Calum Melrose Photographs http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/ 24 rows en-gb 60 Kfz.21 German Staff Car http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1767486.html Kfz.21 German Staff Car Thursday 1 October 2009: Kfz.21 German Staff Car

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Thu Oct 1 2009 Lynx Data http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1712459.html Here is my collection of data manual, diagrams ect collected to help restore Lynx 188 Friday 1 January 1999: Here is my collection of data manual, diagrams ect collected to help restore Lynx 188

New Lynx Alternator wired up and ready for fitting Alternator as I got it not the red bridge, the system will not work without this wire!... How it should look Note no red bridge, instead the two wires run for a fast fuse in the rear jucntion box and act as a circuit protection system. Also note two black wires lead to a pair of 110Volt suppressors mounted to casing

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Fri Jan 1 1999 Panzer IV Ausf C http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1660215.html This is my contribution to the group build going on right now on ML & BSMC Saturday 1 November 2008: This is my contribution to the group build going on right now on ML & BSMC

Ausf C complete ready for Paint Ausf C complete ready for Paint Ausf C complete ready for Paint Ausf C complete ready for Paint Ausf C complete ready for Paint Ausf C complete ready for Paint Ausf C complete ready for Paint Ausf C complete ready for Paint

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]]> Sat Nov 1 2008 VK4501 (p) http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1620617.html stuff I am working on at the moment Tuesday 13 October 2009: stuff I am working on at the moment

VK4501(p) The Dragon kit has been modified with a Revell Tiger I turret and a coating of Zimmerit The dragon engine vents are backwards so they have been cut out and new louvers added then finished with etched grills Trumpeter suspension units and inner road wheels have been used to allow the dragon outer wheels to sit well back against the track guide horns. Now ready for etch and gun barrels The etch arrived, the brass fenders are amazing the tread pattern is great well worth the money All my models get a turned barrel, its got to be done these days they look so much better over the plastic offerings This is my first model to feature the new Aber turned machine gun, you can see yourself top class part Part etch really lifts the model All the etch and details have been added to the model and it is now ready at long last for paint. All the etch and details have been added to the model and it is now ready at long last for paint. All the etch and details have been added to the model and it is now ready at long last for paint. All the etch and details have been added to the model and it is now ready at long last for paint. I have applied the base three tone camo scheme with my airbrush. The flat Paintwork will now have to be broght to life. An oil wash followed by dry brush highlighting should bring this camo scheme to life. Once the base camo had been weathered. I will pick out all the tools ect. Weathering and highlights have now been applied to the base three tone to give the flat paint some life. Towing cables have been painted allong with the tools. Decals were carfully applied with loads of Microsol and Klear to prevent silvering. The kit decals are too large, instead I used decals from the Dragon Elephant kit.

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]]> Tue Oct 13 2009 GSC 659X Leyland Atlantean 2009 http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1607709.html Work continues on 659 Friday 7 November 2008: Work continues on 659

The fand drive is worn out, its main bearing is very rough and the tips of the blades are damaged when they hit the top of the gearbox casing during the accident. The new Injectors were fitted with new retaining nuts. The reward for the expense is a bus which runs perfictly at idle and is much more responsive. The replacment Subframe has came back from repair. Its crack has been welded and it has had the Shurbhill spec. stiffner welded into place. The frame will now be cleaned and painted ready for the engine to be dropped in. Once appart we also spotted thr drive belt adjuster was bent out of alignment. Its clear all these parts are only fit for the bin. The rad has always leaked and now its out you can see the rott in it. This unit is not a Lothian unit and cannot be fitted back into the bus. An original modified Lothian unit will have to be sourced. Here you can see the rad. mount was totally shattered, this was a result of the heavy rear end collision. I have replaced the master switch flap as 659 orignal was mangled. Its still waiting its grey top coat. The restored seat frames are going back in the bus. The gange way side of each frame will be painte once all the frames are back in the bus. 659 outdoors for the first time with her new panels. I still have the wheel arches to dress with beading but ALL the panelwork on the bus was done ourselves no outside contractors needed All the panel work was done by myself and Graham, special thanks must go to John, Mark, and GVVT for their assitance in cutting down the hugh sheets of alloy I was lucky to be offered a set of Stainless steel fuel tanks for 659. These were taken off the bus sometime after leaving LRT Lothian. Better still genuine Emiox fuel tanks just like the Eminox stainless exhaust system on the bus. Finally after a load of work the centre doors now work correctly. Even the sensitive edge is now in full working order. I honestly dont think 659 was washed in Wales. The engine looks slightly better with some of the oil blasted off it. Loads of work is needed to get this area of the bus up to spec The vent above the engine was seized solid, the hinge had given way and the zeus fastners were jammed. The unit had to be cut out of the bus and restored. Here you can see the unit ready to go back in. You can see only one Zeus fastner was still serviceable the rest had to have new ones fitted. Back in place and working. After the vent I repaired the structure under the rear seat which when fixed allowed me to fit the rear seat from GSC 654X. We decied since we had to use 620 front dash we should take extra time to save GSC 659X orginal flip down dash. In addition to sanding a fair amount of fibre repair had to be done. The N/S hinge mounting had to be re-built and once repaired both the supports had extra fibre glass built up on them to reinforce them. Primer was applied to highlight defects. Filler was then applied. Filler was then applied. The long awful job of restoring all the seat frames is underway. Each frame has all the old paint removed and the rivets drilled out. Primer was then applied and finally a top coat of LRT Lothian spec paint and finally new rivets. Here you can see two seat frames half way through the process The rear covers have now been removed exposing the tatty Powerpack. The rear covers have now been removed exposing the tatty Powerpack. The rear covers have now been removed exposing the tatty Powerpack. At last the front dash has been fitted. New hinges had to be fabricated as the old ones were rotten. Here you can see after much work all the lower saloon seat frames are back in the bus and fully painted. GSC 659X has never ran well since we bought her. After advice from Brian, we decided to have the injectors tested by specialists. The results showed them to be wornout, so we paid to have them reconditioned. I have overhauled 659 dash. A newly reconditioned tachograph has replaced the faulty unit the bingo board has been overhauled and painted. The mounting plate was also sprayed. The engine did not run for long. Here you can see we have started to strip the power pack down to get it ready to come out. Finished. Original pattern seats have been fitted into the refurbished frames. The X-reg Atlanteans were the only LRT Atlantean to feature this style rad. mount. They were all removed during overhaul but we decided we should fit this intresting feature back onto the bus during its restoration. The unit will be restored and a new rubber mount had been bought to mount it to the rear cross member. The tatty column has now been brought up to spec. All the black cab Atlanteans had black columns, it was only when a recon. unit was fitted did 659 gain a Grey one. The black column makes the cab look tidy, floor could do with a scrub. This is rubbish that has been pushed down under the handbrake. SHOCKINGLY I discovered it was all chewed up and had been made into a RATS nest!.... Here you can see I have installed the replacement indicator switch, 659 original had been bent well out of shape. The one fitted was a new unit recovered from GSC 654X in London. Two of Britax finest, 659 not only had odd wiper arms but the blades were two different lengths as well. New units were bought and fitted. The Little f*ckers have been feasting on the wiring in the cab. I had to pull the cab apart to replace the damaged wiring!.... The front door poles were sezied on. Here Brian Melrose Finally the old wrecked bell strip has been removed from the top deck. Youcan see the undamaged sections have been retained. Here is the other end of all the wiring emerging from a hole in the bulkhead to the printer. This wiring was made specially for our one off re-built and programmed wayfarer II which is unique in being a saver unit and having a working remote printer. After the clean out of the cab I have carefully fed the wayfarer wiring around the cab. You can see I the finished results in this shot. The wayfarer base plate is in position and so to is the printer mounting plate. The new sections of strip have been secured, just a shame about that sunroof. new bell strip section. Graham has finsihed the de-rusting and under coating of all the top deck seat legs. We noticed Lothian has stamped each one with an O or an N for Offside and nearside.

