Class 66 in OO Gauge - New Announcement

[KDG]

17 minutes ago, Roy Langridge said:

 

I am sure you are right. This was probably a huge learning curve for Hattons. For me, probably the biggest factor was that producing so many models at once from a new tooling may not have been the right move. A small first batch, lessons learned and, revisions, big second batch may have been a better way forward.

Roy

I'm no expert in these things, but I'll wager a discussion was had with the factory about batch production and economies of scale, i.e. much cheaper to bash them out all at the same time whilst the tooling, spray masks, trained staff,  etc are all set up. Thereby reducing the factories costs and maximising Hatton's profit.

 

They will learn the lesson, I'm confident in time there will be more with the QC issues sorted.

 

It is an excellent model class 66.

[Sir TophamHatt]

18 hours ago, adb968008 said:

At £119 your not going to see Hattons 66 this cheap again, so my opinion is buy em now, you can always let them go later, but buying them later your likely to find either similar or higher s/h prices but with more risk of bits missing.
Will Hattons make more, who knows, or when, but pretty certain they will be north of £150, rather than south.

I don't mind paying more if it's truly ready to run...

 

Tried to fix the axle boxes, twice.  Lost two round the layout so until that issue is fixed, I'm simply not interested.  I'd rather have rotating axle boxes than not and I'd rather not have a Hattons 66 than one that wobbles.

 

I also highly suspect this wasn't a one-shot lot.

I'll bet I find one in any upcoming release.

[adb968008]

2 hours ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

 

Tried to fix the axle boxes, twice.  Lost two round the layout so until that issue is fixed, I'm simply not interested.  I'd rather have rotating axle boxes than not and I'd rather not have a Hattons 66 than one that wobbles.

 

I also highly suspect this wasn't a one-shot lot.

I'll bet I find one in any upcoming release.

tbh I can see more coming, but in the current world, I think they would be mad to.

Hornby and Bachmann have swamped the market place, were drowning in 66’s, just as we were drowning in class 71’s.

Making more of the same whilst these are £119 wont help a new batch sell at £150.

imho rest it a few years and move on.

 

i’m interested to see how the Dapol 59 turns out.. it shares features such as handrail steps under the doors, rotating axles, I wonder if theres some lessons learned behind its 2 year gap since the paint EP was seen.

 

At some point we may see more Barclays too, theyve had much less negative feedback, but still haven't sold out and they haven't announced more either.

 

Tbh imho it only needs a few mods..

 

1. Make the axle stub 1mm longer each side

2. Glue footstep hand rails to the chassis, rather than the body, so they dont protrude the chassis when removing the body.

3. glue the front bufferbeam footsteps in.

 

I think in a couple of years, when this lot have soaked up, when a few new liveries have emerged and some demand has built up requesting them, Hattons doing a new run, with mods above, however its just as likely they just dispense with it by moulding those features on, Regardless what they do it wont be less than £150, so if your prepared for a bit of work youve got a bargain, but that is why its a bargain.. thats the trade off.

 

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by adb968008

[ruggedpeak]

On 15/01/2021 at 10:00, Roy Langridge said:

 

I am sure you are right. This was probably a huge learning curve for Hattons. For me, probably the biggest factor was that producing so many models at once from a new tooling may not have been the right move. A small first batch, lessons learned and, revisions, big second batch may have been a better way forward.

Roy

No different to many all new products. New cars are the same, despite huge amounts spent on testing etc there are usually problems with the initial batches that production irons out over time. If you buy a brand new product on launch you are de facto product test engineer doing testing in proper 'real world' scenarios!

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

1 hour ago, ruggedpeak said:

 If you buy a brand new product on launch you are de facto product test engineer doing testing in proper 'real world' scenarios!

Its us the buying public thats the issue,We were the workshop of the world,how well it could be made was important,now its how cheap can we have it,it was made to last and not to a price,media hype has got a generation that has never known how well onto the look what you get for so little,you get nothing worth having for nothing but in real terms we are getting very little for a lot if it only last a few years and needs thrown away,churning out anything is only good for those selling it,and now we are so environmentaly conscious no good either,just hope the di cast chassis does not dissolve in a few years eh,but it is what it is,skilled is replaced with qualified,i know where i would prefere to be.

What started as childs toy is now pretty good as we got older and proved we could play safely with electric other than clockwork trains.......

[Pete the Elaner]

On 15/01/2021 at 11:44, Sir TophamHatt said:

I don't mind paying more if it's truly ready to run...

