The Conversion of Annie and/or Clarabel

[PerfectPercy]

Any of you recall the time when James was in need of a bootlace? What about the TV episode? Well, I am here to speak of the transformation of Annie and/or Clarabel into a common branchline coach, which is much like that of the branchline red coaches.

I have no pictures to share at the moment (I am at a time crunch). This task is fairly simple if you aren't planning to change the way the side of the coach with the face looks without the actual face. All you need is some kind of decal remover. The name labels come right off and the tan color stays in place. As for the face, all comes off the same way. The whites of the eyes take a bit longer but they eventually wisp away all the same.

I am now at the point of what to do with the nose. I have a question: concerning the color of my model and whether or not I will need to paint the nose after sanding it away, is the original plastic of the model the color of the outer body or was it later painted in a factory?

I understand that many have done this task of converting the coaches, so I figured that someone could give me a helping hand and some advice.


Cheers to All

PerfectPercy

[nzr1in24]

Hi,
Don't know if this is any help but have just done a G Annie conversion with Claribel due for the workshop in the near future.
http://afr.nzcan.com/thomas.htm
Cheers nzr1in24

[therailwayinspector]

I'm surprised that Bachmann haven't done that for the 00 models yet- BIG market opportunity being missed there.

[shining time]

i did with 3 of the ho annies lot of changes

[S.A.C. Martin]

Hi,
Don't know if this is any help but have just done a G Annie conversion with Claribel due for the workshop in the near future.
http://afr.nzcan.com/thomas.htm
Cheers nzr1in24

That is superb work - however, one minor critique. The buffer shanks should be black - the Bachmann models all seem to perpetuate that the buffer shanks are red on coaches. This is probably due to the latest CGI having them at some point in the promotional pictures for the first CGI special. All coaching buffer shanks, unless otherwise noted exceptions, should be black in colour.

Not your fault mind - it is a livery error perpetuated, sadly, by the show.

[PerfectPercy]

Hi,
Don't know if this is any help but have just done a G Annie conversion with Claribel due for the workshop in the near future.
http://afr.nzcan.com/thomas.htm
Cheers nzr1in24

That is superb work - however, one minor critique. The buffer shanks should be black - the Bachmann models all seem to perpetuate that the buffer shanks are red on coaches. This is probably due to the latest CGI having them at some point in the promotional pictures for the first CGI special. All coaching buffer shanks, unless otherwise noted exceptions, should be black in colour.

Not your fault mind - it is a livery error perpetuated, sadly, by the show.

This error originally came about when Annie and Clarabel were refitted in that Season 5 episode with Lady Hatt. If I'm correct on what you mean by buffer shanks, then they have been red since then. Personally, I have taken the season 3 approach. Before that, Annie's buffer beam was lowered to cope with Thomas. Not sure how I agree with that on the TV series' part, but I'm not doing that to my model.

As for the nose that I am leaving behind... what do I do? If I sand it away, the original plastic mold will show with a different color. I don't know if I can find a paint match either. This is frustrating.

NOTE: I don't intend on making the red coaches because of the hopefulness that Bachmann will produce them soon enough, so a suggestion to paint the whole body red will be of no help.


Thanks