Hello Crew, again forgive the photo quality. I've been working on these buses, on and off,for a while now. The first two shots below are "Before and After" appearances. You can click on the 2nd photo to enlarge it.
1. GMC "Fishbowl" transit bus. I got it and the paints at my LHS, Happy Hobo Trains in Tampa (thanks Kevin).
It was in the 1960s New York City Transit Authority green. I wanted to realistically freelance and make this one into a "two tone" color scheme. Solid two tone schemes were popular on buses and cars back in the 1970s.
Exterior: I carefully disassembled the bus, and scotch padded the top half section. Experimenting, I airbrushed it Santa Fe Yellow with 10% Santa Fe Red mixed into it. I used the Badger ModelFlex Acrylic paintgood stuff!. I thinned the mix further as a wash and applied it by hand with a #2 paint brush over each of the green rims. The result made the wheels look more weathered and realistic.
Interior: Hard to see, but the seats are now a light green. I used PolyScale New York Central Jade Green and added 20% white to the mix to resemble Sea Foam Green. I edged the tops of the seats with silver (an inexpensive way to simulate the metal grab bars that some transit companies ordered on the top backs of the seats ).
Rear: I did not like the "painted on tailights" especially on such a nice model. Easy fix:
Red Brake Lights (upper) MV Lens #LS 200.
Red Turn Signals/flashers (lower) MV Lens #LS 220. Just drill through the painted on lights and glue in place.
Long term, I still want to add MV lenses for the headlights and the roof/side marker lights but that would be after my passenger car metalizing projects. I also need to add the black stripe on each side, above the large windows, to simulate the small tinted windows on these areas.
2. Mercedes Benz commuter transit coach. Made by Brekina.
This was given to me years back by a supervisor at my former job. He had received it from a salesman selling electronic products to transit businesses. Sat collecting dust on my shelf for a long time.
I've been slowly "Americanizing" this coach to vaguely resemble a Trailways bus from the 1960s. No it doesn't look exactly like an Eagle series O-1.....but it's supposed to remind you of one. . I wet-sanded the blue German lettering and striping on the body. I cut off the vertical slats on the side and rear doors to make them look like windows. Also filed down the Mercedes Benz logo on the front and painted the center sill Santa Fe red.
The body molding just below the window was brush painted in Santa Fe Red.
I got rid of the Europeon rims and installed Goodyear rims that I bought from Walthers. The bus sits too high on the front because I lost that axle and have temporarily substituted with one that's a bit too thick. I'll fix that soon. I do plan on installing MV Lenses on the front and rear.
The sides are painted silver. I decided to leave the upper beige body section "as is" since it already has a weathered look to it, plus beige was a popular color among charter bus businesses years back.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
Thanks guys for the encouraging words, guys
SteamFreak
I got the idea of using a modified yellow after having seen photos of transit fishbowls in Rochester NY, and Canada. I often rode Tampa Bus Lines during the 1970s and remember seeing yellow on some of their 2-toned painted buses as well.
I have another green GMC Fishbowl bus that I've decided to modify and am I'm strongly considering metalizing the sides with an aluminum color.
Taking these buses apart is not difficult and, imho, this type of project is easy and fun to do.
GMTRacing wrote:Nice work Antonio. I'll be interested to see how the metalized side work out as I thought the coaches you did were awesome. Many of the buses after much use ended up with a much flatter almost brushed surface patina on them (much like the passenger coaches look today in our museum yard). Have you tried duplicating that shopworn look or do you have any idea how the metalizing can be made to look that way? Keep us posted and good luck in your efforts. J.R.
GMTRacing,
Thank you Yes, I repaired transit buses back in the 80s and early 90s. Getting that look is actually not difficult. Alclad II "Aluminum" looks realistic. To tone it down, it's a matter of how many coats of clear (gloss or semi-gloss) you apply to tone down the effect to the desired flat or semi-flat finish while still retaining its Aluminum appearance. You can use solvent based clear. I prefer acrylics (almost no smell, easy clean up)
Apply one coat of clear at a time. Make sure it's thin. Allow for each coat to dry. Check the appearance each time until you're satisfied with the results. Make sure that your clear is applied "thin". (always good to test first test it on a scrap freight car or piece of styrene)
Antonio,
Just a heads up that the Eagle will soon be available....
