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Class A3 4-6-2 in O Gauge from Hatton's


Hattons Dave
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I'm not familiar with the prototype, but a few small details that the talented toolmakers might be able to tinker with:

 

Remove rounded top edge to driving wheel splashers?

Expansion Link looks a bit 2-dimensional.

Heavy rims to moulded portion of front bogie wheels and perfunctory appearance of spokes within.

 

Has there been any change to the drive mechanism since the initial CAD presentation?

 

-Brian

 

Yes the expansion link is a poor representation

 

Sniffing valve behind the chimney is inaccurate

 

Chimney shape is still a bit suspect to my eye

 

I would like to have seen a head on front view to judge the shape of the smoke defectors The ones on Flying Scotsman are not totally accurate representation of those fitted in BR days. The dimensions are probably correct just the shape/contour is off

 

Bob

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Afternoon all,
 
We have now received the first engineering prototype for the Class A3 and we're sure you'll agree that it looks absolutely stunning.
 
The A3 is shaping up very nicely and we're very happy with how the model is looking so far. Once our checks are complete, the project will progress onto the livery sample stage. The first EP for the Class A4 should be with us before too long as well.
 
I've included a few images for your perusal below. Please feel free to give us your feedback and thoughts on the progress so far.
 
 
 
 
 
All versions of the A3 are still available to pre-order on THIS page of our website.
 
 
Cheers,
 
 
Dave

 

 

Dave,  looking great.  comment, will the tender "coal" be removable, (i think it gives the appearance of being 'toy' like)

 

Nigel

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  • 3 weeks later...

Agreed with the expansion link, which in reality is a three-part piece, with the expansion link in the centre, and trunnion plates on either side.

 

41444552735_c90a67fa11_c.jpg2018-05-25_05-15-59 by giles favell, on Flickr

 

Also, the eccentric is set the wrong side of centre. At the moment, if the crank pin is down (at 6 o'clock), the eccentric is rear of centre. It should be set FORWARD of centre for a piston valve engine. (Same for the A4)

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  • 5 months later...
  • RMweb Gold

Afternoon all,

 

We've put together a short video which shows off some of the testing process which we've undertaken on our O Gauge LNER Class A3 project which you can see below.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCb6SzRiuBM&feature=youtu.be

 

We've been very happy with the performance from this sample both on our test track and at high speed with a full rake of brass coaches.

 

All versions of the A3 are still available to pre-order for £750 each on THIS page of our website.

 

Cheers,

Dave

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It looks impressive and works impressively I particularly like the raised rivet detailing  The smokebox door looks accurate as do the profile and siting of the smoke deflectors  boiler shape, firebox, and cab looking good

 

However, the double chimney does not look fully correct and the sniffing valve behind the chimney remains a poor represention. Yes the Brass expansion link is the wrong way round but despite an improvement it still lacks real depth as the radius rod here fitted wrongly behind the expansion link should in effect fit through the expansion link

 

How robust are plastic slidebars and I dont go along with Tender plastic coal load

 

Despite my kit built A3s if the above issues are corrected I will be looking to add to the fleet with a Hatton A3

 

Lookiing forward to the A4 update

Regards

Bob

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  • 1 month later...
  • RMweb Gold

Afternoon all,

 

A lot of the feedback for our O gauge A3 & A4 project was that people would like us to release unnumbered models, so we have decided to produce unnumbered versions.  We have tried to cover as many variations as possible to help recreate the locomotive you require

 

All are available to preorder now and should all be released at the same time as the numbered models. Quantities are limited and pre-ordering is advised.

 

If you are looking for transfers to number-up your locos, we sell suitable Modelmaster transfers.

 

 

All unnumbered versions are available to order on THIS page of our website.

 

post-28458-0-60763900-1544547036_thumb.jpgpost-28458-0-47185400-1544547042_thumb.jpg

 

Cheers,

 

 

Dave

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  • 1 month later...
  • RMweb Gold

First full livery samples are on the Hattons website now. https://www.hattons.co.uk/NewsDetail.aspx?id=149#projdev

Looking good.  Quoting from the above webpage: "We are very impressed with how these have turned out but there are still some tweaks to neaten up the boiler lining and correct the green on the BR green version. We hope to have some more samples very soon".

They have also updated the current delivery schedule for the A3s, A4s and coaches

- A3 - Due May 2019
- A4 - Due June/July 2019
- Teaks - Due July/August 2019

So the timescales have slipped again, but personally, I think this is a good thing.  Rather them wait a little bit and get everything as good as possible than rush it to meet a deadline.

 

Rich

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  • RMweb Gold

Afternoon all, 

 

Apologies I couldn't post this last week due to RMWebs upgrade work.

 

We have received the first full livery samples of the Class A3 in O gauge from Heljan.

These show the locos in all of their glory with all pipework and details picked out in the correct colours.

We are very impressed with how these have turned out but there are still some tweaks to neaten up the boiler lining and correct the green on the BR green version.

