Class 66 in OO Gauge - New Announcement

[rob D2]

1 hour ago, Andy7 said:

Love how you spot the yellow but not the light surrounds! Pretty minor issues and easily resolved. 
Almost every loco is bespoke so they were bound to get a couple of minor points wrong.

I don’t buy it.

10 seconds looking at a picture of the real thing and it was obvious what the errors were.

Attention to detail isn’t that hard .

[Pete the Elaner]

41 minutes ago, Colin_McLeod said:

 

Agreed.   A lot of picking over very minor livery issues.  Hattons is to be congratulated for producing these class 66 locos. Well done Hattons.

 

For your next model you could save yourselves a lot of headaches by supplying it in grey plastic and let the customers paint them themselves.  

 

PS only joking about the grey plastic

They do seem to be minor quibbles don't they?

It seems that the better models get, the harder people will try to find fault with them.

[The Black Hat]

13 hours ago, SouthernMafia said:

I hate to be the bearer of further bad news, but having just pre-ordered 66621 with sound in light of the recent availability bombshell, I can't find any pictures of it with the lower front valance thing yellow as Hattons have modelled, it appears to be the black version. 66621 was going to be renumbered anyway but is now only suitable for other members of the 66/5 class and 66607-613, and it doesn't seem to be correct. Visually,are there any differences between a 66/5 such as 66546 and a 66/6?

 

 

So long as its not a 5-door class 66/9 type, then yes you should be able to just renumber it to a class 66/5 as the body shell and livery is the same its the gearing and top speed that makes them different.

[SouthernMafia]

4 hours ago, Andy7 said:

Love how you spot the yellow but not the light surrounds! Pretty minor issues and easily resolved. 
Almost every loco is bespoke so they were bound to get a couple of minor points wrong.

 

Had spotted thanks, decided not to comment as there are various different conditions of these on the real thing where it would appear the black paint has faded/fallen off, and so have various combinations of black and silver surrounds. But yes for the 2005 straight off the boat version they are also incorrect.

 

As robD2 says, if it's a lack of research there's no excuse as there are hundreds of pictures of any loco you want available on the web. It could be a factory fault during assembly using the wrong part or an incorrect interpretation of the specification. Either way unfortunately it's not right.

 

Yes it is picky, all modellers are different and have different expectations. I'm happy to correct it, others might not be, others will live with it. 

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, The Black Hat said:

 

So long as its not a 5-door class 66/9 type, then yes you should be able to just renumber it to a class 66/5 as the body shell and livery is the same its the gearing and top speed that makes them different.

 

Not quite any 66/5.

The first 66/5s have the Wipac light clusters, not the "bugeye" of later 4-door builds.

A quick search and up to 66537 were Wipac fitted when new.

 

Edited February 14, 2020 by newbryford

[The Black Hat]

20 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

Not quite any 66/5.

The first 66/5s have the Wipac light clusters, not the "bugeye" of later 4-door builds.

A quick search and up to 66537 were Wipac fitted when new.

 

 

Yeah. Thought he had already factored lights into it given what he was saying but agree a renumber should be an option. Its actually a move I might follow...

 

[SouthernMafia]

9 minutes ago, The Black Hat said:

 

Yeah. Thought he had already factored lights into it given what he was saying but agree a renumber should be an option. Its actually a move I might follow...

 

 

Indeed, 66538-66566 and 66607-66613 are suitable to renumber out the box, adding 66567-66581 and 66614-66622 with the revised yellow/black valance change. My query was were there any other external differences between the subclasses other than the lights, so thanks for clarifying Black Hat.

[Mark Saunders]

It would probably be better to sort out the differences by works number rather than TOPS number!

 

 

[Hattons Dave]

Hi all,

 

Thank you all for the continued interest and discussion regarding the Class 66. 

 

As promised I’ve got a few updates and answers to questions that have come up recently.

 

What is the issue with the marker lights on certain versions of the Hattons Class 66?

The lower marker lights on large-headlight versions (see next question) are wired-up together with the main day/night headlights.

It is not possible to display both lower marker lights at the same time, or the marker lights without the day/night headlights.

 

 

Which models does it affect?

This affects all models with large headlights and includes codes ending 010, 017, 019, 024, 026, 029, 030, 033 and 034. 

 

Are digital and sound fitted versions also affected?

Yes

 

Can the marker light issue be resolved?

Not as far as we know

 

Why can’t the marker light issue be resolved?

Due to the way the lighting boards at each end of the locomotive are wired up there is no practical way to separate the lower marker lights from the day/night headlights.

 

What are you doing for customers with these models?

