The irony is not lost on me that the reason I first began scratch building carriages in styrene was to make them as light as possible, whereas the PPM, being a self-propelled railcar, needs to be treated more like a locomotive, where every gram helps.
In this case it's not for traction but to improve current collection on the four- wheel chassis - and the extra weight might also help to tame the somewhat wild acceleration of the Kato chassis.
Inside, I've had to address the issue of how to disguise the motor's presence in the passenger saloon.
To get the running height correct the motor unit has had to be mounted above the floor, which means there is much more to cover up. Also the cover has to be removable so that we can access the bolts which secure the Kato chassis to the floor for maintenance.
The problem is that the design of the PPM, with the bus-style folding doors, mean the the glazing runs the full height of the bodyshell at the doors, and whatever you do with the motor unit, whether you try to hide it or not, it will always been seen.
The solution I've chosen is this.
I'm hoping that the sloping sections, which are positioned in front of the doors, is the most unobtrusive way of covering up the motor.
I have also fabricated and fixed in place the interior dividers beside the doors. The driving positions are located in front of the wider panels.
Next I'll be attempting to bodge up some bits of styrene to represent the seat backs as best as I can.
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