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Completion of Revell's London Bus (1:24) - In memory of my late friend Thomas Emberger (†54)


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Hello everybody,

 

in November 2016, my friend Thomas had told me of his pre-Christmas stress with a Christmas present for his wife, which absolutely should become finished before Christmas, which she had evidently been waiting for several years already ... :hmmm:After she had lived in London for a longer time, he wanted to surprise her with Revell's London Bus (1:24) as a remenbrance gift. top.gif

 

up060592.jpg

Source: revell.de

 

We got to know each other in our German Raumcon Forum, through our two Real Space Modeling projects. I'm building for years a model of the Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6 . And inspired by that he was building a similar model, the Space Shuttle Launch Complex 39A with Discovery STS-41D, for what we have constantly exchanged our experiences.  

 

But the completion of the bus project he had postponed over and over, because he was probably too busy with his beloved Launch pad ... :hmmm:And so it happened that he did not cope with it, because he had died in mid-2017 after a short, serious illness, which has shaken me a lot ... pray.gif

 

up064885.jpg

 

Therefore, his wife had asked me if I could not finish his bus, because supposedly only the outer decals (including advertisement, line, etc.) would be missing, which of course I could not refuse her.

 

These are some pictures he had sent me at that time, what impressed me a lot, such as the Leyland Engine, which he was very proud of, speak_cool.gif

 

z4qcun.jpg

 

as well as here in the engine compartment.

 

qsHlyE.jpg

 

Here is the underbody he was trying to age by using an oil paint washing,

 

kGDnRQ.jpg

 

the staircase to the upper deck,

 

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the lower deck with its great seats,

 

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and here the driver's cab.

 

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And these were the assumed assemblies, including the remaining advertising decals for the body at the end of 2017.

 

up060593.jpg

 

And about how it went on afterwards, I want to report in the following. up040577.gif

Edited by spaceman
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Hello everyone,

 

but on closer inspection, I realized that not only the decals were missing , as his wife had told me at first, but also the complete window set, etc. had still to be installed, and then there were also some another small stuff ...  up039493.gif 

 

Then firstly I googled and downloaded the Revell building instructions, to see what kind of sprues the windows are, in order to be able to thoroughly search the things taken over after more accurate. 
 
After I had found the three sprue frames with the windows in a construction report and knew what I had to look for, I was glad, when I actually had found them complete. up045518.gif And that was a lot of windows, as one can see,  ???

 

up060594.jpg

 

which seemed to be a little more work than I had thought at first. up040577.gif

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Hello everyone,

 

as I have seen in original photos and from various construction reports, the grill on the bonnet still has a silver frame, in which there is a small triangular decal London Transport in the upper area,

 

up060595.jpg

 

but unfortunately both were missing. ::)

 

up060596.jpg

 

Furthermore, the two handrails in the rear entrance were missing too.

 

gHCDqE.jpg

 

Thereupon I asked Revell about spare parts and could actually get these two parts as well as the complete Decal sheet, of which I only needed this small triangle. While the parts were forfree, the Decal sheet cost 10 €, but which I've paid it gladly. top.gif

 

The striking grille was offered by Revell until 2013 as a chic PE accessories set for limp 40 €. up039493.gif

 

up060598.jpg

Source: modellversium.de

 

Based on this, I will replace the grill with a PE grid by Eduard (Mesh 4x4 Rhomb type) and thereby refine a little bit, up045518.gif

 

up060599.jpg

 

what Thomas would certainly like, and probably his wife too. 

 

Maybe I'll also take the grid with the slightly larger mesh size (Mesh 6x6), let's see ... :hmmm:

 

up060591.jpg

 

The spare parts and decals of Revell arrived now even faster than initially promised. 8)

 

This is the frame for the grille and the long handrail at the entrance. And in the grille frame you can see the small blue Decal triangle, which I basically only need from the whole sheet. 

