The Athearn Flxible Busses should be available about now. Has anyone seen any and what do you think?
http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=flxible+bus+RTR&CatID=THV
Maine Central RR ran these busses as feeders to their rail passenger service and for general transport where the railroad did not go. I would like to model one of these; I have pictures for reference. If anyone has one, have you looked into taking it apart for repainting to another company?
BUMP - Any thoughts…anybody???
I ordered 2 and it seems they’re not due until late June.
Hello GPaine,
I’m a big bus fan, but didn’t respond as I don’t have one of these Flxible Clippers yet as I’ve been targeting the Busch GMC Fishbowls for my 1960s era layout. However, I’ll likely purchase one of these Flxibles later this year since many of them were still running in the 60s.
I’m surprised that there have been no other responses because when Athearn announced this coach, a number of posters stated that they were interested in purchasing one as soon as it hit the market.
You’ll likely have to do what me and a number of modelers did when the HO Fishbowl hit the market. When you get yours, look over the bus’s body very carefully for sections or points where the vehicle comes apart and go from there. Afterwards post your info on the forum to share with others.
Someone posted that the fishbowl came apart horizontally in the middle. I went to work and had fun painting the interior, the wheels, and the upper half of the exterior. I’m still not finished with yet.
Hopefully (but I doubt it) Athearn will supply a diagram for the Clipper.
By the way, back in the 90s APM Models (out of business) produced this Flxible as well. They show up on Ebay from time to time. Just my guess but I think Athearn was able to secure the molds from the Chinese manufacturer that had them.
Just my thoughts [;)]
The Athearn model is a Visicoach, not a Clipper. The Clipper is an earlier model with shorter side windows. Clippers were built in the 1940s and Visicoaches were made in the 1950s.
I have a Visicoach on my layout that I built from an American Precision Models undecorated kit. The bus was easy to put together, and it is made of white plastic. If the Athearn model is anything like the APM version it should be easy to disassemble.
Tomcat…I’m sure many here find your graphic xtremely offensive…Mods please…
That was mild compared to what some people substitute when their bandwidth gets stolen.
Aloco
Thanks for the correction. Had to check it again and yes, it is a Visicoach. Here in Florida, there are a few prototypes running around as converted RVs. Interesting place in Tampa to see converted Visacoaches and Scenicruisers is at Tampa Bay Bucaneers games in the parking lot section designated for RVs.
The Athearn HO Visicoach is easy to disassemble; for once, the body is NOT glued to the chassis! There is a small Phillips-head screw in the rear of the chassis. Remove the screw and pull down on the wheels. The front is secured by a tab which comes out, freeing the entire chassis and interior. Athearn even included the floor-mounted shift lever. I didn’t try to separate the chassis and interior; they seem to be glued together. But I figure just being able to access the interior will allow customization, adding figures, etc. The windows are glued in place, so be careful if you want to repaint the body. BTW: I don’t think Athearn got the APM molds; the tooling is much higher quality than that on the APM models I have seen. Bill C.
Bill
Thanks for the information, it sounds like you are one of the first to get their hands on one. What about the plastic window castings, are they glued in or will they snap out? If I bought one, I would want to repaint it as an Maine Central bus.
It looks like they went a little overboard on the 400 lb. windshield wipers, and that rear view mirror is almost actual scale, what gives???