We are not able to offer a solution which will result in lights displaying correctly. Any customers who are not happy with their model can return it to be exchanged for an alternative item or to be fully refunded.

I hope this helps but don’t hesitate to ask any more questions if they come up.

Cheers,

 

Dave
 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Hattons Dave

[Hattons Dave]

Hi all, we’ve also had some queries regarding the livery of H4-66-017, 66621 in Freightliner green which I’ve answered below.

 

Is the paint on the front bufferbeam of 66621 correct?

No. The lower bufferbeam/air dam area on 66621 should be black until just below the top of the buffer shanks. The yellow paint extends too far down, towards the bottom of the buffer shanks. This style is present on other members of the class such as 66610.

 

Are the headlight surrounds on 66621 correct?

No. The headlight surrounds on 66621 during the time we are portraying it (circa 2011) were bare metal on the right hand side of the cab and black on the left hand side. This has been overlooked during our research.

What other Freightliner 66s (black below buffer shanks) are available?

66957 “Stephenson Locomotive Society 1909 - 2009” (H4-66-018) (features LED Wipac lighting)

 

What are you doing for customers with these models?

Any customer who has one of these models and would like to return it for either a refund or exchange is more than welcome to do so. Contact our Helpdesk Team (0151 733 3655 or info@hattons.co.uk) and they will talk you through how to do this. 

 

I hope that helps answer any queries but please let me know if I can help answer any further questions.

Cheers

Dave
 

[classy52]

For GBRf 66783 'Biffa' I noticed a couple of items that don't appear on the model but are present on the prototype from the time it was re-liveried, see blue circled items below;

 

 

 

Also on the prototype the cab window surrounds now have a thick white band around them (circled in black) which seemed to have only appeared recently but were not present when this loco was unveiled which is a bit weird, not sure why GBRf would do this after the fact???

Anyway in regards to the 2 missing items highlighted above I assume these were too small to be modeled or was it an oversight?...actually is it just one cab end that have these?

Edited February 14, 2020 by classy52

[newbryford]

28 minutes ago, classy52 said:

For GBRf 66783 'Biffa' I noticed a couple of items that don't appear on the model but are present on the prototype from the time it was re-liveried, see blue circled items below;

 

 

 

Also on the prototype the cab window surrounds now have a thick white band around them (circled in black) which seemed to have only appeared recently but were not present when this loco was unveiled which is a bit weird, not sure why GBRf would do this after the fact???

Anyway in regards to the 2 missing items highlighted above I assume these were too small to be modeled or was it an oversight?...actually is it just one cab end that have these?

 

GBRf acquired 66783 from EWS (ex 66058) and was repainted into Biffa colours and named.

Then it was fitted with the later cab window modifications and the outer edge was only painted in primer white.

IIRC, Hattons initially announced 66783 in "as named" condition, but I seem to recall that they will actually be releasing 66783 in later modified window/white primer.

 

Plenty of pics on flickr pre-window modification.

 

The extra headlamp is a throwback to it's days as a Lickey Banker loco - the light was used for buffering up in the dark - It is also fitted with a cab operated buckeye release mechanism for uncoupling.

 

Goes off to check for the updated shell.

 

That didn't take very long to confirm

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/133954-class-66-in-oo-gauge-new-announcement/&do=findComment&comment=3724516

 

 

Edited February 14, 2020 by newbryford

[big jim]

before anyone goes to the trouble of fitting a working spotlight to ‘biffa’ when it turns up, its disconnected!

 

the other thing noted by classy is a GPS ariel, one end only, looking through my pics all GBRf ex EWS 66 i’ve drive  have them  

 

 

 

[Craig85]

2 hours ago, Hattons Dave said:

Hi all, we’ve also had some queries regarding the livery of H4-66-017, 66621 in Freightliner green which I’ve answered below.

 

Is the paint on the front bufferbeam of 66621 correct?

No. The lower bufferbeam/air dam area on 66621 should be black until just below the top of the buffer shanks. The yellow paint extends too far down, towards the bottom of the buffer shanks. This style is present on other members of the class such as 66610.

 

Are the headlight surrounds on 66621 correct?

No. The headlight surrounds on 66621 during the time we are portraying it (circa 2011) were bare metal on the right hand side of the cab and black on the left hand side. This has been overlooked during our research.

What other Freightliner 66s (black below buffer shanks) are available?

66957 “Stephenson Locomotive Society 1909 - 2009” (H4-66-018) (features LED Wipac lighting)

 

What are you doing for customers with these models?

