Renault TN6 C2 city bus: overview and first steps

This classic Paris city bus was introduced in 1931, and the last one was pulled from service in 1969. Consisting of a Renault TN4 (4 cylinder) or TN6 (6 cylinder) chassis with wooden bodywork by the Parisian public transit company RATP, they featured a hop-on platform at the rear where the conductor checked tickets, and a driver sitting in a small platform atop the engine. 

This Heller kit reproduces the 1964 C2 configuration of this as it ran on the #85 line (still in operation today) from the Louvre to Saint-Ouen via Montmartre. It's actually quite a nice build. 

 

The big six cylinder gasoline engine made 67 horsepower, apparently, but one assumes lots of torque at some ridiculously low RPM. There was also a diesel by Hispano-Suiza, apparently. There are pictures taken during WWII of these buses with a large domed roof designed to carry town gas (a.k.a. coal gas, consisting of a mix of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, ethane and other volatile hydrocarbons) in an era of gasoline shortages. There is no record of how passengers felt about riding around with an enormous poisonous gas bomb over their heads...

Steerable wheels include a moving pitman arm and drag link, but the steering column is fixed to the steering box. Still this is a lot of detail.

The driver sits on a platform above the engine and only got a partially enclosed cab in post-war versions. 

 

Sadly I did not inspect the kit properly when I acquired it over the Interweb some time ago, and have now discovered it is missing an entire sprue, including the sides of the bus body as well as the cab floor, engine side access hatches, grille and hood among other things. So with the seats and internal partitions all painted and ready to go, the kit has been moved back to the Shelf of Doom until I can source the missing bits, likely by buying an entire second kit. Lesson learned... I'll have to pick up some more green and cream paint, too, as the surfaces that need paint coverage are quite large.

 

Stay tuned! In spite of everything, progress continues to be made.