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Fri Nov 7 2008 Late Panther Ausf G http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1596169.html Late Panther Ausf G Wednesday 15 October 2008: Late Panther Ausf G

The fix The problem It may seem like a step back but I could still see the hull joins so the model was re-sanded. The turret has now also been modified the front has been cut off and replaced Here you can see the turret now clears the rear engine hatch. You also see the commanders cupola has been moved Here youcan see the blanking plug added to the Revell turret to allow the cupola to sit in its correct location Side view to shwo the corrected profile of the Revell kit and the other side. You can see the turret has the right gap at the front still and clears the engine hatch The etch brass is now being applied on mass, also all the turret loops have been added The etch brass is now being applied on mass, also all the turret loops have been added

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Wed Oct 15 2008 M36 B1 Tank Destroyer http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1532101.html M36 B1 Tank Destroyer Tuesday 1 April 2008: M36 B1 Tank Destroyer

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Tue Apr 1 2008 6th Airborne Jeep http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1481845.html Operation Varsity was an airborne operation towards the end of World War II, which took place on 24 March 1945. The operation was led by the British 6th Airborne Division and the opration intended to gain a foothold across the River Rhine in western Germany as a part of Operation Plunder. The opertaion involved two whole divisions and 1,700 transport aircraft. This was the single largest airborne drop in history and perhaps the most successful Allied airborne operation in Europe My airborne jeep is built to represent a jeep from this operation. It was built using the Airfix/ Heller kit and the conversion parts and figures have came from the vast Milicast range, see my links. Saturday 1 March 2008: Operation Varsity was an airborne operation towards the end of World War II, which took place on 24 March 1945. The operation was led by the British 6th Airborne Division and the opration intended to gain a foothold across the River Rhine in western Germany as a part of Operation Plunder. The opertaion involved two whole divisions and 1,700 transport aircraft. This was the single largest airborne drop in history and perhaps the most successful Allied airborne operation in Europe My airborne jeep is built to represent a jeep from this operation. It was built using the Airfix/ Heller kit and the conversion parts and figures have came from the vast Milicast range, see my links.

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Sat Mar 1 2008 Daimler MrkI Armoured Car http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1449612.html This gallery will contain tanks that are currently being worked on Tuesday 29 January 2008: This gallery will contain tanks that are currently being worked on

This project was started so I could attempt to add steering to a 1/72 model I have back dated the Hasegawa kit to Mrk I standard this meant a whole new engine deck had to be made here you can see the steering smoke dischargers were wired up and details added from a whole range of kits last pic prior to paint, spot the tyre valves Fully kitted up ready for paint the more I looked at photos the more I found was missing from the Hasegawa kit Loads of rivets ect base coat,weathering anc chips applied I still think the paint needs a bit more weathering before decals

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]]> Tue Jan 29 2008 GSC 659X Leyland Atlantean 2008 http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1435357.html Work contiues on 659 Friday 7 November 2008: Work contiues on 659