Any customer who has one of these models and would like to return it for either a refund or exchange is more than welcome to do so. Contact our Helpdesk Team (0151 733 3655 or info@hattons.co.uk) and they will talk you through how to do this. 

 

I hope that helps answer any queries but please let me know if I can help answer any further questions.

Cheers

Dave
 

Thanks to Dave for making things a little clearer on the mentioned issues. 

 

I have a question for Dave would it be able to fix the wiring issues for any further batchs of the class 66 in the future. 

 

Regards 

Craig 

[TomScrut]

36 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

GBRf acquired 66783 from EWS (ex 66058) and was repainted into Biffa colours and named.

Then it was fitted with the later cab window modifications and the outer edge was only painted in primer white.

IIRC, Hattons initially announced 66783 in "as named" condition, but I seem to recall that they will actually be releasing 66783 in later modified window/white primer.

 

Plenty of pics on flickr pre-window modification.

 

The extra headlamp is a throwback to it's days as a Lickey Banker loco - the light was used for buffering up in the dark - It is also fitted with a cab operated buckeye release mechanism for uncoupling.

 

Goes off to check for the updated shell.

 

That didn't take very long to confirm

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/133954-class-66-in-oo-gauge-new-announcement/&do=findComment&comment=3724516

 

 

 

I remember reading that the first time round too. So that is taken care of when they turn up then by the sounds of it?

[classy52]

1 hour ago, newbryford said:

 

GBRf acquired 66783 from EWS (ex 66058) and was repainted into Biffa colours and named.

Then it was fitted with the later cab window modifications and the outer edge was only painted in primer white.

IIRC, Hattons initially announced 66783 in "as named" condition, but I seem to recall that they will actually be releasing 66783 in later modified window/white primer.

 

Plenty of pics on flickr pre-window modification.

 

The extra headlamp is a throwback to it's days as a Lickey Banker loco - the light was used for buffering up in the dark - It is also fitted with a cab operated buckeye release mechanism for uncoupling.

 

Goes off to check for the updated shell.

 

That didn't take very long to confirm

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/133954-class-66-in-oo-gauge-new-announcement/&do=findComment&comment=3724516

 

 

 

Thanks Mick very much appreciate the info & clarification.

The only reason I posted the pics and my queries was because I am about to order this with sound as it appears to be available on pre-order thus was trawling Flickr for its 66783 images mainly relating to what it hauls since coming over to GBRf and that's when I started noticing the differences from when it was re-liveried/named and compared to the last few months which you have highlighted.

Also thanks for linking back to this thread on what Hattons are releasing as I would not have picked that up thus I assume the image Hattons are using for 66783 on their website is incorrect and the one earlier in this thread should be used for numpties like myself 

 

Cheers

Steve

[truffy]

On 12/02/2020 at 13:54, Hattons Dave said:

This affects codes ending: 010, 017, 019, 024, 026, 029 and 030.

 

4 hours ago, Hattons Dave said:

Which models does it affect?

This affects all models with large headlights and includes codes ending 010, 017, 019, 024, 029, 030, 033 and 034. 

 

Hi Dave, I apologise if I'm being obtuse here, but I'm interested in H4-66-025, which is stated to have an LED Wipac.

 

024, which is on both lists, has a large headlight, and is therefore affected.

 

026, which appears on the first list, but not the second, also has a large headlight. Presumably, it's affected and missing from the second list by error.

 

Can you confirm that the 'sandwich filling', 025, is unaffected? Thanks!

[YesTor]

8 hours ago, Hattons Dave said:

Which models does it affect?

This affects all models with large headlights and includes codes ending 010, 017, 019, 024, 029, 030, 033 and 034. 

 

What are you doing for customers with these models?

We are not able to offer a solution which will result in lights displaying correctly. Any customers who are not happy with their model can return it to be exchanged for an alternative item or to be fully refunded. 

 

I'm a bit confused, so apologies if I am reading this all wrong, but unless I'm mistaken, if I specifically want H4-66-019, 66418 'Patriot' Freightliner Powerhaul with correct light formation - which I very much do - then I'm basically a tad stuffed?  Sorry for the negative tone but I'm more than a little peeved if that's the case, and little point me shelling out £265 for a sound-fitted version if the lights are skew-whiff. 

 

If I may enquire, where exactly is the fault, is it the lighting boards themselves or within the actual wiring?  And where is the affected board or/and wiring physically located, ie. chassis mounted or is it a board affixed inside the bodyshell someplace?  The point I'm making is could it be a matter of swapping out the chassis for a fault-free one at some point?

