YesTor

Unless I've misinterpreted your exact wording, but to clarify, you will be removing the old plastic windows anyway and replacing with the separate Shawplan flush-glazing... I'm assuming that you are aware of this? Best Al

The only parts that need 'tweaking' are the axleboxes: longer axle + new axlebox = job done - hardly a major tooling investment. Apart from that there's nothing actually 'wrong' with the tooling as it is. I think some people are over-analyzing here. Neither can I see why they'd need to wait "a few more years" - plenty of liveries as yet untouched, and new liveries appearing on 66s all the time. Plenty of alternative versions of liveries already done in the first batch that could be done as well. To be quite honest, I really can't see what everyone is getting in a twist about. Best Al

Apologies if this has been asked before, but are the three 'Chunnel' bodyside rings separate etches or are they part of the moulded shell? And is the earlybird cut-off order date still tomorrow (19th)? thanks Al

@Crewlisle That looks an interesting idea and likely something I could well utilise into my own plans. Do you happen to have any photographs of the actual cassettes in use on the layout? Best Al

Agreed, and actually one of the reasons I buy most stuff from Hattons in the first place, in that this feature allows for budgeting when buying quantities of any said item. By comparison, one of the things I dislike about Rails of Sheffield (to name but one), are the barrage of daily "Quick, selling out fast!" emails instilling a 'panic buy' mentality, only to find that said item is still in stock several weeks/months later - not great when you've utilised those funds that could have gone toward something else you want/need that has actually sold out in the meantime... Al

That's true, although I suspect any seller successfully clawing-back any perceived 'incorrect' refund will likely result in eBay politely closing said seller's account down. Otherwise there will be DD chargebacks en mass and I think it's safe to say that eBay ain't gonna stand for that.

Okay, well, seeing as you ask... 66779 'Evening Star' 66718 & 66721 London Transport twins 66623 Bardon Aggregates 66623 De-branded Bardon blue with large Freightliner logo 66747 Newell & Wright Transport 66747/748/749 GBRf Grey 66747/748/749 Plain Grey 66411 & 66414 Stobart twins 66720 GBRf 'Rainbow' 667xx GBRf revised Europort 667xx GBRf Europort (additional numbers) 66773 GBRf Pride livery 663xx Fastline 66xxx DB Red w/ large logo 66109 PD Ports 66727 GBRf Maritime 66xxx DB Maritime 66522 Freightliner/Shanks 66711 Aggregate Industries And yes... a few bog-standard original EWS with correct logos/fonts, for sure. More Freightliner variants with the revised light clusters would be good. Freightliner - Low-emission variant with 'bug-eye' lights. DRS - Low-emission variant with 'bug-eye' lights. Just those few for now...? ps... Although to be honest, not another 37 variants in one hit - my bank balance can't stand it any more! Al

Hi Gary Yes, 66731 would be suitable in relation to the front-end and headlight detail. The only detail that needs changing are the UK-style bufferbeam steps for the EU-style ones - as shown below painted in white - which should be quite easy: As you correctly highlight, 66747-749 all have the larger fuel tanks, so you'll need to swap the tank for an earlier pre-low-emission fuel tank. As the three ex-Dutch locos are quite unique in this respect sadly there are no other suitable alternatives available: Of course, if you are feeling more adventurous you could always attempt recreating one as per how they arrived in the UK, whereby the front end detail was quite different - elliptical headlight assembly, more-pronounced horn grill, different steps arrangement on bufferbeam and front end, extra/different lamp-bracket(s), extra pair of air pipes, rectangular buffers, plus the patch on the cab roof where presumably the external air-conditioning unit was removed. I quite like them like this actually: Best Al

FL Powerhaul is perhaps my favourite livery on a shed, and I quite like the GBRf 'Barbie' livery as well. Hehe, it certainly is very retro-looking, although it has actually grown on me in a weird kind of way - maybe it's that subliminal retro-truck look... The two liveries I do think are gawd awful are Freightliner 'Where are my sunglasses Tango orange' - just plain gaudy! And I've never been a fan of Colas livery either, no matter how much I try to like it. Al

If my memory serves correctly, I believe that a portion of the profits from 'Royal Corps of Signals' are going to charity. That could well explain the retention of the £150 RRP. Al

If it is then it will be the first Hornby 08 to ever feature lighting of any kind. Highly unlikely I would have thought.

With all due respect, if anything that should perhaps be worded the other way around? ie. "well-priced models considering the level of detail?" I've purchased a couple of the wagon types that are already available and am very happy indeed with those purchases - splendid models in fact. As others have said above, there are no locomotives in anyone's hands as yet, however, take a look at the Class 92 as an example, and the advancement in DCC features and level of detail far outruns anything else on the market at this moment-in-time - and importantly, priced at around the same RRP as many almost twenty-year-old toolings from Hornby and Bachmann. The nearest you can get at the moment to viewing any forthcoming locomotive is to perhaps check out the Class 55 'Deltic' thread, as the first livery samples arrived last week, with apparently two further versions (BR green, BR rail blue) to be revealed this coming week. In short, if the locomotives live up to expectations when they arrive then they should indeed be quite stunning and in many cases very much groundbreaking models. I guess we shall see... I hope that helps... Best Al