While I work on getting the exit doors my father is working on repairing the framework under the emergency door. Once of the alloy frame sections was so badly corroded it has been removed and a new section fitted. During this repair it was found that many of the huck bolts had sheered off. So a small repair has quickly snowballed into loads of work. After removing the paint it was necessary to remove the underlying etching primer to avoid the new etching primer reacting with the old stuff. Here you can see the rear bulkhead had been sanded to remove the last traces of paint. This is the front bulkhead ready for etching. You can spot the old bolts have been all but removed only two hold the step in place here. Also the door bump stop has been cleaned, protected, and re-fitted to the bulkhead prior to paint. Here is the rear bulkhead just prior to etching. You can see all the marks where the old stickers on the used ticket box have been completely removed so they so not shine though the re-finished bulkhead. My first attempt at etching on 659. The Acid 8 worked well and has adhered to the prepped alloy very well. Looking great. I will be flatting the finish prior to undercoat but the finish very good. You can see in this picture in addtion to the bulkheads I have also painted all the top of the door area. This means the whole area is ready for undercoat. The new lights for 659 arrived lastweek, big thanks to Ray Trigg. I already have new headlamps from Lucas and original pattern fog lamps from E-bay. The side number screen has been waiting for new rubber from Bains. This has now arrived and I set about installing the glass. Also new screens are being made for both the side and rear screens, as the originals were lost in the Blaze. Plenty of finger prints on that new panel. The new rubber was harder to fit due to the tight curves but after a bit of work I got the glass in and the securing lace installed in the rubber. I have started the exit door overhaul by scraping off all the old paint on all four Exit door leaves. The doors will now be sanded prior to etching. I took the opportunity to remove all the mechanism from the doors to clean it off rust and paint them up. Originally the parts were bare metal with zinc plating. This has long since corroded off and it has been decided to red lead them to protect them and paint them silver to try and match them look a bit better. While I am working on the Exit doors my father and Graham have been contiuing work on getting the lower deck ready for panels. We noticed over a year ago that a number of the rivets holding the seat rails on had sheered. Its now clear that its not a few but most of them have sheered. Here you can see my father knocking out the sheered rivets and installing the new machine screws and bolting them up. Here you can see work on the O/S is almost complete all of the seat frames had to be unbolted and slid out of they way to gain access to the seat rail so Graham could fit the new machine screws through the saloon side wall. Hopefully this will mean all us fatties can safely sit on the seat without ripping them from the bus. To remove the fibreglass fuel filler cover the interior covers had to be removed to gain access to the securing clamp. The first of 8 leaves is now ready for paint. Seen here after scraping, sanding, panel wiped, and masked ready for paint. U-POL Acid etch was then applied to both sides of the door, one at time obviously allowing each side to dry and cure before handling. With all the masking removed the door looks great, you can also see in the background the remaining three leaves ready for sanding and painting. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can get the doors finished and etched ready for paint. After loosing the old blinds from 659 in the blaze I have been trying to locate replacements. After contacting Norbury Blinds it turned out to be easier and cheaper just to buy new ones. I had a number made for 659 and here you can see me fitting them into the side number screen. You can see here all three blinds are fitted and the fibreglass cover has been fitted. The handle was connoted along with the selector rod and all three screens were checked for function. The Result, fresh new replacement screens. The reason my centre door refused to work was the bottom bushes were sized fast into the door support tubes. These tubes had to be clamped down and the old pins hammered viscously out. One bush was wrecked and the other was badly worn. This meant I had to source replacements. I contacted Deans Doors and they sold me a modern replacement set of bottom bushes. The units were much shorter as you can see but thankfully fit well and will do the job just as well as the originals. Here you can see we have fitted the door support tube. The tube was cleaned back to bare steel and the bottom bush has been secured with one small bolt. This will allow us to adjust the location of the bottom bush once the doors are on. We can then bore new holes for the tube. Here you can seel the new bottom bush. The alignment of this is critical so we will assemble all the door leave on both sides before boring the new holes. Here we have fitted on the front set of exit door leaves. They kick out at the bottom and drop to the centre of the door so we have a fair amout of fiddeling to do to make sure they are perfict before boring the holes. After a break of over a month I have returned to work on 659. You can see I have applied the gloss coat to the exit door bulkheads. This paint is an exact match to the original 1981 paint colour. Here is the rear bulkhead. I have to flat this paint in a few areas due to small runs and defects and apply a second coat then we can finish and install the refurbished doors. It’s a bit of a yoyo with the seats for 659 Here you can see we have removed them again. This time for the first time we have pulled out the lower saloon seat frames. This has allowed us to clean the formica and remove the old bolts that held the seats in the seat rails. Many of these were badly corroded inplace. This has been treated and new stainless steel nuts and bolts have been set in place ready for the refurbished seat frames. Here are the removed seat frames, these will have the paint removed and new coats applied before being put back in the bus. This is one of the refurbished seat rails The loose and broken monobolts which secured this have been replaced by stainless steel machine screws. The bolts which hold the seat frames have been dug out and the corrosion removed and the whole rail cleaned up. Finally new stainless steel bolts habe been placed in theb rails ready for the seat frame to be reinstalled. This picture shows the nearside rail where beath the seat rails lies one of the few places in the saloon which requires painting. You can see here the formica has been cleaned and the rear most seat rail has been worked on as well. Here is the finished result a clean rail with new bolts and a fresh coat of paint, just the floor to fix up now. With work progressing in the bus my father spent Sunday working on the replacment front end for the bus. With the O/S front pilar fixed OSC 620V front was offered up and here you can see my father is installing the replacment alloy supports for the front dash as GSC 659X front was smashed and split. Classic lines of the alexander atlantean take shape Here you can see the rivets going in to metal plates which are being added to the front to reinforce the repair section. These alloy plates will the hold the front to the replamcent alloy supports. Sorted, here you can see the front dash is now firmly attached to the alloy supports. Fibre glass resin will be used to dress this area and once we are happy with the fit the dash will be removed and sanded. A new year and work contiunes on GSC 659X. This was on of my fav. pics from last year. We have started to work on the lower deck getting it ready for panelling. We have decided to paint the lower deck frame after cleaning; as it was pretty scabby and showed signs of corrosion so protection has been applied. We have removed the seized exit doors. Due to years of disuse the door pins had solid in the bottom of each door. The doors have been removed for overhaul and it also allows us to clean the two bulkheads. Paint removal is underway on the rear exit door bulkhead and door surround. All the rotten door brushes have been removed and will be replaced. Work has been completed on the nearside lower deck structure. Small wooden fillers have to be added behind the wheel arch and panel dampers are required before the panels can be fitted. I also still have to finish cutting holes in a few of the lower deck panels. The rear bulkhead is almost paint free and ready for etching primer. The rusty bolts which hold on the exit doorstep will be replaced with shiny stainless steel ones to improve the appearance of the step. Most of the paint has been scrapped from the front bulkhead and with some paint stripped it should soon be ready for paint as well. Again I hope to replace those ugly rusty bolts. After my father was done with the dash supports I had the chance to get in with the sander, here you can see the Royal Blue is being cut back to the old Madder. I have used course 60 grit to cut the paint back and further sand with finer 120 grit will follow. You can see here 620 dash had seen its fare share of action. The dash itself was a Shurbhill manufactured dash and sometime during its life on 620 she has had a bump on the O/S like most of the Atlanteans. This local repair was done at Marine as clear fibre glass resin has been used. At last the front dash is back on the bus. 3 new towing holes have been cut and the alloy beading along the top of the dash has been fitted firmly holding the dash in place. Interestingly the X-reg batch of Atlanteans had extra alloy plates fitted below the windscreen wipers. I am not sure why as they just rivet on to the fibre glass?.. Anyway they have been fitted back on. At last after months of work getting the seat rails fixed and the loose pillars bolted up I have found the time to panel the O/S of 659. Graham expertly cut the new wheel arch panels with a jigsaw and I have bonded them in place. All the beading has been fitted and work continues on the access flaps. You can see here the panels have all their beading attached but still have to have some fibre glass trim, access hatches, and lights added to finish the job. Not to mention I still have the emergency door to overhaul. Work begins on the nearside at the rear. The booster door and exhaust access holes had to be carefully cut with a jigsaw and after a bit of finishing with a file came out pretty nice. I have also just bonded on the wheel arch panel in this shot. All of the late Atlantean fleet had bonded wheel arch panels fitted from the mid 1990’s onwards after it was found rivets were shearing in these areas. The job almost done. Here you can see all the nearside panels have been fitted but still lack some of the beading to hold them down. Also the emergency door flap has yet to be fitted and all four wheel arch moulding need glued on at some point.