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/559-3512
Don Z.
Research; it's not just for geeks.
Hi Don,
Thanks for that info. That's the Pirate Models kit of the Eagle O-5 that was introduced back in the late 1970s. Manufactured in England, they were nice looking kits though expensive. Their GMC Fishbowl was also a nice looking model. I may be mistaken, but I don't think interiors were included.
I was hoping that someone would produce the 40ft Eagle O-1, which is the predecessor of the O-5 and similar in body style.
It probably seems silly, but the 3-piece back window was, to me, such a cool looking feature on the Eagle O-1.
http://www.jefflubchanskycpa.com/CT32510-NY-SPRING1972-PRINT.jpg
On the O-5 the 3-piece back window set was eliminated and replaced with two black flat panels.
HO scale Models of the Eagle O-5, Model 10, and Model 15 have been produced.....yet their classy looking "grandfather" that helped give Trailways its unique looking fleet from the 1960s forward, has been left in obscurity. Other bus businesses, such as Glades, also had O-1s in their fleet.
Many of us over the age of 40 likely saw Trailways O-1s in the late 1960s and early 70s. Yet, I'm baffled that it's now 2008 and no one has produced the O-1.
Antonio
i love your work on the busch buses. Letting you know they are doing one in 2008 with the bus-o-rama and bat wings too. could u do one of the busch buses for me like the one in the picture? I am interested. could you do one for me?? I'd pay for it if possible. please email me at saulmiller@hotmail.com
Awesome Job T!
The fishbowl bus takes me back to my days in NYC!
Great examples of how to modify existing models; your information on using ALCAD is much appreciated.
Keep up the great work!
Carl in Florida - - - - - - - - - - We need an HO Amtrak SDP40F and GE U36B oh wait- We GOT THEM!
Carl,
Thanks so much. You've been a great influence to me in this fun hobby. I'm hoping to do a few more Fishbowls in simple two-tone schemes.
Guys, this job was quite easy. When I paint my next Fishbowl, I'll take step by step photos of the project and post on a new thread.
For painting, I just applied it on the top half of the coach and the rims. Re-painted the one-piece gray interior. Finally Installed MV lenses on the rear. Less than two afternoon's worth of work. A lot of you guys are far more creative than I am. Would enjoy seeing more photos of modified trucks and buses.
SimonSM,
Thank you. I'll send you an email
Nice work!
I remember riding ome of those green and silver ones way back in the 1960s dark ages before we became a two car family, and before the shopping malls moved out to the suburbs. I had forgotten that entirely until I saw your pictures.
Thanks for the blast from the past.
Real nice models, Antonio. Do you plan on doing any interior lighting? Passengers? I don't know anything about these busses, but I remember overhead reading lamps on the few times that I rode a bus in the late 60s - 70s during trips home from college. I simulated this in an old Athearn hybrid coach (one of by first train modeling attempts). I stuck an LED in some shrink tubing, closed it down till I got a pin point light, and randomly lit some individual seating in this way.
DC
http://uphonation.com
Hi DC,
I still have to weather them and either find or make up decals of the sides. Though your idea about the lighting is intriguing, I'm basically planning to lightly weather the buses and use them as scenery models (if and when I get my layout built!).
Re: Buses you rode. If you rode Fishbowls that had overhead reading lights then you mostly likely rode the "commuter" versions which featured padded sets, reading lights, and did not have the rear exit door. Quite a number survive in private ownership, with some having been converted to RVs.
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Quote from Jeffers_mz -
I remember riding ome of those green and silver ones way back in the 1960s dark ages before we became a two car family, and before the shopping malls moved out to the suburbs. I had forgotten that entirely until I saw your pictures. Thanks for the blast from the past.
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Hi Jeffers - I'm glad it stirred your memories
Dark ages? Those were fun times for me as I was a kid then. Saw the New Haven Railroad, Penn Central, Red Bird subway trains, and lots of buses. (If you lived in New York City, you saw buses everywhere!)