 

A3_ps1.jpg.9f71ecd4ffc695bef113630688afcb5c.jpg

 

A3_ps2.jpg.9118a961b9a4bda427412e0bac9f0f6f.jpg

 

A3_ps3.jpg.538e4d729e7f061a0ea47c601f42eb47.jpg

 

 

We hope to have some more samples very soon and as soon as we do we will share them with you.

We also have an update for the delivery of these models with the current estimated delivery dates as follows:

A3 - Due May 2019
A4 - Due June/July 2019
Teaks - Due July/August 2019
 

All versions of A3, A4 and Teaks are still available to pre-order via our website. Links can be found below:

 

Class A3 - Pre-Order

Class A4 - Pre-Order

Teak Coaches - Pre-Order

 

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

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Highly impressive stuff! I have been following the developments of the A3 and A4 both here and through the Guild News and I am sure they are going to be quality modesl at a (relatively!!) affordable price given the size of the models and the prototype. Whilst firmly out of my reach I look forward to seeing them in the flesh when they are released! It should attract another lot of folks to 7mm scale and that is only a good thing. 

 

David

 

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It does appear to pass behind the expansion link.  I guess it’s built to a price point, and making a functional expansion link is not trivial.  Not difficult, but surely more costly than something that looks ok in side view.

 

best

simon

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Looking forward to my late crest br green with smoke deflectors A3. I have a few br green Heljan diesels and one thing that lets them down is the colour of the crest, it seems to be too greeny yellow, I often wish they didn’t put them on as it’s a pain to spray out and reapply a fox or Railtec replacement, will the crest on the A4 and A3 be better I wonder?

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12 hours ago, delticfan said:

Looking forward to my late crest br green with smoke deflectors A3. I have a few br green Heljan diesels and one thing that lets them down is the colour of the crest, it seems to be too greeny yellow, I often wish they didn’t put them on as it’s a pain to spray out and reapply a fox or Railtec replacement, will the crest on the A4 and A3 be better I wonder?

 

Hi Delticfan,

 

The crests, along with all printing on the A3 and A4 including numbering, lining and emblems, have been drawn up by ourselves so are common across all of our models (P Class, Andrew Barclay etc).

 

Here's a photo of the printing sample of the late crest tender - please note that this sample is for our checking of the printing only.   

 

Cheers

Dave

 

GresleyA3Tendersample.jpg.a46ee71c9ffcb7816c3ee1d2558d8cdf.jpg

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Random thought .. but I've never noticed how 'squashed in' the word Railways appears on these style of crests?  I know the text spacing was more compressed on the word 'Railways' than 'British' to see the symetical approach to either side, but is it really right?

 

Rich

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6 hours ago, Hattons Dave said:

 

Hi Delticfan,

 

The crests, along with all printing on the A3 and A4 including numbering, lining and emblems, have been drawn up by ourselves so are common across all of our models (P Class, Andrew Barclay etc).

 

Here's a photo of the printing sample of the late crest tender - please note that this sample is for our checking of the printing only.   

 

Cheers

Dave

 

GresleyA3Tendersample.jpg.a46ee71c9ffcb7816c3ee1d2558d8cdf.jpg

 

Spot on ! This model just gets better, the lining and crest are crisp and bright it really will set the model off... Thanks...just a question of name now. Mmmmmmmm?

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I understand that provision has been made for decoders to be fitted (I think in the tender)

I have quite a few 'O' gauge locos that I have fitted with Zimo 'OO'  sound decoders which I purchased from Digitrains with Paul Chetter sounds and they all run well unlike the Loksound XL 'O' gauge one I have fitted in an A4!!!

Ian

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I don’t think one should get hung up on the “scale” attributed to a decoder - they do care about stall current, and one should try to respect that, although modern decoders are mostly smart enough to shut down, rather than letting the smoke out, if overloaded.  

 

All my 0 gauge locos are fitted with “HO” decoders, a mix of Zimo, with & without sound, and ESU loksound.  All are fine, including my 52xx which has the large Crailcrest motor.

 

the bigger “0 gauge” units are intended for the US market where some very large motors are used, they may also be appropriate for dual-motored locos (but if running two motors off the same decoder, expect degraded performance due to the back-EMF being a bit difficult to extract) or if you have big smoke units with fans etc.

 

best

simon

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One thing I would like to ask Dave is please can we have instructions included with these (and the A4) models. All to often models I've purchased have no details on how to get inside them when wanting to fit decoders etc. I have a couple of Golden Age A2's a Finescale Brass 9F, V2 & J50 and a Loveless A4 non of which have any instructions with them. 

Very stressful when the old screwdriver gets to work.

Ian

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  • RMweb Gold

Morning all,

 

As with our other models we've put together some fairly comprehensive instructions which will be included in the box with all versions.

I've attached a copy to this post for your perusal.

I hope this helps

 

 

Cheers,


Dave

a3a4instructions.pdf

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