DC KITS 4CEP CONSTRUCTION
This is the build process of a DC Kits 4 Cep. It has taken quite
a while to build but I have been in no hurry and certainly did not want to rush it.
One inportant thing I wnted to do was make sure I got it as right as possible with out being too
fussy about the right number of rivets! There are mistakes, but I am on the whole happy.
First up was preparing the sides of the coaches. This invovled filing and sanding any excess flash..
not a great deal.
The edges to be glued had to be lightly roughed up using emery paper as well.
Also the instructions says to wash in soapy water all the parts,
so this of course takes extra time.
One thing I took time over was making sure all the parts where in the right place.
Being very careful to check how they go together.
Once glued together the most enjoyable part of the build takes place. Drilling
holes for door handles. This detail took me quite a while but i wanted to get it done
well and evenly.
For the hinges I made a little jog to quickly mark where they go.
Time to check that the bogies are all there.. again checking how they went togather was very
important. In that the instructions simply say "Build in the usual way"!!. I checked parts as I found
that some were missing
so a quick email to DCK got the missing parts on the way.
While i was waiting for missing parts I made the grab rails.
I used some old guitar string I had [A 'ten', if you know guitar strings,
if you don't and want to get one, simply asking for a 'ten' in any good music
shop will get you the right one!]. To make I made another small jig with plasticard
and wrapped the string tightly round. Once folded out I had regular lengths to cut into handles.
The same was done for the handles under the cab and front windows.
Roof vents, these were some of the parts that were missing.
Building the bogies was pretty striaght forward, file off flash, lay them all out
then glue with wheels in place.
For the cab fronts I had got some white metal
mouldings: Buffers from Comet and Jumper Cables from MJT.
First job was to file down the plastic pieces to replace on the cab
and then with a little bit of drilling and glueing assemble it all.
One part not in the kit or supplied with the jumper cables was made with the trusty
guitar string again. [The wire coming down round the jumpers to by the buffers]
So with the drainpipe details and steps added for
the non cab ends, roofs glued on we have a finished body [bar windows]
Underfloor parts next, I used the parts supplied as I couldn't be bothered to send a cheque to Southern Pride
for their much better components.
... and put together for the first time on rails.I have
made up the power bogie frames as well here.
I think i need to send off though to
DCK to get etched brass side pieces for the Tenshodo Motors, further checking needed here!
Painting Time... First up primer, for the body, underfloor and the bogies. I decided to dismantle the bogies
so as not to paint the wheels.
Then the colour,Railmatch Southern Electric Unit Green [Late] for the sides, the roof is still just primer. The
bogies and underfloor parts in Weathered Black.
Seats: They are a pain, they come on the thickest, worst sprues you have ever seen. They
need plasticard bases and bulkheads built. Time consuming in the main. No plans in the instructions other
than a basic drawing.
I used the coach to line up where the walls and doors where for the cross carriage walls. The corridor wall was dictated by the width of 3 seats.
These are the seats for the corridor, 42, glued into rows of 3.
Walls and seats glued in place and primed with Halfords plastics car primer.
Fitted in the coach
Then came a marvelous point, I glued a No18 Kadee on the bogies, I found the No5 supplied sticks out too far, even the No18 is a bit long,
I will rememdy at some stage with proper testing round my curves.. but the point being that I had 4 coaches to make the unit in such a state that I could run them.
So for the first time I put them on the layout in a 4 car formation. Switched the layout to DC for the evening and ran the 4CEP!!!
A small crowd gathered to watch the new arrival
HAPPY DAYS!!
Roofs have been painted
Some More progress by way of finishing off the interiors. I Primed them , they sprayed with a Car
Paint [some sort of off white] then painted the seats with a green
I mixed up base don some pictures of interiors I had.
This was not done particularly
carefully as it's inside the coach after all but will be enough to look the part.
And it does...
You can see some of the bulkheads, these are for one of the toilets, this window will of course be
whited out but the corridor
walls will be visible [more or less]
2 of the 4 cars, the door handles and grab rails were stripped back to the natural brass but I also
gave them a touch with some Brass paint
On the cab, I have painted the corridor connectors weathered black with a dry brush of light rust,
the cables, buffer beam and buffers are also weathered black and the wipers chrome [need toning down]
Decals Added, Varnished and assembled [2 cars anyway]
Let there be Light!! A trip to Martin Levington
saw the 4CEP fitted with DCC Decoder and lights.
The pictures speak for themselves...
It has illuminated headcodes, front [as above] and these are the rear:
Interior Lights
Center cars power via working jumper cables:
.JPG)
I have also fitted fuse boxes [NNK castings]
More to come when it gets done!!!
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