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HELJAN UNVEILS ‘OO’ GAUGE 25/3 AND ‘ETHEL’ FOR 2019


Andy Y
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5 minutes ago, muddys-blues said:

Rob,going off the Class 24 which is out, and which I have a couple of, and the pictures of the pre-production 25 samples, I would bet my weeks wages it will be on the same par as the 24.

 

I can’t see why Heljan couldn’t put in photo etched grilles as well, as I just see this as a release akin to the Bachmann 25 from years gone by.

I have  to  agree  as  the  purchaser of  more   SLW 24s  than  I  should  have,  I have  to  add that in my  opinion SLW  25s  will probably  be  hard to  beat  or  even  equal.

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On 09/03/2021 at 17:15, Richard Croft said:

Mine came today, I'm very pleased with it. Its particularly good for sound fitting with plenty of space at each end.

 

 

Richard

 

Can I ask an awkward question here?

 

What is the all up cost for this spec install? That is the Class 25 itself, plus decoder, plus speakers, plus installation cost. I can't see that coming in at under £300 unless the user is fitting it themselves, and even then it only marginally comes in below £300 if the loco is bought at box shifter prices.

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49 minutes ago, muddys-blues said:

I can’t see why Heljan couldn’t put in photo etched grilles

Our new 25 does have etched metal grilles. Many moons ago we asked RMweb members whether they’d prefer moulded or etched grilles and although it was not unanimous, the preference was for the latter. We also showed photos of two styles of grille here and we went with the more popular option. However, I don’t disagree that they could be improved even further. 
 

Hope this helps

 

Ben 

Edited by 61661
Spelling error
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38 minutes ago, Stevelewis said:

I  received  a  WEATHERED  GREEN  Ref 2531  class  25  today,  it  is  now  packed  up  and  awaiting ROYAL MAIL  Collection  service  tomorrow  for  its  return to  the  supplying  retailer  ( Not a  long  journey  for  it from  our  North  Wales  address!!)

 

I was apalled  when  I  opened  the  box  the  weathering  is  the  worst  factory applied I  have  ever   seen  on  a  RTR  Loco,    vertical  brush  marks   are apparent  on  the  body  sides (vertically) the  roof  appears to  have  been randomly daubed  with weathering  paint  and  even  the  cab windows  have  had  the  treatment!  so much  so the  interiors  are  not  visible, (would  have  been  nice if  the person  doing   the  so called  weathering  had  wiped  an arc on  the  windscreens to indicate  the  windscreen wipers 'path')

 

I would  advise  any one  thinking  of  a  Heljan  weathered 25 purchase to try to  actually  see the  model  first, but  currently  this  is rather  difficult!

Really sorry to see that you got one of the duff weathered locos. Returning it is the correct thing to do so that we can get the affected examples out of circulation ASAP. 

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12 minutes ago, Zunnan said:

 

Can I ask an awkward question here?

 

What is the all up cost for this spec install? That is the Class 25 itself, plus decoder, plus speakers, plus installation cost. I can't see that coming in at under £300 unless the user is fitting it themselves, and even then it only marginally comes in below £300 if the loco is bought at box shifter prices.

The  most  recent SLW  24  I  bought  was  FEB 21  fully fitted  with  sound  on  board  total  cost  inc   shipping  was  £305,  it  must  be  considered  though  that  when  the SLW 25s  are released  the  price will most likely be higher, very nice people to  deal with though.  I cannot  answer  your  query  though  but   there  would  possibly  not  much  in  it!

Edited by Stevelewis
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There’s a rat in my kitchen ....

84583CE6-BE53-478B-AB44-3737C3B72644.jpeg.a059e4d85bd756054257fbe4718aca3f.jpeg

 

... and now it’s on my layout!

8530C806-7602-457B-914E-6F215E6EF476.jpeg.69144e23c02598e27ec1e06d0fed7714.jpeg

 

An action shot below showing the domino marker lights (my layout is currently DC)

7E1EE02B-D1D5-426B-A098-A7644B82C058.jpeg.3d45f7cf8b4b906070d729ec763ad531.jpeg

 

Within the box are the accessory bags with mini ploughs, plates, tension lock couplings and pipes etc.

