jimhurst

Hi Matt, Thanks, I didn't realise they come up with logos on, im a bit of a newbie at this, will try your recommendation, thanks for the heads up! Jim

Thanks to Matt for pointing out the the Photobucket Logo is visible on all the pictures, i have now uploaded them using Flickr so they should be uninterrupted! Hi All, here is my first completed Armour Diorama, based on a Tamiya T34 with additional figures from MiniArt as well as the MiniArt Russian Street Diorama, there are a few build pics, although I'm sure that the build of this venerable kit has been covered in much better detail and by somebody able to take better photos than me, but here goes, The assembled upper and lower hulls along with the wheel sets and turret were given two coats of Tamiya XF1 Flat Black followed by a light random coat of Tamiya XF2 concentrating on leaving the shadows and deeper details black. The hulls and turret were then given two light all over coats of Tamiya Flat Green XF5 followed by two light coats of Tamiya Gloss Varnish X22 on the turret sides where the decals were to be placed and finally two thin coats of Tamiya Flat Clear were applied over the whole model. Next the tracks and spare track links were given a coat of Tamiya XF1 and then dry-brushed with a Mix of Tamiya XF68 Nato Brown, XF69 Nato Black and XF10 Flat Brown, this was allowed to dry thoroughly then a coat of Tamiya XF84 Dark Iron then XF16 Flat Aluminium where the edges of the steel wheels would have run along the tracks, was applied. Finally a mix of White PVA Glue, sieved soil from the garden and Tamiya FX10 Flat brown was stippled on the edges of the tracks, between the road wheels, and the surface of the wheels themselves along with the underneath of the hull and the roadway behind the tank to simulate mud thrown up after crossing open ground (in hindsight there is probably a bit too much mud on the road but his was very much an experiment) Finally the completed model was treated to several weathering washes of Tamiya XF1 Flat Black and water with a tiny amount of washing-up liquid to break the surface tension and allow it to flow, along with some dry brushed rust and dust effects using Tamiya XF55 Deck Tan and XF68 Nato Brown, the MiniArt figures were painted and fixed to the model using Brass rod secured into the base of the figures and glued into holes in the model which i found to be a very secure way of mounting them, here is the finished result... This was a really enjoyable project for me, i hope you like reading this, for my next project i will try to present the build in a more logical order as i do things hopefully with better photos too and i hope you will enjoy reading that too, happy modelling!

Thanks guys for the encouragement! here are a few more pictures of progress so far! The lower deck has had an initial coat of Tamiya Flat Brown to mimic the bus on display prior to highlighting some of the aluminium detailing and some light weathering. the wheels have been painted with Tamiya X16 Gloss Purple which seems to be a good colour match for the original, time will tell!, if not then i will have to look to mixing a custom colour, although given the quantity if i can find something 'off the shelf' it will definitely be an advantage Also the Drivers cab has been given two coats of Tamiya X18 Semi Gloss Black (Maybe this should have been matt?) and trial fitted to check it still goes in! Finally for now the engine block has been assembled and given a couple of coats of Tamiya Flat Aluminium, I know the engine is different from that fitted to the 'real' RT's and the HP Knight Buss has a modern Scania ( i think) engine and running gear to cope with the 2 tonnes of lead ballast fitted to keep the wheels on the ground, but i wanted something to fill the engine bay

Hi Reliant1864, thanks for your kind words, i hope to do it justice, I'm actually now in Twickenham (Long Story!) unfortunately there really isn't anywhere near that is useful for supplies so i tend to resort to the good old Interweb! there was a shop in Rochester but its since closed down, with the demise of their sister shop and ModelZone in Maidstone along with the modelshop at Newnham Court really i don't this there is anywhere, Online, Wonderland Models and Hiroboy have good online shops which i have used a few times - Happy Modelling!

