Scratch built 1952 Büssing D3U – 6x4 double-decker bus of the Berlin Transport Authority BVG

[Plastheniker]

Hi,

 

Since my model is no truck this sub-forum “All the Rest“ seems to be right.

 

 

Berlin has a very long history of double-decker buses reaching back to the era of horse-drawn buses.

 

Their first new double-decker design after WW2 was Büssing's model D3U. The D3U adopted a slightly modified chassis of Büssing's heavy underfloor engine truck 12000 U13, that I showed in the Big Rigs sub-forum as a scratch built model a few years ago  http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=82042. This topic also includes pictures of the intricate (model) chassis.

 

Thus the D3U was a technically overly sophisticated and very expensive vehicle. Consequently only 39 D3Us were built and replaced in large numbers by the very similar-looking Büssing D2U, a 4x2 also with underfloor engine but now with a modern self-supporting body. This D2U had almost the same passenger capacity but was much cheaper.

 

The D3U was in service until 1965. One vehicle has survived and can be seen at the „Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin“.

 

 

 

 

My model turned out to be more difficult and more laborious than my usual scratch built trucks. I estimate that my sacrifice of time was between 1500 and 2000 hours.

 

 

 

[shoopdog]

What an incredible build!

[Jim B]

That's one beautiful bus.  Exceptional build.

[ChrisR]

Awesome build!

[PappyD340]

Outstanding build!

[kensar]

A fantastic looking build!   Very clean with sharp detail.

[Mike 1017]

This is a Museum quality build

Mike

[TarheelRick]

Excellent craftsmanship and attention to detail. Very well done, thanks for sharing it.

[bbowser]

All I can say is ..... WOW!  Amazing replica.

[BK9300]

Incredibly, incredibly realistic - aside from all the other details, the dashboard is exquisite.

[athlon]

Wow, stunning, love the details 

[Street Rod]

You have some mad scratch building skills! Just fantastic work!

[Chuckyg1]

Absolutely wonderful!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Beautiful, beautiful model. It's always a real treat to see anything from you. 

[1959scudetto]

22 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Beautiful, beautiful model. It's always a real treat to see anything from you. 

x 2 - absolutely !

[Pierre Rivard]

This is splendid. Your replica looks EXACTLY like the full size vehicle. Incredible mastery of scale modeling.

[Roger U]

A beautiful model. Looks absolutely real.

[Plastheniker]

Thanks for the response!

 

There are not many 1/24 scratch built buses on the web (if there are any at all), not to speak of double-decker buses.

 

The reason may be that such a project presents three problems that can hardly be solved simultaneously.

• Since such a model is almost 20“ long and 7“ high it must have sufficient torsional rigidity but without stabilizing reinforcements in the (visible) interior. The numerous door and window openings increase the lack of stability even more

• For a realistic model only thin sheet can be used. Thick sheet would show at the door and window openings. Thick sheet, however, would be actually indispensable for enough stability.

• For making things even worse only few (stabilizing) sub-assemblies can be glued in place while building because the whole interior must remain accessible for final painting and for applying BMF.

 

Admiittedly such a project requires some modelling skills but even more important is planning virtually each and every step in advance  b e f o r e  starting the project. Otherwise a failure is bound to occur.