Swift Sixteen Short Coach - Build Log and Review

3Valve

3Valve

Railways; Air cooled VW's; Soul Music
Country flag
Thought I'd give folks an insight into a Swift Sixteen build. I love these kits, they really are simple to assemble and the standard of finish is excellent.

So my kit of choice for this review is the Short Coach. This basically looks to be a single compartment of one of the larger bogie coaches with moudled ends and chassis to form and individual 4-wheeled coach. The intention is for these to fit in well with the Mamod range, which indeed they do very well both in character and proportion.

What I wanted was a simple trailing coach to go behind my vintage railbus.

So enough with intro, let's get on with it.......
 
So what`s in the box/bag

Basically every part/piece of material that you will neded to complete this kit is supplied (minus paint and decals of course).

One-piece body moulding
One-piece interior/chassis moulding, with axle mounts already fitted.
Curly spoked wheels
Axles and brass tube for axle guides
Door handles
Brass rod (to manufacture grab rails and coupling hooks)
Glazing sheet.

Yep, it`s all there

Telford and Wrekin-20140914-00377.jpg
 
So it`s all out of the box, one with the build.  Now my kit came without instructions.  Really not a problem as: -

a.  It really is self explanatory when you look at the parts and..
b. You can download an instruction sheet from the Swift Sixteen website.

Now I know that this has been said many times before, but the quality of the moulding really is superb, right down to the wood-grain on the seats and floor.  there is very little flash to remove from the kit.  However, take care when removing the moulding from the base of the chassis.  If you do this in haste you may end up taking a small chunk out of the body (as me how I know),  easily rectified with isopon and needle files, but with a little more care, easily avoided too.  The instructions specify doing as much as possible with a dremel or similar then finishing with a file.  I went for the ham-fisted score and chop out with a Stanley knife approach, hence took a chunk out of the bottom of the moulding.  Lesson learned, no matter how simple it looks, read the instructions.

What I particularly liked was the method for mounting the seatingchassis to the body.  Small tags are moulded inside the bodyshell to which the floor simply clips in.  Fantastic for adding/changing passengers or adding interior lighting at a later date.

Telford and Wrekin-20140914-00381.jpg
 
So on to painting.  If you`re hand-painting these you shouldn`t experience too many issues.  However I was spraying using rattle cans.  Being one piece mouldings, masking off took ages, but if done with care the end result is worth the effort.

Whatever method of painting you choose, give all parts a thorough clean down with soapy water (a bit of washing up liquid added basically), make sure that they are absolutely 100% dry, and once dry apply a good primer  (my weapon of choice is Halfords Plastic Primer, but use whatever you prefer).

Of course you need a really high-tech spray booth if you are going to airbrush or rattle-can these kits  :D

Telford and Wrekin-20140914-00378.jpg

As I wanted my seat bases and backs a different colour to the floor, I also had to mask these off to achieve the desired effect.  But I think it worked.

Telford and Wrekin-20140914-00379.jpg

With the seating done and set aside to dry
 
and so to the body.  Again a one-piece moulding that I wanted in 3 colours, so plenty of careful masking up.  First I sprayed the interior a matt white as I wanted the seating etc. to show up well once it was all together.

I then masked off the roof and chassis/frame and applied the overall body colour of Rover Damask Red (good old Halfords again).  Leave this to thoroughly dry/harden before you mask off to spray the remainder of the body.  I have seen examples of the kit with the chassis/body sprayed the same colour, in which case you only have to mask off the roof (unless you want that the same colour too of course), but I`m a glutten for punishment me.

Bodyshell drying off, main colour applied, awaiting masking off to complete the chassis.
Telford and Wrekin-20140914-00382.jpg


Bodyshell, painting complete
Telford and Wrekin-20140914-00383.jpg


 
With your bodyshell painted up and dried out, you can begin drilling the required mounting holes for the door-handles, grab rails and coupling hooks.

Grab rails and coupling hooks are simply made by cutting to size and bending to shape the brass rod supplied.

Now that's as far as I've got at the moment. Next stage, wheels on, fittings on, glazing.

Watch this space.....
 
Neat little kit, nicely finished thus far. Might get myself one or three of them. :o
 
Nicely done, so far. The beauty of Swift Sixteen is definitely the ease with which the kits go together and the quality of the moulding.

Rik
 
OK so last night I fitted up the wheels, glazed the bodyshell and added the door handles and grab-rails.

