Occre Type B Bus

[Aginvicta]

3 years ago I spent a couple of days visiting Beamish Museum and enjoyed riding around on their replica Type B Bus. I built the Airfix version many many years ago, and I got one off Ebay recently which I plan to build as the Beamish bus. I was fortunate to get a Tax rebate in the summer and decided to treat myself to the Occre Type B Bus. I have seen a couple of builds started and I liked the idea of building a multi-media kit. I ordered the kit from Cornwall Models and 3 days later it arrived, excellent service. The instruction booklet is really detailed, the wooden parts are all straight and blemish free, and the metal parts are well cast with next to no seam lines. The sheet of paper with the "decals" had been rolled up and had a fold in one corner. The first thing I did was to take this sheet of paper into work and photocopy it several times. I am going to use some of the spare "decals" and experiment with different types of glue to see how they stick to the wooden parts.

I have removed the first 3 parts, cleaned them up and then glued them using waterproof woodworking white glue. I will leave them for a couple of days to dry before adding the side pieces.

[Arachnid]

What scale is this?

[roymattblack]

I love these Occre kits even though I've never built one.

I'm often tempted by this one - the bus, and the Lisbon tram.

I'll be watching this with great interest.

Roy.

[foxfriend]

I have never heard of these kits, but I have looked them up, and I am seriously tempted!! It would be a nice change to do something different, and these definitely look different.

I wonder if my wallet can take the strain?

[Aginvicta]

What scale is this?

It's 1/24

I love these Occre kits even though I've never built one.

I'm often tempted by this one - the bus, and the Lisbon tram.

I'll be watching this with great interest.

Roy.

They are very good kits, the wood parts are well cut with very little charring that you get from laser cut wooden parts, the metal parts are all well cast, the clear plastic for the windows is covered both sides with a film to prevent scratches and the instruction manual is photos of each stage, very clear and easy to follow.

I have never heard of these kits, but I have looked them up, and I am seriously tempted!! It would be a nice change to do something different, and these definitely look different.

I wonder if my wallet can take the strain?

£90 does sound expensive for a model kit, but when you see the quality of the kit it is worth it, and it's going to take a bit longer than a couple of weekends to build. When you consider that some of the plastic kits you see built on here can cost £30 +, and then the cost of photo-etch and resin add-ons, it soon adds up.

Andy

[keefr22]

Add me to the 'never heard of these' list! Very interesting looking kit, & I look forward to seeing it come together.

Keith

[Aginvicta]

Progress has been a bit slow this week, I have been busy at work and then not felt like doing much in the evenings. I decided not to remove the two supporting pieces on the end piece where the passengers get on and off until I'd fitted the two seat back side pieces. This was to provide a bit more support and to keep the whole thing a bit more square. I fitted the 6 seat support brackets and left them overnight to allow the glue to fully set. The next step was to file down the two lower side pieces so that the seat bases are flat and they fit perfectly onto the seat support brackets. This took a while with plenty of checking with the seat base and then one side was glued on and then clamped in place. The next evening the other side was glued and clamped.

After the glue had dried, I smoothed down the seat bases and then glued the seat back/side pieces on.

I'll leave the glue on these two side pieces to set overnight and then it will be time to start painting the floor, seat support brackets and the inside of the lower body.

Andy

[foxfriend]

Good progress there Andy. What type of paint will you be using on the wood parts?

Larry.

[Aginvicta]

Good progress there Andy. What type of paint will you be using on the wood parts?

Larry.

Thanks Larry, I got some tester paint pots from B&Q, a chain of DIY stores in the UK. These are 50ml pots and are great for use on wood. I have Antique White for the lower deck seeing as it's an "antique" bus and red for the upper deck. I'm not sure if it's the right colour red but I'll try it and if not I'll use an enamel red. There are no paint details in the instructions ie paint type numbers, it just says red, white, brown etc. The hardest part is matching the red to the red on the "decal" sheet. I have the Airfix kit of this bus so I can use Airfix paint numbers if I get stuck. I glued the driver's seat in place, this gets thin strips of wood put on to give a bench effect. I then painted the front lower deck frame with the white, inside and outside, and left it for a couple of hours before rubbing it down with a fine sponge sanding block and then adding a second coat. I'll give it another rub down today before a third coat goes on.