 

up060590.jpg

 

Therewith I could get started, so that the bus can roll out sometime to Kiefersfelden (Bavaria), possibly soon. up040577.gif

 

But now it's time, and so the work shop firstly is closed for some time ... 

 

117C46~111.GIF to you all, we'll see us later again.

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Thank you friends for your sympathy. :worship:

 

Hello Mike, for me it was quite a change from the Space shuttle to the London Bus at the beginning, so I first had to get to grips with building reports and photos to get an overview. xmas-wave-smiley-emoticon.gif

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Hello everybody,

 

I hope all of you had a nice Christmas and are doing well. 8)

 

Before the assembling the he assembly groups, I've thought some time about the sequence in which I should proceed best. :hmmm:For this I've once again recapitulated our correspondence from that time, in which he had pointed out a few things that had to be considered. schlaumeier.gif

 

As he reported, that he had deviated from Revell's building instructions when building the body, namely, to paint the individual body parts separately and then to glue one after the other. But this would inevitably lead to unsightly adhesive seams, what it would make difficult building clean ... ???

 

After reading several construction reports on Revell's London Bus, it became clear for him, that it could be also much easier. Several well-known modelers were in agreement one that it is possible to glue the body completely without problems, then grind and paint completely and, finally, to insert the assemblies into the body successively from below, beginning with the upper deck. up045518.gif

So far the theory, and he sincerely hoped that it would work in the end, otherwise one would have a problem ... smiley215.gif

 

This procedure was impressively presented by Guido Kehder in his detailed construction report London Bus Routmaster, Revell M 1:24, what one can see in these pictures, what made me feel confident. top.gif

 

image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg 

 

image.jpg

 

And the windows should be inserted not until the very end. But up to that point it was still a long way to go ... :hmmm:

 

At the next step I began to prepare the radiator grille, for what I used the PE grid with the slightly larger mesh size (Mesh 6x6),

 

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that I have glued onto the frame's rear with CA.

 

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And when I just wanted to get started to paint the modified PE grille with Ferrari red from the newly purchased Revell spray can, unfortunately only fat splashes came out because the stuff was probably superimposed. smiley_worship.gif

 

But the new ordered spray can has worked better right away and made me happy. up039822.gif

 

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Next in line were the decals, which I wanted to seal with clear lacquer after application. 

 

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When sticking the large decals, I used Revell's Decal Softener to get nice smooth surfaces. 8)

 

0BqQS1.jpg

 

n3xoOW.jpg

 

The next step is the sealing of the decals with clearcoat. up040577.gif

Edited by spaceman
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Hello my friends,

 

it will not be long now, and we are writing the year 2019. top.gif
In this spirit, I would like to thank you for your faithful companionship up046068.gif and wish you all a Happy and healthy New Year

Cheers!!! 00002527.gif

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And a very Happy New Year to you as well Manfred!

This build is looking really good and Thomas' skills were very good. His Leyland engine looks GREAT!

 

The match of your skill set and his, are a perfect complement ... it's no surprise the completed build looks as good as it does!

 

Well done!

... but I'll continue to watch your progress here!

Pete

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Thanks Pete for your compliments, :worship:


I wish you the same for 2019, especially best health, and hope that we will have a lot of fun together. top.gif

 

Regarding Thomas' skills I fully agree with you, he did really an awesome job, truly very impressive ... top2.gif

 

That's why I want to try to continue it the same way. up040577.gif

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Hello everyone,

 

now I will come to the next step, the sealing of the decals with clearcoat, but previously, I still had removed the opening for the installation of the radiator grill. top.gif

 

As clearcoat I used an Acrylic Gloss Varnish from Vallejo (Spray can 400 ml), that my friend Heinz Wagner recommended me, which is known as an Airbrush Guru over here. up045518.gif

 

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So that the car body stands free during spraying, I've put it on a substructure made of styrofoam onto a turntable, and of course, the hood was also there. 

