Kitmaster DP1 body assembled and being tried out on the Lima chassis. Some modifications were required to make it fit including removal of the fuel tanks and assembly pins inside the sides. As usual with these kits, the large pieces were a little warped and required some careful gluing and clamping.
Lima chassis being tested on my club’s test track. It runs very well. The only modifications required to fit were to sand a little plastic from the front either side to narrow the profile and to shorten the nibs that locate in slots in the side of the body. This was easily achieved using a craft knife.
One of the issues with the Kitmaster Deltic DP1 is the lining requirements. When I built the first one, I airbrushed the blue body first and then masked it to paint the cream/yellow lines either a brush. It was difficult. This time for my motorised version I did it the other way round. I masked off the grey primer either side of the lines and hand painted them with two coats of Phoenix Precision Paints BR lining cream and left it to dry for two days. Then I masked the lines on the sides with 1mm Tamiya masking tape which fits perfectly. The chevrons I masked with 18mm Tamiya tape and cut round them with a scalpel. Then I masked the roof and airbrushed two coats of Precision Paints Prototype Deltic Blue. This technique worked much better and I just have a tiny bit of touchup to do.
The main body is now more or less ready. I need to work out what to do about cab interior at one end. The other end is entirely taken up with the motor. This picture shows the main body and the Lima donor class 55 chassis disassembled and painted grey per the prototype colours. I ended up simply using Plasticoat grey primer as it’s the closest I have to the right colour. I think it will look good when weathered and clear coated.
Almost finished. Decals still to apply and I need a replacement for one of the horns that was missing from the kit. Fortunately a kind person on the Kitmaster Facebook group has offered to send me a spare.