Construction wise these models are almost entirely plastic, there are some small etched metal parts and internally the gangway grab poles are also metal. Silicon circuit boards form an integral part of the interior structure.

This model has been laser scanned and with that in mind the results can only be described as excellent, the shape of the vehicle is spot on, the one piece plastic body has very slim window pillars, something that always gets compromised to some degree on diecast models.

Body detailing wise, everything down to the individual rivet heads on the panel beading has been crisply reproduced on the model.
Satin finish paint has been used on the models, personally I think this looks more realistic at this scale, but some may have preferred the more traditional full gloss finish applied by other model manufacturers.
Either way the paint has excellent coverage and is evenly applied without any noticeable obstruction of the finer body detailing. Junctions between the different colours are well defined & have no visible bleeding.

The cab windscreen & door have windows with silver painted surrounds, paint has additionally been used to highlight the side window vents. All are precisely applied without any over spray onto the glazing or surrounding body panels.
The glazing itself is all flush fitted to the body and allows distortion free views of the interior.

The tampo printed decals on these models include, fleet numbers, operator names/crests plus various legal lettering. The front registration plate is applied in this way and all are cleanly applied with even the smallest lettering fully readable.

The destination displays & rear number plate are tampo printed onto the rear of clear plastic, giving a convincing glazed looked. These are all accurately cut to size and glued into recesses on the body. In the case of the destinations, the apertures pass right through the bodywork which allows the internal lighting to illuminate the displays.

Other nice aspects of the body, include the engine cover which is a separate part that is glued in place. The resulting slight gap around it produces a very authentic effect.
The front grille has slits that pass through the body, a black plastic radiator is mounted to the base behind.

Two small round driving mirrors are fitted, these are very delicate and are glued into holes in the body. Each model has a bag taped to the underside of the plinth that contains a spare set, handy should you loose or damage the originals.

Etched metal parts are used on the models for all the platform hand rails & central pole, All of these are extremely fine & scale wise are without doubt the best I've seen on a mass produced model of this scale. Other etched parts are the skirt lifeguard rails & the single front windscreen wiper.

Headlights are clear plastic inserts while the nearside front fog lamp is orange tinted.
On the rear the brake & tail lights are moulded body features that have the lenses reproduced with red paint. The rear indicator are incorporated into the previously mentioned registration plate aperture.
A number of other body features are also highlighted with paint including the drivers cab door handle, emergency exit handle, front sidelights & the side mounted turn indicators.

The base of the model has very good detailing of the various tanks, drivetrain & chassis structure. There's no detailing of the underside of the main engine block due to the poseable wheels.
A separate part made of silver plastic is used for the exhaust pipe. The aforementioned front poseable wheels, unlike some previous OOC models with this feature, have a very robust mechanism which is able to support the model without any noticeable splaying of the wheels.
Soft plastic tyres that have a good representation of the tread are fitted to the unpainted black plastic wheel hubs. Both front & rear hubs have a good level of detailing.

The body can be removed from the base to allow access to the interior passenger seating, the body is released from the base by slightly spreading the body away from the base along the lower edge.
This is fairly easy to do, once you know where the five retaining clips are. The etched grab rail fitted across the rear platform window will need to be either removed, or if possible detached from its nearside fixing point and then swivelled into the stairwell opening. The upper deck floor will otherwise jam against this rail & prevent removal of the interior. Also remove the thin central platform grab pole before attempting to dismantle, because its easy to lose!

The interior of the model has a rather unique construction method which incorporates the two silicon circuits boards used for the saloon lighting on the deluxe models. Surprisingly the passenger saloon circuits boards complete with the LEDs are also present on the standard version, although the circuit board for the headlights and all the wiring is absent.
The gangway gab poles and rail along the top of the upper deck staircase panel also double as the metal electrical connections between the two circuit boards.
Two staircase handrails are made of silver plastic and are glued to the inside of the body or interior stairwell structure.

Both versions of the model nonetheless have the same level of interior detailing, the saloon floors are light brown plastic & have a representation of the metal strips that run down the gangways, these are moulded and highlighted with silver paint. The upper deck seats are undecorated dark brown plastic, the lower deck ones use the same plastic but have an intricate reproduction of the cloth moquette applied to the seat cushions.
The front row of upper deck seats are mounted on their own floor section which is glued to the main bodyshell above the cab & bonnet.

