FINISHED!

[Gardengnome]

Just completed my Routemaster.  No major alterations but some small enhancements.  I sprayed the seats with a matte varnish to diminish the sheen and treated the seat back rails and the grab poles with a 'chrome' pen.  Knowing what I know now I'd have done the plated hand-rails and the opening window winders in the same.

Had problems with fit due to some of the diecast frames not being true and the rear frame had to be clamped with a couple of vice-grips so I could fix it with the screws on the off-side!  The nearside rear view mirror got broken off very quickly but the weak plastic rod is now replaced with a length of 1.5mm brass rod (now painted). 

Added a 'lost' umbrella, and a pop music magazine, to the passenger cabins, and a newspaper and Thermos flask to the driver's cab.

Job done!

Michael

 

 

 

[Giddykippa]

nice i love the little thermos flask and newspaper

[keramh]

really very very beautiful, the only thing missing for me is life. Didn't you want characters?

[Gardengnome]

21 hours ago, Giddykippa said:

nice i love the little thermos flask and newspaper

Thank you.  I've changed the main photos above for the original images and added the magazine and umbrella.

The magazine also serves to hide the back of the stair light which shone brightly over the back seat!

If I were to build it again I'd probably dim the brightness of the off-side parking light and add an LED in the nearside one.  I was also wondering if it'd be feasible to replace the front destination blind with parts from the rear one.  The rolling blind is a neat trick but the lighting is very disappointing.

Michael

[Gardengnome]

4 hours ago, keramh said:

really very very beautiful, the only thing missing for me is life. Didn't you want characters?

 

 

 

 

Thank you.  If they'd been available I'd like to have used the driver and clippie but not the others.  I admire the Routemaster for its design and engineering and, while it's not perfect, the model captures that very well.  I've never seen a real one; my family emigrated from Farnborough Hants in 1958 when I was six.  Melbourne is better known for its trams.🙂

[Giddykippa]

5 hours ago, keramh said:

really very very beautiful, the only thing missing for me is life. Didn't you want characters?

Where did you get the 2 guys jumping for the rear platform they aren't the original hachette ones ? also love the scale diorama with the telephone box etc

[Giddykippa]

1 hour ago, Gardengnome said:

Thank you.  I've changed the main photos above for the original images and added the magazine and umbrella.

The magazine also serves to hide the back of the stair light which shone brightly over the back seat!

If I were to build it again I'd probably dim the brightness of the off-side parking light and add an LED in the nearside one.  I was also wondering if it'd be feasible to replace the front destination blind with parts from the rear one.  The rolling blind is a neat trick but the lighting is very disappointing.

Michael

the magazine over the stairwell is a clever idea i covered mine with paint matching colour of stairwell to block light bleed from the led

[Gardengnome]

2 hours ago, Giddykippa said:

Where did you get the 2 guys jumping for the rear platform they aren't the original hachette ones ? also love the scale diorama with the telephone box etc

Those look like the James Bond & Odd Job figures Airfix did in the 60's;

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-m401f-james-bond-and-odd-job--182564

Now I want a telephone kiosk as well (and even a pillar box)!  I have the Artesania Latina wooden kit but it's 1:10 scale I think.

[Gardengnome]

1 hour ago, Giddykippa said:

the magazine over the stairwell is a clever idea i covered mine with paint matching colour of stairwell to block light bleed from the led

Thanks.  I didn't purchase the magazine with that in mind originally; it was just a happy chance when I was looking to disguise the light.  I painted the back of my light too but it still glowed a bit.

[keramh]

On 24.4.2023 at 14:57, Giddykippa said:

Woher hast du die 2 Jungs, die auf die hintere Plattform springen, sie sind nicht die originalen Hachette-Typen? Ich liebe auch das maßstabsgetreue Diorama mit der Telefonzelle usw

Yes, the one with the black jacket is the James Bond from Airfix's 1/12 Odd-Jobb Set. The gentleman in the blue suit is Dick Tracy from Polar Lights. They held a weapon in their right hands. Finding a matching hand without a weapon wasn't easy.

 

[keramh]

On 24.4.2023 at 17:02, Gardengnome said:

Danke. Ich habe das Magazin ursprünglich nicht mit diesem Gedanken gekauft; Es war nur eine glückliche Gelegenheit, als ich versuchte, das Licht zu verschleiern. Ich habe auch die Rückseite meines Lichts gemalt, aber es leuchtete immer noch ein bisschen.

The phone booth is actually a bit too small 1:10 but the postal column is from the dollhouse area and in 1:12

[Gardengnome]

17 hours ago, keramh said:

The phone booth is actually a bit too small 1:10 but the postal column is from the dollhouse area and in 1:12

 I notice you didn't fit the advertising labels to your bus - I wasn't going to either originally but did in the end because I thought it looked a bit plain without.

Ah, yes, my accessories are from doll-house sources as well of course.  I'll have to look out for a pillar box (thanks) and try to find a suitable phone box too.  I didn't recognize the Dick Tracy figure but the hat should have been a give-away!.

That gives me an idea; I built and painted the Polar Lights Sgt. Pepper figures over twenty years ago; now might be the time to get them out (if I can find them!) and use the Routemaster as a backdrop for them.  They're too big for scale but being cartoon figures that won't matter so much and they're from the same period as the bus.

