Downer

That does look green in the photo, and I don’t think it unlikely that one or more Clans post-61 had their footplates painted that colour. But I have little doubt that all were black in the 1950s, and will repaint my 72004 accordingly.

I think Accurascale could probably sue you for comparing them to Ant and Dec.

Same here.

Agree that steam sound is usually not that great, but it’s still more realistic than silence.

That may be Hornby's plan, but is it a good one? The continuing flirtations with bankruptcy over the last few years might suggest otherwise. As for 'certain' models, you would have to be more specific. I'm not at all sure, for example, that people are so dissatisfied with the current Black 5 that they'd rather have an upgrade than something new and different. I would not.

What is this obsession with churning out ever-so-slightly more detailed versions of the same old stuff? Steam modellers need locos that haven’t been done before. DE modellers need units that haven’t been done before.

All of that - with the exception of the cleanliness - was true in October 1958.

Well, after two years of waiting it seems the late crest sound version has been cancelled - just received an email from Hattons to that effect. What a company. Or should I say ex-company.

I think it may be for the late crest version, but not for the early crest. Either way, that’s a problem that’s easily fixed.

Thanks for that. I may well keep and weather it, but that’s nice to know. I’ve ordered Clan MacDonald to covert it into the Clan Stewart which spent a month in East Anglia in 1958 - keeping the black cylinders and early crest while changing the numbers and fixing a black-backed nameplate. All the pictures I’ve seen of that visit have the loco in filthy condition, so maybe some heavy weathering can cover up the hideous shade of green and overdone orange lining.

I have this on order at my local model shop, and am worried that refusing to accept this apparent travesty will be problematic for the retailer in question. Can anyone say how this works? Will he be able to return it to Hornby without incurring any penalty?

Thanks. A complete re-paint needed, which would of course involve re-lining. Has anyone at Hornby ever looked at a photograph of the real thing? It doesn’t seem likely.

Thought so, but wanted to be sure. I hope - probably in vain - that 72004 will be a more accurate colour. If not….

which is which?

I’m interested in these, but uncertain about the price. The price quoted on the KR website is £60, but there’s no mention I can see that this is for three wagons.