Class 66 in OO Gauge - New Announcement

[YesTor]

21 minutes ago, TomScrut said:

 

Whilst they are, I do wonder why they are part of the body and don't slot into the chassis under the body profile

 

Yeah, I initially wondered that too and even tried removing one of the step/rail assemblies from the body and simply inserting the handrails into the chassis.  For practical purposes that would indeed work - with perhaps a tiny touch of glue on the handrail tips to secure into the chassis, and also removing the tiny tabs that secure the steps onto the body. 

 

However, I soon realized that it meant that the step assembly could never be guaranteed to be quite horizontal with respect to the body profile, and you end up with something that actually resembles the Bachmann model, whereby that was always (for me) one of the niggles where the steps were always skewed at quirky angles - which for me screamed 'toy'... and granted a tiny detail though it is, it was something I found truly annoying.  So I think that Hatton's have opted for realism, at the expense of ease of body removal.  I guess we can't have it all ways...     

 

Al

[YesTor]

4 hours ago, classy52 said:

Yeah quite funny watching it unfold and those clutching their pearls over it.

 

7 minutes ago, Edna Clouds said:

Quite! An excellent read for an hour or so. I've never had such fun without laughing!

 

Watch it guys, my 'pearls' aren't for public consumption        

[shanks522]

Well my one turned up a few days ago,

 

 DCC sound fitted, first thing that i love is the weight! i know already this will haul a heavily loaded train!

 

beautiful detail and paintwork!

 

gave her a short test and i'm extremely impressed! fantastic sound as i would expect from Legomanbiffo.

 

no wobbles, no derailments, in short Fantastic Model.

 

Well done Hattons! 

 

Graham. 

[classy52]

Have a question?...mainly because I'm bored.

 

On the basis of probably wanting to shift more of their Class 66's and considering how extraordinarily popular the sound fitted models were do you think Hattons would consider grabbing their DCC Ready stock of each loco (say about 10 or less each, or more if they can) and fit sound to them but still charge £265?

Based on their sell-out success of the sound fitted models (except 2 of them) I honestly think it would be a second wave of success because they sound so damn good and I personally believe Hattons would sell-out again even with retro-fitted sound.

I also think a lot buyers such as myself who missed out on the first batch sound models are put off by the post £45 premium over the original factory fitted £265 price to have sound fitted by Hattons taking it over £300 and even more if you go elsewhere.

Obviously the other side of the coin is whether Hattons could wear the associated cost of retro-fitting sound at the same RRP of £265 or they just wouldn't consider it?...it was just a thought.

[rob D2]

2 hours ago, Edna Clouds said:

Quite! An excellent read for an hour or so. I've never had such fun without laughing!

Maybe we’ve all got more time to get excited over whether the hattons 66 is good or not ! 

[TomScrut]

12 hours ago, classy52 said:

do you think Hattons would consider grabbing their DCC Ready stock of each loco (say about 10 or less each, or more if they can) and fit sound to them but still charge £265?

 

I doubt it to be honest. I would expect factory sound is significantly cheaper to fit than retrofit.

 

A) The body is off already, and taking this body off without breaking something is time consuming. Also by the sounds of it the wiring needs releasing from under the circuit board.

B) They'd be paying somebody in Liverpool to do it, not China. Possibly likewise with the programming.

C) There may be some economies of scale involved too with the factory ones.

Edited April 9, 2020 by TomScrut

[classy52]

1 minute ago, TomScrut said:

 

I doubt it to be honest. I would expect factory sound is significantly cheaper to fit than retrofit.

 

A) The body is off already, and taking this body off without breaking something is time consuming

B) They'd be paying somebody in Liverpool to do it, not China. Possibly likewise with the programming.

C) There may be some economies of scale involved too with the factory ones.

 

Yeah totally agree and was just spit-balling, I bet Hattons are kicking themselves for not allocating a percentage more for each model to be factory sound fitted because apart from the gorgeous detail the sound project is really something else and a big draw card for modelers based on reviews on here & on YT.