I am going to use B&Q clear satin varnish to seal it, I think the satin gives a good finish, I think the gloss is too shiney and I don't think vehicles that were built when this bus was built would have had the "mirror" finish that modern vehicles have. Sorry if the photo is not brilliant, I didn't want to use a flash in case it reflected back off the painted wood, but it gives you an idea of the white paint area. Whilst the paint was drying I cut out the two side window frames and the 8 small frames that have to be fitted to the top windows, 4 each side.

These are thinner in thickness than the main frames and have to be fitted so that they are flush with the inside of the main frame and give the impression of a recess from the outside. A small amount of sanding down was required, but they were a good tight fit.

These will get several coats of white paint once the glue has hardened. I'll only paint the inside and wait until I have glued them in place before I paint the exterior in case I need to use any filler on the joints. The next step is to paint the floor and seat supports brown and then the fun starts when I have to fit thin strips to the floor and seats.

Andy

[foxfriend]

The more I see of this, the more I am tempted!!

[Aginvicta]

Before I started painting the lower deck window frames I used some wood filler to fill a few small gaps on the window frames. Whilst I was at it I also filled some gaps on the main body, the fit of parts was very good, but I am not the world's greatest carpenter and there were a few small gaps, but fortunatly it did exactly what it said on the tin. Once it dried out, everything was smoothed down and the window frames got several coats of white paint. The lower inside body and the front area where the driver sits was painted brown.

Instead of fitting the lower deck floor boards and seats, I decided to jump several steps forward and fit the driver's seat. this had to be made up from 5 lengths of 3mm by 1mm strips for the seat and 3 lengths of 3mm by 1mm for the back of the seat. Having measured the lengths that were needed, I cut the lengths slightly over length, and then filed down the ends until each one fitted, precision woodworking now. The strips were of good quality and they didn't split. After lots of dry fitting to ensure the strips fitted perfectly, they were glued in place. The seat back strips were again cut slightly over length and this time they needed to be filed with a slight angle from top to bottom as the body side angles out a little bit. I just need to tidy up the front strip so it sits flush with the front of the body and then I'll give it a coat of clear satin varnish to protect it.

[Selwyn]

puzzled!

Dennis did not manufacture the B type bus. The B type was made by AEC!

Reading your comments, be aware that the colour scheme that comes with the airfix bus is not strictly accurate, and they have made it even worse on the latest release.Also the route numbers should be white letters on a black background, not as seen on the boxtop.

Selwyn

(Modeller and bus enthusiast)

Edited November 11, 2014 by Selwyn

[foxfriend]

Just call it an AEC B type bus then! From the images I have seen on the net they look pretty much the same, and no Dennis or AEC badges to be seen on them.

Just enjoy building the kit!!

[roymattblack]

Looking really great.

I'd be inclined not to sand back the front seat strip - I think it would look better with a slight lip.

Great build.

Roy.

[Aginvicta]

puzzled!

Dennis did not manufacture the B type bus. The B type was made by AEC!

Reading your comments, be aware that the colour scheme that comes with the airfix bus is not strictly accurate, and they have made it even worse on the latest release.Also the route numbers should be white letters on a black background, not as seen on the boxtop.

Selwyn

(Modeller and bus enthusiast)

Thanks for the comments Selwyn, the front of the instruction manual mentions the original B340 bus is at the London transport Museum in Covent Gardens and I am assuming Occre used this to produce this model. I realise that this model may not be 100% accurate, but I think most people who see this bus will not know if it's a Dennis or an AEC, all they will see is an old type bus.