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Fri Nov 7 2008 Entwicklung 25 http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1308429.html The Entwicklung 25, more commonly known as the E25, was a late attempt by Germany to produce a standardised tank destroyer design in the 25-50 ton weight class. During 1943 a programme for the development of a completely new series of armourer fighting vehicles know today as the Entwicklung class or E tanks. The panzerkommision initiated development of five new tank designs the, E10, E25, E50, E75, & E100 were to be standardised as much as possible using common parts where possible to enable the tanks to be produced in the shortest possible time and were to be capable of being used in a variety of roles. The new E25 was designed from the onset to be simpler and more efficient to build to boost poor German tank production figures. The E25 did not represent significant technological progress compared with other tank German tank designs but the design did bring together many lesson learned over the last 4 years of war, which when combined produced a very modern looking tank had the war lasted long enough for them to be put into service, the E25 may have proved very useful and successful with its highly slopped armour and low silhouette. Planned sub-variant of the E25 included a medium reconnaissance tank and heavy Waffenträger. Friday 1 June 2007: The Entwicklung 25, more commonly known as the E25, was a late attempt by Germany to produce a standardised tank destroyer design in the 25-50 ton weight class. During 1943 a programme for the development of a completely new series of armourer fighting vehicles know today as the Entwicklung class or E tanks. The panzerkommision initiated development of five new tank designs the, E10, E25, E50, E75, & E100 were to be standardised as much as possible using common parts where possible to enable the tanks to be produced in the shortest possible time and were to be capable of being used in a variety of roles. The new E25 was designed from the onset to be simpler and more efficient to build to boost poor German tank production figures. The E25 did not represent significant technological progress compared with other tank German tank designs but the design did bring together many lesson learned over the last 4 years of war, which when combined produced a very modern looking tank had the war lasted long enough for them to be put into service, the E25 may have proved very useful and successful with its highly slopped armour and low silhouette. Planned sub-variant of the E25 included a medium reconnaissance tank and heavy Waffentr_ger.

Basic clip toghter model Basic clip toghter model Basic clip toghter model Basic clip toghter model Work begins on the running gear by sawing apart the complete roadwheels Each road wheel is dugout from the thick tracks 1st of the road wheels glued on to Revell King Tiger track One full side of running gear for my E25 based on the Kingtiger running gear because I has spare stuff lying and I thought it would look good two complete sides and inplace on the Pegesus hull together again but not for long together again but not for long together again but not for long Upper hull stripped back and interlocking armour carved out Upper hull stripped back and Panel lines added Upper hull stripped back and interlocking armour carved out Plastic card plugs added Filler and plenty of it Alost ready for detailing Track pin detail added. The hull details are also being added, I have gone with the in-direct drivers vision block like other late German tanks, I have also extended up the front glacis plate, rotating hull top vision blocks, I am retaining the kit fume extractor mount and drivers hatch. I have cut a new loaders hatch and moved the gun turret to the rear of the fighting compartment Lots of sanding to keep everything smooth and plenty of filler Rear end is shaping up Etched grills will be glued in place during painting, I have used the small E100 circular vent in the centre and panther grills will be used each side. Dragon Panther exhaust have been used (shortened) Revell King tiger tools and resin fuel fillers. I also went with Pz IV/l70 gun cleaning rods as I had ran out of room for the Panther tube Details now almost finalised. The vision blocks still require etched guards fabricated and holes added to the range finders Rear is complete same here Mud gaurds for the front?.... Paint AT LAST This is a development of the splinter under on my Pz IV Ausf K this is only the three base coats, no matt varish, oils or weathering applied just raw paint again a raw look some colos very matt and others gloss The 1946 family grows the older Ausf K would be used in night combat where its thinner armour was less of a draw back and the heavy E25 used to deal with counter attacks the following day Basic weathering applied The tracks have only a base coat here mud and dust have yet to be applied oils and dry brushing have taken the model from a basic flat and unrealistic look to something far more realistic Matt varnish has also been applied to tie all the colours together as the base colours had different levels of shinyness Weathering on the road wheels and hulls sides has now been applied to complete the weathered look Last step will be decals and the tracks which only have a base coat applied massive chnge in paint colour and brightness now all the hull weathering has bee aplpied massive chnge in paint colour and brightness now all the hull weathering has bee aplpied you can now just make out the road colour under all that dirt and dust

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Fri Jun 1 2007 Marder 138 http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1253129.html Marder 138 Saturday 30 September 2006: Marder 138

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Sat Sep 30 2006 Marder 139 http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1253125.html Marder 139 Saturday 30 September 2006: Marder 139

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]]> Sat Sep 30 2006 Hydrostsic Pz IV http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1179349.html At the end of 1943, the firm of Zahnradfabrik Augsburg received turret less hulk of an old Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf G that had been badly damaged during combat operations. The old Panzer IV hull was to be rebuilt as the test bed for a new type of drive system. The new thoma drive was in principle similar to Porsche the system used in the Ferdinand/Elephant Tank Destroyer. Like the Porsche system the new test vehicle would use a standard tank engine bolted to a generator that in turn drove motors that propelled the tank, however unlike the Porsche petrol/electrical system the new test vehicle would have a new petrol/hydraulic system. This gave the benefits of the Porsche system without the fire risk that plagued the Porsche system. The old Pz.Kfw.IV Ausf.G. hull underwent major refurbishment to accommodate this new drive system. The main area of modification was the rear of the hull, which was completely re-manufactured to accept the new power plant and drive units. Within the fighting compartment, all the old drive shafts were removed along with the large gearbox and final drive assembly. New driving controls were installed and two large 780mm adjustable toothed idlers replaced the original Pz.Kfw.IV drive sprockets. By mid 1944, the hull was completed and the prototype was fitted with a new Pz.Kfw.IV Ausf.H. turret. This new turret was unique as it was powered hydraulically by the new hydrostatic drive. During the remainder of 1944/5 tests carried on but were never concluded. During April 1945 the US 3rd Infantry Division, part of the US 7th Army (patch) was advancing through southern Germany and into Bavaria. The 3rd secured Augsburg on the 28th and with it the Zahnradfabrik Werk and the test vehicle. At the end of hostilities, the vehicle was shipped back to the United States where it was subjected to thorough tests by Vickers Inc. Detroit, Michigan as the company was at the time working on a similar design for an American tank. Testing in America with the US Army finally ended on account of the lack of spare parts for the experimental drive system. The vehicle still remains at Aberdeen U.S Army Proving Grounds in Maryland to this day along with many other rare German vehicles and guns. Friday 1 September 2006: At the end of 1943, the firm of Zahnradfabrik Augsburg received turret less hulk of an old Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf G that had been badly damaged during combat operations. The old Panzer IV hull was to be rebuilt as the test bed for a new type of drive system. The new thoma drive was in principle similar to Porsche the system used in the Ferdinand/Elephant Tank Destroyer. Like the Porsche system the new test vehicle would use a standard tank engine bolted to a generator that in turn drove motors that propelled the tank, however unlike the Porsche petrol/electrical system the new test vehicle would have a new petrol/hydraulic system. This gave the benefits of the Porsche system without the fire risk that plagued the Porsche system. The old Pz.Kfw.IV Ausf.G. hull underwent major refurbishment to accommodate this new drive system. The main area of modification was the rear of the hull, which was completely re-manufactured to accept the new power plant and drive units. Within the fighting compartment, all the old drive shafts were removed along with the large gearbox and final drive assembly. New driving controls were installed and two large 780mm adjustable toothed idlers replaced the original Pz.Kfw.IV drive sprockets. By mid 1944, the hull was completed and the prototype was fitted with a new Pz.Kfw.IV Ausf.H. turret. This new turret was unique as it was powered hydraulically by the new hydrostatic drive. During the remainder of 1944/5 tests carried on but were never concluded. During April 1945 the US 3rd Infantry Division, part of the US 7th Army (patch) was advancing through southern Germany and into Bavaria. The 3rd secured Augsburg on the 28th and with it the Zahnradfabrik Werk and the test vehicle. At the end of hostilities, the vehicle was shipped back to the United States where it was subjected to thorough tests by Vickers Inc. Detroit, Michigan as the company was at the time working on a similar design for an American tank. Testing in America with the US Army finally ended on account of the lack of spare parts for the experimental drive system. The vehicle still remains at Aberdeen U.S Army Proving Grounds in Maryland to this day along with many other rare German vehicles and guns.

