O Scale Motor Chronicle July 12 Vol. XXII

I love the "long haul" buses of the '30s and '40s with their "streamlined" paint jobs. I have a collection of old "Linen" style postcards of them. A few even had whitewall tires.

I've been on a what is, anymore a rare, week-long o0ut of town business trip.  Hated it: four days away from my layout!  I have a few nearly complete repainting projects I will probably post here tomorrow. Also, I got home to ten - count 'em, ten boxes stacked on my desk that most likely contain the fruits of all my searched for "detective" cars last week.  I can't wait to open and inspect them.

But, on to buses.  I love buses!  Strangely, I love the Flxible's lines and look most of all and yet I have no models of them. 

Below are two of the three 'Streets city buses I have converted.  The bodies are shortened Corgi (a Corgi bus converted to 'Streets but left with its stock wheelbase will not run well, if at all, around 'Streets curves).  These have been repowered with full size flywheel can motors (taken from a salvaged MTh Veranda Turbine) and have gear reduction so they run smoothly. 

I have six other Corgi buses, with, if you look closely, three different body styles.  The Greyhound and Trailways will be converted to 'Streets with their full length.  With that wheelbase they will not run on my downtown loops which have stock 'Streets D21 and D16 curves, as do the shortened buses above, but they will run on my new 'Streets country road, which has curves that are D30 and wider equivalent.**

The only problem with Corgi buses is that they are not scale, not close to the 1:43 scale I have in all my cars or even 1:48.  I think most are 1:50 or 1:55.  Anyway, the difference is dramatic.  Below on the right is a K-Line by Lionel 'Streets shorty school bus.  I've measured these closely and they are, except for length, right at 1:48 scale school bus, believe it or not. Still, I'm happy with the Corgi since there is no other alternative out there I like (actual 1:43 or 1:48 scale buses I have found are too modern)

** footnote on the wide radius 'Streets curves.  I cut the stock 45 deg curve sections in half to get two 22.5 deg sections and glue and wire a short straight section in between them.  This makes a 45 degree "curve piece" that is effectively 30+ inches in diameter to any vehicles with a wheelbase the length of these buses, or the 18 wheelers I build.

Lee there are some El Cheapo buses available that are the same size as a Corgi, average price is $9.00...good for a make-over.

Modernn and old style buses in 1:43 are available from Eastern Europe at a very high price.

I have some vehicles listed on the forum buy/sell.

Bob 

Most bus models are 1/50 scale. That’s about 10% smaller than 1/43.

I wish someone would make a model of this bus. Rochester Transit had a large fleet of these along with Macks and GMCs.

This is one of 10 railbuses that Mack made for the New Heaven. Its likely the only way you see this produced is in brass and expensive. 

Mack transit buses were popular and somebody could produce a model of them.

A publicity shot of brand new Rochester transit Mack buses

This is a good website for any interested in buses.
http://members.fotki.com/mackbuses/

Changing the subject a bit from buses, first, two nice trucks.  When I found the white Plymouth pickup below for only $$9 in one of my searches for my detectives' cars, I ordered immediately - particular because the website, with only a tiny fuzzy picture, identified it as a Studebaker.  Not sure where it will go on the layout, but . . .

--- One of the joys of my "detectives" and their homes and cars is that my wife is really into it.  She has shown not only an interest but a positive enthusiasm for this project.  And for reasons passing understanding, the red Dodge Powerwagon above is her favorite 1:43 vehicle - ever.  Again, we found it in a search for detective cars we were looking for (e.g., Nick and Nora Charles' Packard Super Eight) but it looked so good we had to order it.  We figure it is a perfect vehicle to patrol the "back streets" of the Navaho nation so Lt. Joe Leaphorn will drive this once its on the layout. 

Another recent Motor Chronicle talked about repainting cars.  The two cars below are mid '30s Lagondas and the most extensive "repaint" I have ever done. 

