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Hornby king


B15nac
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That Facebook thread is teeming with Hornby Apologists though.  Even suggest that DJModels has usurped Hornby meets with fierce responses from the 'Everything should come in a red box' brigade.

Quite scary really....

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My Aug/Sept 'Hornby Collector' (yes, I'll apologize now!) arrived yesterday. Pages 12 & 13 carry an article on the Hornby models of some preserved Kings, Castles and a Star.  Their latest King is R3102, 6023 King Ed II, released in 2012.  There is no mention in the mag of any imminent planned release of another King.

 

However, the larger-than-life front cover picture is of the blue 6023 with a very visible 32A shedplate  :O. Do I correctly recall a fairly recent release of an Eastern Region loco with an 81A plate - if so, it seems that finely detailed models can produce their own sets of problems on the production line!  Someone should have gone to S------vers! :jester:​ .

 

I suppose we'll just have to wait and see! Long live the King!

 

Richard

 

Hornby just need to be careful when looking at photos, 6023 carried a 32A shedplate for some of it's time on the Mid Norfolk Railway, it's prototypically correct for a very short period but someone ought to pick up on things like that before they go to production and use a more appropriate plate.

 

Martin

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Perhaps 'super detail' from Dave and 'Railroad' from Hby might be logical giving people two prices? :scratchhead:

Except Hornby already has a perfectly good King for the Railroad range, so I can't see them tooling up a new version unless it was to a higher spec.

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The existing Hornby King exists in that grey zone where it is clearly not the best King you could make and so it should be the case that a new King will have clear blue water between it and the old one yet at the same time it is not a bad model and is still more than good enough to sell as a lower cost model. Assuming it is indeed sold at low cost, it is past punching its weight as a main range model I think.

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I did wonder if this would happen.

Will be very interesting to see how they compare mechanically (and in terms of delivery). I suspect above the footplate the level of detail will be close (Hornby would be made to produce anything less than Castle detail with a competing high spec model)

Does make me sligly more reluctant to pre order either until djmodels can confirm more info on their chassis design (and it's suitability for re wheeling) Hornby are much more of a known entity from that perspective

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So what do we think the CAD is from?

It could be the side control spring housing on a 'King' bogie (but it doesn't look quite right to me - maybe 6000 in its present state is not quite like some others?) or it could be a buffer housing - but on what?

 

If it is a 'King' it will presumably be the results of the new tooling Steam were talking about last year - but then things get interesting, perhaps.  Is it representing 6000 as built or is it representing 6000 as nowadays?  The difference between the two is quite considerable in visual terms ( and performance) and goes far deeper than a paint job or insignia because the 6000, and the other preserved engines, have the 1950s new, strengthened, front end let alone the double chimney and external hints of additional oil pipes associated with 4 row superheater and mechanical lubricators.  Unless someone is going to spend a lot of money on tooling variations (as is presumably the case with the one which has definitely been announced?) there would appear to be a possibility of concentrating on one or the other which would shorten development time and simplify manufacture - mind you Hornby generally did quite well with detail differences in various fittings on the 'Castle' so could perhaps work the same magic again.

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The King class is a popular locomotive so the market could probably support 2 super models and 1 railroad one. Perhaps not as popular as A4s and A3s but popular none the less.

 

Of course, I feel it would be a wasted duplicate effort and would much rather see 2 different models (maybe an un-rebuilt merchant navy!). 

 

Assuming Hornby are doing a King and this CAD is part of it, then it appears they have advanced well, the EP would be out around Christmas and the loco might appear in 2015 (if progress on the 700 is anything to go by) or maybe early 2016. Even then we won't really know if its detailed like a castle or a Crosti 9F....

In that case, the best strategy for Hattons one may be to wait and see rather than have a race which they could loose  - preasure to speed things could mean that details and variants are overlooked especially in this case when Hornby would have clearly a big lead.

 

Maybe the CAD is an unrebuilt MN but I am stuffed if I can think what part it is!

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I must say when I compared it with the drawings in OS Nocks book on the Stars Castles and Saints. it seemed a fiar representation of the original bogie, the bolts seemed to be in the right place, the bend on the flange and the slight indent at the top all seemed to match.

 

It seems strange that Hornby who normally only make new engine announcements at the Christmas should suddenly come out with something mid year.

 

Dean

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When I purchased Lode Star from STEAM back in December I asked what their next model was going to be.

I was told they were hoping for it to be King George V to commemorate the return of 6000 to Swindon in 2015.

They were insisting on all-new tooling, and "just" had to decide the livery.

 

 

 I purhased two Stars on separate occasions and was told the same each time.

 

Wether the CAD is a King or not, here is KGV bogie out of the frames.

 

post-9992-0-91292800-1409754592_thumb.jpg

 

 

MW

Edited by Coach bogie
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When I purchased Lode Star from STEAM back in December I asked what their next model was going to be.

I was told they were hoping for it to be King George V to commemorate the return of 6000 to Swindon in 2015.

They were insisting on all-new tooling, and "just" had to decide the livery.

If it is a 'King' it will presumably be the results of the new tooling Steam were talking about last year - but then things get interesting, perhaps.  Is it representing 6000 as built or is it representing 6000 as nowadays?

A very good question there. No 6000 in the condition it went to the B&O Centenary pageant in 1927 would be delightful and a suitable limited edition from STEAM.

 

Perhaps the Hattons HK01 will come equipped with a bell also and we will see head to head duplication down to livery and period?

 

You can't have too many Kings on a layout.

:D That might be debatable, but I won't argue on that topic.

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Does look like the front of a King, but I am puzzled by the hole in the bottom right of the image.  As far as I can see from photos I have of KGV in original (pre B&O) condition, there was no hole there:  that seems to have come along later?

 

Edit: Just seen the post above.  It does look exactly like 6023 now.

Edited by Froxfield2012
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If any manufacturer has commenced a project to model something and a competitor announces the same prototype then it makes absolute sense to move a public announcement forward. I've no idea how far either manufacturer is into their project, if they've already spent quite a bit of money then they're unlikely to walk away however if there has been no real spend yet then they can make an assessment of whether it is worth continuing if the same model is to be done by a rival. 

 

At the moment we are seeing a lot of comment around the Internet about models that haven't been built yet and about which nobody has even seen a CAD other than Hornby spoilers (and even this assumes Hornby are doing a King). We don't know how the models will compare, one may be a lot better, they may both be pretty much the same or one may be a bit better but more expensive in which case people may consider the cheaper alternative the better buy. Who knows, there are all sorts of scenarios and at the moment we are seeing arguments about a teaser from Hornby and an announcement from DJ/Hattons.

 

I have confidence that both can make a great model and I wouldn't be at all surprised if we end up with two fantastic King models. A year ago I'd have said that purely based on the then current performance of Hornby, the issues with design clever and poor supply etc that I'd expect the DJ/Hatton to be the one more likely to be both a better model and to be delivered sooner. However in recent weeks Hornby finally seem to have started delivering models and the images of some of the new tooling indicate they're emerging from their troubled period with some fine models. So now I really would not like to speculate on which, if either, will be the better option. Only time will tell.

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