[TomScrut]

5 minutes ago, classy52 said:

 

Yeah totally agree and was just spit-balling, I bet Hattons are kicking themselves for not allocating a percentage more for each model to be factory sound fitted because apart from the gorgeous detail the sound project is really something else and a big draw card for modelers based on reviews on here & on YT.

 

The thing that's odd, is how the sound is a lot dearer when just buying decoder and speaker. There may be other factors at play such as the licensing of the sound files (not sure how that part of the industry works).

 

Having said that, it could be that less profit is made on a factory sound. Dapol don't do factory sound through the dealer network as it's not viable. Interestingly though Accurascale are only charging £90 IIRC for sound in their models, which is about what the chip would cost to buy without anything on it.

[SouthernMafia]

My second 66 just arrived, I must have been in luck with my 66621 as 66705 is not good at all. Glue mark on roof, loose handrail (both easily sorted) , but this does not look like a task I want to sort. This doesn't look like uneven axle boxes (which are all heavily glued in), looks worse. It runs horribly. Going to have to go back I think.

 

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by SouthernMafia

[TomScrut]

1 hour ago, SouthernMafia said:

This doesn't look like uneven axle boxes (which are all heavily glued in), looks worse. It runs horribly. Going to have to go back I think.

 

Wow that does look ropey. Very strange that the outer bogie is able to move with the body but the wheels stay still. You'd expect the axle boxes to stop that!

[Dicky L]

15 hours ago, classy52 said:

Have a question?...mainly because I'm bored.

 

On the basis of probably wanting to shift more of their Class 66's and considering how extraordinarily popular the sound fitted models were do you think Hattons would consider grabbing their DCC Ready stock of each loco (say about 10 or less each, or more if they can) and fit sound to them but still charge £265?

Based on their sell-out success of the sound fitted models (except 2 of them) I honestly think it would be a second wave of success because they sound so damn good and I personally believe Hattons would sell-out again even with retro-fitted sound.

I also think a lot buyers such as myself who missed out on the first batch sound models are put off by the post £45 premium over the original factory fitted £265 price to have sound fitted by Hattons taking it over £300 and even more if you go elsewhere.

Obviously the other side of the coin is whether Hattons could wear the associated cost of retro-fitting sound at the same RRP of £265 or they just wouldn't consider it?...it was just a thought.

 

 The cost from Hattons is £130 for the decoder and speaker and £12 for fitting. Therefore the total cost is £292. Whilst its not the £265 for ordering factory fitted, its not massively overpriced if it gets you a version that you really want.

[Dicky L]

1 minute ago, Dicky L said:

 

 The cost from Hattons is £130 for the decoder and speaker and £12 for fitting. Therefore the total cost is £292. Whilst its not the £265 for ordering factory fitted, its not massively overpriced if it gets you a version that you really want.

 

Having said that the decoders were out of stock and the fitting service was suspended until further notice. Not really a problem if you want to order something sound fitted from batch 2 if its sold out on pre-order factory fitted though.

[classy52]

28 minutes ago, Dicky L said:

 

 The cost from Hattons is £130 for the decoder and speaker and £12 for fitting. Therefore the total cost is £292. Whilst its not the £265 for ordering factory fitted, its not massively overpriced if it gets you a version that you really want.

 

When I phoned Hattons a few weeks ago I was quoted £310 fully fitted hence why I didn't go ahead and have it done on 66789 which is the one I wanted at the time...maybe I was mis-quoted or the prices have been reduced???

[Dicky L]

32 minutes ago, classy52 said:

 

When I phoned Hattons a few weeks ago I was quoted £310 fully fitted hence why I didn't go ahead and have it done on 66789 which is the one I wanted at the time...maybe I was mis-quoted or the prices have been reduced???