I've always like the body style of the GMC Fishbowl and it's competitor the "Flixible New Look". Rode them so often with my parents as a small kid, rode them later as a teen, repaired them as a young adult.
I am grateful to Bill Cawthon and the 1/87th Club for their efforts in persuading a manufacturer to produce this affordable model.
Very nice!
Any idea on how to get rid of the AC unit on the back? We did not have those here in BC.
Here is a BC Transit GM fishbowl:
and a line drawing:
and they looked like this when it was BC Hydro:
And this is a good site for BC bus info but can be used for others:
http://www.trams.bc.ca/buses.html
Pathfinder, thanks for posting those photos. What beauties! Those are actually 35ft. Fishbowls instead of the standard 40 footers.
Re: AC unit - That is actually the cover for the a/c condenser fan motor assembly - neat how GMC streamlined the design of the cover to make it look like a spoiler.
Good news for you is that on the Busch model, that piece actually comes off. You will see a squared hole opening. Cover the hole from the inside by gluing a piece styrene in place. This will be the foundation for the body putty.
Next, from the roof top, fill in the square hole that you'll see with a good quality polyester based putty. Avoid lacquer putties as they tend to shrink over time. Once cured, sand the putty until it's contour matches the surrounding roof.
Mask off the sides and rear of the body and spray on a quality primer. After it's cured, wet-sand smooth it with 600 grit.
Next, either paint blend the patch to the surrounding area or just repaint the entire roof. For the entire roof, just wet sand with 3M 600 grit wet/dry paper.
(Caution) The painted black stripes above the large passenger windows are actually tinted "see-thru" covers for the small, oval shaped windows on the prototypes. You may want to use black decal strips to replace the strips lost during the paint process. The first small window next to the front entrance door contains the side destination sign. Again, easily handled by decals.
When I get the time, I'll be installing the black stripes on the fishbowl that I freelanced.
AntonioFP45,
Thanks for the insight on the AC unit/cover. That will be a big help. And thanks for the info on the painting.
Now if someone would do the shorty style, more popular around here than the 40'. Still the Busch will be a good stand in.
Thanks for sharing your insight on these. Its this type of detail that helps a layout shine.
Antonio , don't know if you ever saw my Greyhound I did a couple years back , small town on my layout didn't need transit service , but bus service it did.
Jerry SP FOREVER http://photobucket.com/albums/f317/GAPPLEG/
GAPPLEG,
She's a beauty! Looks like a GMC PD-4501? I remember seeing these way back in the early 70s in the simplified white with dark blue stripe scheme. Greyhound's new flagship then was the MC-7, but those scenicruisers could still be seen in 1975.
Which company manufactured this model? Is it RTR or did you have to assemble it?
I like what your doing to , too bad my town isn't big enough to warrent transit service.
The bus is manufactured by a German company as a resin kit. MEK is the name of the company. It doesn't come cheap , I got mine from Truck Stop Models
http://www.truckstopmodels.com/catalog_order_forms/mek_order.php
It was nice to put together , paint is up to the user. Took me a long time to match up the blue to photos. I too used MV lenses on the taillights , I'd still like to do something with the headlights. I rode these so often as a kid , I just had to have one.
GAPPLEG wrote: I like what your doing to , too bad my town isn't big enough to warrent transit service.The bus is manufactured by a German company as a resin kit. MEK is the name of the company. It doesn't come cheap , I got mine from Truck Stop Modelshttp://www.truckstopmodels.com/catalog_order_forms/mek_order.php It was nice to put together , paint is up to the user. Took me a long time to match up the blue to photos. I too used MV lenses on the taillights , I'd still like to do something with the headlights. I rode these so often as a kid , I just had to have one.
You did an excellent job. Your cruiser looks like it was factory painted! I totally understand the fond memories that stand out from having seen or ridden certain vehicles as a child. It's a bit of a challenge and requires patience, but it looks like you would be able to carefully drill out the headlights and "flush fit" a pair of MV lenses in place.