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Fri Sep 1 2006 Panzer IV Ausf. K http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1175852.html The Panzerkampfwagen IV was produced in large numbers and it formed the backbone of the German armoured forces for the duration of WWII. Despite its weak armour and technical problems the panzer IV was the most reliable German armoured vehicle, and from 1942 on in particular, it was the equal of almost all enemy tanks thanks to its improved armament. The weak armour of the Panzer IV had not however gone un-noticed by the Krupp works which had drawn up plans in 1942 for a revised hull for the Panzer IV. The General staff took the decision to modernise the Panzer IV hull with a sloped glacis as proposed by Krupp. The tank weight would increase slightly with the new hull arrangement and new wider tracks would also be featured. Sadly the Adolf-Hitler production program called for the Pz.Kpfw. IV production rate to more than double by October 1943, with an additional 1200 completed by the Spring of 1944. In order to meet these production goals, the assembly and steel firms insisted that the Pz.Kpfw. IV design had to remain unchanged. Sadly the panzerkommision were forced to recommend the Pz.Kpfw. IV with sloped armour be dropped. But we modellers cant let that stop us from a bit of fun, so here is what I think it may have looked like Friday 1 September 2006: The Panzerkampfwagen IV was produced in large numbers and it formed the backbone of the German armoured forces for the duration of WWII. Despite its weak armour and technical problems the panzer IV was the most reliable German armoured vehicle, and from 1942 on in particular, it was the equal of almost all enemy tanks thanks to its improved armament. The weak armour of the Panzer IV had not however gone un-noticed by the Krupp works which had drawn up plans in 1942 for a revised hull for the Panzer IV. The General staff took the decision to modernise the Panzer IV hull with a sloped glacis as proposed by Krupp. The tank weight would increase slightly with the new hull arrangement and new wider tracks would also be featured. Sadly the Adolf-Hitler production program called for the Pz.Kpfw. IV production rate to more than double by October 1943, with an additional 1200 completed by the Spring of 1944. In order to meet these production goals, the assembly and steel firms insisted that the Pz.Kpfw. IV design had to remain unchanged. Sadly the panzerkommision were forced to recommend the Pz.Kpfw. IV with sloped armour be dropped. But we modellers cant let that stop us from a bit of fun, so here is what I think it may have looked like

You can see here the standard Pz IV J hull has been modified with plastic card and parts from the Revel Kingtiger to Produce the Ausf K You can see here the standard Pz IV J hull has been modified with plastic card and parts from the Revel Kingtiger to Produce the Ausf K You can see here the standard Pz IV J hull has been modified with plastic card and parts from the Revel Kingtiger to Produce the Ausf K I have finished the kit with Milicast IR sets and Part etched skirts I have finished the kit with Milicast IR sets and Part etched skirts I have finished the kit with Milicast IR sets and Part etched skirts I have finished the kit with Milicast IR sets and Part etched skirts A 1:76th cromwell models Schmalturm was dropped on to the Ausf K hull for a bit of fun A 1:76th cromwell models Schmalturm was dropped on to the Ausf K hull for a bit of fun

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]]> Fri Sep 1 2006 Jagdtiger http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1170304.html Jagdtiger Wednesday 1 November 2006: Jagdtiger

The chassis has now had all the running gear and superstructure added The back plate has been rebuilt with a 6 degree slope Track pins have been added as per Alex Clarks book I have still to make the rear hatches for both Guns Side shot Side shot The two Guns together.My Porsche tank sits sightly lower, I guess due to the smaller wheels?... Both guns will be from the 653rd. The Porsche chassis will be gun 314 one of only two Porsche Jagdtigers not to have zimmerit. The Henschel chassis made be gun 114?... open to offers on which one to build To correct the Dragon kit I have replaced most of the top hull with the great Revell King tiger kit To correct the Dragon kit I have replaced most of the top hull with the great Revell King tiger kit The Back end of the fighting compartment on the Dragon kit was replaced and will be detailed Replacement Fugjimi air intakes have been added to the engine deck Great side shot showing the revell parts mixed in with the dragon The Spare Revell lower hull has been lenghthened to creat a Henschel Jagdtiger and thanks to the way Revell has made it it was very easy to lengthen The Spare Revell lower hull has been lenghthened to creat a Henschel Jagdtiger and thanks to the way Revell has made it it was very easy to lengthen

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]]> Wed Nov 1 2006 Flak 38T http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1149563.html Flak 38T Sunday 1 October 2006: Flak 38T

Box Art

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]]> Sun Oct 1 2006 Grille M http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1147192.html Grille M Sunday 1 October 2006: Grille M

