Shite in Miniature II

[Split_Pin]

54 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

As I was saying about being weak willed…

China Motor Bus Leyland Victory. 
One I wanted a while back when there were quite a few about but I missed them. Then a couple turned up with a seller I use quite often who seems to sell stuff at reasonable prices so I bagged one quick. An hour or so later someone else had bought the other so they must be quite desirable!?

Being a 1:43 it’s a big bugger! Heavy too as the blue section is all metal. 
The real Victory was an export only model and a bit weird as it was a one man operation front engined double decker (rather than more common rear engined we used) which gives it that odd looking front end with quite narrow windscreens. 
Im not sure if its at all suitable for conversion to a UK bus but its a nice model either way!

One of them was actually donated to a Scottish bus museum after CMB had finished with them. It’s still in operational condition too.

One of my favourite buses! I have 5 of the buggers, all 1/76 scale though. 

These were made in the early 1980s with a Guy chassis and Alexander body which does bear some similarities with body styles they fitted to Ailsas, Bristol VRs and a few very early Metrobuses. I'm not sure if they were in CKD form or if one of these fine motors ever rolled out of the Camelon factory complete, I'd like to imagine so though!

Dennis also made the Jubilant which looks identical except it has deeper windscreens. ABC actually went to the trouble of making separate castings for both which is great for an anorak like me 😂

Corgi made a model of ESF647W which resides at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum in Lathalmond and is indeed regularly out and about! They also had an ex CMB Leyland Fleetline which Collectors Model made a replica of but its long, long dead. I dont know why they never did anything with that one, probably ownership issues or something.

I can't wait to see what you make with this one.

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

One of my favourite buses! I have 5 of the buggers, all 1/76 scale though. 

These were made in the early 1980s with a Guy chassis and Alexander body which does bear some similarities with body styles they fitted to Ailsas, Bristol VRs and a few very early Metrobuses. I'm not sure if they were in CKD form or if one of these fine motors ever rolled out of the Camelon factory complete, I'd like to imagine so though!

Dennis also made the Jubilant which looks identical except it has deeper windscreens. ABC actually went to the trouble of making separate castings for both which is great for an anorak like me 😂

Corgi made a model of ESF647W which resides at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum in Lathalmond and is indeed regularly out and about! They also had an ex CMB Leyland Fleetline which Collectors Model made a replica of but its long, long dead. I dont know why they never did anything with that one, probably ownership issues or something.

I can't wait to see what you make with this one.

I’d love to do a Bristol VR or Leyland Atlantean but I think they are dissimilar enough that building from scratch is probably the better option? A Titan or Olympian would be nice too.
It’s difficult to find drawings to use as a scale and to see exactly how the body curves etc. the 80’s onwards buses tend to much more straight and angular though. 
 

Id love to do a Plaxton or Duple bodied coach too. One of the 70’s AEC/Bedford type. They don’t look easy though!

[Spottedlaurel]

6 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Not seen the set that Fairlady is from before 

Me neither. The pack shows another four cars in the range, none of them Japanese.

Also popped into Smyths yesterday, they had a couple of things from a recent Boulevard set but sadly not the '94 Primera

[quicksilver]

5 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

As I was saying about being weak willed…

China Motor Bus Leyland Victory. 
One I wanted a while back when there were quite a few about but I missed them. Then a couple turned up with a seller I use quite often who seems to sell stuff at reasonable prices so I bagged one quick. An hour or so later someone else had bought the other so they must be quite desirable!?

Being a 1:43 it’s a big bugger! Heavy too as the blue section is all metal. 
The real Victory was an export only model and a bit weird as it was a one man operation front engined double decker (rather than more common rear engined we used) which gives it that odd looking front end with quite narrow windscreens. 
Im not sure if its at all suitable for conversion to a UK bus but its a nice model either way!

One of them was actually donated to a Scottish bus museum after CMB had finished with them. It’s still in operational condition too.

I wonder how easy it would be to make an Ailsa out of that as the basic look is pretty much the same. No point doing that in 1/76 as Ailsa models are available, but 1/43 is a different story.