 

Tried to fix the axle boxes, twice.  Lost two round the layout so until that issue is fixed, I'm simply not interested.  I'd rather have rotating axle boxes than not and I'd rather not have a Hattons 66 than one that wobbles.

 

I also highly suspect this wasn't a one-shot lot.

I'll bet I find one in any upcoming release.

 

Do you want to try some of my replacements?

I 3d printed my own designs. They fit around the axle instead of on to the end.

[43078shildoncountydurham]

Guys,

Have they done a loco the same type to Evening Star, just if wanted to respray it.

 

Thanks as always 

 

Craig

[adb968008]

1 hour ago, 43078shildoncountydurham said:

Guys,

Have they done a loco the same type to Evening Star, just if wanted to respray it.

 

Thanks as always 

 

Craig

Looking at the picture of 66779 above....

 

1. extra bodyside door / folded roof grill

2. no mirrors

3. Later sandbox.
4. LED Wipac lights

5. cab seam line

66-027/66-028 (GBRF 66756 / 762) match.

 

close match - just the sandbox under the cab window being smooth not riveted, and below cab window seam line under the handrail missing: 

 

66-011/12/13 - 66433/301/409, DRS

66-018 - 66957 -Freightliner 

66-025 66731 -Gbrf first.

 

 

Obvious 66779 needs a bell, peters spares will sell you one, just cut the bell frames off the outside.

https://www.petersspares.com/peters-spares-ps54-replacement-lima-royal-scot-bell-brass.ir

 

to be fair on the Hattons detail level, the Bachmann 66779 has no seam line, vents in the wrong place, but does have the correct sandbox, roof and doors

Edited January 18, 2021 by adb968008

[Sir TophamHatt]

Only 5 left in the pre-owned section:
https://www.hattons.co.uk/stocklist/siteresults.aspx?searchfield=h4-66 pre-owned

Edited January 19, 2021 by Sir TophamHatt

[andyman7]

I finally took the plunge with one of these, Class 66 is not my main era but is as iconic as a Black 5, at £119 this is really at the bargain end of modern fully featured R-T-R - I went for DB branded EWS livery 66088 representing a typical run-of- the-mill (i.e. not celebrity) version. Ordered 1.30pm yesterday, arrived today, all axleboxes there, no wobble, beautiful looking model!

[Lowlander]

On 17/01/2021 at 00:12, Pete the Elaner said:

 

Do you want to try some of my replacements?

I 3d printed my own designs. They fit around the axle instead of on to the end.

Hi

 

If the option is open to all? If you're printing a batch. I'd be interested in buying some.

 

Stephen 

Edited January 24, 2021 by ayrmrg

[Dicky L]

4 hours ago, ayrmrg said:

Hi

 

If the option is open to all? If you're printing a batch. I'd be interested in buying some.

 

Stephen 

 

I would also be interested to know more about these.

[Pete the Elaner]

8 hours ago, ayrmrg said:

Hi

 

If the option is open to all? If you're printing a batch. I'd be interested in buying some.

 

Stephen 

They cost very little to make. About 280 fit on a sheet, some of which I discard & I have around 1500 of them.

I print then in grey, mainly because that is the colour I already had & partly because I have been told that black is for some reason a trickier colour to print with.

I have not cut the sprue/support from any because doing this to 100s would take ages.

My macro lens seems to be very unforgiving!

I do not want to make anything from helping, except happy modellers! I would prefer to distribute them at shows for nothing but this is obviously not possible right now. They are so small that I would expect 30-40 to fit in a standard envelope, so posting should be fine as long as I don't get totally overwhelmed with requests 

 

[adb968008]

looks like we are near the end of the road for EWS 66’s... just 3 James Nightalls left and end of story.

 

Theres a DB branded EWS, and the ECR versions but then gone.

Add to that only 9 Colas 66’s left.

DRS original has now gone.

i reckon theres only about 20 or so Europorte & DBS ones left.

 

That leaves 1xDRS, a bunch of Freightliner and few oddballs.

 

[JohnC]

7 hours ago, adb968008 said:

looks like we are near the end of the road for EWS 66’s... just 3 James Nightalls left and end of story.

 

Theres a DB branded EWS, and the ECR versions but then gone.

Add to that only 9 Colas 66’s left.

DRS original has now gone.

i reckon theres only about 20 or so Europorte & DBS ones left.

 

That leaves 1xDRS, a bunch of Freightliner and few oddballs.

 

It would be great if Hattons did another run that adopted all lessons learnt on this run.

Personally, I think these locos are superb in every way and the small problems easily overcome.