The following photos show the rebuilt UM Gun The following photos show the rebuilt UM Gun The rebuilt UM Gun features ACE, Attack, Part etch, & Armoscale barrel The rebuilt UM Gun features ACE, Attack, Part etch, & Armoscale barrel The UM chassis has had a new drive sproket and a late pattern idler taken from the UM hetzer kit as the standard Um kit only has the old early pattern idler The new superstructure is made from 5 thou plastic card and detailed with rivets from a WWI tank, figure is Preiser Etch kit is added from the Part set inteded for the early Grille (see my other Gallery) Other side showing radio ect Gun still to be detailed Box Art

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]]> Sun Oct 1 2006 Italian M13/40 Medium Tank http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1109026.html Italian M13/40 Medium Tank Friday 1 September 2006: Italian M13/40 Medium Tank

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Fri Sep 1 2006 Aufklarungspanzer 140 http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1103118.html Aufklarungspanzer 140 Sunday 1 October 2006: Aufklarungspanzer 140

The UM kit was supplimented with the Part etched set The etch is designed for the attack kit and sadly some parts did not fit the UM kit The turret was well worth the effort and as you can see very little of the UM kit was used 95% of the turret is the Part etched set

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]]> Sun Oct 1 2006 Grille H Bison http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1103110.html Grille H Bison Sunday 1 October 2006: Grille H Bison

This is the Box art of the UM kit I used as the base of my model Fully assembled with new 5 thou superstructure and Part etched set Base coats after masking was removed

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]]> Sun Oct 1 2006 Calum in IRAQ http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1102349.html Calum in IRAQ Thursday 1 May 2003: Calum in IRAQ

No Warrior or snatch wagon here.. This was all we had as an Armoured escourt me and a LMG which I borrowed from the co-driver!.. One of Sadams Palaces in Basrah Group shot within Basrah Palace My first run into Basrah palace with 71 34 one of our more reliable Seddons On gaurd during a roadside breakdown on our way to Alamarah I got to play with the BFI DROPS wagon to recover our old Foden Tankers I even had a go of a T55 tank At the end of my tour I managed to get out off daily work by doing a detail into Kuwait with the OC Mavrick, it was bit like the Ant hill mod with a car full of squadies and guns, best thing was the 4x4 had AIRCON!... Breakdown in a sandstorm We still had old Befords in Iraq, some were beaten up, the one next to me was known to the trrop as the Venga bus and took us to our work most mornings Pumping fuel from one of the Seddon Tankers I even met the man himself Recovery of disused 22500 foden Tankers On arrival in Iraq I was asigned to Fuel troop and I never had a HASMAT so I spent a week in Ummqasr port taking lessons and sitting and thankfully passing my test, here I am taking a break I also had a short period hauling water for water troop, here I am picking up water in Kuwait possibly in the American base Camp Big Sky?...

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]]> Thu May 1 2003 Dodge S56 Model http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1099666.html Pictures of my attempt at building a Dodge S56 minibus. I hope to cover in detail the steps taken to turn a blank sheet of plastic card into a model bus. This is my first attempt at building a model bus from scratch and the reason I went for this bus is I cannot see EFE making one any time soon. A year ago I added an Eastern Scottish Dodge to by collection of scale bus drawings, this was based on D428 ASF the last of the type to survive. Using a reduced copy pf the drawing I set about building my very on Dinky Dodge… Sunday 1 June 2008: Pictures of my attempt at building a Dodge S56 minibus. I hope to cover in detail the steps taken to turn a blank sheet of plastic card into a model bus. This is my first attempt at building a model bus from scratch and the reason I went for this bus is I cannot see EFE making one any time soon. A year ago I added an Eastern Scottish Dodge to by collection of scale bus drawings, this was based on D428 ASF the last of the type to survive. Using a reduced copy pf the drawing I set about building my very on Dinky Dodge_

Work starts with taking sizes from my own scale bus drawings of a Dodge S56 Using a puch and die set I created the window corners I then joined up the corners with a craft knife & and pushed out the windows The basic side cut free from the sheet of card. I scribed panel lines and added mouldings and a fuel filler hole The process was repeated now for the nearside again as before small radius holes were used in the doors and the sanded square to reduce damged to the plastic card tooth brush is used to remove waste material side looking good Both side together and detailed Now for the rear and it was a bad timeto spot my scale drawing rear window was wrong opps... Rear window recess cut Rear free from the sheet of plastic card Glues together for the first time. I have laminated two sheet together and you can see that clearly here. I have not put a second sheet above the windows as this will be built up later From the rear you can see the second laminate of card carries the window apature Using three laminates I built a roof for the minibus giving me a thickness of 1.5mm Another shot of the roof in place and sanded to shape the other side This shot shows the front angles panels in place, also you can see the EFE wheels I will be using and the white metal front end I was given for the model, sadly I have no idea who made this originally any details please contact me Here I have glued the metal front onto the saloon and I have made a windscreen surround again from 0.5mm card Side shot now starting to look like the real bus The Nearside you can see the small internal door bulkhead Sadly the front casting is damaged as you can see here over the front wheel arch, this will be fixed in the near future You can now see I have added a floor plate which is 2 laminates of 0.5 card this had allowed me to use blue tack to hold the wheels in place for this shot The axels are too wide and will be changed out. The front dome is made up of small section of card that have been shaped and filled Rear shot with front door bulkhead now fitted The rough door, the bus now needs filler to tidy up the shape of the front aound the windscreen and quarter panels I was never happy with the front of the minibus so I shelved the project. It finally saw the light of day last week and as you can see I have rippd the old front off and built a new windscreen surround and quarter window panels The old front was to weak and did not support the white metal front. The new front its now much thicker and carries much more shape over the old front end. Work may now progess to the inside