[bunglebus]

Just had a little trip to the Post Office to collect some bits

First up, our old friend the Matchbox 4x4 Open Back Truck 

But why does it have flared arches, a winch in the back, and that bit of plastic hanging down?

Because it's another Mega Blasters Cap Car

Next up, a Solido MK1 Fiesta. Very nice it is too

Last box contains some carded Playart Volkswagens from the WWII era

I've always thought the orange steering wheels these have to be a bit out of place - and I'm convinced the Wehrmacht did not spec a peppermint green interior in their Kubelwagens!

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, quicksilver said:

I wonder how easy it would be to make an Ailsa out of that as the basic look is pretty much the same. No point doing that in 1/76 as Ailsa models are available, but 1/43 is a different story.

Hmm, I’ll have a look at some photos and see. 
You can see the British bus look to those Victory’s but then the front end looks pretty much unique!

[junkyarddog]

Picked this Majorette BMW 3.0 CSI up yesterday at the local car boot sale. 

Blown apart. 

And painted.

Also got this Hotwheels Supra,It's tatty and the glass is warped,but it has the printed taillights so can stay as it is.

 

[FakeConcern]

Had a fun trip to Hastings this morning, a junk shop wanted £5 for the old cutlery tray and £5 for the toys, we settled on £8 for the lot which I was pleased with.

Picked this up for free from a closing down shop

And have a temporary display area for some of my Norevs!

As you can see I still have my Spot On restoration phase ongoing as well.

Plastic Norevs

and some nice colour combinations

[SilverMachine]

did anyone else notice the halfords paint deal changed? now 30 tins  for £30!! 

https://www.graff-city.com/spray-paint-c128/spray-paint-packs-c125/12-packs-c177/halfords-spray-paint-30-cans-for-30-p6339

 

[Split_Pin]

7 hours ago, quicksilver said:

I wonder how easy it would be to make an Ailsa out of that as the basic look is pretty much the same. No point doing that in 1/76 as Ailsa models are available, but 1/43 is a different story.

A lot of work would be needed, the main issue being the front overhang on a Victory is shorter than an Ailsa. The front upper deck windows are rectangular on the Victory whereas each pane slopes upwards towards one another at the top edge on an Ailsa. The windscreens would need deepening and you'd need smaller tyres and consequently wheel arches. Ailsas don't have a front or rear bumper either.

[quicksilver]

12 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

A lot of work would be needed, the main issue being the front overhang on a Victory is shorter than an Ailsa. The front upper deck windows are rectangular on the Victory whereas each pane slopes upwards towards one another at the top edge on an Ailsa. The windscreens would need deepening and you'd need smaller tyres and consequently wheel arches. Ailsas don't have a front or rear bumper either.

So it wouldn't be easy but someone with Dan's skills probably could do it given enough time and inclination. Must admit I'm not very familiar with Ailsas - I never saw one in service and don't think there are any preserved anywhere near me. Of all the hundreds of model buses I've owned, I've never had an Ailsa and don't really know why.

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, quicksilver said:

So it wouldn't be easy but someone with Dan's skills probably could do it given enough time and inclination. Must admit I'm not very familiar with Ailsas - I never saw one in service and don't think there are any preserved anywhere near me. Of all the hundreds of model buses I've owned, I've never had an Ailsa and don't really know why.

I’m not familiar with Ailsa’s either. I don’t remember seeing them down south where I lived when they were around. Can’t recall seeing them in Doncaster area either. Most of the deckers we had were Atlanteans and VR’s.
I think there is a length difference too (oh err!) which also affects the window size & position. The front door of the Victory would need enlarging slightly and the second door removing, blanking off and a window built in.

Im actually giving serious consideration to using a donor bus chassis & wheels then building a plastic card body from scratch onto it. The good thing about the Ailsa is that it’s all reasonably flat simple shapes and contours to the bodywork. The Alexander AV type has that funny ridge above the front upper deck windows (which I like!) but the Alexander RV type of the later ones is even more simple as it’s just flat.