Hi to all of you who have been following this thread, firstly a massive apology to all of you for the distinct lack of action on this build. Its been a hectic (and not very good year) following a house move my modelling bench is once again unpacked and dusted off so i thought i would share the updated pics of work so far. the image below shows the outer shell and interior fixed together with filler applied (badly) awaiting rubbing down to neaten everything up! I have removed the front panel and radiator surround from the RM kit along with the bonnet and nearside wing/wheelarch, following measurements taken from a RL the new parts will be sketched in Tinkercad and 3D printed (More on this as it happens) Below the roof has had filler applied and been blocked to get it something like straight! The two upper floors have been assembled and the seat leg holes that are now not needed have been filled, the well for the the chandelier has been cut through both decks using stills from the movie buss and photographs as reference where they exist (the 'real' Knight Bus has no top deck, just a camera platform) On the lower deck the Offside seat over the rear wheel has been filled in to make space for the luggage rack as depicted in the film Finally a shot of the interior decks with e outer body shell removed to show the hollow tube supports to hold up the upper deck (these have proved necessary as the deck originally relied on the front bulkhead and rear stairwell assembly for support - Much filler and preparation work is still required but i think with self-isolation/lockdown there will be much more opportunity for work over the coming weeks - please watch this space and bear with me, many thanks for your encouraging words so far!

Hopefully it will end up something like this!

Defiantly! along with the 2 tonnes of extra lead ballast as well, only skinny wizards on the top!

Work this evening has been mainly concerned with the back end.... The lower panel has had the rear light detail shaved/sanded off and the number plate recess filled ready to sanded smooth and then I will mark out for the new number plate recess (on the Routemaster its central, on this version of the Regent is on the offside) And work to the rear upper panel The curved upper roof section is removed to make the back for the middle deck, I cut along the rain strip on the top of the window to leave as much of the frame as I could to aid with making good the rear upper side windows at a later date - I realised afterwards I really should have marked the image to better show the cut lines then the rear section from the upper (third deck) had the emergency escape window and rear destination blind box cut out as the source material shows a wider non-opening top window and much smaller destination blind box ( I certainly wouldn't want to jump out of an emergency exit that is now three floors up!) I will try to take the pictures from a better angle too...... its all a learning curve That's all for now!

Great, thanks Rich as always for the advice! Im already encountering a number of reductions, so far ive shortened both upper decks and also reduced the top deck in width to keep the tapering proportions! Jim

Blimey, hats off to you! and shame on my lack of research!!!, ok so my intention might be to make something that looks a little like a Regent-Based Knight Bus... from 100 yards away.... in the rain...... at night, to be honest I was going more for a visual representation but thanks for the heads up, what sort of engine did the Regent have , I assume not the same as a Routemaster, I know the bus used in the film has a modern Scania (I think) coach engine in it due to the two tones of lead ballast added to stop the bus tipping over on corners,

Many thanks Rene, I may yet chicken out too! hopefully it will turn out something similar to a regent which as far as I can tell seems apart from the cab (exposed Nearside front wheel arch and taller, narrow radiator) fairly similar - I think they were both Park Royal bodied vehicles!

The final part of the work so far ( before I have to go and play at my real job!) the initial modification of the front upper body and roof section The Destination Blind Box has been removed to be filled in later as per the research pictures ( the Destination Bind on the real bus is much smaller) The front roof section has also been removed with a razor saw just about the top rain-gutter/body moulding

The following photos show the modification of the chassis, essentially 27mm was removed from just behind the front wheels (the flattest part of the chassis) and the joints reinforced with Micro strip prior to sanding and filling

The Conversion to reduce the wheelbase has been detailed several times on here by modellers much more skilled than me so I hope you will forgive me for passing over these steps, here is a mock up of the lower decks fitted to the chassis with wheels and real axle fitted as per the instructions

The first step of the build is to remove the 'Central Bay' from the bodysides to reduce the wheelbase to the standard rather than the RML (Long) Each side has a 'staggered cut' to remove the unwanted section the pictures prior to the application of lashings of filler!

I thought I would start her with my first post, a rather challenging conversion of Revell's 1:24 London Bus into the Knight Bus from the Harry Potter film the Prisoner of Azkaban. following some fairly in-depth research I decided that a conversion using two kits should be possible, along the way some conversion would also be necessary to change the bus from an AEC Routmaster RML to the older AEC Regent III on which the bus in the film is based ( the book illustrations do show a Triple-Decker Routmaster, but I wanted this to be a copy of the bus seen in the film Work will include shortening the body by removing the 'central bay' to make a standard wheelbase Routemaster Modifying the top deck especially the front and rear sections to accept the new top floor Fitting out the interior with chandelier and berths for sleeping wizards Thanks for watching, any help and advice gratefully received Jim