You will probably have to blow these pics up in order to read the text in the pics.
I have two of these buses ( one is a Trailways ) but after installing these passengers in one I don’t think I’ll do the other as unless the bus is right in the front of the layout you can not see the passengers anyway.
But I did like the experience.
Thought some of you may want to tackle a bus or two for your layout.
Your are right that the figures don’t show much in daylight.
However, if one were to model a night scene at a bus stop with the interior lit and the door open… that could be a neat little foreground scene. Now you have me thinking!
Has anyone cut out the door on one of these buses?
Cool stuff. Looks like there was even room to put some baggage down in the hold. There’s another door that could be cut and posed open for a neat scene.
The people that molded the floor with the stair well molded must have had something else up their sleeve.
I really gave the bus shell a going over and it would take a real steady hand with a very sharp tool. Don’t think a dremel would do it but then again if you have steady hands.
I have three of the buses. On my To Do list, is to drill tiny holes in the headlights, and tailights, and put small 2mm 12 volt bulbs in the headlights and tailights. Haven’t done it yet. But it looks pretty easy, and would be more noticable than passengers.
Sometimes you just think you’re living right. I just acquired two of these, and will be getting a third, as I’ve added a bus depot to my train station, and along comes yourself with these wonderful pics & how-to!
My idea on this, now that I can get inside, is to illuminate the interiors and/or possibly the headlights, with fiber optic cable. I think that this might be easier than installing light bulbs.
You might be right. A single bulb or LED would do the trick. A short piece of heat shrink would hold four pieces of fibre onto the end of the bulb or LED.
While you have the interior out, paint the asile and stairs with Floquil Grimey Black to simulate the rubber matting they used, and the handrails silver. Just a suggestion
EDIT: When I posted this yesterday, I had forgotten I had a picture of the painted interior on my Greyhound
I think there might be a couple of ways to model the open door
The first would require two buses. The first bus would have the door removed without an attempt to salvage the door. That would leave the door frame intact. The second bus would have the frame around the door removed to preserve the door. Attach the door from the second bus to the frame of the first in an open position and voila!
The second bus need not be scrapped. The hole left by removing the door could be filled in with anything that would block the light to provide the appearance of a door and windows, and the bus could be used with the good side only visible and the damage on the unseen side.
Alternately, remove the door by whatever means without trying to save it and fabricate a replacement.
Both would be a bit of a challenge but I don’t think they would be impossible. That’s what Dremels are for!
Problem with this thread is that now I think it is going to cost me the price of at least one bus and possibly two. The other (better) half is starting to get curious about how much I am spending on the hobby so the buses will have to wait a while.[sigh]
One thing that hasn’t been discussed with this is painting the wheel covers/wells an appropriate chrome-ish silver; first thing I noticed in taking it out of the package. I don’t recall seeing many Greyhounds with ivory-coloured hubcaps…
Well Guys, I spent 35 years herding these girls up and down the roads through Canada and the USA. Most of them were newer models than the one you are talking about. But, let me tell you that they had white wheels, some earlier ones were blue wheels, there were some that were painted silver, but none of the ones I put 2.5 million miles on ever had chrome wheels. There might have been the odd new model they were using as a demo that did but not the regular service coaches. There were also a few earlier models that ran white wheels with blue hubs.
Now Charter Bus companies certainly had chrome Budd wheels and I have driven a number of them after I retired from the Hound, but let me reiterate, NOT GREYHOUND.
Through out this thread there’s been the possibilities of open door, door/doors open on the luggage compartment, lighting the headlights ( might as well go for tail lights and marker lights too [:D] ), small 2mm bulbs/and or LEDs, painting the floor.
I have one bus left that’s not been touched…HMMmm…eyeing the dremel.[oX)]
In this shot the air conditioner must have quit as the driver is allowing them to open the side windows. This was not a fun situation. After we got used to A/C and then have it quit, especially with the bigger windows in these coaches the heat built up really quick and made it very uncomfortable.