Detective/adventurer Albert Campion drove a 1934 two-liter Lagonda 16/80 (at least Peter Davidson did in the British TV series).  Both models above are done in the red/black of the car as shown on the cover the DVD box). The larger of the two, which I ordered first, is a 1934 Lagonda that turned out to be the much bigger 4.5 liter model: lumbering but fast and bulletproof, which is why it won Lemans the following year.  In spite of it not being the right Lagonda, on the off chance it would work out I changed the fenders, windscreen, rear body work, tonneau and top cover and painted it, and also added a bit of detail to the dash.  But it was just too big. Not being able to find a model of the two-liter model, I took a '36 Jaguar SS100 model (nearly identical in size and general shape) and modified it with a new grill, windscreen, and slightly modified rear end.  It helped that the Solido model had the profile of the Jag's hood more square than it actually was - more Lagonda like.  Second photo shows how they looked initially. 

My wife and I will add four or five more detectives and their cars to my layout today and post pictures in a new thread later this afternoon. 

Smashing work on those sports cars!   They are very attractive.

Lee, what curves did you start with to cut in half{16s or 21s} and how long of a straight did you insert between them, to make your D30s? 

There was an interesting auction of Brooklin cars on eBay last night. A vendor is liquidating a big collection, and last night was closing for a dozen or so 1930's Buicks - perfect for a steam era layout. I figured that maybe with so many cars on the block at once, there might be some bargains. No such luck! The majority went between $95 and $105, and these are cars that are still in stock at Diecast Direct for $124.95. I was surprised to see them going for so close to retail with the risk of hidden defects, etc. I bid on a few, but got skunked. One interesting sidebar - there was a definite color preference. Beige went for $10-20 less than any of the other colors (black, grey, and various reds and maroons.) Looks like I may have to bite the bullet if I want to get a few nice 30's cars for the layout outside the few (mostly Fords, Caddies, and Packards) that are available at reasonable prices. 

Well, actually beige doesn't look that bad - sort of nice as a contrast because so many cars in the 30s were darker - and some Buicks probably looked very good in that color. And, of course, beige is a very easy color to repaint.

Even $20 off of $95 - $100, that is a lot of a used model car, beige or not.  With Brooklin, a person really has to want that particular model.

I got a Stout Scarab from Diecast Direct today which is one of the very rare times I did want a rare/weird model enough to pay Brooklin prices. I was going to post pictures only to find that all my SD cards are at work.  I'll post pictures Friday on the weekly chronicle.

I enjoy installing working headlights and driver/passenger figures in my models.

Jack, that looks nice...tail lights too?

I was thinking of using fiber optics for my semis running lights- a dab of tamiya clear yellow on the ends and seeing if I could tap off of one or both of the headlights to light them...I'll see what kind of space I have when the time comes.

Thanks Bob. No I never got into the tail lights. There is a guy at York that sells all kinds of vehicles with working lights. I think he is from up in Canada. Flashing lights on emergency vehicles etc. He spends all winter building little boards to control all the lighting and then puts them in his models. When the weather breaks he starts doing the show circuit. Really nice & impressive work.

Buick repaint...

I was thinking today, and I don't think it'll get me into trouble this time, that-

What if folks run DC power to their super tracks for F/R direction, remove the bridge rectifier to do so, but re-use that bridge rectifier for LED lighting so they stay lit in both directions...headlights and/or taillights too?...just configure the right resistor{s} per the voltage{I'd say 12v...18v max, since that'd be super speed!} 

To run AC to the super streets thru a heavy enough bridge rectifier and a three way toggle switch{on/off/on} to switch polarity would work too if one doesn't have a usable DC power supply....

Thoughts, folks......

I've removed the bridge recitifers on all my 'streets vehciles so I can make then run F-R..  Don't have lights, etc. on them though. 

I bought a couple of ten amp bridge rectiifers at Radio Shack and some DPDT switches for direction switches and am in the process of wiring two spare CW80s to power two of  my 'Streets loops with DC.  I plan to runthree or four vehciles at one time on my country road, each with a big can motor. Two or more overwhelm the tiny DC power sypplies I have (that came with the 'Streets RTR sets.  The CW-80 ought to have plenty ofpower and its chopper system, recitified, should work very well of Dc motor control.