Pre-announcement announcement: N scale school bus kit

[Ian MacMillan]

Very very nice. The yellow really does help show it off.

[Alaska Railroader]

Can't wait to get several of these in hand.

[Dave V]

My wife says it looks like a bus-shaped piece of cheese.

 

Who doesn't love bus cheese?

[TiVoPrince]

Quite 
suddenly I'm picturing bus windows practically full of floating Tom Mann heads.  Except the back windows where the moon is full...

[Puddington]

My wife says it looks like a bus-shaped piece of cheese.

 

Who doesn't love bus cheese?

Good to see Mrs. Colonel is a closet PACKER Fan Dave.............................. GO PACKERS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Oh now, this should be fun........................ )

[Philip H]

Quite 
suddenly I'm picturing bus windows practically full of floating Tom Mann heads.  Except the back windows where the moon is full...

FTW folks.  DKS - can we get a bus sized sheet of Tom's head decals please?

[peteski]

Yeah, that yellow test-shot sure look sweet (but I'll still take mine in clear, thank you!) 

[Alaska Railroader]

That yellow bus meets my Three Foot Rule test.  Well done.

Shoot, this meets my macro photography rule!

[Chris333]

FTW folks.  DKS - can we get a bus sized sheet of Tom's head decals please?

+1

[GP38-2freak]

This bus will be a must have for decades, excellent work, David...also in for at least two of them

[DKS]

After discussing this with some folks, I've decided to release it in two versions: yellow and clear. The yellow version will be a couple of bucks cheaper because the clear resin is more expensive and harder to cast. This way, customers get what they want--at a potential savings--and I get compensated for having my molds chewed up twice as fast.

Except the back windows where the moon is full...

I'd oblige, but I don't want this thread bumped to the Crew Lounge...

[bc6]

That yellow is awesome, you dont know easy it is to screw up yellow. I like everything but the heads on the bus. I think you going to need to make a lot of these buses so get prepared. You'll be taking Paypal I assume when you're ready  to sell these goodies.

[Philip H]

After discussing this with some folks, I've decided to release it in two versions: yellow and clear. The yellow version will be a couple of bucks cheaper because the clear resin is more expensive and harder to cast. This way, customers get what they want--at a potential savings--and I get compensated for having my molds chewed up twice as fast.



I'd oblige, but I don't want this thread bumped to the Crew Lounge...

I think you're safe here - Ian don't even think of moving this 

[jimmo]

The model looks really good but the clear cast is going to be frosted-looking in appearance unless the surface (especially the windows) are polished to a smooth surface. Coating with a clear gloss will help but will require so much that it will begin to obliterate the details.

Parallel surfaces on the windows will help in seeing through the finished body, however the refractive nature of clear resin will play havoc with your overall desired effect. Also bear in mind that the first color you put on this model will be the interior color and will be see more than your windows on the other side. Tinting helps but how many school buses have you ever seen with tinted windows?

I've tried in vain to convince modelers about the downsides of clear resin in a solid cast model. Believe me, I've tried all the tricks and have determined that for the smaller models (like autos) it's just not worth the effort. As far as a bus model (because of the large windows), ultimately a hollow body with interior is the only way you're going to get that visual effect you're after.

One problem I ran into with casting in lighter colors like school bus yellow is it tends to look translucent if back or top lit. Painting may be more work but in the long run you'll get a better model that doesn't appear to glow in certain lighting circumstances.

[peteski]

After discussing this with some folks, I've decided to release it in two versions: yellow and clear. The yellow version will be a couple of bucks cheaper because the clear resin is more expensive and harder to cast. This way, customers get what they want--at a potential savings--and I get compensated for having my molds chewed up twice as fast.

Having both options is an excellent idea!
BTW, did you take that photo using multi-light LED fixture for illumination?  The shadows cast by the bus have strange steps in them.  I tried using 3-LED under cabinet lights for lighting and my photos had shadows with 3 distinct steps of gray in them since the 3 LEDs were offset by several inches. Each one acted as a separate point source of light. That makes the shadows look weird.