LGB,Bachmann an scratch bash combine now finished.

[Riograndad]

The combine is coming together,an old LGB passenger car was the donor I found in the garage and the chassis cut into three parts to give the extra length and styrene U and box section super glued to hold it together and to get the right body height to match the roof line of the other car and some styrene sheet cut to fit the holes in the floor from the cuts,the truss rods and queen posts are not the same but the car could be from a later batch(or earlier) of cars and would be a shame to discard them,the roof cut to match the length of the other car and the original screw fixing holes to locate the roof and keep everything in place.The sides cut along the board lines to allow the new custom combine ends to fit into the cut out of the body,these knocked up with laminated styrene sheet and strip to match the car sides,I made a back plate up with sheet to fit inside the car body and the top is held in by the old glazing tabs,these sections will fit in once painted.The balcony ends will need modifying or rebuilding together with the steps and railings,brake wheels will be from the donor LGB car.the interior still to be done,seating,partition between the car sections,stove and wc to go back in,glazing to be trimmed and fitted,lighting and some passengers from the donor car also,some lettering has turned up from the Model Dockyard so both cars will match when done,the car is held together with medical tape at the moment until all the parts are fabricated.The biggest problem I can foresee is the body to chassis mounting but I will think of something!The pics are a little dark as the light was fading.

 

[dunnyrail]

The combine is coming together,an old LGB passenger car was the donor I found in the garage and the chassis cut into three parts to give the extra length and styrene U and box section super glued to hold it together and to get the right body height to match the roof line of the other car and some styrene sheet cut to fit the holes in the floor from the cuts,the truss rods and queen posts are not the same but the car could be from a later batch(or earlier) of cars and would be a shame to discard them,the roof cut to match the length of the other car and the original screw fixing holes to locate the roof and keep everything in place.The sides cut along the board lines to allow the new custom combine ends to fit into the cut out of the body,these knocked up with laminated styrene sheet and strip to match the car sides,I made a back plate up with sheet to fit inside the car body and the top is held in by the old glazing tabs,these sections will fit in once painted.The balcony ends will need modifying or rebuilding together with the steps and railings,brake wheels will be from the donor LGB car.the interior still to be done,seating,partition between the car sections,stove and wc to go back in,glazing to be trimmed and fitted,lighting and some passengers from the donor car also,some lettering has turned up from the Model Dockyard so both cars will match when done,the car is held together with medical tape at the moment until all the parts are fabricated.The biggest problem I can foresee is the body to chassis mounting but I will think of something!The pics are a little dark as the light was fading.View attachment 269214View attachment 269215View attachment 269216

Body to chassis fitting, though in 3 parts would lgb screws into suitable holes preferably hidden up too by being drilled where seats will hide them?

 

[Riograndad]

Body to chassis fitting, though in 3 parts would lgb screws into suitable holes preferably hidden up too by being drilled where seats will hide them?

Yes Jon,may work but until all the components are made and tested in place I won`t know what the completed build will be as just making it up as I go,I may just use the system I used in the previous car as the car sides should be flexible and in one section as the combine doors and track will be fitted to the body and not into the floor but yes it will screw down in one form or another.I may even be able to use the original screw mounts in the Bachmann body and then sort the ends out as the Bachman seating unit going back in albeit shortened so the holes will line up?

 

[musket the dog]

Looks great so far, impressive how much more convincing it looks as a prototype with the extra length. Even while it's still in the white

 

[Riograndad]

Some more done and it is beginning to come together,the sides and roof now in first coat paint and I am pleased how the roof joint turned out,the "pods" for the side baggage doors have been dry fitted into place and fit well and the board lines line up,the pics show one in place and the gap cut for the other side,both have been painted but the interior detail and paint will have to be finished before they can be fixed in place properly and the combine end door window has been boarded up as the previous owner before my son passed these on had removed the window center pillar and too much hassle to replace,the seat unit from one of the donor Bachmann cars has been cut down to length for the passenger section to where the partition for the combine end will go in and the baggage end floor once done with some boarding will be finished to the door track height/passenger floor level.If all goes to plan door guards will go in behind the baggage doors and may go to shelving,ice racks and conductor desk depending on the room inside,rummaging through the spares box this morning and found some more passenger figures and my second order of lettering also turned up so both cars will match,so repainting of the letter board on the first car now to do also.Thinking I should have put these in scratch build section!!

 

[Riograndad]

Now completed,both cars are ready for service,the lettering worked well from the Model Dockyard and will certainly use them again,both cars are lit with 2 bulbs in the passenger car and 1 in the passenger end of the combine.The body mount that I thought would be a problem was sorted easily by using slightly longer screws and a hole drilled in the chassis to suit to use the original body mounts.A couple of passengers added together with a few items of freight in the combine(some more freight to go in when I can find).The steps on the LGB donor chassis were cut off and relocated to match the height better of the passenger car,both cars were finished off with a coat of satin varnish and both cars will handle R1 curves if needed,the experiment seems to have worked but no plans for now to use up the pieces that were left over to come up with anything else,the last pic is length comparison with the standard Bachmann car