Dapol Coach Kits

I think Novice is going to show us another project for June. This time on Dapol coach kits.

That's correct Bob. I will put the details on over the weekend.

Bob

Look forward to it Bob.

The subject for this project is one of the newly released coach kits from Dapol, C96C, a 00 gauge Stanier 57ft brake coach in BR carmine red livery, unlined. I also have C95C, which is the non corridor composite coach. These cost around 10 pounds to buy. I paid a little more as I was in a rush and went to my local model shop, where prices are normally much higher.

The kit is in fact the old Airfix kit and it has a very long pedigree, however Dapol have upgraded it by pre painting and numbering the coach body. The lined versions have the pre painted details added as well. This is how they come:




Here are all the parts laid out. You can see that the kit includes a steel weight and reasonably small tension lock couplers:




You could build the kit as it is, but with some painting and weathering it should be possible to bring it to life. I shall also paint the interior and add some passengers. The only things I do not like about it are the plastic wheels. When I return home I will likely replace these with metal ones.

I'm looking ofrward to this one Bob - I've been toying with the idea of buying some myself ………….:hmm

I too think the plastic wheels are a let-down but at the price, what can one expect …………..will they take brass "top-hat" bearings or would you have to attack it with a drill  ?

Peter, they are the 'needle point' type so I guess a drill will be required.

I have started to paint the insides, a mid brown to represent the varnished wood, blue seats and the floor will be dark grey. I was going to add more internal detail, but looking at the glazing, which is pretty thick, I reckon it will be a challenge to see the passengers, let alone details such as luggage racks. I have started painting a half dozen passengers which I hope to finish today. The other task was to paint the coach exterior end in matt black:




Bob

A little bit of an update. Last night I fitted the ventilators to the roof. I put glue on the inside of the roof, popped them in, then straightened them up with pliers.




The roof will be painted dark grey.

Bob

Added the passengers from the Preiser range of figures;

 

That look excellent Bob.

Are the figures "as delivered" or have you altered the poses ?  The guy lounging with knees crossed looks brilliant as does the "slouch" with his hands in his pockets. :thumbs

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

That look excellent Bob.

Are the figures "as delivered" or have you altered the poses ?  The guy lounging with knees crossed looks brilliant as does the "slouch" with his hands in his pockets. :thumbs

That's how they come Peter, I bought a big box of unpainted Preiser mixed seated figures. they vary in size as they are a mix from several sets. I chose the bigger ones for this project (around 1/76 scale). I think they are actually intended to go in a pub or cafe setting, but they look equally at home in the coach. I did some trials with the glazing last night and I don't think any of this will be visible once the roof is on :roll:.

Bob

Unless you put lights in it Bob ..................................................an August project ?????

A little bit more progress and I started to assemble the coach. This went much faster than expected. Having painted the subframe I added the weight and the rest just clicked into place, no glue required like RTR coaches. This it so far. next the roof will be clicked into place once the paint has dried:







Next I will start assembling the bogies and attach the wheels

Bob

Looking good so far Bob. :thumbs

I do like those figures.  I gather you painted them yourself - excellent job.

John

[user=565]Brossard[/user] wrote:

I do like those figures.  I gather you painted them yourself - excellent job.

John

Thanks John. Figure painting is one part of the hobby I really enjoy. I did post some articles on figure painting which are in the index, if you are interested.

bob

Well worth looking at too John. We have learned a lot about figure painting from Bob.

Well I managed a bit more over the weekend and to be honest from here on the model more or less just clips together. I painted the wheels brown and then washed them with thin black:




These then slot into the bogies, after clipping in place the couplers:




The two small pins are used to clip the bogies to the underframe:




I also added the vacuum pipes, seen above. The coach is now completed and here is the finished item:




The roof wash is a bit patchy, so might do that again. Here is a view through the window and not much can be seen of the inside:




Finally a second coach, a first/third non corridor:

 




Project completed. I might weather the underframe and bogies when I am next home. Good fun to build and bar painting you can easily assemble these coaches in a single evening.

Bob

Thanks very much for that one Bob. Now it´s time to look towards the July members project. Volunteers needed, any modelling subject from electrics to scenery, all welcome.

Looks like we have a volunteer for July with another good project for our members.