For the earlier Hornby coaches made in England...
Remove both bogies from the underside of the chassis by using a small and thin screwdriver; being careful to not damage the chassis when prising the concealed holding lugs away from their retaining holes, and set aside.
If a different coupling system is needed, then these bogies can be adapted now or later on.
Whilst doing this work.... always ensure that the delicate underside plastic moulded trusses are adequately protected, or ‘repair work’ will be needed....!
To remove the body from the chassis, there are two areas to concentrate on.....
At both ends, there are a pair of ‘pronged clips’ (by each corridor connection) that need ‘squeezing carefully together’ to then release the end and gently push away from the body. after that, there are two more central clips on each side that also need ‘gently releasing’. Care and patience is required, but one can succeed without causing any damage...! The coach body should then be able to be gently lifted away from the chassis.
The interior can now be lifted off from the chassis.
Before painting the interior, clean all surfaces with methylated spirit using a cotton wool bud and leave to dry for about 5 minutes, before painting. Usually, the floor and seating (remembering that 1st and 3rd classes have different colours...!) Will need painting, but these colours will depend on which era is being modelled..... that’s if you are wishing to be ‘accurate’...!
Set aside to dry thoroughly for at least 12 hours, so that the paint has hardened.
Now is the time to ‘populate’ the coach, and, even though there are several manufacturers producing good figurines, I tend to use the unpainted ‘Preiser’ range of seated passengers (that will have been previously painted by myself), as that is the cheapest option plus I can decide on the appropriate colours to suit the appropriate period of travel.
Depending on what figures I have available, I tend to do a ‘dry run’ in finding suitable positions for them, so as to create a reasonable realistic scene. Then I use a small amount of ‘Super Glue Gel’ to adhere them in their places. As these coaches were used on main line and excursion routes, I try to achieve a ‘balance’ between not enough and too many passengers, so that the finished coach looks about right....! That’s also the reason why each one of these that I work on is unique...!
Now is the time to reassemble the coach.
Firstly, place the interior onto the floor of the chassis then place the bodyshell above this (making sure that it is the right way round...!). Gently press down, so that the central body clips ‘click’ into place and then do the same with the end ‘prong clips’.
The bogies can now be re-
If you have got this far, then you have succeeded....!
Well done!