A brown bulkhead is fitted at the front of the lower saloon while at the rear there is a glazed bulkhead on the platform side.
If you remove the small cross head screw in the base below the staircase it's possible to remove the platform bulkhead, it simply slots in between the platform & upper deck floor and secured with a small spot of glue. This features means you can if so desired, swap the a deluxe BCT interior into a standard WMPTE version or vice-versa without comprising the livery.
The platform is textured to represent the slated floor construction and has a shallow locating hole for the vertical grab pole, the other end locates into a deeper hole on the edge of bodyshell.

The driver's cab interior is glued in place along the bonnet side, this can be released with the careful use of a knife to break the glue bond. It can then be levered out if you wish to fit a driver.
This part is made of the same coloured plastic as the seats, a black steering wheel and two floor mounted levers are also present along with some basic detailing for other cab controls.
I managed to push fit this part back in to its housing where it remained without any glue.

Finally the model has an internal black plastic radiator at the front which includes mesh detailing, this also houses the LEDs for the working headlights if fitted.

That more or less covers the main features of the models, however I'll now cover the lighting features that are only found on the more expensive deluxe versions.

The lighting consists of eight white LEDs, two are used for the headlights and these produce fairly bright beams that will light the area in front of the model.
The other LEDs are used to light the passenger saloons and platform. There are three large LEDs on the upper deck & two more on the lower deck, these are powerful enough to provide a good level of illumination in both saloons.

The circuit boards on to which the LEDs are mounted are neatly concealed when viewed from the outside, all the electronic components are mounted on the upper surface of the lower deck board and hidden under the upper deck floor. The only slightly visible wiring inside the model when assembled are the two thin copper wires that run under the three rear most nearside seats to the platform LED which is hidden in an housing under the back seat.
This has a clear lens that passes through the floor to form a small bulb in the platform ceiling. This is much dimmer than the other LEDs and I actually didn't initially notice it. It a nice little feature nontheless and shows the care taken by Rapido in the design of this model.

The lighting has to be powered by an external power source, the model is designed to use a 12V DC source which will be familiar to railway modellers. A 9V battery can be used as an alternative.
Two wires around 30cm (12 inches) long are used to connect the model to the power supply. These are soldered to a small internal circuit board and pass through a hole in the base just behind the front wheel assembly.

Turning the lighting on & off is done by triggering a magnetic reed switch situated on the circuit board near the centre offside of the model. A plastic wand with a magnetic tip is supplied with the deluxe models for this purpose.

I presume the deluxe models are mainly designed to be used on model railway layouts or dioramas, here the wires can be passed through the baseboard and linked to a hidden power supply.
The wires are otherwise quite hard to conceal & given the need for an external power source may not be that practical if you're intending to display the model in a case as part of a larger model collection.

The models are well packaged & each comes in a fairly large plastic display case. Models are attached to the black plinth using two cross-head screws. A study card outer box, that has clear plastic panels & information about the vehicle on the rear.
The box also contains a bag with a spare set of mirrors & a double sided leaflet. This gives a more in depth vehicle history & some general information about the model on the other side, it's well worth reading instructions! Deluxe versions of the model are additionally supplied with a plastic magnetic wand tool.
My models came in a thick protective sealed plastic bag, I'm guessing these may get removed by some retailers for display purposes.

Overall I'm impressed by these models, the amount of detail included on the body is excellent and even surpasses that found on the highly detailed Northcord models. Price wise they seem good value, given the quality of the finished product.
Whether an extra £10 is worth it for lighting features will depend on how you want to display it. It's a nice feature that been well implemented, but you have to ask yourself whether you'll really make much use of it in the longer term.

The models reviewed were purchased by myself and were a random selection, although both models appeared perfect, I've subsequently noticed while editing the photographs for this review, that the WMPTE model has an incorrect rear offside wheel fitted. It lacks the hub detailing & my guess is that the inner version of the twin wheels has been fitted by mistake. I've probably just been unlucky!

These models are only available from selected retailers, these are the known stockists: Rails of Sheffield, TTC Diecast, & The Yardley Wood Bus Club.
They're also listed on the Invicta Model Rail site, although at the time of posting, all are still shown only as pre-order items.
Some versions have already sold out & there hasn't been any indication as to the number of each produced. I believe there are plans for further releases if sales of the first batch go well.

A second UK bus model, this time featuring a West Midlands PTE style Daimler Fleetline was announced in late 2018. No further details regarding the expected release date or planned models has been published at the time of posting this review (Jan 2020).