Vintage London Transport Bus

yakboy · Post by **yakboy** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 2:01 pm

Well it's finally finished

. Not in time for the"Keep on Truckin' " contest but I'm afraid light nights and sunny weather (yep even in england) have meant I've not been pimpin' lately.

My father in law is into model trains, trams and vintage buses and when he saw my bit collection last christmas he asked if I would be able to build him a RC model bus. He sourced a suitable resin model & I set to work. The body was heavy so I knew I'd need something powerful to haul it around, NKOK crossfires are avaliable cheaply in the UK and they haul a diecast body around and are dual celled so I started with that;

The external charger appealed at it would be a large body & a bit cumbersome. To lengthen the body and get rid of the crap NKOK steering mech I butchered a bit clone & just retained the steering mech. Then a bit of plastic card later the NKOK chassis & the bit clone were joined together.

I then attatched the steering wires to the PCB put the NKOK wheels (which are a good match for vintage bus wheels) onto the bit hubs and then had a running chassis.

I had to then butcher the inside of the resin body to get the chassis to fit (including cutting out the front radiator area) and got the chassis to fit;

Then the body was sent to my father in law for painting and when I got it back I glued the body to the chassis & then set about remaking the front radiator area with car body filler;

I used etching spray on the windows as I ditched the interior as it was too heavy & wouldn't fit over the PCB. A bit of paint & attatching the radiator & front bumper & hey presto... It still needs London transport decals and a bit of tidying up but that's for my father in law to do.

So how does it drive.....Well it's turning circle is crap (just like the real thing) but you can do handbrake turns!!! I'm in the process of editing a few seconds of video to go in my gallery. So watch this space. I've enjoyed this one, lots of problems to overcome but I think the result is OK.

Update: movie is in my gallery but I don't know how to link it to this

Finks · Post by **Finks** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 5:55 pm

Wow, now that's different, I love it! A little rough in the front end with the putty, but overall I think your father inlaw will love it. If it aint a hassle to make, then how cool could the end result really be? Top notch job Yak.

steelwoolghandi · Post by **steelwoolghandi** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:03 pm

Vary nice I love when someone comes up with different stuff! That is a real cool bus now all it needs is vintage ad's on the side!

Great job love the choice in colors ( I know SG will love it too)!

Post by **CaboWabo** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 10:26 pm

I absolutely love the original body, hasn't been done much, if at all.
I really dig the color scheme too, totally fitting.
I think you could do better on the details, specifically the headlights, but other than that, I'd be nit-picking.
Great job yakboy.

Sporttracguy · Post by **Sporttracguy** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 12:04 am

Looks awsome! If you wanted to make it go a little faster there is lots of room for another cell

Great work man

STG

yakboy · Post by **yakboy** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 2:20 am

CaboWabo wrote:I think you could do better on the details, specifically the headlights, but other than that, I'd be nit-picking.

The paint job is down to my father in law. It's his baby so I've done the construction work & he's done the painting, so the main thing is he's happy. The headlights etc need finishing I agree & there's some decals & sign boards to go on but he'll do that. I thought I'd get some photo's before I handed it over to him today to finish

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:18 am

Finks wrote: If it aint a hassle to make, then how cool could the end result really be?

I disagree. I firmly believe cool stuff can be done with minimal effort. Hassles are for people who haven't figured out what they're doing yet.

Finks · Post by **Finks** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 12:13 pm

I'm talking about innovation brother, and that shit is never easy... well somtimes but you know what I am saying.

steelwoolghandi · Post by **steelwoolghandi** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 5:52 pm

Hassles are for people who haven't figured out what they're doing yet.

thats me I haven't figured out what I am doing and its been years....

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 7:42 pm

Finks wrote:I'm talking about innovation brother, and that shit is never easy... well somtimes but you know what I am saying.

Nah, I'm not quite sure what you're saying. I think you lost me. To me a hassle is when you get halfway to the store, realize you forgot your money, and have to go back.

Innovation, isn't that like 90% inspiration, and 10% perspiration, or am I getting that backwards?

Anyways, I guess the point I'm trying to get to, is that since the beginning of bits, there has been this competitive attitude to do something first. I always hated that. I just get a picture in my head of what I want to see, then I gotta make it happen. At first it was a hassle, but then later when I developed the skills, things like body lowering and wheel mods became effortless. So I guess I'm trying to say that just because a car isn't innovative, or that it went together easily, doesn't make it uncool.