Just call it an AEC B type bus then! From the images I have seen on the net they look pretty much the same, and no Dennis or AEC badges to be seen on them.

Just enjoy building the kit!!

Larry, I am enjoying this build, taking my time and hopefully it will look good.

Looking really great.

I'd be inclined not to sand back the front seat strip - I think it would look better with a slight lip.

Great build.

Roy.

Thanks Roy, having looked at the driver's seat, I think you are right and I will leave a slight lip, I just need to make sure it is even.

[Aginvicta]

I have now reached the part of the build that I have not been looking forward to, the fitting of the lower deck floorboards and seats. The instructions say you need to glue 7 strips of 3mm by 1mm with "approximately" 1mm gap between each strip. Fortunately my 12 inch steel rule is approximately 1mm thick so I was able to use this to get the spacing right. I sorted through all the strips to find ones that were all the same shade, because I am only using clear varnish on these strips, a different coloured one would really stand out. I found the centre line after some careful measuring and the first strip, which was cut over length, was glued in place. It was when I was checking the strip that I noticed that it was slightly bent at one end, this must have been where I had cut it. It was removed and straightened, the wood is quite hard, but the glue had softened it a bit so it was quite easy to get it straight. It was re-glued and left overnight.

The next two strips were cut a bit more carefully this time and glued either side of the centre strip using the steel rule for the spacing. Again this was left overnight for the glue to harden.

The last two strips to be fitted were a real pain. At the end where the passengers get on/off, the strip has to have the width trimmed by about 1mm for 5 or 6mm. I didn't want to use a knife to cut this in case I split the wood, so careful filing and lots of checking. After a smoothing the strips and filing them to length, I gave the whole lower deck a coat of satin varnish. I am really pleased with the results, it took 4 evenings to complete, but the looking at it, worth while.

The seats were next, more measuring, careful cutting, filing and lots of dry fitting. Again I had to select strips that matched and so far I have done 5 strips on each seat.

The seat backs still to do and the couple of strips that need to be fitted to form the front of the seat. This is going to need lots of careful trimming to get them to fit.

Andy

[ptcruiser]

Watching with interest Andy, had this in my stash for about 12 months.

Rich

[Aginvicta]

Progress has been a bit slow this last week or two. The last 4 seat planks (2 either side) took a lot of careful measuring and filing to get them right. The long edge had to have an angle of about 45 degrees filed along the edge so that it would sit at 45 degrees to the previous plank and then had to be held in place whilst the glue dried. The last two planks had to be fitted vertically on the seat front, so again an angle had to be filed along it's edge and plenty of dry fitting to get it right. Both these planks had to be held in place until the glue had dried. The seats were then smoothed down, first with a file and then a sponge sanding block. It took quite a while to get the front of the seats to look rounded, they were then given a coat of varnish.

The outside was given several coats of brown paint and the finish now looks fine. I fitted the driver's seat back to the front window and painted it white, it must have been very uncomfortable driving these buses sitting on a wooden seat with a wooden seat back and no protection from the wind and rain. I painted a couple of scrap bits of wood with different makes of red paint to try and get a colour match for the red on the "decals", the red paint I got from B&Q is a bit light, but with a thin coat of Tamiya red over the top, it looks ok. I stuck one of the spare "decals" onto this scrap wood using PVA and then varnished over it, this worked fine and didn't damage the paper "decal" so I then fitted the Journey Fare list to the front of the inside of the lower deck which is just about visible on the above photo. No mention of the Oyster Card fare on the list though. The last pictures show me dry fitting the lower deck side and rear window frames, I hope to get these glued in place in the next few days. It's starting to look like a bus now.

[stevej60]

Great progress,a joy to watch.I must get to Beamish one day as I only live four miles away!

[Aginvicta]

Great progress,a joy to watch.I must get to Beamish one day as I only live four miles away!