9AB4A95B-521B-4965-B6EC-65009A428651.jpeg.96a8fa138c28762f9b06d253db2a2d20.jpeg

 

My WCML layout is from around mid 1980’s to early 2000’s and during my first trip along the WCML during 1986, I can remember seeing a Class 25 at Stafford. Very pleased with the purchase so far ... very smooth runner.

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14 minutes ago, Zunnan said:

 

Can I ask an awkward question here?

 

What is the all up cost for this spec install? That is the Class 25 itself, plus decoder, plus speakers, plus installation cost. I can't see that coming in at under £300 unless the user is fitting it themselves, and even then it only marginally comes in below £300 if the loco is bought at box shifter prices.

I was going down that route buying a Heljan 25/3 from TMC and having them fit Legomanbiffo sound. Comes out at over £300.00, so I'm going with a sound fitted SLW model.

 

Edited by Alcanman
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15 minutes ago, 61661 said:

Really sorry to see that you got one of the duff weathered locos. Returning it is the correct thing to do so that we can get the affected examples out of circulation ASAP. 

My contact  at  the  supplying  retailer  (Big H)  seemed  fully  aware of  the  situation!  They  are OK and  very  efficient, I have  dealt  with  them  since  the late  '60s  I used to  have  many  a  chat  on  a  wet  Liverpool afternoon with  Norman  Hatton,  my job  used  to  take me  to Liverpool  quite  frequently!!  

Edited by Stevelewis
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3 hours ago, The Ghost of IKB said:

I think the point he has made about the way the lights work (unprototypically) is more informative and useful than your mocking his use of grammar .  

I don't. Heljan never specified working internal cab lighting. Sounds as though the rear cover sealing any extraneous light from the headcode marker led board has either come adrift or is missing. Quite unprofessional for a retailer to go on a rant such as that, same with last weeks photos. If a new release loco lands on my bench and has any issues during initial inspection, I'll take it up with the supplier.

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31 minutes ago, Patriot87003 said:

There’s a rat in my kitchen ....

84583CE6-BE53-478B-AB44-3737C3B72644.jpeg.a059e4d85bd756054257fbe4718aca3f.jpeg

 

... and now it’s on my layout!

8530C806-7602-457B-914E-6F215E6EF476.jpeg.69144e23c02598e27ec1e06d0fed7714.jpeg

 

An action shot below showing the domino marker lights (my layout is currently DC)

7E1EE02B-D1D5-426B-A098-A7644B82C058.jpeg.3d45f7cf8b4b906070d729ec763ad531.jpeg

 

Within the box are the accessory bags with mini ploughs, plates, tension lock couplings and pipes etc.

9AB4A95B-521B-4965-B6EC-65009A428651.jpeg.96a8fa138c28762f9b06d253db2a2d20.jpeg

 

My WCML layout is from around mid 1980’s to early 2000’s and during my first trip along the WCML during 1986, I can remember seeing a Class 25 at Stafford. Very pleased with the purchase so far ... very smooth runner.

The pictures everyone has uploaded are great. Is it me or is the centre windows on the model appearing to be falling in the way? Looks like they need popped out towards the front.

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52 minutes ago, 61661 said:

Our new 25 does have etched metal grilles. Many moons ago we asked RMweb members whether they’d prefer moulded or etched grilles and although it was not unanimous, the preference was for the latter. We also showed photos of two styles of grille here and we went with the more popular option. However, I don’t disagree that they could be improved even further. 
 

Hope this helps

 

Ben 


Hello Ben, thanks for the reply, okay great to see the use of photo etched grilles, but may be an another improvement would have been to have holes behind them in the body shell, to aid the sound improvement.

 

Best regards

Craig 

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50 minutes ago, Patriot87003 said:

There’s a rat in my kitchen ....

