KeilKraft 1/72 Greenline Type T Coach **FINISHED**

[JamesPerrin]

So in a valiant attempt to stop the completion of my other builds before the end of the year while up in the loft, getting the Christmas decorations out, I decided to build this as a present for my dad.



Construction is underway the last couple of night and will post more shortly.

[syd-baines]

that looks a very small kit, are you going to show the build in progress or show the completed model either way i am looking forward to seeing it

[ShaunW]

Nice one James, that should be fiddly enough to help you achieve your ambition of putting a stop to the completion of any other builds for this year, especially if you have to glaze it from scratch or does KK provide clear parts for the windows?

[beany]

There is a very nice set of period seated passengers by Preiser that would look good in your bus James. With a bit of scratching you could probably get a driver out of one of them too! Look forward to seeing this one built.

[JamesPerrin]

No time for scratch building. The bus is completely void of any internals beyond a moulded to the bulkhead drivers seat. I will be adding glazing though.

[59North]

I'll be very interested to see progress on this build, James. I have a kinda fetish for big buses.

[JamesPerrin]

These kits have been knocking around for decades under different labels though most often KeilKraft. The parts are... chunky and obviously no one used sprue cutters in those days as the barely any room the get my Xurons in. As you can see plenty of flash and heavy seems lines, break out the coarse files for this one.



A kit of few parts, though the instructions miss off the offside headlight.



Basically an hour of cleaning everything up and then gluing in stages. I first added the sides to the floor using the rear and front bulkhead to get them square (ish) while clamped. I are the mistake of adding glue to the front bulkhead at the same time and later found it wasn't quite straight. The remove the tab from the rear part allowed me to better align the wide band that runs around the bus just below the windows. The sides are still a bit warped though. At this point sink marks in the remaining pieces were filled.

The front chassis parts are not handed so some side details are lost on one side. The engine covers were a pain as nothing was quite true compounded by my error with the front bulkhead. Again I removed the a alignment tab which made the side engine cover sit better. I've only found a couple of good photos, one from each side. It seem that the drivers windshield should flare out to reach the edge of the cab on the right hand side rather than running parallel with the chassis. The inner side of the left mud guard was thinned so would sit closer to the engine. Only details added are the radiator cap and some framing for the rear of the cab.



I'm planning on painting it with the roof off so I can add the windows afterwards.

[syd-baines]

made a good start nice one

[DavidWomby]

This is cute. I know it's a really old bus but it looks familiar. Maybe there were still a few around when I was a kid (a very long time ago).

David

[Dazzled]

I've seen a few of these made up and they do polish up really well. Go for it James

[PaulBradley]

Good start, James. Those Keilkraft kits can be quite crude, but they do polish up well - I did a few for the CBK loco display last year.

This is cute. I know it's a really old bus but it looks familiar. Maybe there were still a few around when I was a kid (a very long time ago).

You've probably also seen them in those period TV shows from Britain.

[JamesPerrin]

Well I manage to test new technique last night that if you spray lacquer thinners neat over the primer it will melt any roughness and leave you with a beautiful smooth finish. Unfortunately I actually achieved this by accidentally knocking over a bottle of said thinners and splashing the freshly primed model

[ShaunW]

There's a fair bit of period charm here (can't say that I've ever built a vehicle kit where two of the wheels are moulded in situ) and thus I don't think the lack of a full interior will be an issue. Just thinking aloud if you think the lack of an interior does look odd - I wonder if it would look OK airliner style with blacked out windows?

[JamesPerrin]

I may come back and add an interior when time allows, so will just put clear ones in for now. Remember it's a bus a isn't as small as you may think ~4" in length.

The build on the front of the box is meant to be you paint guide, but images show that though there were variations in "Greenline" green Hu 131 Stain Mid Green is a dam good match cf http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/ltm ... 120part200; (NB my photo lightens the Hu 131)

I'd also run out of (well I can't get the jar lid off to check) GS White so I had to grit my teeth and use Hu22 Gloss White! However I thinned both of these with GS Mr Levelling Thinners ( expensive cellulose thinners with retard/flow enhancer) and they sprayed beautifully. The white did need two coats over the grey primer but looks great.

[DavidWomby]

The white did need two coats over the grey primer but looks great.

Indeed it does!

David