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Sun Jun 1 2008 GSC 659X Leyland Atlantean 2007 http://calum-melrose.fotopic.net/c1082819.html Bus 659 was one of a batch of 45 buses bought by Lothian Regional Transport to replace Leyland Atlantean PDR1`s in the 851-900 (JSC 851-900E) group. The X-Reg batch of buses were delivered between August and October 1981, and were numbered 621-659 (GSC 621-659X), which were service buses, and 660-665 (GSC 660-665X) which were Airport buses. 659 was delivered to Shrubhill works on Wednesday 21st October 1981, to be fitted out with ticket equipment, two-way radio and destination screens. After this, she was delivered to Longstone garage, being made available for service by the end of that week. 659 remained in service at Longstone for all its service life, working all of Longstone’s double deck routes from 1981 to 2000. Being numerically Edinburgh’s last Atlantean Lothian decided to retain 659 along with five others for a special farewell tribute to the Atlantean, so on Monday 3rd January 2000, the last 6 remaining Edinburgh Atlanteans took to the streets for one last time. 659 along with 635, 640, 642, 646, & 647 operated service 4 from Hillend to the Jewel. The Atlanteans were replaced by Olympians on service 4 during the evening, with the last scheduled Atlantean working on the 4 falling to 659. That evening, packed with enthusiasts and Lothian Managing Director, GSC 659X made the final journey departing from ASDA at The Jewel at 7.29pm, scheduled to arrive at Longstone Depot at 8.12pm. This was the final working of an Atlantean on stage carriage work in Edinburgh. 659 was then sold by Houston Ramm (dealer), Sudden, Rochdale to Trevor Thomas Coaches of Porth in South Wales for school Contracts. The bus was then sold on to Mr Gibson of the Crazy Fire Engine Company of Glasgow for conversion into a party bus. The project stalled due to a change of premises and the bus was secured for preservation in September 2005. Restoration is currently undergoing to min 1990 period. Thursday 6 November 2008: Bus 659 was one of a batch of 45 buses bought by Lothian Regional Transport to replace Leyland Atlantean PDR1`s in the 851-900 (JSC 851-900E) group. The X-Reg batch of buses were delivered between August and October 1981, and were numbered 621-659 (GSC 621-659X), which were service buses, and 660-665 (GSC 660-665X) which were Airport buses. 659 was delivered to Shrubhill works on Wednesday 21st October 1981, to be fitted out with ticket equipment, two-way radio and destination screens. After this, she was delivered to Longstone garage, being made available for service by the end of that week. 659 remained in service at Longstone for all its service life, working all of Longstone_s double deck routes from 1981 to 2000. Being numerically Edinburgh_s last Atlantean Lothian decided to retain 659 along with five others for a special farewell tribute to the Atlantean, so on Monday 3rd January 2000, the last 6 remaining Edinburgh Atlanteans took to the streets for one last time. 659 along with 635, 640, 642, 646, & 647 operated service 4 from Hillend to the Jewel. The Atlanteans were replaced by Olympians on service 4 during the evening, with the last scheduled Atlantean working on the 4 falling to 659. That evening, packed with enthusiasts and Lothian Managing Director, GSC 659X made the final journey departing from ASDA at The Jewel at 7.29pm, scheduled to arrive at Longstone Depot at 8.12pm. This was the final working of an Atlantean on stage carriage work in Edinburgh. 659 was then sold by Houston Ramm (dealer), Sudden, Rochdale to Trevor Thomas Coaches of Porth in South Wales for school Contracts. The bus was then sold on to Mr Gibson of the Crazy Fire Engine Company of Glasgow for conversion into a party bus. The project stalled due to a change of premises and the bus was secured for preservation in September 2005. Restoration is currently undergoing to min 1990 period.