 

I have got £130 + £12 fitting showing on one of my pre orders. I have actually paid for the loco I want £150 so I am now waiting for the sound to come back into stock and the fitting service to start again to complete my order. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by Dicky L

[classy52]

Fair enough the proof is in the pudding, like I said it was just a phone call to gauge pricing on sound supply & fitting and when given I didn't proceed any further as you have done.

[Dicky L]

1 minute ago, classy52 said:

Fair enough the proof is in the pudding, like I said it was just a phone call to gauge pricing on sound supply & fitting and when given I didn't proceed any further as you have done.

 

It looks like the sound chips are now sold out on pre-order too now.

[daz9284]

On 07/04/2020 at 16:43, TomScrut said:

 

Haha just beat you to it!

 

But I wonder if the faulty marker light is actually the problem with them all or something else?

no it's just the general marker light fault where it shows only on one side.

 

This is the model I renumbered before seeing that there was a generic marker light fault, and thus returned the model.

 

regards

darryl

[Liam1987]

Hi all. Has anyone had an issue whereby when they put the loco on the track (both main and programming) it makes a loud buzzing noise, all the lights go on and the loco stutters continuously before shorting the track. I have purchased a sound fitted one. My instincts are telling me it’s a decoder issue (either not fitted or damaged). 
 

Many thanks in advance,

 

Liam

[SouthernMafia]

3 hours ago, TomScrut said:

 

Wow that does look ropey. Very strange that the outer bogie is able to move with the body but the wheels stay still. You'd expect the axle boxes to stop that!

 

That's because I don't think it's axle box related, I think the whole bogie assembly is on wonky, or the bottom of the chassis it sits on is not flat at one end. It's going back, I'm not going to attempt to diagnose it when it's that bad. Must say however excellent efficient service from the Hattons returns department.

[Roy Langridge]

18 minutes ago, ERIC ALLTORQUE said:

Its at the point you would think they would test track them before dispatch,theres one where the drive shaft was out of the bogie,may be that kind of issue,sad stuff when you look forward to them and its this bad.

Dispatch from where? China or Hattons themselves? If the latter, that is a huge overhead which also brings risks of damaging the locos removing them from boxes, testing and then repackaging. And that will still not identify faults that result from poor handling during delivery.
 

All been covered many times on this RMWeb 
 

Roy

[Winter123]

Wanted to share my experience today in relation to recent posts. I have two locos, 66218 (Euro Cargo Rail) and 66789. 66218 is perfect and I haven't had any significant wobble or axle box problems with either. However 66789 has been stuttering at random places around loops resulting in occasional detachment of wagons. 

 

This morning the loco derailed in a tunnel(my fault as it wasn't correctly positioned on the track) , which is not very accessible. Nightmare. So I had to push it out with a stick when it fell onto one side and I winced at the prospect of considerable damage. Eventually I managed to pull it out of the tunnel entrance dragging around the track with no detail issues to my eyesight and no paintwork chipped showing it to be very robust. And the big news is the stutter has disappeared!!

 

I don't recommend shaking the loco violently or bashing it against the floor but there is definitely some form of misalignment of the chassis or internal working imbalances in some models as Marcus discovered. I have four further 66's on order with some trepidation but have decided to keep the order mainly because of Hatton's excellent support & service. I have been quite lucky with these two but what are the chances that all 4 of those on order will work properly?

[big jim]

8 minutes ago, Winter123 said:

I had to push it out with a stick.....

 

I don't recommend shaking the loco violently or bashing it against the floor....... 

This might be me when mine turns up tomorrow!

 

 

[letterspider]

2 hours ago, Liam1987 said:

Hi all. Has anyone had an issue whereby when they put the loco on the track (both main and programming) it makes a loud buzzing noise, all the lights go on and the loco stutters continuously before shorting the track. I have purchased a sound fitted one. My instincts are telling me it’s a decoder issue (either not fitted or damaged). 
 

Many thanks in advance,

 

Liam

 

Sounds like there is no decoder in that one. 

[Liam1987]

Thanks Letterspider

[Dicky L]

my latest video of this model.