BTW: Did you know that Greyhound had Fishbowls? These were the commuter versions with forward facing padded seats and no rear exit door. They were actually dark green during the 1960s! (similar to the NYCTA color). Corgi produced an O-Scale version back in the early 1990s. Shows up on Ebay sometimes. Would be neat if Busch produced one for HO modelers.
AntonioFP45 wrote: GAPPLEG wrote: I like what your doing to , too bad my town isn't big enough to warrent transit service.The bus is manufactured by a German company as a resin kit. MEK is the name of the company. It doesn't come cheap , I got mine from Truck Stop Modelshttp://www.truckstopmodels.com/catalog_order_forms/mek_order.php It was nice to put together , paint is up to the user. Took me a long time to match up the blue to photos. I too used MV lenses on the taillights , I'd still like to do something with the headlights. I rode these so often as a kid , I just had to have one.You did an excellent job. Your cruiser looks like it was factory painted! I totally understand the fond memories that stand out from having seen or ridden certain vehicles as a child. It's a bit of a challenge and requires patience, but it looks like you would be able to carefully drill out the headlights and "flush fit" a pair of MV lenses in place.BTW: Did you know that Greyhound had Fishbowls? These were the commuter versions with forward facing padded seats and no rear exit door. They were actually dark green during the 1960s! (similar to the NYCTA color). Corgi produced an O-Scale version back in the early 1990s. Shows up on Ebay sometimes. Would be neat if Busch produced one for HO modelers.
Didn't know about the fishbowls , all we saw out west were big time long haulers, Used to ride from El Paso to Ill. to visit my grandmother , back in those days , mom could put me on a bus and know I was safe. Trailways of course was the other big hauler out there back then , talking late fifties to early sixties. I seem I almost alway got a Cruiser , loved that high view as a kid. Yeah , on the headlights , got some clear lenses that may just do the trick.
You got to see some nice action, indeed. Trailways then? You most likely saw some Eagle O-1s of which I'm hoping someone will produce in 1/87th eventually.
I plan on getting a red transit fishbowl next time and freelance it into a 2 or 3 tone paint scheme. So far, it's been fun! :)
Road Champs did a eagle recently. I don't know if it's a Eagle 01 or 05.
If you are looking for good ho scale buses, try keyword Terrys Basswood buses. He does Flixibles as well as Flyers. They look really sharp.
Antonio, any word or shot on getting a busch bus? email me at saulmiller@hotmail.com
simonsm wrote: Road Champs did a eagle recently. I don't know if it's a Eagle 01 or 05.If you are looking for good ho scale buses, try keyword Terrys Basswood buses. He does Flixibles as well as Flyers. They look really sharp.Antonio, any word or shot on getting a busch bus? email me at saulmiller@hotmail.com
Thank you Simon. I went to Terry's website, but didn't see any photos of his work, which certainly would be helpful. Have you seen any of his samples recently? Would be cool if he could produce an Eagle O-1.
I believe that Road Champs did the O-5. Ironically, it's difficult to find photos of the backside of the late production Eagle O-1, which had a 3-piece back window. The O-5 had two large black panels in place of the windows.
Simon, not sure if you got my email.
Thank you, I feel honored that you would ask me to spray buses for you. Unfortunately, I have a full plate right now as I'm currently metalizing passenger car shells for myself and am planning on metalizing some for friends of mine. I'm struggling to make time just to work on my own buses.
The Busch buses are currently in stock at Walthers and can be ordered directly from them. Get the red or green versions, as they are the cheapest.
If you notice the fishbowl that I painted yellow, it's not finished yet. Still needs the thin black strip above the windows, the marker light above the front door needs an amber lense and the marker lights on the conderser fan motor cover (spoiler on the roof) need 3 red lenses.
When you get your bus or buses, just post a note here or in my pm box. I'll be glad to offer step-by-step tips on disassembling and paint refinishing them. It's not difficult at all, but just requires patience and attention to detail.
High Greens
Don Z wrote: Antonio,Just a heads up that the Eagle will soon be available....http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/559-3512Don Z.
Pirate model buses are runnng $77.00 and that does not include interiors. It certainly makes Classic Metal Works Mini Metals look like major bargain.
Who buys Pirate Bus models anyway?