10.9 Metre Australian spec National progress.

[Swift]

Since 2012 I have been working on my 10.9 metre Leyland National model on and off.
True to life, I have combined the rear section of an 10.3m model with the front half of an 11.3 to achieve this end.
Some may remember Fuji with his 10.9m creations, including a BCC Cityexpress version.
I have also taken the oopportunity to meld the rear end of my broken Tower models National model because I have never been too impressed with EFE's job of the rear end styling.
I am finding the little details just as labour intensive as the fundamentals, but it is slowly coming together.

[Swift]

A basic rundown of what has been done so far.
Cut the two buses in half using a small hacksaw only to find I had cut both bodies at the wrong spot and would have no centre door, so needed to obtain the missing door section from remains of 11.3m bus and cut off excess window bay from single door 10.3m rear. Result: three sections to combine instead of two!!
Sandblasted old paint so as the detailing wouldn't be further obscured by repainting down the track.
Cut away rear, ready to graft on alternative later.
Used grinding wheel on Dremel type tool to match mating surfaces as best fit in preparation for bonding the body sections together.
Use of liberal amounts of araldite internally to bond the sections. Held in position quickly with clamps before araldite set. Made micro adjustments to line them up before glue fully set.
Same methods as above with corresponding roof pieces, except having to use a mini bench grinder to remove about 3mm worth of roof.
I used thin metal pieces to act as bracing for the bonded joins.
Attached alternative rear with araldite.
Applied modellers putty to joins, ready to smooth out prior to painting.
I estimate I have spent about eight hours so far.

Will post updates.

[Swift]

Almost ready for paint. A few more filling and sanding jobs left. Amazing how many reapplications of putty were required on certain spots.

[Swift]

Tamiya grey primer applied and with a couple of minor blemishes to be fixed, ready to accept a livery.

[wyth]

it looks like a tricky job, looking forward to seeing it finished!

[Swift]

Just finished interior decorating with beige. Have also rubbed away the blemishes revealed by the grey undercoat.

[Swift]

No further progress to date. These pictures of much earlier stages may be of interest.

[Swift]

Started the painting. Some re-doing with white will be required due to not giving enough time to cure before masking.
I would recommend a lot more than 48 hours with acrylic. A week at least.

[Tas Bus Nut]

Coming together nicely. Keep the updated pics coming

[Swift]

Wet sanded the white parts with 1200 wet and dry, ready to blow on a slightly more off white colour.

[Swift]

Since I'm going to apply more white, I decided to try and grind down more filler at the joins of the roof section between the fluting, which is hard to get to. I used a fine metal file which seemed to just fit. It should end up looking better than the first time I painted it. I followed with 1200 sandpaper to finish off.