AEC Routemaster

Quite chuffed with the "rusted pipe*" look I managed on the left hand (AEC, original) engine.
(Made both engine options for the hell of it.)

* Not a euphemism. 

That is every clamp and peg I have in the Secret Bat Cave! This is a big bugger.
(Painted the gear box metallic blue per photo in my Haynes guide, generally tried to make the underside more interesting than the plain aluminium that the instructions ask for.) 

Having lavished all that attention on the engine, I'm not hiding it behind a sheet of plastic: out with the Dremel, and in with some chicken wire mesh I had from who-knows-where. 

More Dremeling on the main front grille, also replaced with an actual grille. Hopefully it'll look OK at the end. 

Bottom deck flooring added to chassis, engine fitted, hacked radiator grille in, wheels done too. 

The grille - painted with Semple Blackest Black 2.0 to minimise reflections. Grille's a bit on the proverbial at the moment, but there's enough slack to straighten it when the surround goes in. 

Controls and dash sorted. Tried to scuff/weather a bit. 

And somewhere for the driver to sit. And the first of many, many windows fitted, to keep the driver safe from hoi polloi.
Moquette is a decal, not hand painted 😉 

Definitely a whiff of bus there - colour and typeface. 

One of my favourite bits so far - tiny little fire extinguisher that you won't even be able to see soon, I suspect. Went brass on the handles and nozzle for nostalgia reasons. 

This is giving me "tube train" vibes, specifically Metropolitan... 

The G-Men (and -Women) have arrived... ordered some G-scale people to go in the bus (as if I didn't have enough to do on this kit already). 

Passengers and driver coming along - really happy with some of them (e.g. bloke with flat-cap) where I've done my first shading and used a wet palette for the first time
 

Hmm, I don't think the second batch of people I ordered off eBay are 1:24... they're making Richard Osman, Robert Wadlow and Peter Crouch look short. 

Measured him up - at 1:24 he's about 2.5 metres tall ?
They're going in the spares box... beware the dangers of Flea Bay. 

Soooo many seats ... 36 in all. 

Seats assembled, "moquetted" and ready to go. I seem to have a spare seat by my reckoning *shrug* 

Looking a bit more bus-like,

Made me think of this old photo of a Bristol bus:
flickr.com/photos/fray_bentos/200198976 

One of the panels for the rear platform - quite happy with that (now just need to not wreck it during assembly). 

Hooray, a second cute little fire extinguisher, and this one is hopefully more visible than the one in the driver's cab.
Also, there was nothing to go into what I believe to be the conductor's timetable picture frame, so I found something in my spares box that vaguely looks like writing and put that in. 

Looking a bit more bus-like, on the lower deck, at least. 

And we now move onto the stairs... 

Conductor's cubby hole assembled 

We have stairs... not quite a Stairway to Heaven, more a Stairway to Nowhere, if I can mix Led Zeppelin with Talking Heads... 

Now we have a top deck 🙂
And sooooo much red (I'm half way through my *second* pot of Ferrari/Italian Red 36134!).
Have gone a bit off piste from the instructions, doing things in a slightly different order, mostly so the CA that's sticking the passengers to the seats can have lots of time to degas / vent before I put the windows in. 

Baby bus doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo.
Baby bus doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo.
Baby bus doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo.
Baby bus! 

East London forever... to steal the Louis Dunford song. 

Nearing the endgame, time to assemble! 

Tra-da, my effort on a bus. Depicted the earlier pre 1992 spec, no adverts, much classier
Turned up later than expected of course, and this picture looks like two turned up at once. 

Front end, with my custom grille, and a driver. 

Peekaboo engine 

Roof comes off - which also means it doesn't sit perfectly, but I'll cope 

Hello top deck. 

Looks like the back end of a bus. 

Couldn't have done it as well without my trusty Haynes guide - the Revell instructions could be improved in a few places.  

This was a bargain!
I think I've spent more than that on paint for it ... 

Bus in a box! My lovely display case has arrived, thanks to Lasacryl. 

Bus in a box! My lovely display case has arrived, thanks to Lasacryl.