East Sussex Finescale
Improving the Hornby 2 BIL
(including conversion to P4)
by Ian Sneyd
Fellow
finescale modellers!
Firstly,
a detailed history of the 2 BIL units can be found here.
I
have now finished the conversion of the first of my 2 BIL units and thought you
might be interested in how it went and some observations of the model.
It
is easy to get the body off the chassis but not quite so easy to remove the
interior which is clipped in by 6 evil clips. I added the cream vertical panels
that are typical for Maunsell coaches of this period,
also painted the seats and added passengers and posters etc. That's the easy
bit but makes a vast difference, particularly to the Southern ones.
The
trailer coach is completely unpowered so both bogies spring out (relatively)
easily. To my surprise the dummy bogies is quite different to the unpowered
motor bogie from the 5 BEL and the 8' steam bogie is different to that on the Maunsell coaches. In fact, the whole chassis is a huge
advance on anything Hornby have done before. The underfloor detailing is
superb, we even get brake rodding now.
With
some filing it was possible to get P4 wheels into the dummy power bogie but not
always possible to save the outside brake rigging. As it is necessary to add a
cross shaft at each end anyway it was not difficult to replicate it.
I
decided this coach looked too light and, given the vast probable overkill
haulage capacity of the power car, decided to add as much weight as I could.
The
8' steam bogie is absolutely lovely and a doddle to convert as P4 wheels go
straight in. Just remove the end of the pinpoints as Hornby's axles would
appear to be 25.6 mm rather than 26 mm. I did not think it remotely practical
to remove the plate holding the brake shoes but it is possible to get in there
with a small circular file and then bend the shoes of the way.
The
motor brake third (MBT) chassis is one big heavy casting into which clip the
bogies. To get them off it is necessary to unsolder the wires from the bottom
of the DCC-ready circuit board.
The
sheer weight of this item makes it unlikely that one motor could haul two
trailers plus an unpowered but de-geared MBT. Add to that the impracticality of
through wiring and so I have resigned myself to two decoders and complicated
multiple consisting.
The
8' steam bogie has pick-ups fitted but is otherwise identical to that on the
trailer. If converting to EM or P4 these pickups will reach a solid wheel such
as Hornby's, and those available from Branchlines.
However, these are so very expensive and so difficult to paint that Gibson
wheels and top acting stylus pickups look a better bet (and indeed work well).
The
motor bogie comes apart by levering off the keeper plate (with brute force) and
dropping out the wheels. The keeper plate is attached to the frames which then
need the same attention with files as that on the DTC. When the cross shafts are
in, the brake rodding repaired and the whole thing painted it really looks
excellent. Hornby's bizarrely coloured shoe beams rather detract from a superb
piece of modelling.
The
wheels pull off the axle leaving the plastic centres behind to be removed with
a knife. The gear wheel is then drifted out. To my surprise the motor bogie has
actually been changed since the 5 BEL units to reduce
the huge side play. Using Gibson wheels, I loctited
on the gear wheel and made 2 mm spacers from 1/8 brass tube to take up the side
play from narrow gauge steam rollers to P4. New top acting pickups added as,
although this bogie has a much, much better pickup system than the Bel, it is
still acting on the backs which is just not practical with Gibson wheels.
Whole
thing reassembled, testing as I went. I fitted a DCC chip to save opening it
again. I used a Digitrax 135 and having removed the
blanking plug I pushed 0.5 mm wire into the holes on the chassis socket and
soldered the leads to them.
The
distance between the coaches looks almost scale (should be 7 mm) but I suspect
that in running it will open out. When I get it on the track, I'll take a view
and maybe shorten the bar.
As
with the Maunsell coaches they are a b*** to renumber
as they are using no font known to HMRS and it's completely wrong for the SR
anyway.
However,
unlike, say, the Bachmann N-class where you only have to look at it and the
lining and numbers fall off, these numbers are very well attached
and it took cellulose thinners and a sharp scalpel to get them off. A touch of
satin varnish afterwards and you wouldn't know they had been played with.
I
thought the detailing was generally excellent though I was dubious about the
black rail on the guard’s van (which I left) and the green wipers (which I
didn't).
Crew
is a problem when you're going to run in multiple, but on balance I think
better to have than not. By chance I was talking to the owner of Falcon Figures
at the Horsham show who had just bought a 2 BIL unit with the intention of
producing a motorman specifically for it. Falcon Figures are best known for their
excellent loco crew (I have dozens) and I went off with three suitable looking
drivers. Should be ready for Scalefour Midlands in September 2014.
So
how do I link units together?
I'll
probably run this 8-car as two 4-car units, but I think the bar will be rather
unsightly between units. I was going to have Kadee
couplers, but they are not very prototypical. Maybe I'll araldite in some screw
links. I have no problem being the man between the tracks doing the hook up.
I'm just a bit overscale.
Lastly,
I can't get too hung up about tail lamps but I do like my headcodes
correct. I glued small but strong magnets behind the headcode boxes and will
put a sliver of steel behind the stencils.
It
was an easier conversion that I thought and the model is pretty good, particularly
where it doesn't notice and hasn't yet been commented on.
I
have it sat next to one of my Kirk 2 BIL units. It's very nearly as good. For
RTR that's magic.
Kind
regards,
Ian
Sneyd
Front model Hornby 2 BIL – rear Kirk 2 BIL
The Kirk 2 BIL was built as an unpowered unit and runs
as half of a 4-car train (hence the permanent coupling).
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