[Split_Pin]

Ailsa chassis were designed primarily for the Scottish Bus group by Ailsa Truck and Bus in Irvine. It had a small but powerful 6.7  litre TD70 turbocharged engine and initially a Self-Changing Gears Gearbox. Alexander's bodied almost all of the MK1 and 2 versions, with their distinctive peaked domes. Fife took the majority with some for Eastern and a few for Midland for their Perth operations. Strathclyde took a trio of MK1s as well and a few subsequent examples had rounded domes from an AL bodystyle.

West Midlands Travel had an appreciable batch, many of which were sent to London and then on to Black Prince. Its this version that was modeled by ABC and is probably the best 1/76 model ever made in my opinion.

The MK3 used a Voith gearbox and rear air suspension  on some. Several bodybuilders had a crack with Alexander producing the majority using their updated and more cuboid RV style, along with Northern Counties, East Lancs and at least one by Marshall. Strathclyde built up a large fleet with a few stragglers lasting until 2006. Again, Fife Scottish took a batch as did Eastern Scottish. London had an experimental trio, one of which had 2 staircases. 2 of these survive. Cardiff also had a shot of at least ten with a mix of body styles.

It feels weird when someone says they've never seen an Ailsa but then they were largely restricted to Scotland and only employed in isolated pockets in England and Wales.  They were omnipresent when I lived in Glasgow 2003-5 and I was grateful to be among them in their final years. I used to catch one outside my flat on the 44 to get to work in town. 

Id love to see a 1/43 Alexander RV Ailsa. Only the headlight surrounds have a curve, the rest is flat sheet. IMO youd be best getting a proprietary truck chassis and modifying it to sit lower on lower profile tyres. You can do it Dan!

[Volksy]

Quote

It feels weird when someone says they've never seen an Ailsa but they were largely restricted to Scotland and only employed in isolated pockets in England and Wales. 

And Summer Bay!

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

Ailsa chassis were designed primarily for the Scottish Bus group by Ailsa Truck and Bus in Irvine. It had a small but powerful 6.7  litre TD70 turbocharged engine and initially a Self-Changing Gears Gearbox. Alexander's bodied almost all of the MK1 and 2 versions, with their distinctive peaked domes. Fife took the majority with some for Eastern and a few for Midland for their Perth operations. Strathclyde took a trio of MK1s as well and a few subsequent examples had rounded domes from an AL bodystyle.

West Midlands Travel had an appreciable batch, many of which were sent to London and then on to Black Prince. Its this version that was modeled by ABC and is probably the best 1/76 model ever made in my opinion.

The MK3 used a Voith gearbox and rear air suspension  on some. Several bodybuilders had a crack with Alexander producing the majority using their updated and more cuboid RV style, along with Northern Counties, East Lancs and at least one by Marshall. Strathclyde built up a large fleet with a few stragglers lasting until 2006. Again, Fife Scottish took a batch as did Eastern Scottish. London had an experimental trio, one of which had 2 staircases. 2 of these survive. Cardiff also had a shot of at least ten with a mix of body styles.

It feels weird when someone says they've never seen an Ailsa but then they were largely restricted to Scotland and only employed in isolated pockets in England and Wales.  They were omnipresent when I lived in Glasgow 2003-5 and I was grateful to be among them in their final years. I used to catch one outside my flat on the 44 to get to work in town. 

Id love to see a 1/43 Alexander RV Ailsa. Only the headlight surrounds have a curve, the rest is flat sheet. IMO youd be best getting a proprietary truck chassis and modifying it to sit lower on lower profile tyres. You can do it Dan!

Hmm, that’s probably why I’ve not seen one then. I can’t honestly remember being anywhere they were when they were in use.

Using a truck chassis is not a bad shout, as that’d give me a strong cast chassis to build up from. As luck has it, I do have quite a few 4 wheel chassis available! 
I might do some measuring up and see what might work best. Although the good part about using a donor bus would be that I could rob all the interior parts! I’ve got loads of sheets of plastic card in various thickness so that’s no problem.