 

thanks
Al

 

Edited February 15, 2020 by YesTor

[TomScrut]

5 hours ago, YesTor said:

 

I'm a bit confused, so apologies if I am reading this all wrong, but unless I'm mistaken, if I specifically want H4-66-019, 66418 'Patriot' Freightliner Powerhaul with correct light formation - which I very much do - then I'm basically a tad stuffed?  Sorry for the negative tone but I'm more than a little peeved if that's the case, and little point me shelling out £265 for a sound-fitted version if the lights are skew-whiff. 

 

If I may enquire, where exactly is the fault, is it the lighting boards themselves or within the actual wiring?  And where is the affected board or/and wiring physically located, ie. chassis mounted or is it a board affixed inside the bodyshell someplace?  The point I'm making is could it be a matter of swapping out the chassis for a fault-free one at some point?

 

thanks
Al

 

 

I'm sure he said it's the circuit board at the light that is the issue

[7013]

It is good that Dave has been very forthright regarding the lights on certain models. I am sure some electronic genius will sort out a fix in due course. It is obvious there are so many variations on these locos especially those that have changed operators. Some of these changes are temporary others more permanent, there are even changes during its time with one operator. When someone finds a white window surround or the wrong colour below the buffer line it is noteworthy but not terribly important as it can be remedied fairly easily. Bigger mistakes are more difficult to tolerate for some. Hattons have been very bold with this 66 and are attempting to produce the definitive model which to a greater extent they have. With such a bold undertaking the scope for error is enlarged. I have the ‘Stephensons Society’ Freightliner version on order and am blissfully ignorant of the light clusters. As long as the model looks and sounds like a 66 I will be happy, any niggles with paintwork I can sort, any lighting issues I will live with. I just hope it is delivered before my wife gets back from NZ at the end of March!

[classy52]

5 hours ago, 7013 said:

When someone finds a white window surround or the wrong colour

 

Just for clarity mine was an open question to anyone as to why GBRf applied the white around the side windows last year but at the time failed to notice the whole cab side window configuration had been replaced by GBRf (hence the white primer) in which Hattons reacted and added that to their 66783 tooling, I had inexplicably missed the previous post by Hattons which Newbryford had referenced.

Hat's off to Hatton's for altering their tooling for 66783 but they need to change their website image for this loco to reflect its current configuration.

 

Have now ordered 66783 Biffa with sound and very much looking forward to it.

Edited February 15, 2020 by classy52

[Sir TophamHatt]

On ‎14‎/‎02‎/‎2020 at 07:58, Pete the Elaner said:

They do seem to be minor quibbles don't they?

It seems that the better models get, the harder people will try to find fault with them.

I don't think it's that, it's just expectations rise.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am very pleased with what I have seen and heard so far of the 66 and have one ordered - I'm sure I won't find anything wrong with mine.  But is it a highly detailed model?  Or just 95% right?  I would think Hattons would care a lot about that last 5%, even if you think the punters won't.

[Hattons Dave]

Hi guys,

 

Thank you again for the continued interest and discussion regarding the Class 66.  A couple more questions have been asked which I have answered below.

 

Will future announcements of large headlight Class 66s have the correct marker light wiring?

We are working with our vendors to determine if this is possible

 

Is H4-66-026 affected by the marker light issue?

Yes. It was omitted in error from the earlier post, and has now been added. Thank you for pointing that out

 

Is H4-66-025 affected by the marker light issue?

No, any models that do not feature the large headlights are not affected. 

 

A complete list of which models use which lighting variant is available on the Hattons website here

 

I hope that helps answer any queries but please let me know if I can help answer any further questions.

Cheers

Dave

Edited February 15, 2020 by Hattons Dave

[YesTor]

4 hours ago, Hattons Dave said:

I hope that helps answer any queries but please let me know if I can help answer any further questions.

Cheers

Dave

 

Thanks Dave, but this still doesn't provide any info as to where the actual fault physically is?  A circuit board mounted within the chassis, or inside the body/cab?  Or the wiring elsewhere?  Some clarification would be useful, in that if I separate the body from the chassis am I then effectively left holding a faulty chassis, or a faulty body, or both?  And as such, can the erroneous part(s) easily be removed or/and replaced?

 

cheers

Al

 

Edited February 15, 2020 by YesTor

[SouthernMafia]

Whilst I appreciate the responses Dave, that is a little disappointing that effectively if you want the model you want, you're paying full price for it with known faults. Returning it for "an alternative" (of which the variants I would have had with sound are now sold out) is not really a solution. 

The livery issue is minor, I can fix that. The marker light issue is a much bigger concern.

I hope that Hattons take this issue more seriously and look for a better solution, rather than just saying 'tough'.