Smokebox Doors

Hi guys, in the future I want to make some modifications on Plarail/Tomy engines such as Murdoch, Gordon, Arthur, Spencer, Rebecca etc and turn them into their British Railways counter parts, such as the A1, A3, A4, 9F and Battle of Britain Classes. Now in order to do this I know I will have to make minor modifications to the chassis and bodies of the trains, but a major question I have is where do you get spare smokebox doors from. I was looking at Hornby ones but I'm not sure if they're big enough for Plarail engines. Any help?

I know Super and UCWepn have done several of these conversions, so there are article in archives here. I think the biggest challenge is matching the size of the smoke box and the hatch.

Honestly don't know why you would want to deface Murdoch and Arthur . They are ultra rare in good condition and as such command silly prices on the second user market .

I know what you mean, but I don't really care about the value of the trains, I know that there are much more rare and valuable trains than these, and these trains aren't that rare to find and can be found for cheap too. I just want to do it for my own enjoyment.
Who wouldn't want to see a version of this running on blue track!

[Super]

To each there own Rekp, just like beauty, value is in the eye of the beholder.

I agree Thara...these Murdochs are not that rare, to me, and can easily be found. Personally I have 3 or 4 Murdochs and I think 1 Arthur in my 'To Be Customized' box right now. Of course if there would have been the real model versions of Murdoch and Arthur released there probably would be no reason to deface any.

BTW...that is a beautiful picture of the 'Evening Star' Thara

TBH, “rarity” is kind of subjective in the current market. Sellers on eBay are asking silly amounts of money for even seemingly common Plarail and Trackmaster items.

Another issue with defacing is the question of current market value versus getting the trains you want. I’m not personally a Thomas fan, so the character engines I have are all slated to have their faces removed and replaced at some point.

The thing is with Murdoch is that all the parts of the shell on the front part of the locomotive split up into many different pieces which make spray painting and detailing the locomotive very easy. The only tough bits are getting the wheels out of the chassis, which seem to be glued in.