Bus and Coach Transport

Flashback to 1981 and I as a young schoolboy took my first journey on a coach for our primary school tour, back then I didn’t realise the lasting effect the sound of the heavy diesel engine would have on me. Some years later whilst looking over old pictures, I was able to discover the coach in question was a Ford with Plaxton Supreme bodywork.

The years rolled on and I became even more interested in all things mechanical and I managed to get a job as ticket collector for a local coach company. By a strange twist of fate it so happened the first coach I worked on was also a Ford Plaxton Supreme.

I began collecting buses and coaches in 1:76 scale to indulge my hobby, since I didn’t have the resources to purchase a 1:1 scale coach as a plaything.

Corgi, EFE, Brit Bus and Oxford Diecast are among 4 of the most familiar manufacturers to those of us among the 1:76 scale hobbyists.  Model choice for Irish collectors has improved dramatically in recent years with a number of Bus Eireann and Dublin Bus models produced. My most recent purchase is PD5 produced by EFE. PD5 is a DAF coach with Plaxton Paramount 3500 bodywork and the real vehicle entered service with Bus Eireann in 1990. EFE is headed up by Frank Joyce and they have been producing quality models for over 25 years now.

Another Bus Eireann model in my collection is DVH 14 by Corgi under the OOC brand. DVH 14 is a Dennis Van Hool coach and entered service in 1993. In the early days as CIE a wide variety of buses and coaches featured in the fleet but sadly many of these were never produced by diecast manufacturers but all is not lost. A number of the more popular models have been produced as resin kits which you must then build and paint yourself. I have purchased 2 such kits, a KC class single decker city bus and a D class single door double decker which were both produced by Jim Poots in Belfast. They are a winter project and will be my first attempt at kit building since I glued myself to an Airfix Spitfire many years ago. Hopefully the bus projects will be much more successful.

I hope that I have succeeded in sharing some insights to my hobby and the world of scale model buses and coaches and look forward to sharing more with you over the coming weeks and months. I have included some images to give you a better idea of some of the Bus Eireann fleet that I mentioned earlier in the article.

If you want to see more pictures of my model buses, then click here

 

 

Photos and Text: Ultan Burke

Paudi Models NEW to the scene

Just a little piece on the relatively new manufacturer who has appeared on the car modelling scene is “Paudi” a Chinese group who specialise in the more modern vehicles in 1/18 scale. Having stocked and sold these models myself over the last two years I can honestly say these are THE most detailed models in 1/18 scale currently out there, some models have up to 500 working parts and are exact replicas of the real thing. The detailing in the engine bay alone has to be seen to be believed, from the oil dip stick to shock absorbers you can see the intense detail. What makes these models so wonderful to look at is the paint finish which is in my opinion flawless, the seat belts are functional the seats are moveable and just when you think you have discovered everything you think there is to discover you find yet another hidden gem like the compartment that holds the spare flawless space saver tyre. They are priced mid-range and I think affordable between €80-€120 which is in my opinion a lot of model for the price, and I feel at last there is a model that caters for the car collector. These are well built sturdy heavy models that cater for car collectors that want a model of what they are currently driving. Paudi do not build their models on a production line, but from office to office, and their QC is second to none, that I can personally testify to, as some have mysteriously made it into my own collection. Their range has expanded dramatically over the last twelve months alone and they now cater for the Toyota, VW, and ford collector, in a very limited but expanding range. The Audi A4 that are shown in the pictures below is just a sample of a new release this year, and it’s a model that you would want to grasp with “BOTH” hands as the weight can take you by surprise retailing at €120 is what I believe to be great value, and is sure to strike an interest in both the younger and older collector. Feel free to tell us about your recent purchase and do you feel it was worth the price or what the quality was like, we would welcome everyone’s input.