Cavalex Models All new RTR BBA wagon in 4mm scale

[Krieghoff]

22 hours ago, Trains4U said:

We still currently have reasonable stocks of all versions 

though our exclusive Railfreight versions are down to about 40% remaining (after just 12 days)

Ive just bought three from you guys. 

[hmrspaul]

 

BBA01 MT(1) DP   Rails Exclusive

910265 had black end plates 

https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/bba/e8d157a60  July 90

 

and photos of the model - note non of the 'extras' have been added. 

 

 

 

 

 

whilst 910333 had yellow end plates with grey on the side of the end plates. 

https://PaulBartlett.zenfolio.com/bba/e8d157a7a Paint Sept 90

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul

Edited January 1, 2022 by hmrspaul

[Krieghoff]

Hi All

I wonder if someone could possibly hep me. I have received all 7 of my Cavalex BBA wagons which are superb however, non of them have any stanchions fitted. There is a detailing pack with ONE set of metal stanchions sealed in every pack but none already fitted. Apart from the obvious (You fit the detailing pack stanchions) my understanding is that the wagons come already fitted and the spare set in the pack is exactly that....spare stanchions. 

 

Could someone kindly offer up the definitive answer please as Dean Parks review cetainly suggests that there should be a set fitted with a spare set for every wagon !

 

Many thanks

 

 

[Southwich]

14 minutes ago, Krieghoff said:

Hi All

I wonder if someone could possibly hep me. I have received all 7 of my Cavalex BBA wagons which are superb however, non of them have any stanchions fitted. There is a detailing pack with ONE set of metal stanchions sealed in every pack but none already fitted. Apart from the obvious (You fit the detailing pack stanchions) my understanding is that the wagons come already fitted and the spare set in the pack is exactly that....spare stanchions. 

 

Could someone kindly offer up the definitive answer please as Dean Parks review cetainly suggests that there should be a set fitted with a spare set for every wagon !

 

Many thanks

 

 

Hi Krieghoff,

 

Thanks very much for your purchase. On the second batch of BBAs we took the decision to have the stanchions supplied in the detail pack rather than fitted to the outside of the wagon in the first batch. This was to allow the customer to place the stanchions in any configuration they wanted, depending on which load the wagon is carrying.
 

It was quite difficult to remove the stanchions from the outside pockets without potentially damaging the deck, which is why we took this approach rather than having them pre-fitted. 

 

Hope that helps - if you need anything further please let us know.

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Krieghoff]

4 minutes ago, Southwich said:

Hi Krieghoff,

 

Thanks very much for your purchase. On the second batch of BBAs we took the decision to have the stanchions supplied in the detail pack rather than fitted to the outside of the wagon in the first batch. This was to allow the customer to place the stanchions in any configuration they wanted, depending on which load the wagon is carrying.
 

It was quite difficult to remove the stanchions from the outside pockets without potentially damaging the deck, which is why we took this approach rather than having them pre-fitted. 

 

Hope that helps - if you need anything further please let us know.

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

Hi Will

Thats answered my question thanks. They are superb wagons and i have just ordered the Rails double set and a couple of BLA's as well. Keep up the good work

 

[Southwich]

12 minutes ago, Krieghoff said:

Hi Will

Thats answered my question thanks. They are superb wagons and i have just ordered the Rails double set and a couple of BLA's as well. Keep up the good work

 

No worries - happy to help. Thanks for your support!
 

Kind regards,

 

Will

[Krieghoff]

Just received my twin pack of BBA's from Rails today. This now compliments/supplements the other 7 BBA's in Railfreight livery. All i can say is that they are absolutely fantastic wagons.

 

If the Class 56 Cavalex is as good as the wagons, we will be onto a winner here folks. Well done to the guys for bringing these wagons to the market. I look back to my childhood and could only dream of the attention to detail that not only Cavalex are bringing to the market now but other manufacturers as well. 

 

Keep pushing the boundaries guys 

[martin_l_jones]

I bought the three EWS BLA's from KMS to mix in and extend my rake of Bachmann BZA's and Accurascale JSA Open Steel Coil Carriers, they are also really nice wagons but disappointed that they had no coils with them.

 

 

[RBE]

We assessed the possibility of supplying coils with the BLA's during the first run and decided at that time that factory produced steel coils would not have been of the same quality regarding accuracy and realism as the wagon they were going into so left it up to the customer to make their own or source coils of complimentary standard.

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, RBE said:

We assessed the possibility of supplying coils with the BLA's during the first run and decided at that time that factory produced steel coils would not have been of the same quality regarding accuracy and realism as the wagon they were going into so left it up to the customer to make their own or source coils of complimentary standard.

Totally agree and you can see that by the examples you got with your Dapol and Accurascale wagons!

I have added Goodwood Scenics Rolled steel loads to my Cavalex wagons and they are superb!!

 

[andythenorth]

Bought 2 of these, they're so good I bought another 10 or so.  

 

Excellent detail, very good value for the price.

 

Really like the Cavalex packaging too, minimalist size and nice colours.

