Chiltern Junction

Great post. Even if you do have a 100% accurate scan, some things just do not scale. What may be a visible feature in real life such as a rivet, fold or ridge in the body may be so tiny at OO scale that it isn't visible once painted, so it has to be made overscale as a result to retain the 'look'. Materials do not scale nicely either. Loco bodies should be thinner than tissue paper at 1:76 scale and glazing should be thinner than a piece of printer paper. A 100% accurate model in 4mm would be so fragile you would not be able to pick it up without it bending in half or breaking under its own weight. So again, compromises are needed. Despite plastic loco bodies getting finer, they are still hundreds of times over scale and plastic doesn't bend and flex to conform to a shape like metal, it has to be moulded or cut and that means it will never look exactly the same. And then there is the paint. To be true to scale, paint should be less than 1/1000 of a mm thick on an OO model. That is physically impossible with current technologies but it has impacts on the way light reflects and casts shadows on a model. So given you cannot create a 100% accurate scaled copy, all manufacturers have to make decisions on how to scale their designs accordingly. Heljan and Bachmann have made different choices using what is likely to be exactly the same data points. Neither is right or wrong, they are both just interpretations.

Rails have the NSE one in stock now. It looks very nice from the photos and I am definately tempted, but I will wait until someone else does a comparison to a Bachmann one before I commit. Heljan are charging a £30-40 premium over the latest Bachmann run so it would be good to know that the detail and quality is worth it and that it is a good runner.

No certificate in mine, not that I am bothered to be honest. I bought mine because I like the models and want to run them on a layout. This is the first exclusive model I've bought from Accurascale. Do they normally have one?

Only had time for a quick look at mine but first impression is they are very nice models. The quality and detail is miles ahead of my Bachmann and Hornby coaches and the livery is superb. Haven’t had the body off yet but a nicely decorated interior too.

GWR style signal box in 4mm using Gerrards Cross as a bit of inspiration. Scratch built with lighting. Still needs a name plate and a figure or two adding

Personally, I would bring the terrace closer to the rail line by 5-10 cm by shortening the gardens. If this was at the back of the layout you could get away with some of the houses in low relief, but I don't think this particular scene would work in full relief. You could always move the buildings back to their 'correct' position later if you aren't happy with it, though you may need to compress the terrace by a house or two to fit in closer to the rail line so that is something to think about. I find in such cases I have to keep reminding myself to not let 'perfect' be the enemy of 'good'. You'll never get 100% accuracy to the real buildings, you have to accept some compromises when scaling down.

My wish would be for 37892 in petroleum sector livery. Lima did a version back in the 80s but I don't think anyone has modelled it since. Or failing that, any of the other Ripple Lane heavies would be welcome. I think there were about a dozen operating from there in the early 1990s in sector livery, plenty to choose from!

They said several times in the video that more Mk1s are coming this year as part of wider developments in the range so no doubt there will be more variants and liveries accounced Pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if they are re-releasing these ahead of Accurascale announcing a Mk1 run.

I don't model O gauge so I have no idea how good or otherwise they were but I would assume the measurements, drawings and research that went into them would still be of value even if the tooling isn't. The question is whether there is a market for another run of them, issues fixed or not. Hornby seems to think the A3 and A4 are the only locos worth releasing so maybe there is 😁

Agree, an all new Class 08 has to be in the works by someone. Hornby are just following form by trickling out niche liveries and Bachmann haven't done a decent run in ages. A new version with stay alive, lights, sound and maybe even an automatic coupler would sell well.

Agree, it is great that the Hattons models aren't lost to history and may still see another run. I'm trying to rack my brains as to what else they produced that Accurascale might have picked up. In addition to the FEAs and the RHTT, there was a Beilhack snowplough in OO. I don't think the breakdown crane was ever made sadly. All of those would fit nicely in the Accurascale range. In O gauge there was an A3, A4 and some Teak coaches which may also have been picked up given Accurascale are now dipping their toe in the O market. I don't recall Hattons releasing anything in N gauge but I could be wrong. Obviously the future of the Class 66 and Genesis coaches are already known. What else did I miss?

I agree, it is always better to see new RTR models being announced and there are still so many gaps yet to be filled. But duplication is, and will continue to be, an unavoidable situation and I don't see it as damaging to our hobby as some would have you believe

I didn't expect this announcement but I am quite happy about it. Unlike some, I don't see duplication as an issue, it gives us more choice in spec and liveries and I like the fact that we don't see every layout running the same locos pulling the same wagons. Variety is a good thing in this hobby. I don't doubt these will be expensive though. Almost certainly £300+ for the deluxe version and I'd bet about £220 for DCC ready. It is likely that the Accurascale one will have sold out by the time this one hits the shelves anyway so it is unlikely to change many decisions for now. I was waiting on a Railfreight redstripe one to be announced and that was teased in the Bachmann video so I'm hopeful for tomorrow's full reveal.

Given the widespread positive feedback of these models and how quickly they appear to be selling, I really hope Cavalex have a second run planned soon!

Thanks for sharing that photo. I was pondering whether to try that too as I am also keen to pick up a few blue GUVs. I think I will carry on waiting for someone to produce some! As someone relatively new to the hobby, it always amazes me that what I would call 'bread and butter' rolling stock is often so hard to find e.g. GUVs, CCTs, Mk1 and Mk2 coaches, TTAs, HEAs, TEAs, Dogfish, Sealions etc. It definately presents a barrier to new modellers creating a layout.