Are the body sides vertical and flat or is there any curvature to them?

[danthecapriman]

@Split_Pin

Was it this type you remember using?

 

[warch]

Thanks to you lot (and Mrs Warch who started all this) I've been busy acquiring more diecast stuff. I've actually had the Hachette Unimog for years because it used to live on my desk in the office, but it fits into the 4x4 truck theme here. Its a 411 (I think, German vehicle makers were constantly changing model designations), and I saw a real one last month at Shrewsbury Steam Rally. They're very tiny and compact, this model is of the agricultural version which has a three point linkage for mounted implements.

Having been very pleased with the Oxford Diecast British Railways Landrover I got recently, I couldn't resist buying the Bronze Green 'civvie' version as well. These seem to be upscaled versions of their 1/76 models, which goes to show how good the smaller model is because they are spot on. I don't mind the lack of fiddly detail either because the basics are so strong. Interestingly this version has the spare mounted on the bonnet which is the iconic look, whereas the BR one doesn't. In practice this looks cool but reduces visibility and makes lifting the bonnet difficult and fraught with danger whilst you're under there, lest the stay suddenly collapse.

The piece de resistance is the lovely Renault Saviem TP3 in Trans Sahara livery from a French(?) partwork collection by IXO. Its another 4x4 truck designed for military and special use. Its a thing of joy with loads of detail especially underneath, even the Michelin XCL tyres are faithfully recreated. I wish we got really interesting partwork collections like this over here, mind you if we did every available flat surface in my house would be covered with obscure models of European fire engines or gritting trucks.

 

[danthecapriman]

2 minutes ago, warch said:

That Saviem is one of the 4x4 ones isn’t it?

[bunglebus]

Arrival from @Lord Sterling

Copper Caper Cart without a black roof, not one I'd seen before

He also found me this K-6 Pickup with the exposed engine 

Scoop has picked up some damage in the last 50 odd years, but donors are relatively common

[Split_Pin]

2 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

@Split_Pin

Was it this type you remember using?

 

Yes thats the one although the TGG-W batch were the first of the R type and gone before I moved to Glasgow. Later ones from Y reg on had a recessed sliding door and a larger destination display so the above one would maybe be easiest. My favourite buses was CSU 219X as it was the oldest one still in service when I lived in Glasgow and had the early features as above.

Theres a slight crease somewhere above the lower deck windows, viewing an example from the rear will best let you see exactly where that sits.

Volvo did consider taking a F86 chassis and extending it to build the Ailsa but it was felt too high, so you could take their idea with any truck and see it through!

The windscreen on the early ones will, I think also be dead easy  as they're 3 piece. 2 triangular pieces each end and one big screen. All other windows are flat too.

If you have a 1/43 scale Volvo F88 series 2 radiator grille in your spares stash, that's exactly the one they used on the bus, as pictured above.

[danthecapriman]

19 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Yes thats the one although the TGG-W batch were the first of the R type and gone before I moved to Glasgow. Later ones from Y reg on had a recessed sliding door and a larger destination display so the above one would maybe be easiest. My favourite buses was CSU 219X as it was the oldest one still in service when I lived in Glasgow and had the early features as above.

Theres a slight crease somewhere above the lower deck windows, viewing an example from the rear will best let you see exactly where that sits.

Volvo did consider taking a F86 chassis and extending it to build the Ailsa but it was felt too high, so you could take their idea with any truck and see it through!

The windscreen on the early ones will, I think also be dead easy  as they're 3 piece. 2 triangular pieces each end and one big screen. All other windows are flat too.

If you have a 1/43 scale Volvo F88 series 2 radiator grille in your spares stash, that's exactly the one they used on the bus, as pictured above.

You can actually just about make out the bodyside crease in that photo, looking at the back end against the background.