 

Couple of minor niggles:

• quite a number of the wheelsets were out of gauge when checked with a back-to-back - mostly too narrow, one had a wheel set wide and with a distinct wobble.  
• most of the wagons have a squeak from one or more axles, more noticeable on curves (3rd radius) but also happens on straights, improved in some cases after fixing the back-to-back, cleaning plastic dust off the pinpoints and adding a tiny blob of PTFE, but it's proving hard to eliminate.  I've got some HO US grain hoppers with a similar problem

Really happy with these though, recommended.

[martin_l_jones]

2 hours ago, JohnC said:

Totally agree and you can see that by the examples you got with your Dapol and Accurascale wagons!

I have added Goodwood Scenics Rolled steel loads to my Cavalex wagons and they are superb!!

 

 

What size did you purchase as they look far too big for the cradles.....

[RBE]

For the BLA you need 24mm diameter x 12mm thick or 19mm diameter x 14mm thick dependent on what prototype coil sizes you are replicating.

 

[Lowlander]

I also was wondering about loads for the BLA's. I see them advertised, but at £20 per wagon, I was a bit put off. Does anyone know if there are any other recommended suppliers out there?

Edited January 10, 2022 by ayrmrg

[RBE]

Yes Goodwood Scenics do great work and were the company that we approached to produce loads for us to ship with our models, however they didn't work out to be cost effective in our range so we settled on them being potentially available as optional extras from GS directly.

[slg]

11 hours ago, ayrmrg said:

I also was wondering about loads for the BLA's. I see them advertised, but at £20 per wagon, I was a bit put off. Does anyone know if there are any other recommended suppliers out there?

 

It's worth subscribing to their site as they do from time to time send out discount codes, I ended up getting some and they are very good.

[Lowlander]

16 hours ago, RBE said:

Yes Goodwood Scenics do great work and were the company that we approached to produce loads for us to ship with our models, however they didn't work out to be cost effective in our range so we settled on them being potentially available as optional extras from GS directly.

Would it maybe worth approaching one/some of the new 3d printing people? They are producing some excellent detailing parts etc, at reasonable prices. 

Edited January 12, 2022 by ayrmrg

[JohnC]

Just bought some more on EBay as you get discount for multiple order and definitely worth it!

 

[Lowlander]

Hi

 

They are just as cheap buying direct from the makers. Retailers usually put a mark up on ebay due to the charges. 

[Krieghoff]

A BIG thank you to the guys at Cavalex. Ordered two BLA's from rails of sheffield and they arrived minus the two detail packs. An email to The guys and the replacement packs were here within a day. Top customer service from this team and great communication.

 

Thank you !!!

 

[Melangoose]

Lovely, lovely wagons, well done Cavalex.

 

 

[faa77]

Alex/Cav, slight oddity with the packaging. For some reason the plastic which "seats" the right bogey is a different depth to the left side. It's slightly shallower and forces the bogey upwards, to sit at a bit of an awkward angle. It's minor but should be easy to fix.

 

Lovely model though!!!!!! 

 

Given how similar they are to the BBA, could you please produce these 13x BWA which Baz mentioned a few years ago:

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by faa77

[bazjones1711]

15 hours ago, faa77 said:

Alex/Cav, slight oddity with the packaging. For some reason the plastic which "seats" the right bogey is a different depth to the left side. It's slightly shallower and forces the bogey upwards, to sit at a bit of an awkward angle. It's minor but should be easy to fix.

 

Lovely model though!!!!!! 

 

Given how similar they are to the BBA, could you please produce these 13x BWA which Baz mentioned a few years ago:

 

These are the slab /coil BBA without ends , first appeared in the early 1980's , there were 33 wagons in the pool

BBA wagon pool 4225 Various to various stainless slab / coil .

Total 33

910003 , 006 , 112 , 170 , 179 , 216 , 223 , 234 , 235 , 258 , 264 , 269 , 275 , 292 , 307 , 413 , 420 , 421 , 422 , 423 , 424 , 425 , 426 , 427 , 440 , 441 , 447 , 450 , 461 , 465 , 469 , 484 , 489 .

These 33 wagons were fitted with 6 traverse cradles for carrying stainless slab cast from Tinsley Park steelworks to the East coast ports like Grimsby for an onward sea journey to Germany for rolling , only to be brought back on the same wagons now as coil to Tinsley and Panteg , slab also ran from Tinsley to Lackenby and Port Talbot to be rolled into coil , but as these plants dealt with normal steel , the process of rolling stainless was not best suited to these two plants , hence a switch to European plants . These wagons ran with BDA , BMA with slab and SPA , BAA , BDW  with imported coil either as semi finished coil to Tinsley and Panteg or as wrapped finished steel to the likes of Wolverhampton , Brierley Hill etc..

Liveries of these were black with railfreight logo and red cradles or original bauxite brown with brown cradles .

[bazjones1711]

Addition information on BWA wagons :

The 13 BWA were : 910223 , 234 , 264 , 269 , 307 , 413 , 421 , 422 , 426 , 440 , 450 , 484 , 489 . these were fitted with 5 BZA type cradles and no ends , having come from the pool of 33 BBA in Pool 4225 , again all without ends that worked from Tinsley with slab and coil .

Cambrian BBA wagon with Stenson Models etched cradles ( BZA type )

[mudmagnet]

Weathered my trio and added my own loads.