Thanks Steve, I think if Iived near Beamish I'd be there nearly every weekend, last time I visited it there was a steam festival on, lots of working steam traction engines and other steam powered vehicles driving about.

The prize of "Stupid Person of the Day" goes to.... ME. I decided to glue one of the side window frames to the main body using CA glue to ensure a good fit because I didn't think I'd be able to clamp this first frame in place to enable white wood glue to set. I put the glue on and fitted the window frame. The CA glue must have seeped through the wood and the frame stuck to my fingers as well as to the bodywork, whilst trying to remove my fingers I broke the window frame on the front windows.

Having made sure the door to my workspace (conservatory) was firmly closed, and my record player volume was turned up full blast, I uttered all the foreign words that I know plus a few others, enough to make a Dock Worker blush ( apologies if there are any Dockers reading this). I decided to stick the other side window frame on next before trying to repair the broken frame. I used white wood glue and found if I was careful I could get two clamps on to the frame. I am going to leave the main body now for a couple of days to let the glue set before I repair the frame. Moving ahead a few stages I marked out the roof to indicate where the side frames will be, found the centre line, cut the first plank to length, marked it's centre line, and fitted the first plank to what will be the ceiling of the lower deck.

This has to be fully planked, smoothed down, and painted white, before the roof is curved and the frames fitted. Hopefully I won't make too much of a mess of this bit.

Andy

[Aginvicta]

Not having any time to work on the bus during the week, we have been extremely busy, what with various colleagues using up their leave and myself trying to get stuff sorted out before I finished on Friday. Plenty of rest and relaxation until next year . Whilst I still work out how to repair the broken window frame at the front left of the bus, I decided to fit the rear window frame, but being a lot more careful this time. having first made sure it fitted perfectly, I used white wood glue and a couple of small clamps to hold the edges together, and used my fingers to hold the frame to the base until the glue had started to dry.

I left it overnight to dry and this morning I filled in any small gaps in the joints and that will be sanded down tomorrow and painted. The fire extinguisher that sits next to the driver and four lights that go on the lower deck ceiling were cleaned up with a small needle file, they are white metal castings and there was only a slight casting line on them. I used a metal etch primer on them and whilst I was doing that I primed the two front wheels as well.

I am going to try both acrylic and enamel red paint on the inside of the front wheels to see which looks the best, the fire extinguisher is going to be red and the lights white with a black base.

Returning to the lower deck ceiling, the moral of this story is "practice what you preach." I service colour printers and copiers for a living and I am always telling customers to read their instruction manuals. I fitted the centre ceiling plank last week and when I looked at it again yesterday something didn't look right. I checked the manual and realised I had marked out the ceiling incorrectly and the plank was too far forward. I re-marked the position and decided not to remove the whole plank, just cut it to the correct length. This was done and then I looked again, the plank needed to go to nearly the rear end of the ceiling, I had marked the rear position incorrecly as well . Rather than lift the whole plank I will just use a small length to extend it and fill any gap there is. It has to be painted white and not too many people are going to see the ceiling anyway. I haven't removed the ceiling from the ply sheet it is cut from, so I glued two spare strips to the ply sheet across the ceiling where the front and rear window frames are. This will help me get all the ceilng planks the same length and in the right place, see photo, the planks are cut but not glued yet.

The planks were cut and filed to length, then fitted. Some of the planks have to have slots cut in them for the ceiling cross pieces, but I thought it would be easier to fit the whole plank first and then cut out the slots rather than mucking about trying to get small pieces of plank cut and glued. I used a piece of left over plank to fill in the middle plank and used a bit of filler on the join.

Once the glue has dried out I will cut out the slots and then fit the last two planks to either side.

Andy

[Aginvicta]

No pictures today, just a short update. I sanded the joints on the window frames smooth and put on a couple of coats of white paint. Once the paint had dried I noticed that one of the joints needs some more filler so that was done. I cut out the slots in the ceiling planking and filed the slots so that the ceiling cross members will fit. The last plank on each side will have to have about 2mm taken off the width. I have marked out each plank but I have not had time to cut and shape them yet.