Hi Brandon The bodyside plates themselves are straightforward enough to remove, being affixed to the surface with what appears to be some kind of double-sided tape. Simply prise the plates away very carefully using a fingernail, or failing that use the edge of a very sharp scalpel blade. You'll be left with a slightly 'gooey' section of tape stuck to the ribbed sides, which usually comes away easily by careful removal with fingers or fine tweezers. The odd ones I've found to be slightly more stubborn, but even so these can be removed with either a small piece of sticky tape pressed firmly over the surface and pulled off, or/and a pointed cotton bud lightly moistened with white spirit. Underneath there will be a fine white line marking the positioning of the original plate. To remove this simply moisten a sharp cotton bud with T-Cut and very gently stroke the surface in one direction until the white lines gradually disappear, being careful of course not to remove any of the underlying paint finish. Finally, rinse away any T-Cut residue before it dries: If you need to renumber 66727 then even more care will be required to remove the numbers from the ribbed sides. I've found the numbers to lift incredibly easily from smooth cabsides, but ribbed sides may well be another matter, but with enough patience and care it should be possible... Best Al

As far as I'm aware: 66593 and 66957 are indeed in the same state as per the Hatton's model - the only addition required would be the 'Zero Injuries' logos on the upper cabsides which are available via Railtec. You're correct on the others being not quite bang up-to-date, particularly with 66502 & 66513 having the new light clusters; although 66621 would be physically suitable, all that's needed there are the light mod kit from Illuminated Models and the aforementioned 'Zero Injuries' cab logos, along with new numbers and cab FL lettering. You are also correct on 66623 being finished in the incorrect shade of orange - the one used seemingly being the lighter shade as per 66413... Personally though, 66623 will always be best in its former Bardon Aggregates blue livery, but hey, that's just my viewpoint... Best Al

Some will, naturally, but as others have said it surely depends on the skills of the individual? There will of course be those who are competent at many areas of modelling, however many appear to naturally gravitate toward one or two specific areas or subjects to 'master' - one may be the best-on-the-block with an airbrush, woodworking, or whatever, but absolutely rubbish at electronics... I've had many a conversation with individuals at exhibition layouts and paid compliment on what have clearly been highly professional standards of modelling (whether it be painting, scenics etc), only then to ask the same person a question regarding say, electronics or woodworking, for which the reply may often be, "Oh, that's so-and-so's department, screwdrivers and the like aren't my thing..." I guess we can't all be good at everything... Best Al

Let's hope not. After all, do we really want an 8-PIN Class 89... Al

Perhaps, but I'd guess they'd still have to do a run of 300? 500? And personally, at this stage of the game I'd much prefer 'Evening Star' with potentially improved axle-boxes etc... We've had the Bachmann 'Evening Star' = no thanks. We've had the Hornby 'Evening Star' = no thanks. The last thing we need is an almost-stunning Hatton's 'Evening Star'? If they are gonna do it, then surely let's have it done properly...?

So they'd need to invest yet more funds in order to sell them at the same price, (ie. £119.00)? So an immediate financial loss. Unless of course the retail price was raised to cover the cost of the 'new' models (prints/bodyshells etc), and I think that Hatton's have already discovered that people aren't likely to pay much closer to £150 for a 66 that effectively may still have 'issues'? So it could turn into a potential time- and resources-wasting exercise all around. If excess stock was seriously an issue, then it would be far less of a risk to simply knock the last few out at say £100, if business became really tough... and you don't need to invest more valuable time and funds in order to do it. Cut your losses, clear 'em out and move forwards... in the least/longest* (dependent on the dictate of cashflow) bearable time. Who knows, 'Sir Tom' - or whichever other special livery - might be in the next batch for all we know, along with an all-improved axlebox design...? Oh and of course, not forgetting... 'Evening Star'... Best Al

And still they managed to get the shape wrong on the 45...

Immediate reactions: Agree on the curve roof grill profile - should be more of a consistent arc as opposed to having a sudden sharp rounding to the edge. Something around the bufferbeam strikes me as being off - the cowled edge doesn't appear to be prominent/raised enough and if anything should slightly overlap the front end? The bufferbeam also appears a tad too shallow, but that maybe due to the aforementioned cowling being a tad undernourished...? The headlight is also too flat. The detail between the bogies looks quite nice though. Best Al

Spray over the glossy transfer with matt varnish = the dull finish that you seek.

Hi John I'm not overly familiar with the full range, however there appears to be a stockist in Germany (so I'm guessing perhaps more palatable shipping costs)... https://aat-net.de/product-category/modelle-h0-us/microscale-h0/ The same seller and indeed others seem to list via eBay as well, I just searched for "microscale decals" and quite a few popped up. Hope that helps... Best Al

Agreed, although the sector liveries are about 12 years too late coming - always seems strange really how Hornby often don't appear to capitalise on the myriad of liveries out there when the time is right. Neither does it help when Hornby get the liveries wrong... I'd have happily purchased a fair number of Construction 60s, but with the logo being in the wrong place and the highly dubious shades of grey used for sector grey livery over the last few years, I'm happy to carry on renumbering older models... 08715 seems a right oddball, I can imagine that one sitting around for quite some time... The 87s are of the most interest, with my two favourite liveries being produced. Al

I think much comes down to timing. Had Hornby have released the coaches at the same time as the driving cars - and at the time when the Hornby 800 was the exciting new-kid-on-the block - and I'd happily bet a month's salary that they would have all sold out as quickly as the driving cars did at the time. Wait 2 years (or maybe it's more?) before releasing the coaches and at least two things have happened: i.) there are far more exciting models of other prototypes either on/about to hit the market and as a result the 800 ain't quite occupying the limelight it once was... and also perhaps as a result ii.) people's attention has moved on... I too yearned for the coaches, but by the time they actually arrived I felt, and still feel, pretty lacklustre toward them... Something about irons striking when hot...? Al

I can understand your logic entirely, Charlie. My thought process always tends to run along the lines of... if I'm paying £300+ for what is already a stunning model, then what's an extra fiver or tenner to make it just that little more prototypical. As you say though not everyone will feel the same of course. Al