 

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And then the car body was sprayed several times from all sides and from above, after which it looked like that, with I was very satisfied. speak_cool.gif 

 

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Before I started with the windows, I wanted to try on the finished radiator grill, which already fits quite well, but behind it's planed to install still a cooler.

 

MCDaoq.jpg

 

Next, the installation of the many windows will follow, :hmmm:

 

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but for that I still had to study the construction manual more exactly as well as evaluate some original photos in details, because the windows chapter seems to be a tricky matter. up040577.gif

Edited by spaceman
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Thanks for your good wishes, Jeff,  :worship: 

 

and a Happy New Year to you too. top.gif

 

Your intent does not sound bad, then just start, that's really an awesome model. smiley250.gif

 

In Germany we say: Don't be afraid of Large Animals! i5684_no2.gif

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Hello everybody,

 

after comparing the construction manual page by page with the body, I had noticed, that some other small parts were still missing, smiley_worship.gif which I've re-ordered from Revell and received again for free. :worship:

 

These were on Sprue I several handles (127, 199),

 

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on Sprue K the wiper (159), the rear-view mirrors (181/182), as well as a small handle and the latch on the hood (200, 211), 

 

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and on Sprue P the addition headlight in front left (156), the smaller handrail at the entrance (179), and the fuel tank cap (198). up045518.gif

 

sWyJAi.jpg

 

Next are the windows' turn, but there are some bugs in Revell's construction manual regarding their paintwork, which have become clearer to me only bit by bit ... smiley215.gif which I will explain in the next post. up040577.gif

 

 

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Hello everybody,

 

and now to the windows of the Revell Kit, which take a little getting used to and gave me some puzzles in the beginning. Initially, I've only followed the construction manual and only later realized that the structure of the windows compared to the original contains some discrepancies and errors that were not considered in the construction reports known to me either. :hmmm:

 

In addition to closed windows with a continuous window pane, there are also windows in the bus, the upper narrow part of which can be opened. These can be seen in the model based on the silver-colored frame, while the other windows should have black rubber seals, which can be seen in the following image. :rolleyes:

 

Although this shot looks like a real outdoor photo, it is a model skilfully photographed by the builder (Alex2410) against the backdrop. speak_cool.gif

 

a0970c2a5f48.jpg

Source: britmodeller.com (Alex2410)

 

Here is a model by Guido Kehder, which I personally like especially because of its clean modeling and amazing design, on which one can see these silver framed upper windows too. Cool

 

XAzffk.jpg

Source: die-leitplanke.de (Guido Kehder)

 

If one takes a closer look at the kit's windows now and compare it with the construction manual, one will see that these windows consist of a pane that is glued into the window opening, onto which the narrow upper window section is glued then. This lower pane has a silver stripe (C), on which a fire-red latch (H) should sit, but this is not existing on any original photo, i5684_no2.gif because these parts are also metallic.

 

5wvE4Q.jpg

 

OMtmOa.jpg

 

Since this silver strip comes to lie directly above the lower silver frame of the upper window when mounted, that somehow would look strange in my view, which is why on these windows I masked only the latch and painted it silver, which was quite plodding. eek.gif

 

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On the occasion, some of the reordered small parts I still have painted by hand.

 

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In addition, I was more and more in stress, because I really wanted to finish the bus before Christmas, to be able to send him in time to Thomas' wife, wherefore haste was required. smiley_worship.gif

 

Only later I've seen on photos like this one with opened windows, that these windows are executed differently, which I have not corrected no longer however due to lack of time. :rolleyes:

 

Accordingly, the upper narrow parts are sliding windows that can be slid down after unlocking.

