Kirk Gresley Coaches - a step too far

[Paul821]

After thinking about my Heller Rapide and Revell Space shuttle, I found these in me "drawer of shame".

 

 

 

So I thought I would offer the first non-winged build in the KUTA. What I have, should be two, Ian Kirk models of compartment coaches designed by Sir Nigel Gresley in the 1920's and used in such trains as the Flying Scotsman..

 

The parts look like this - some assembly and marking out.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Paul821
title

[Paul821]

This kit comes with the most basic generic instruction which means any build  has to have access to other sources of information. As KUTA does not have a reference thread I am including my reference sources here:

 

The two key books are:

 

 

and

 

 

Also the "The London & North Eastern Railway Encyclopedia" - https://www.lner.info/ is an excellent source of material.

 

Finally I have access to a similar coach which will enable me to research the underfloor gubbins in detail.

 

 

 

 

[zebra]

This is a bit different!

 

But is it just me, or does Kirk Gresley Coaches sound like the name of a bus company from somewhere in Yorkshire (I'm thinking Batley or Dewsbury)?

[Mjwomack]

I've got one of these, but it's not Kuta material as such as I've never got round to opening the bag!

[MikeR]

This'll be interesting! I have one of these kits in a partially built state as well but I'm not too sure that it will ever be completed as my main interest in railways ends rather abruptly at midnight on the 31st December 1922!

 

I have heard that although the Kirk kits are still available the quality control is pretty poor these days due to the new owner not looking after the moulds.

 

Mike.

[Paul821]

1 hour ago, MikeR said:

I have heard that although the Kirk kits are still available

But beware this thread on RMweb goes into some detail about the issues some purchasers have encountered with the current owner of the moulds, which are not to do with quality,

 

 

 

 

[Paul821]

It may seem that I really need a KUTA to continue with this build, but the truth is that the last two weeks have been taken up with buying a new house and moving my modelling into winter quarters.

 

Now back in action.

 

The kits have very poor instructions so I needed to locate the correct reference material

 

 

 

The model seems accurate as far as these plans go. However the model was probably copied from  the plans, but it looks right.

 

The first issue is the roof. Before air-con came in carriages tended to be ventilated by vent's on the roof (you could open the windows) and a key element in modelling coaches is to ensure that these vents line up and are in the correct position.  The book shows 18 vents per coach with one over each row of seats and two over each toilet.

 

The vent are on this sprue

 

There a five vents and 4 sprues per coach - so not much leeway for making mistakes,

 

The vents are tiny..

 

 

The detail on these is not too good and I was tempted to get some replacements, but I will see what the first vent looks like before making a decision.

Edited November 24, 2018 by Paul821

[Paul821]

On ‎11‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 7:58 PM, Paul821 said:

The model seems accurate as far as these plans go

I spoke too soon. I measured the coach sides (length and width) when I made the above comment. However we are modelling in 3d and I had a shock when I tested the compartments, the corridor would be under a foot wide nearly half the prototype. Part of this is due to the width of the various walls, but as this shows:

 

 

the coach is about 5mm too narrow.

 

This won't matter overall but is does mean I will have to trim all the compartment walls and have narrower seats.

 

[Paul821]

On ‎11‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 9:03 PM, Paul821 said:

I will have to trim all the compartment walls and have narrower seats

This was going to be a slow and, to be honest, boring task. It also had the element of peril as one incorrect out of over 50 required could spell doom. So the kits went back on the shelf, until I recalled that Peco once made card kits to fit out the interior of the old Kitmaster BR Mk1 coaches. Although these would not be 100% accurate for the Gresley coaches it seemed that they would be a good substitute. Although there are none available at present on auction sites, the Kit Master Collectors Club, have good scans of them on their site. 

 

Interestingly they include the toilet fittings and also 2d cut out passengers!

[bar side]

Is the width issue down to the HO / OO challenge?  The coaches will be 1/76 running on 1/87 wheelbase, so may have compromised the scale width to avoid overhang.  Just a thought.  It’s years since I built a Kirk Greeley coach.  Was going to do a buffet car until Hornby produced their new (at the time!) carriages.  Then I was going to use Kirk kits to make a Greeley GER rake as they were shorter than the standard 61 ft versions.  Good luck with it

[Paul821]

21 hours ago, bar side said:

Is the width issue down to the HO / OO challenge?

I need to go and measure an original Gresley Coach and as I mentioned earlier I do have access to one! It could be the drawing is incorrect.

 

Whatever the answer I need to work with the kit as is, and progress is being made.

 

As a test I printed the scan of the Peco interior and crudely fitted it to ensure the width was ok and the windows matched:

 

 

I am happy with the result. Having proved the concept the interior will be put on hold as there are further tasks need finishing first.

 

[Paul821]

At times over the last couple of weeks it seems that these coaches would become candidates for KUTA XII. I have some sort of excuse in that as a church minister I had to attend about 14 Christmas related events during that time. So by 13:00 yesterday I was free of duties and work could recommence.

 

Status at present is:

 

 

One will be in the short lived "blood and custard" livery and the other in plain maroon.

[FortyEighter]

Nice to see some railway items in KUTA.

 

A great reminder that I have a trio of Kirk Maunsell coaches (restaurant and dining cars) sitting in primer and waiting to be finished.  In common with a pair of Comet Bulleid Tavern Cars, building stalled as I couldn't find a good match for the green on the Hornby / Bachmann coaches in my stock.  Perhaps this GB is a good time to try again.

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

 

[Paul821]

After two months I have decided to call it a day on this one. I was not enjoying the build and there was no way the finished coaches would be to the standard that I would have liked. So these will not be put back on the shelf of shame but rather the wheelie bin of doom.

[Deve]

I wouldn't bin them - with the current problems with Coopercraft, demand for the kits seems to have risen with the lack of supply and second hand prices have risen accordingly.  Get them on ebay, someone would buy them, even as parts or as a doner for a cut'n'shut to different diagrams.

[nimrod54]

It's a shame that these won't make it Paul. But if you are not enjoying building them, and feel that they are not going to meet expectations, then it is time to move on to something else. This is meant to be fun hobby after all.