Funnily enough, I do have a few of those partwork Volvo F88/89’s ‘in stock’. I assume that grille is the exact same part used on both truck & bus?  
Good if it is as it’ll give me something to scale things off. 
The chassis from one might be workable too, maybe with a bit of re-sizing.

Ideally, I’d get some drawings and resize to 1:43 then use those to overlay the plastic sides on and start cutting from there but I can’t find any. 
I did find this though:

https://wikibus.blob.core.windows.net/sources2264/AILSA Citybus Double Deck Chassis.pdf
 

Which should help with basic dimensions.

[Split_Pin]

Here's a picture of one showing where the side panel bends in slightly, just below the upper deck windows.

Grille from an F88 should fit straight on!

 

 

[Split_Pin]

23 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

You can actually just about make out the bodyside crease in that photo, looking at the back end against the background.

Funnily enough, I do have a few of those partwork Volvo F88/89’s ‘in stock’. I assume that grille is the exact same part used on both truck & bus?  
Good if it is as it’ll give me something to scale things off. 
The chassis from one might be workable too, maybe with a bit of re-sizing.

Ideally, I’d get some drawings and resize to 1:43 then use those to overlay the plastic sides on and start cutting from there but I can’t find any. 
I did find this though:

https://wikibus.blob.core.windows.net/sources2264/AILSA Citybus Double Deck Chassis.pdf
 

Which should help with basic dimensions.

Thats actually a Volvo Citybus which has an underfloor engine like a B10m. Thats an interesting drawing  though as they were often referred to as a B10m Citybus and I presumed it was just a standard one of those underneath.

[danthecapriman]

39 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Thats actually a Volvo Citybus which has an underfloor engine like a B10m. Thats an interesting drawing  though as they were often referred to as a B10m Citybus and I presumed it was just a standard one of those underneath.

I’m far from a bus expert tbh, but are there any similarities between the two? Or is the Citybus completely different even down to the basic dimensions etc?

For the Ailsa, I’ll scope out some more photos and keep looking for any engineers drawings etc too. You’re right though, it does look a good starting point for a full scratch build of a bus, so watch this space! Maybe😄

[quicksilver]

7 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

I’m not familiar with Ailsa’s either. I don’t remember seeing them down south where I lived when they were around. Can’t recall seeing them in Doncaster area either. Most of the deckers we had were Atlanteans and VR’s.
I think there is a length difference too (oh err!) which also affects the window size & position. The front door of the Victory would need enlarging slightly and the second door removing, blanking off and a window built in.

Im actually giving serious consideration to using a donor bus chassis & wheels then building a plastic card body from scratch onto it. The good thing about the Ailsa is that it’s all reasonably flat simple shapes and contours to the bodywork. The Alexander AV type has that funny ridge above the front upper deck windows (which I like!) but the Alexander RV type of the later ones is even more simple as it’s just flat.

Funnily enough the only Ailsa bought new by an English independent did operate in Doncaster so it's one of the few places in England you could have seen one. It was Premier of Stainforth's NET 520R, which survived their takeover by SYT in 1988 but left the following year and ended up with Wallace Arnold as a hospitality bus.

[Split_Pin]

26 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

I’m far from a bus expert tbh, but are there any similarities between the two? Or is the Citybus completely different even down to the basic dimensions etc?

For the Ailsa, I’ll scope out some more photos and keep looking for any engineers drawings etc too. You’re right though, it does look a good starting point for a full scratch build of a bus, so watch this space! Maybe😄

It looks like it might have a few similarities but tbh up until you posted that I thought it was just a B10m. The perimeter frame is similar looking to an Ailsa though.

I have an Ailsa book by Stewart J Brown, let me see if there are any drawings there.

[155V6]

A few bits from a car boot I found while out doing something else. @bunglebus,not sure if the Nissan Prairie is a Graffic Traffic or not?

[bunglebus]

Looks like it - buggy is more interesting though, what's that?

[155V6]

Guisval Buggy Skoda

[Datsuncog]

Thought that might have been a Guisval 'Buggy Skoda' - similar (but not identical) to the one I shamefully overlooked at the market some three years back...