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Revell Routemaster 1:24


wagoneer

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Before I begin, I must thank Lindan who has appeared on this forum once or twice as he’d approached me to produce some custom transfers for his own build of the Revell bus. It was his build that inspired me to get myself the kit.

I’ve not set out to be too faithful to any particular bus, but to build myself a model that I’ll enjoy building. Please excuse any technical inaccuracies, colour deviations or other ‘faults’.

Let’s begin with the engine then. My preferred option was to go for the AEC Leyland engine rather than the Scania as I had better reference pictures that I’d taken whilst at the Cobham Bus Museum at Brooklands.

The whole site there is well worth a visit as it houses a good story on the history of the bus with many fine examples to see, plus a superb collection of racing cars to compliment the history of Brooklands as a motor racing circuit. Outside, apart from some remains of the old concrete banked curve of the pre-war track, there’s also an interesting collection of aircraft that are accessible (yes, you can climb inside too) with in some cases, real human guides to take you through the history of the type.

So, the engine. The basic block looks OK, and close enough to the one I had as reference, but it needed plumbing. This is simply some brass wire bent to shape and poked into appropriately drilled holes. I also sanded smooth the rocker covers and made new plastic card tops to match my reference.

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I also made the injectors (a little over scale) that the six fuel lines run into. They’re just some drilled scrap sprue that I heated and stretched until the diameter was about right. The black ‘boot’s on the wire is the insulation that came on the wiring.

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It’s all bent by eye, even though I considered a jig. There’s so much detail that could be added but I wanted to finish this someday as there’s plenty of other kits in the stash and only so much time!

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Here’s the block after a coat of Halfords acrylic primer and a bit of dirtying up with black oil wash.

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I used the kit supplied fuel rail (or whatever it is!) just removed the mounting tabs as it appears to be held in place by the short lengths of pipe from the injectors to the rail on the real thing. It’s the kit exhaust here too with a bit of weathering. There’s a tiny piece of foil at that joint that will hold a cable running past when the engine is installed.

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To lend scale, here’s the fuel cut off valve label that fits around the pipe. I put the kit transfer onto a piece of thin foil so I could bend it about a bit!

The Engine's installed in the chassis now so I'll show this fitted just after we move on to the cab.

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Good to see you back my friend.

I will (of course) be following with great interest.

Looking ruddy good so far....love the plumbing!

What livery are you going to do or is it going to be a big reveal??

ATB mate.....

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I tell you what, having taken some months to get this far and storing up words and pictures to drip feed, I've nearly caught up on my own progress! Best I get cracking then.

Now, I promised the cab so here it is.

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This extinguisher goes under the driver’s seat, locating via that little tab in the centre. As a bit of a guess, I determined that spring clips would hold it in on a real vehicle so made a couple of thin foil strips to simulate that.

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The cab goes together fairly easily, these parts being built as an inner skin with the outside panels going on later in the build. This is a reasonably good way to get the correct thickness to the actual vehicle rather than a thin skin for just the outside.

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Oops, a bit large, sorry. All these parts are primed with acrylic rattle can, then acrylic rattle can black or hand painted Revell aluminium or steel.

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Barely visible just above the seat is one of the transfers I made. It’s unreadable without the aid of a magnifier but I know it’s there!

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The dash has cracked a little, and I only noticed on the photo. It's very difficult to see in reality and once it's buttoned up inside, probably invisible.

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Overall I’m going for light weathering as not being an expert by any means, didn’t want to spoil it.

Here’s the cab mounted to the deck. This has already been painted with Humbrol 19 over red acrylic primer with the wooden walk ways in Humbrol 16. The dirty wash is the first time I’ve tried Humbrol enamel washes. If only I’d done it over a coat of gloss! Never mind. It looks OK and I’m not about to re-do it.

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Windows are held in with white glue. The body colour is Nissan Red 526 which looks OK. A jolly helpful chap I was talking to the other day (who drove Routemasters and others) said garages often applied their own version of the colour so no two buses were likely to be identical shades!

Right, apart from fitting some hoses (made, close ups coming soon!) the engine/cab relationship is sorted.

Until next time.

Wagoneer.

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Superb Sir, just superb! Engine detail is brilliant mate. I have a Routemaster in my stash & bit dubious on bringing her out to play! Too many bikes to do for a start!!!

Going to PM you soon mate regarding decals if that's ok?

ATB & regards to Mrs Wagoneer...........

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Aha! Thanks for the nice comments, posting here means I'll get it finished.

Mxyzpltk - Thanks for those images, very insightful. I wish I'd seen them earlier!

Riggers - I've got a few new artworks in progress for the advertising, and the destination boards will be, er, different! Yes, PM me if you need something.

Caerbannog - I might source something, Aber or whatnot. That's if I don't try weaving my own...

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I used the Aber mesh on mine and it looks just the job, I really would recommend it. Period adverts were the bane of my build, which is one reason why I went for such a tatty look where the ads had been scraped off badly :)

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Kallisti, I've read good things about the Aber mesh range. If SWMBO looks the other way, I'll order some! As for adverts, I have the advantage there, being a graphic artist is a bonus.

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Ha ha! I've started the process of trying to make my own. Real work has got in the way the past few days but I have a printed guide, the wire and an idea so I might get cracking on that tomorrow as I have a day off!

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Ha ha! I've started the process of trying to make my own. Real work has got in the way the past few days but I have a printed guide, the wire and an idea so I might get cracking on that tomorrow as I have a day off!

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello Kelly, it's good to see you with this RML build. I am more than a bit worried it will turn out sharper than my RML 2439! The injector pipes are particulally acurate. Michael and i would like to know how you made the rear wheel covers, they are one detail missing from our models. Very well done, we shall be following this build. I must add to anyone needing decals for this model they must contact you. We could not have completed ours without your destination blinds in particular, as well as all the other tiny lettering for this bus. Cheers for now, Lindan

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