I have just completed preparing my 12th example for my layout which is 66847 in Colas livery.

as well as the usual drilling out of axle apertures, I have fitted the superb Roads and Rails ESU sound decoder, a Westhill wagon works Modelu driver and replacement end lighting modules from illuminated models. I have also replaced the Colas Oliver’s at each cab end with the new style Colas Diamonds.

Have just completed some chassis weathering and loco about ready for a run. You can see some of my previous efforts on video if you take a look at johnclark568 on Instagram.

John

Edited January 29, 2021 by JohnC

[TomScrut]

43 minutes ago, JohnC said:

It would be great if Hattons did another run that adopted all lessons learnt on this run.

 

Yes, I aren't in a rush for any more 66s but I'd probably buy in a couple of years especially if any new liveries come out.

[Pete the Elaner]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

It would be great if Hattons did another run that adopted all lessons learnt on this run.

 

 

I have said it before:

They have the tooling. Making it was the most expensive thing for the first run.

Now they are almost sold out, it makes sense to re-use that tooling.

No company likes to deal with returns/repairs so they will naturally try to make improvements. They have had time to see what went wrong & how they can engineer solutions to correct many of these issues.

 

One thing we welcomed was their good communication on the development process. They were far more open about this than Hornby & Bachmann. Sadly this backfired & it made them look bad when they missed several estimated delivery dates.

I therefore doubt we will hear anything about a second batch until it is almost available.

[rob D2]

I’d be surprised if you see anymore and the whole thing isn’t written off as a loss leader and not to be repeated.

 

They dumped the price to £119 to get rid of them, and completely withdrew from any engagement from discussing the problems on here .

 

Ive been a bit disappointed with that approach , and certainly would put me off dealing with them over any new project .

[TomScrut]

2 minutes ago, rob D2 said:

Ive been a bit disappointed with that approach , and certainly would put me off dealing with them over any new project .

 

If they learn by their mistakes then it might be OK. Interesting what's happened with them O gauge coaches though.

[Midnight-Freight]

The 66 market is definitely a bit saturated at the moment but I think it would be a real shame if there wasn't a future run of these. Particularly any new liveries which may appear. My opinion might be slightly skewed as I only have one and it's perfect but they really are a fantastic model and on my end to end shunting layout details like the rotating axle ends really stand out. I wonder, if Hattons have been put off producing any more whether any other manufacturers would be willing/able to acquire the tooling and produce them, with  a few tweaks. It would be a huge shame if the tooling went to waste after all the time and effort that went into the project.

[rob D2]

7 hours ago, TomScrut said:

 

If they learn by their mistakes then it might be OK. Interesting what's happened with them O gauge coaches though.

What happened ? Sorry off topic 

[spamcan61]

8 minutes ago, rob D2 said:

What happened ? Sorry off topic 

The production batch have turned up and quite a few of them are being sold at a discount from day 1 due to missing paint / bogie detail or a number of other cosmetic defects.

[Pegleg90]

Would be surprised if they didn’t do another, hopefully corrections made, run in the future but maybe not the 30+ (?) variations they did in the first run. Think that was more of a marketing tactic. 
 

Maybe 6 or 8 different livery’s or running numbers could be a good next run. Maybe announced latter end this year for release Q2 the following year? Just a guess, no idea on the commercials or time scales for this type of project. 

[JohnC]

Why wouldn’t you want a Hattons Class 66?

Roads and Rails ESU sound decoder fitted, Westhill Wagonworks Modelu driver, Illuminated Models replacement light boards fitted.

I have also replaced cab side Oliver logos with the up to date Colas Rail Diamonds and added Terry Baker plates which are all from Railtec Models.

Finally, weathered the chassis which has really brought out the excellent chassis detailing.

Take away the cost of sound decoder and at £119 for base loco it is still cheaper than a Bachmann example.

John

[Pete the Elaner]

11 hours ago, rob D2 said:

I’d be surprised if you see anymore and the whole thing isn’t written off as a loss leader and not to be repeated.

 

They dumped the price to £119 to get rid of them, and completely withdrew from any engagement from discussing the problems on here .

 

Ive been a bit disappointed with that approach , and certainly would put me off dealing with them over any new project .

 

& waste perfectly good tooling? Not bloody likely.

There will be another batch.

 

Maybe you should try thinking along the lines of a competitor:

Being sole distributor (with good customer service), they know exactly what they need to do without needing to consult customers about it.

Discussing things out in the open will tell their main competitor (Bachmann) exactly what they are doing. Since the 66 was released (probably because of it), their relationship with Bachmann has soured. Why would they want to give them advance notice of their plans?