A whole lot of thought had gone into where to stick the interior advert. The upper saloon adverts were the same, The CCVT and the complaints notice had to go on the last cove as you could see that’s was where they were fitted on the bus as no-one had cleaned off the old glue. But the adverts could have gone anywhere. So I studied what photos I have of the batch in there final years and this photo shows why 659 adverts ended up where they did. Seen here after overhaul 659 nearside destination screen has been returned to working order. The nearside destination screen again. This time you can see the overhauled mechanism and overhauled rollers. Sadly the original blinds were ripped and replacements will have to be soured. The number screen back in position. After bolting the screen back into the bus the mechanism has tightened up so a bit of adjustment will have to be made to get everything working correctly. Same again This picture was used to advertise the for sale on a popular internet auction suite This picture was used to advertise the for sale on a popular internet auction suite This picture was used to advertise the for sale on a popular internet auction suite After buying the bus it was driven to the nearby Hillington Bus Museum for assessment after some minor repairs we felt confident enough to drive her back to Edinburgh The engine bay was very tatty and badly damaged from a rear end collision. The power-pack subframe was badly bent in the collision and has pushed the Gearbox mountings out of alignment and caused them over time to collapse. The engine was very rough, suffering from a serious misfire which was not help by the fact that the air cleaner had been removed adding a massive induction roar to the engine nose and as the Eminox exhaust system had been pulled off the bus in Wales 659 was far from sounding the way I remembered them. After some small repairs and a couple of bulbs the bus was ready to take home to Edinburgh, my wife even had a go at driving the bus in the yard, she done quite well considering she has still to learn to drive a car!... A stop at Hearthill to make sure nothing had fallen off!... At Gifford 659 was washed before heading into the main shed This rear end shot was taken after replacement bustles had been fitted to the bus as the original ones were badly damaged. The nearside one was taken off GSC 647X This rear end shot was taken after replacement bustles had been fitted to the bus as the original ones were badly damaged. The offside one was taken off GSC 657X This shot shows the translator Panel which controls the automatic gears. As you can see two of the four cables have been removed. If you look closely you will see them remains in the background a cable tie holds them back. The two cables wire wired together to convert the bus to semi-auto control. It is not just the translator panel that had been altered. This shot shows under the back seat where they should have been many more valves and solenoids than I found. It seems that some cost saving measures had been introduced in the last years of the Atlantean’s at Lothian. Both the gear protection system and pressure attenuation system have been removed from the bus. Like any good challenge it was met head on and after a few phone calls and a the odd field trip I have assembled myself the missing parts ready to bolt into 659. The missing parts along with an EP valve have been mounted to the refurbished base plate so when the time comes it can be bolted in as a finished assembly into the bus. In this picture you can see the newly re-installed radio controls and the semi-auto gear selector. You can also just make out the Wayfarer II ticket machine and hopper My father not only ran Shrubhill Works for many years he also drove the buses for a few years. When I got a Wayfare II for 659 he kindly leant me his genuine LRT user manual. If I ever get the ticket machine working I will have a good idea how to use it now One of my favourite shots as the bus looks almost complete and just as I remembered them. Here we have installed the replacement seat frames that had the vertical poles broken off, we have also installed the ticket issuing equipment, and fitted the period adverts back into the bus. If it were not for the hopper being the wrong colour this picture could have been taken in Longstone!.. Curse those ripped seats!.. again some period adverts. The fares table was the very last one to carry the LRT Lothian name and they had been removed before the last running day. The replacement fares table from 659 last year of service has been installed upstairs and carries the short lived Lothian LRT name on it. Looks ok here just don’t look under that back seat, well not yet anyway This picture took some work! It struck me early on that to get 659 just as I remembered her I would have to get as many of the correct period adverts for her saloons. However I did lack one sticker every Atlantean had in the 1990’s, the CCTV notice in the upper saloon. You could see where it had been pulled off but I had no replacement. This ended up causing me some grief. Not to beaten I travelled down to Wales and GSC642X. She was the only bus of the 4 in the yard to retain her CCTV notice and it was not for coming off, so to avoid damaging the sticker I took the whole cove!. I had to do a fair amount of damage to 642 to get the cove out without damaging it or the all important sticker. I decided I would swap 642 cove for the one in 659 and that way get the sticker I wanted I the bus. I ended up using a grinder to cut the old cove out as it had been glued in and I could not afford to damage 659 as I did 642 but in the end I won and 642 cove slid into place and looks ace, finished off with a complaints notice next door and along the saloon the purple tours advert and at the very front the beige Talisman tours Advert And for good measure an enquires advert on the offside. You will also see another sign of the abuse the bus had in Wales, the roads were so bad the solid rivets that held the light units in place have broken away and many of the light tubes were resting on the plastic shades. These have been removed so all the light fitting cam be overhauled. The late Atlantean’s had a lot of white plastic parts along its front bulkhead. These had been discoloured with years of smoke and dirt so they have been removed for overhaul. You can see some here have be re-installed and look like new Here you can see the refurbished butler lamp surround and in the background the smoke damaged plastic parts mentioned in the last picture As mentioned earlier on 659 subframe was damaged. It was not worth repairing as Lothian had already repaired it at some point as it has a big patch of steel welded on it and its is so badly bent it would never again be straight. I therefore made some enquires for an AN68C subframe and finally found one. So I sent Graham off to collect it. This frame will be cleaned and fitted to the bus in due course Graham is certainly getting into the spirit of things, you send him off to pick up a lump of steel and he not only comes back with it but a minted bonnet! 659 bonnet is twisted and like every other Edinburgh Atlantean had great heaving bolts though it to hold the locks on. Graham came back with a cracking bonnet which still retains it original bolt free locks You can tell when Graham has been out working on the bus, normally it’s a pile of mud lying, or some paint he has scraped off, clearly he has got some tools of his own for Christmas as I could swear there should be a more here than this? The nearside number screen has been pulled out for overhaul and repair. Graham was lucky enough to locate a genuine check you ticket advert for the inside of 659. Both 642 and 647 has this advert in their lower saloons but sadly both were beyond repair. I was so convinced we would never get one we installed a fares table in it place. This has now been removed and replaced with the new advert. Over the moon with the way this advert looks. It was the one advert we did not secure for the bus. After the work that went into getting the cctv notice I though we would never get one of these adverts so over the moon I have one now and it really completes the late 1990 look GSC 659X History Here is the ex-Lothian Hopper we have just bought for 659. The hopper itself has just been overhauled and features all the correct stickers for the late 1990 and will look just right for 659. Graham and I are both now hoping that as we have all the bits of the system to get them re-wired and working together. The Wayfarer II will have to be re-programmed and our printer carcase will have to be re-built and returned to working order. It’s a tall order but it would be a nice to be able to issue souvenir tickets onboard 659 In this picture here you can see the replacenemt plug connected to the existing loom. I have not installed the brass pins into the plastic connecting block as once they are in you cannot get them back out, so the plan is make sure they work then fire them into the plastic multi-plug connector We decided to kill two birds with one stone. I had to change wheels on the bus and my father had to check the temporary gear selector worked. So we drove the bus around to the site of the old work shop to use the hard standing to allow us to change the wheels This nearside shot shows the paint sripping Graham has started on the topdeck rear panels. Hopefully the bus will soon be paint stripped ready for panel repair. Replacement wheel rims for 659. I really wanted the original spec wheels for 659.The X-Reg Atlanteans were the only Edinburgh Atlanteans to be delivered new with single piece wheels and many of the buses retained these rims right up until the late 1990. For these reasons I decided to get hold of a set for 659. With all the wiring done it was finally time to cross the fingers and power the system on. As you can see in this picture the translator works and runs through the full checking program. Here you can see the rewired plugs all back the way they should be, a bit untidy but once the bus has been driven and all is working properly we will tie it all up neatly. After the re-wire and all the work that went into getting the bus back to Automatic the bus still re-fused to change up gears. It was determined that the transducer (Probe) may be to blame. When the old one was removed it was found that it has been hitting the toothed wheel below it. It was decided to replace the unit with a new one, which was shimmed to provide the correct air gap between the perception head and the toothed wheel. Once this repair was complete we tested the bus and she drove properly changing up and down the gears once more!…. Now that 659 is Automatic once more it was important to get her sounding right as well. Recently we were offered a second hand LRT Eminox system. As you can see here it was purchased and fitted to the bus This picture is a close up of the convulsions on the Eminox down pipe which are responsible for generating that all important X-Reg whistle that we all know and love. With the system installed 659 now sound and drives like she should. Same again, you can also see the refurbished butler lamp surround and all the destination handles have been removed and reconditioned, some handles had to be changed from the chrome replacement handles back to this original ones as seen here. I still lack the correct grey paint to paint them so the silver is a stop gap until the correct paint can be sourced. Here are the replacement seats for the Atlantean we are still short of a number of seats but this is a great start and we were exceptionally lucky to salvage so many old panel seats from the buses in London. Here I have stripped out all the old seats from the lower saloon, depressingly the seats that were fitted were the best of the bad bunch that came with 659 and the replacement frames from 651, the School kids in South Wales have a lot to answer for. If you look closely you can make out the blue LVA gear control panel fixed under one of the seats Looking the part, replacement seats dropped in place, each one has still to be scrubbed clean but already look excellent transforming the look of the interior. I think we will have to get a rear long seat fabricated to complete the look. With fitting the old panel seats we have back-dated the bus beyond the 1998/9 target date but the seats were too good to abandon to the scrapman, and we both prefer the look of the older seats in the saloon over the stripped seats. This picture shows the newly reconditioned destination flaps and the replacement cold air blower cover taken from 654 after the original part was one of the many things I lost in the workshop blaze at Gifford. Close up. Apart from the new seats you can also see one of the two new bell pushes fitted to the exit door in this picture, the tatty originals had lost their push once stickers and the red centres were damaged so replacements were purchased from direct from BMAC After a marathon journey to London via Birmingham nearly 900 miles Graham and I were rewarded with some great replacement parts and a van stuffed full of seats for 659.

Published in Calum Melrose Photographs

]]> Thu Nov 6 2008