First the wheels.  You will need to clean up a little burr from the brass tube into which the axles fit.  Also worth giving the tube a quick ream out (Instructions mention using a scalpel, but I found a suitable diameter round needle file that did the trick).

The Instructions also mention putting a small amount of motor oil into the brass tube when fitting the axles.  Now here`s my tip for this (it probably seems obvious but here goes anyhow).  Dip the end of the axle into the oil before inserting into the tube, this guarantees that you don`t put too much in there, and also that there is minimal mess.  Wipe away any excess once the axle is through.

So fitting up.  Here`s what I did. 

Measure the length of the brass tube, make a mark half-way along it`s length. 
Measure the width axle mount on the chassis, make a mark half-along it`s width. 
Fit the axle into the brass tube, fit the wheels to ends (they are a simple tight push fit).
Put a small amount of Super Glue into the groove on the axle mount. 
Pop the completed wheel and axle assembly into the groove (line up the marks you made on the brass tub with the marks you made on the axle mounts - simples). 
Pop another small blob of Super Glue on top.

Put it one side, and work on the rest of the body.

Telford and Wrekin-20140915-00385 (600 x 450).jpg
 
So to finish the body work.  Again here`s what I did.  Not saying it`s the only way, or the right way, but it seemed to work.

Take the protective film off one-side of the glazing sheet.
Offer up the sheet to the inside of the body (with the remaining protective film side inward) and line up with the window apertures.
You should be able to make out the edges of the window mount quite clearly through the glazing, even with the remaining protective film still on.
Mark out the position of the each window with a pen (drawing on the protective film), and carefully cut out each glazing panel.

When you`ve cut each window, tested for fit, adjusted/trimmed as necessary and are completely satisfied, start gluing em in.  My adhesive of choice for this was an all-purpose glue made by Bostik.  Don`t use Superglue, the build-up of fumes in the Bodyshell (even in well ventilated space), may cause a "frosted" effect on the glazing (don`t ask me how I know this).

BK00529 (353 x 600).jpg

The Bostik all purpose product permitted quick fixing of the Glazing without any after effects, but didn`t dry so quickly that your glazing bonds instantly on contact, so you can make small adjustments before the glue sets, and the glazing remains beautifully clear when fitted.  Be careful however not to get this glue on any of your nicely finished exterior paintwork, it can react with some paint finishes.

With that done bend to shape the brass rod for the grab-rails and fit into the 1.7mm holes that you will have already drilled into your bodyshell (did I mention those yesterday?).  At this stage you can also fit the door handles.  Again 1.7mm hole required.  Grab-rails and handles should be a tight push fit in.

I fitted them up dry, then applied a small amount of Superglue from the rear of each mounting hole (inside the bodyshell) to fix them in place.

You should end up with something looking a little like this.

Telford and Wrekin-20140915-00386 (600 x 450).jpg


 
By now your chassis should be thoroughly dry and ready to mount.  A simple clip fit into the bodyshell.  Couldn`t be easier.

Apart from coupling hooks, I`m now pretty much finished.

Telford and Wrekin-20140915-00389 (600 x 450).jpg

Low down shot to show that there are actually wheels under there.

Telford and Wrekin-20140915-00388 (600 x 450).jpg
 
I'll try to get some better pictures in the great outdoors later today. In the meantime what can I say to summarise:-

The Kit represents excellent value for money at only £35
Every part that you need, (or the means to make it), is supplied
Quality of Moulding is absolutely first class (even the wood-grain in the seats and floor can clearly be seen)
Very little work is required to clean up the mouldings
Assembly is very easy and straight-forward
Dare I say, it's cute
 
Nicely done, Gareth. You're right, it does look the part!
Thanks for the blow-by-blow account. Some useful tips here - eg about gluing the glazing

Rik
 
owlpool said:
very professional job
looks good with its mum
Click to expand...

Cheers Paul. Just gotta re-glaze the railbus now. That's what I was building when I learned the "don't use supgerglue for glazing" rule. It's got some lovely foggy windows in places :D
 
3Valve said:
Cheers Paul. Just gotta re-glaze the railbus now. That's what I was building when I learned the "don't use supgerglue for glazing" rule. It's some lovely foggy windows in places :D
Click to expand...

I'm glad it's not just me that's got the superglue effect. On my line we blame the passengers for breathing on the glass...

Nice build; and clear windows!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom