to reduce the costs of the moulds?

Stefan

[Philbky]

Hmm, the only windows i reworked were the rear lower saloon window and the first window after the staircase, which was was replaced with an "original" opening window from the kit. The height is exactly the same as of all the other opening windows. Maybe Revell simplified the windows to reduce the costs of the moulds?

Stefan

Looking closely at your pics - and I don't have a model to look at "in the flesh" - the plate is represented over the opening windows by the fact that the depth is reduced and the radius at the top corners is gone.

If you look at the original LT plan here http://www.flickr.com/photos/23875695@N06/4198441242/ you will see the windows are all the same shape and size and the plates have not been drawn in situ but the photos here http://www.aecsouthall.co.uk/rainham/rmf1254_1.htm and here http://www.pbase.com/chrismdigital99/image/51446037 clearly show the plates in place, how they stand slightly away from the window, the reduction of the radius and the visible window.

I guess that the plates could not be moulded and finding a simple method of fixing the plates which would have worked for all buyers of the kit would have been difficult. BTW the plates were standard on all LT Routemasters but not the Northern General machines which had sliding openers.

[Pielight]

Philbky - although difficult to see in the pictures, the protruding plates are quite accurately reproduced on the model. The plastic is molded (albeit solidly) so that they protrude in the same manner as on the actual bus and because of the scale, the fact they are solid is not really noticible.

I think that they do in fact, seem to be represented on the plan (the top edge of what at first appears to be the glazing has a line drawn immediately under to represent the plate). What I can say for sure is that 1254 was built with and retained the wind down type windows throughout its service life (with Northern General Transport) although as can be seen on the withdrawn from service picture on your link, it did have an odd one replaced with the NGT slider type. This made the bus instantly recognisable from the rest of the fleet (as a child I always wondered why this one differed). I've also seen pictures of NGT vehicles fitted with an odd wind down window. In my opinion the slider type window on the NGT vehicles looked far neater and gave the vehicles cleaner lines.. the wind down type looks a bit of a mish mash of different sized windows (although, as you say, they are the same size, the plate hides the glazing tops giving an impression that the windows were a bit smaller).. but then I may be a bit biased!! However, not having opening windows near the front of the upper deck made for unpleasant journeys (most of the upstairs occupants smoked back then!). As for the window behind the stairs, on an RML this was an emergency egress window and was accurately detailed as such on the model so for authenticity it needed changing to the wind down type as fitted in that position on RMF1254.

Stefan.. Glad to be able to help in some small way. Its coming along brilliantly. The windows are now totally accurate (is there any chance of a couple of close ups to see where you made your cuts, etc?). I'm struggling to find the memory stick with the internal pictures I took of the RMF (copied from my work laptop when I handed it back), but if it doesn't show up, I'll arrange to go and take more (probably by weekend after this one if you can wait). In the meantime heres a link to an NGT RMF still operating in malta - there is a good shot of the downstairs saloon where the stair cut-out is visible.

http://abh.0fees.net/blmc/aec/routemaster/photo23.html

Note, however, there were quite a number of differences between the NGT version and 1254 and I can't be absolutely certain about the staircase arrangement but I have never seen it documented anywhere that the staircase was modified (I also have no rellocation from riding on 1254 of this being different).

Also note that on the NGT vehicles, there is no window between the driver and the staircase except the small curved one - pretty certain 1254 was the same from new. I will email someone who may know the owner to see if we can get some interior pictures.

Paul