84583CE6-BE53-478B-AB44-3737C3B72644.jpeg.a059e4d85bd756054257fbe4718aca3f.jpeg

 

... and now it’s on my layout!

8530C806-7602-457B-914E-6F215E6EF476.jpeg.69144e23c02598e27ec1e06d0fed7714.jpeg

 

An action shot below showing the domino marker lights (my layout is currently DC)

7E1EE02B-D1D5-426B-A098-A7644B82C058.jpeg.3d45f7cf8b4b906070d729ec763ad531.jpeg

 

Within the box are the accessory bags with mini ploughs, plates, tension lock couplings and pipes etc.

9AB4A95B-521B-4965-B6EC-65009A428651.jpeg.96a8fa138c28762f9b06d253db2a2d20.jpeg

 

My WCML layout is from around mid 1980’s to early 2000’s and during my first trip along the WCML during 1986, I can remember seeing a Class 25 at Stafford. Very pleased with the purchase so far ... very smooth runner.

Lovely to see a 25 in prototypical surroundings. Great stuff.

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55 minutes ago, Richard Croft said:

£135 is a standard install, Plus £8 for the second speaker and postage at cost.

 

Cheers, just weighing up whether to pull the trigger on fitting out a Heljan model as a stop gap being as I exterminated my fleet of older Bachmann Rats. That comes in at £296 (£153 loco plus £143 install) plus postage for the Heljan model with a decent twin speaker install and a quality decoder, or a shade lower doing the install myself. I'll have to see if I can abuse my club discount and source through the club in order. It'll be interesting to see how much lower it can be done for.

 

1 hour ago, Stevelewis said:

The  most  recent SLW  24  I  bought  was  FEB 21  fully fitted  with  sound  on  board  total  cost  inc   shipping  was  £305,  it  must  be  considered  though  that  when  the SLW 25s  are released  the  price will most likely be higher, very nice people to  deal with though.  I cannot  answer  your  query  though  but   there  would  possibly  not  much  in  it!

 

When I rang SLW to put my order in for a couple, Phil was quite reassuring that the base DCC sound models (no extras like supercap or EM/P4) would come in at £295 when they arrive late summer.

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3 hours ago, Stevelewis said:

I  received  a  WEATHERED  GREEN  Ref 2531  class  25  today,  it  is  now  packed  up  and  awaiting ROYAL MAIL  Collection  service  tomorrow  for  its  return to  the  supplying  retailer  ( Not a  long  journey  for  it from  our  North  Wales  address!!)

 

I was apalled  when  I  opened  the  box  the  weathering  is  the  worst  factory applied I  have  ever   seen  on  a  RTR  Loco,    vertical  brush  marks   are apparent  on  the  body  sides (vertically) the  roof  appears to  have  been randomly daubed  with weathering  paint  and  even  the  cab windows  have  had  the  treatment!  so much  so the  interiors  are  not  visible, (would  have  been  nice if  the person  doing   the  so called  weathering  had  wiped  an arc on  the  windscreens to indicate  the  windscreen wipers 'path')

 

I would  advise  any one  thinking  of  a  Heljan  weathered 25 purchase to try to  actually  see the  model  first, but  currently  this  is rather  difficult!

 

The photos at Olivia's Trains show the factory haven't quite grasped the weathered look...

1614817297IMG_7198.JPG

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11 minutes ago, maico said:

 

The photos at Olivia's Trains show the factory haven't quite grasped the weathered look...

1614817297IMG_7198.JPG

Yes   my  returned  Green  one  was rather  similar  but  the  cab windows  were almost total obscured and  its  yellow panels  were much more messy  BUT  the  buffer heads  were totally untouched!! 

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1 hour ago, Zunnan said:

 

 

Cheers, just weighing up whether to pull the trigger on fitting out a Heljan model as a stop gap being as I exterminated my fleet of older Bachmann Rats. That comes in at £296 (£153 loco plus £143 install) plus postage for the Heljan model with a decent twin speaker install and a quality decoder, or a shade lower doing the install myself. I'll have to see if I can abuse my club discount and source through the club in order. It'll be interesting to see how much lower it can be done for.