Michael

 

[keramh]

Hello,

there's still something going on. I don't want to leave it that empty.

I don't like the kit ads. I don't know if that existed but I drive a Royal Enfield and want to run the bus with this as an advertisement.

The model of my Enni is already in front of my Routemaster 😉

[Giddykippa]

14 minutes ago, keramh said:

Hello,

there's still something going on. I don't want to leave it that empty.

I don't like the kit ads. I don't know if that existed but I drive a Royal Enfield and want to run the bus with this as an advertisement.

The model of my Enni is already in front of my Routemaster 😉

there is a guy on facebook who makes the advertising stickers he will print up whatever you want and it's not expensive i read about it on this forum a bit back

[keramh]

Thanks for the tip,

I'll have it done here in Germany by the "Druckeronkel.de", he can print in high-gloss gold and that's what I imagine, black lettering with a shiny gold border.

[Gardengnome]

6 hours ago, keramh said:

Hello,

there's still something going on. I don't want to leave it that empty.

I don't like the kit ads. I don't know if that existed but I drive a Royal Enfield and want to run the bus with this as an advertisement.

The model of my Enni is already in front of my Routemaster 😉

That looks like a metal model of the 500 Enfield.  Is it to 1:12?

[Gardengnome]

6 hours ago, Giddykippa said:

there is a guy on facebook who makes the advertising stickers he will print up whatever you want and it's not expensive i read about it on this forum a bit back

While I've finally settled for the kit labels I did think about getting others made.  What I'd really like to do is get something for the back panel between the indicator lights and also either side of the rear destination display.  The two corner ads at the front are none too inspiring either for that matter and something along the lines of the 'Union Jack' ones on the Revell 1:24 kit might look good.  I don't use facebook but I know a place that can probably do them.  I get stickers for my (full size) car made by them, but I haven't been able to find a picture of a rear advertisement that I like.  I can do my own artwork.  Do you have any suggestions?  I'd like something familiar; 'British Airways' for instance.

[keramh]

19 hours ago, Gardengnome said:

Das sieht aus wie ein Metallmodell des 500 Enfield. Ist es 1:12?

Yes, it is in 1:12 from Maisto and in about 3 months I will get mine in Chrome Black in 1:3 scale ... YES 1:3 !!! 78 cm long and 8.5 kg heavy

[Giddykippa]

19 hours ago, Gardengnome said:

While I've finally settled for the kit labels I did think about getting others made.  What I'd really like to do is get something for the back panel between the indicator lights and also either side of the rear destination display.  The two corner ads at the front are none too inspiring either for that matter and something along the lines of the 'Union Jack' ones on the Revell 1:24 kit might look good.  I don't use facebook but I know a place that can probably do them.  I get stickers for my (full size) car made by them, but I haven't been able to find a picture of a rear advertisement that I like.  I can do my own artwork.  Do you have any suggestions?  I'd like something familiar; 'British Airways' for instance.

to be honest i don't really know i didn't put any advertisement stickers on my bus inside or out as i wanted mine to reflect the actual restored WLT857 bus as it is now see pics my best advise just google routemaster bus advertising

[Gardengnome]

2 hours ago, keramh said:

Yes, it is in 1:12 from Maisto and in about 3 months I will get mine in Chrome Black in 1:3 scale ... YES 1:3 !!! 78 cm long and 8.5 kg heavy

1:3 scale?!?! 😲 That'd be bigger than the Routemaster!

[Gardengnome]

2 hours ago, Giddykippa said:

to be honest i don't really know i didn't put any advertisement stickers on my bus inside or out as i wanted mine to reflect the actual restored WLT857 bus as it is now see pics my best advise just google routemaster bus advertising

Ah well, I'll keep looking.  Thanks for the pix! 

What did you do about the screw in the centre of the 'London Transport' script on the side of your bus?  I used the supplied 'gold' screws but they don't look right so I've fitted red ones.  From a distance they look much better but I was wondering if it's worth trying to paint them with black and gold.

 

 

[Giddykippa]

11 minutes ago, Gardengnome said:

 

i used the supplied screw but you're right it looks awful i may remove it fill the hole and paint gold or just paint the screw heads gold

[keramh]

Exactly one gold screw was delivered for each "T".

[Taffy]

I received a spare gold screw (NM) for each side so have 2 spare left.

 

[Gardengnome]

On 5/2/2023 at 4:59 PM, keramh said:

Exactly one gold screw was delivered for each "T".

I maintained a spreadsheet detailing all the stages and screws received and I can see I got two packets of two 'gold' 'NM' screws (the usual one-and-a-spare), one packet for each side.  I also recorded the type and dimensions of each screw so I could easily find a replacement among the spares.  Sometimes when a screw wouldn't 'bite' I replaced it with another that was a mm longer for instance.

There was one occasion when a screw pack was not included (Stage 36, the steering wheel parts) and when I ordered a replacement pack they were missing from that too!  That was the 'MM' screw for the boss of the steering wheel. As it was I found a flanged screw held the wheel more tightly because it tended to wobble with the right screw fitted.