I shall be heading off home to Kent early tomorrow morning so I'll be doing no more work to this bus until the New Year, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Good New Year

Andy

[Aginvicta]

Following the Christmas/New Year break work has restarted on the Bus. I fitted the last two planks to the lower deck ceiling, each one had to have their width reduced by about 2mm. I removed the two side guide planks and then sanded the planks down until they were all smooth and even. The lower deck roof has to be curved across it's width before the support cross frames are fitted. I realised that the roof had to have a curve put in it before the frames were fitted, the frames are not strong enough to keep the roof curved. I hunted around to find something that was strong enough to have the roof tied to it to curve the roof and that would not damage the roof planks. I discovered a metal Thermos Flask that fortunately had a leather sleeve around it, so I ran some water over the roof, just enough to make it easier to bend. You have to be careful soaking Plywood too much in case the plys separate. I tied the roof around the flask, over bending it so that when it was untied hopefully the bend would be fine.

It was left overnight and when I untied it this morning it was fine.

I cut out and cleaned up the 7 support frames, these are two different types, and having read the manual several times, dry fitted each frame in it's correct place.

Once I was happy that each frame was fitting correctly, I dry fitted the roof to the Bus to make sure everything fitted. A couple of slots needed opening up a bit, but I was pleased that the roof fitted so well, it means the work I have done so far is fairly accurate. The roof was removed and the cross frames glued in place.

Once the glue has dried, I'll paint the whole of the ceiling and frames white. I've started painting the 4 lights that go on the lower deck ceiling white. Even though I put primer on them first, I am struggling to get a white paint to look right. I might try rubbing the light castings down with fine Emery Paper and then have another go at painting them. The brown that I painted the lower sides with has always seemed a bit light in colour, I found a jar of Tamiya XF9 Brown, this looks a better colour brown, so I masked off the window frames and painted the lower sides and it looks better now. I'll leave the inside of the lower deck in the lighter brown, or as it says on the pot, Fudge. I managed to repair the front left window frame that I broke and after the glue has dried, I'll paint it and hopefully no one will notice it was damaged, as long as none of you lot tell anyone that is.

[Aginvicta]

Whilst waiting for the paint on the Lower Deck ceiling to dry, I made up the box/locker that is on the nearside of the chassis. I think this is where the driver and conductor keep their packed lunches. A pre-shaped piece of wood is used and two lengths of 4mm by 4mm strip is glued to one side. The whole thing has to be painted red, and once the paint was dry, a "decal" was then stuck on. Two etched metal "hinges" have to be attached with 6 pins. The "hinges" had to be painted gold first of all and I used Tamiya Gold which stuck to the etch really well. I didn't glue the "hinge" to the "locker", I just used the pins to hold it in place. Once one "hinge" was fitted and looked fine,

I then fitted the second "hinge". I am really pleased with the result. I'll varnish over the "locker" and then it will be fitted to the nearside chassis.

[Selwyn]

Whilst waiting for the paint on the Lower Deck ceiling to dry, I made up the box/locker that is on the nearside of the chassis. I think this is where the driver and conductor keep their packed lunches. A pre-shaped piece of wood is used and two lengths of 4mm by 4mm strip is glued to one side. The whole thing has to be painted red, and once the paint was dry, a "decal" was then stuck on. Two etched metal "hinges" have to be attached with 6 pins. The "hinges" had to be painted gold first of all and I used Tamiya Gold which stuck to the etch really well. I didn't glue the "hinge" to the "locker", I just used the pins to hold it in place. Once one "hinge" was fitted and looked fine,

I then fitted the second "hinge". I am really pleased with the result. I'll varnish over the "locker" and then it will be fitted to the nearside chassis.

The only problem with this is that John Christopher Mitchell was the secretary and Treasurer!

Selwyn