 

 

When I rang SLW to put my order in for a couple, Phil was quite reassuring that the base DCC sound models (no extras like supercap or EM/P4) would come in at £295 when they arrive late summer.

That  is  very   good  and  welcome  news   Well done  SLW

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12 hours ago, 97406 said:

Proper!

Needs a dirty weekend at some point!

 

Think the cab front handrails may get replaced with wire.

 

The cab windows would benefit from black around the inner edges which is what I do with FYE locos (the ones without bonnets)

 

DSC01517 (2).JPG

I stand corrected on the cab front handrails, they are wire. The bow can be got rid of by removing and putting back on the other way up, it seems!

A couple of tiny blobs of thin superglue on the little mounded pips that they sit on to keep them in place and they sit straight, now.

Edited by 97406
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15 hours ago, adb968008 said:

.....


at this point, meet me... I went undercover for this...shrunk myself down..

 

modelu scan in 2018 of me... I’m not normally red in real life.

 

I tried to access the Heljan cab...

 

I have cabbed several class 25’s in my lifetime, indeed cab rided them too.

 

now its been a few years and ive gained a few pounds... but there just isnt any way i’m squeezing through that door or those handrails...
FA2EA663-AE07-4BC1-AA7A-0354D13C0F32.jpeg.11809a55538ba017c409596b949b0883.jpeg

 

 

I don't think those funky 70s platform soles help with the matter. On a more serious note, I do like your Sulzer fleet a lot and to me the Bachmann one stands out the worst due to the curve on the cab roof. So much so that mine ended up with Hornby cabs.

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8 hours ago, maico said:

 

The photos at Olivia's Trains show the factory haven't quite grasped the weathered look...

1614817297IMG_7198.JPG

 

That was done to death several pages ago, why restart it? Did you read those parts or not? 

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12 hours ago, 61661 said:

Really sorry to see that you got one of the duff weathered locos. Returning it is the correct thing to do so that we can get the affected examples out of circulation ASAP. 

 

, or flog 'em off cheap to those of us with a IPA/Dettol/Dot 4 bath of death?

Of course, that's assuming you'd sell one to a Blade?!!

 

Mike.

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12 hours ago, Patriot87003 said:

There’s a rat in my kitchen ....

84583CE6-BE53-478B-AB44-3737C3B72644.jpeg.a059e4d85bd756054257fbe4718aca3f.jpeg

 

... and now it’s on my layout!

8530C806-7602-457B-914E-6F215E6EF476.jpeg.69144e23c02598e27ec1e06d0fed7714.jpeg

 

An action shot below showing the domino marker lights (my layout is currently DC)

7E1EE02B-D1D5-426B-A098-A7644B82C058.jpeg.3d45f7cf8b4b906070d729ec763ad531.jpeg

 

Within the box are the accessory bags with mini ploughs, plates, tension lock couplings and pipes etc.

9AB4A95B-521B-4965-B6EC-65009A428651.jpeg.96a8fa138c28762f9b06d253db2a2d20.jpeg

 

My WCML layout is from around mid 1980’s to early 2000’s and during my first trip along the WCML during 1986, I can remember seeing a Class 25 at Stafford. Very pleased with the purchase so far ... very smooth runner.

Lovely looking layout Sir 

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12 hours ago, Stevelewis said:

The  most  recent SLW  24  I  bought  was  FEB 21  fully fitted  with  sound  on  board  total  cost  inc   shipping  was  £305,  it  must  be  considered  though  that  when  the SLW 25s  are released  the  price will most likely be higher, very nice people to  deal with though.  I cannot  answer  your  query  though  but   there  would  possibly  not  much  in  it!

For £305 I'm guessing you didn't get the super cap option? I have 2 SLW 24's that have cost me £325 ea + delivery , I also have one that I bought second hand that had been seriously mistreated by it's previous owner , fortunately after a lovely chat with Phil all the parts on the model that were missing/damaged were in the post to me , also there will be no difference in price with the 25's when they are released

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