 

LondonBus-1.jpg

Source: londonseite.de

 

Thereto, how one can instantly do it better and more exactly, will to be seen in the next post. up040577.gif

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Hello everybody,

 

yeah, to do it instantly better and more exactly is not tricky, if one knows, how the windos look actually. top.gif

 

Accordingly, one should paint the strip with the latch on the large pane silver and for the sliding windows only the side guides, since the lower edge is frameless, and the upper edge in the closed state sits under the small roof and is invisible, 

BslsOo.jpg

as one can see clearly on this close-up. But afterwards one is always smarter ... Cool

 

Nzkhql.jpg

Source: londonseite.de

 

Strictly speaking, the lower window pane of all these windows, which can be opened, should only extend until just above the lower edge of the sliding window, which Revell probably did not carry out faithfully for reasons of an easier installation. :rolleyes:

 

And on this close-up one can see another window detail that looks a bit odd in the Revell kit, and also the decal is missing, which explains the window as an Emergency Exitup045518.gif

 

io6B0x.jpg

Source: londonseite.de

 

On the photo one can see the inner locking device and the outer bolt handle. Since this window did not fit into the opening, I had to cut out the frame a little bit at the point of the handle and attach the handle additionally from the outside on the pane. 

 

With this knowledge, it should actually continue with the installation of the windows, but then there was the next unpleasant surprise. eek.gifUnfortunately, during the test fitting of some windows, I realized that they did not fit exactly into the window openings, but were a bit too large. This was probably the consequence of multiple painting of the body, first with the Ferrari Red 34, and then with the clearcoat. :hmmm:Therefore, these windows had to be painstakingly sanded, until they did fit. smiley_worship.gif 

 

In addition, I had to think carefully now in which order and with which adhesive I should the sensible windowpanes stick best  into in the upper and lower deck,  so as not to do any damage ... smiley215.gif

Edited by spaceman
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Hi Manfred,

 

I use either Formula 560 Canopy Glue or Microscale Micro Krystal Klear for gluing windows into painted car bodies.  These are a strong and won't harm the paint. 

 

http://www.supergluecorp.com/?q=zap/zap-glues/formula-560-canopy-glue

 

http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MI-9

 

Mike.

Edited by crowe-t
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Thanks Mike for your tips on suitable window adhesives, :worship: I have also some of them in my stock, but I have used this superglue from Pattex, which worked well. speak_cool.gif

 

First, I wanted to glue in the windows only in the upper deck, and then glue the upper deck with the seats into the body. 

Because the panes immediately have to fit exactly in the frame when gluing in with superglue, I've thought of a special method ... smiley215.gif

 

In order to be able to hold the panes when gluing in and simultaneously position exactly in the frame, I came up with this simple Tape-holder sitting on a piece of Balsaidea1_2.gif

 

0BidZx.jpg

 

For this I took up the liquid Pattex superglue with a paperclip and painted it into the window frame and then carefully pressed the pane by means of the Tape-holder into the frame, and then removed the holder softly. And this procedure has worked very well. top2.gif

 

Here one can see the body with the glued-in upper deck and the windows. speak_cool.gif Only the sliding windows are still missing, which will follow as next.  

 

nJ7vEm.jpg

 

That would get done and looks well so far. up040577.gif

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20 hours ago, crowe-t said:

Manfred,

 

Have you used the Pattex superglue on clear plastic before this build?  The fumes from superglue can fog the clear plastic.

 

Mike.

 

Hi Mike,

 

about this effect I did know nothing so far, do these fumes arise only as long as the superglue is liquid or even longer? :hmmm:

 

Thanks Slartibartfast, good to know how to prevent this mishap. up040577.gif

 

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Hi Manfred,  

 

As superglue is curing it gives of the fumes.  It could take several days.  The Micro Krystal Klear or Formula 560 Canopy Glue or something similar is best for installing clear plastic.

 

Edited by crowe-t
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Hi Mike,

 

before packing the bus into the box for shipping, I've cleaned the windows again, after which they were shining. top.gif

 

Then I have to ask Thomas' wife how the windows look meanwhile, otherwise she has to clean them once again ...

 

BTW, how long does Micro Kristal Klear need to dry? :hmmm:

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