I have just costed building a QoS rake from Hornby Railroad Pullmans
Original bodies (approx £10 each pre-used) £80
Comet sides £88
Seating from Southern Pride £58
Keen System upgrades £100
(Close coupling, Floating end plates, correct bogies,etc)
Gibson wheels £48
Fox transfers £85
Giving a total of £459
It seems expensive, but I'd get a great deal of pleasure from producing them.
I have finished the first stage of the "Queen of Scots" project:
The cars are (from top):
Brake 3rd Parlour
3rd Kitchen
3rd Parlour
1st Kitchen
1st Parlout
There are three more 3rd class cars, the same as the top three.
I am now waiting for seating from Southern Pride and upgrade parts from Keen Systems, so will concentrate on my "Hush-Hush" loco which hauled the train in 1930.
After a while spent building wagons and carriages, I've decided to build a couple of locos.
I chose a couple of McGowan kits; C4 AND D9 which have resided on my roundtuit shelf for a long time.
They're HORRIFIC; it will be possible to get some sort of model for the body kits, but the tenders will be impossible to get to any sort of decent model.
At least the boilers are round, so one has to be thankful for small mercies.
I will post some pics when I make some progress.
Earlswood Nob
PS The Pullmans are still unpainted as both my airbrush and compressor have failed after too many visits to the floor
The idea of constructing the McGowan C4 and D9, has been shelved alongside the McGowan B4 on the rounduit shelf.
I have started a K4, not the kit which I failed to buy before Dave Alexander passed away.
My K4 is being built from an old Wills K3. I had a spare SEF K3 chassis from a job lot I bought at auction, some years ago. I have fitted the chassis with 20mm drivers and a Mashima 1424 driving through a High Level gearbox. The boiler is from a SEF J39, soldered to a spare firebox end, which I had left over from an O4 conversion. A J39 spectacle plate is used for the front of the cab. All that remains is modification of the smokebox saddle/ steam pipes. The cab is too short, and should be the same as the last batch of K3's (slightly longer).
The next idea is a C2 built from an old K's C1, with the boiler from a NuCast Q1. The smokebox is too short for most of the C2's, but one did run with a short smokebox until withdrawal. This will leave a C1 boiler spare, which could be used to convert the Q1 remains into a Q3.
When I get my old digital camera sorted I will provide some pics.
Very interested in the Comet/Hornby Pullmans you are constructing. I've got two on my "why on earth did I start this" shelf. They are painted but I stalled with the transfers. HMRS Lining transfers have been used but I find them difficult to apply as they flex making straight lines quite a challenge for me at my skill level. As they are both 2nd class the interiors have been "adapted" from the Hornby brake coach seating as this fits the window spacing. I altered the roof on one to conform to the Comet drawing which incidentally did not show the position of the water fillers so this was a bit of guesswork and help from this forum. The ribbing was redone with plasticard strip and cast vents fitted, again according to the Comet drawing.
I eventually used superglue to fix the sides, this seemed to be the best of the conflicting advice from the net. One side is now coming unstuck! Regarding the paint I eventually used an automotive etch primer which stuck OK, again after wildly differing advice from the net. Colours came from Railmatch.
I've got Keen bogies to fit but then I started to tally up the costs involved and concluded they were going to be more than about 50 notes each to finish, and even then not be a match for the new Hornby items.
I hear what folks are saying about modelling satisfaction etc but the lesson I've learned from this stalled conversion is to choose your project carefully and expect to overspend! This is not a criticism of any of the suppliers or of the folks who spend time offering their experience for free on the net, me being a bit of a lurker hoovering up other people's knowledge!
The appropriate "Pullman Profile" book was quite helpful.
Anyway, Malcom please keep us (me especially!) updated with your Pullman builds, seeing the quality of your other projects I'm sure they'll inspire me to get my pair finished!
Before I started on the pullmans, I bought the book entitled Steel K-types.
I have made the interiors using seats and tables from Southern Pride. I did think of using two brake car interiors, which would suit the third class parlours.
I, also, used superglue for the sides, and haven't had any problems yet.
Painting and lining is a problem which I haven't solved. I have tried several rattle cans, but can't seem to get the right match. Recently, I have purchased Railmatch colours, but haven't tried them yet.
