Meld9003

More than 'a touch' I feel. I'm really hoping it's the photo...

Did they just call it Thunderbolt or brand it 'as seen in The Titfield Thundebolt'?

Rapido had the idea first and got the license because of this. Hornby were unaware until the applied for the license and were rejected. An awful lot of the complaints about Hornby copying people are very dubious as are complaints from people who don't understand the Tier System for retailers.

Can we have sprung as well (or instead)?

The question really isn't why they have introduced the tiers now, it's why it wasn't done before as it's basic management practice.

Andy Hayter covered this. It will help them understand their retailers better in terms of which are most important to the business. It also formalises this and let retailers know where they stand. None of this is a bad thing. The implementation feels rushed, but Covid and production issues may have forced their hand.

F units are one of those locos which are difficult to capture for some reason and for HO scale RTR you really want Athearn Genesis for Fs and FP7/9s. The Genesis Fs are based on the Highliner shell, but the FP shell is their own work. They come with prototype specific detail and a pretty good drive system and I think are the current gold standard. Rapido do an FP7/9 and is probably best for the Canadian versions. It was laser scanned and looks right, but I think the Genesis one beats it in terms of overall finesse. Intermountain also do Fs and FP7/9s. I've not seen one, but they seem to be regarded as a good but less detailed choice. Stewart F units are in the basic details but good shape category with excellent drives. They seem to detail up nicely. Finally you have the option of a Highliners shell. These were designed to fit the Stewart chassis (as I believe the Intermountain F units were too originally) and allow you to build an accurate model of pretty much any F2/3/7/9. Paul also has a limited stock of Athearn FP shells.

What's up with the rivets around the front of the smokebox on the BR version? It looks like they're too far back.

Any news on whether it will have different engine start up modes for Pre ETH and with ETH?

Personally, I think you should show the finished CAD for checking, especially with locomotives or anything with lots of curves. Given the cost of tooling I just think it makes sense to check you haven't made any howlers. While I take Justin's point about internet experts etc. and companies doing their own research, capturing the shape of something like a Deltic is really quite difficult, especially if the CAD operator isn't a railway enthusiast. Laser scanning isn't the be all and end all either as the face of the DJM 71 shows. The best way to illustrate this is that although I haven't ordered my Deltics yet, I definitely will at some point. However, I'd be sticking with the Bachmann model if you had produced them based on the print you showed at Warley...

Porcy, Did you ever publish the results of your investigations into the dimensions of 14" and 16" Barclays? Only with them being on offer at the moment...

Does it have the squarish recess that was added to the engine door nearest the cab on the left hand side?

Are Kernow etc. doing both types of cab? PWM650 had the original cab as modelled by JE. The later locos had and a sloping cab front as shown in the photos above.

If you know someone who is a member of the S4 Society or can get to Railwells or Scaleforum you could get the Craig Welsh wooden underframe etch. Alternatively, have you checked Eileen's Emporium for Bill Bedford's range? I'm not sure if they have the exact chassis, but they will have axleguards and brakegear. Rumney Model's axleboxes and Lanarkshire Models buffers to suit!

After letting Hornby take a kicking on here over the Class 71 duplication, Dave admitted a few months later that he had known the loco was on their to do list... Basically, he tried to poach it from them and got the crowd funders to take the risk