Heljan announce re-tooled Class 86 in OO

[97406]

On 10/04/2021 at 16:09, 97406 said:

I recall Ben said a few days back that they are in transit between Denmark and the UK. They have today's customs to get through, plus quality control, distribution, etc. In the pandemic as well. It does look like they will be worth the wait though!

Looks like customs clearance from the EU is typically taking 14 days, and it is necessary to pay customs for the privilege. I’ll save my political rantings for elsewhere.

[ac1874]

Rails stated yesterday that Heljan had told them that the models have been sent. Whether that means from Denmark or a local distributor though, probably makes a huge difference as to whether it will be a few days or a few weeks.

Edited April 14, 2021 by ac1874

[Michael Hodgson]

5 hours ago, 97406 said:

I’ll save my political rantings for elsewhere.

No, no.  Please carry on - everybody else is !

[97406]

24 minutes ago, Michael Hodgson said:

No, no.  Please carry on - everybody else is !

Yep! For goods made in the Far East, a lot of the customers I deal with ship direct to the UK or EU now to avoid the UK/EU border. I appreciate that Heljan Denmark may wish to QC the goods themselves before the final release to the UK operation, but direct shipping could perhaps be a solution for the short term at least. It’s terrible that a couple of friends’ businesses are feeling the pinch at the moment, and it is a real risk to them going under at the moment. What with the pandemic as well. 

[Francis deWeck]

23 hours ago, 97406 said:

Yep! For goods made in the Far East, a lot of the customers I deal with ship direct to the UK or EU now to avoid the UK/EU border. I appreciate that Heljan Denmark may wish to QC the goods themselves before the final release to the UK operation, but direct shipping could perhaps be a solution for the short term at least. It’s terrible that a couple of friends’ businesses are feeling the pinch at the moment, and it is a real risk to them going under at the moment. What with the pandemic as well. 

Perhaps they could suborn one of the media outlets, or one of their principal vendors in the UK to do the QC work; this might be cheaper than passing thru the EU and then to the UK. Just a thought.....

[brushman47544]

23 hours ago, 97406 said:

Yep! For goods made in the Far East, a lot of the customers I deal with ship direct to the UK or EU now to avoid the UK/EU border. I appreciate that Heljan Denmark may wish to QC the goods themselves before the final release to the UK operation, but direct shipping could perhaps be a solution for the short term at least. It’s terrible that a couple of friends’ businesses are feeling the pinch at the moment, and it is a real risk to them going under at the moment. What with the pandemic as well. 

Being in the EU and since the models go via Heljan in Denmark, it would be nice to be able to buy from Heljan direct and avoid UK to EU customs. But it seems that only older models that did not sell out to retailers are available direct.

[letterspider]

Buying any OO model direct from Denmark, so far considerably more expensive than the usual channels. 

 

[adb968008]

4 hours ago, brushman47544 said:

Being in the EU and since the models go via Heljan in Denmark, it would be nice to be able to buy from Heljan direct and avoid UK to EU customs. But it seems that only older models that did not sell out to retailers are available direct.

Try modelbahnunion

 

https://www.modellbahnunion.com

 

They stock a lot of OO, they have the Blue Heljan 25 in stock right now for instance

 

https://www.modellbahnunion.com/e-vendo.php?SessionId=&a=search&SearchStr=Class+25

at usual UK discount rates too.

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by adb968008

[ThaneofFife]

does anybody know if the executive 86/4 release will feature the upgraded lighting with cab  interior lights which i understand this first batch  of 86/0's is not getting? 

[YesTor]

On 07/04/2021 at 21:27, Patriot87003 said:

 

 

 

Why are the bogie steps so incredibly 'chunky'?

[adb968008]

6 hours ago, YesTor said:

 

Why are the bogie steps so incredibly 'chunky'?

It begins...

Edited April 17, 2021 by adb968008

[SGP]

Quote

Why are the bogie steps so incredibly 'chunky'?

Quote

It begins...

Yeah, cab steps far too chunky ... bottom kickplate too high making the cab door too short, in turn making the sandbox filler rectangular instead of square (which should not there anyway on early locos with the short rainstrip). Yellow front wraps too far around. There seems to be a Beclawat strip at the top of all cab windows. And on that comparison pic, I'm done.

Edited April 17, 2021 by SGP

[charliepetty]

11 hours ago, YesTor said:

 

Why are the bogie steps so incredibly 'chunky'?

Things like steps ond other fine components are always an issue, scale steps will break very easily when man handled by the masses, thus you get 'Faulty Returns'. I know from experience that 'If' a step or other small component comes adrift (drops off), they we have about a 10% of customers return the product as faulty, the finer the component, the more damaged returns you get.

There sometimes has to be a commercial compromise to save 100's of returns/complaints.

 

In this current world of RTR models, nothing is good enough for some, you will always get 1% of people on forums moaning about 'Issues' they are not happy with, you cannot win here.

 

Well done Heljan for doing a 99% accurate model, I never understood why Bachmann did the Class 85 and not the better selling (Multiple Liveries) as on the Class 86.

 

Charlie

[YesTor]

2 hours ago, charliepetty said:

Things like steps ond other fine components are always an issue, scale steps will break very easily when man handled by the masses

 

Charlie

 

I get that totally, but there's a difference between 'slightly overscale to meet the demands of mass production' and downright chunky.  I'm not suggesting that I wouldn't purchase because of it, but it does detract somewhat visually, to my eye at least.  It was just an observation anyways 

 

Best

Al

Edited April 17, 2021 by YesTor

[YesTor]

2 hours ago, charliepetty said:

I never understood why Bachmann did the Class 85 and not the better selling (Multiple Liveries) as on the Class 86.

 

Totally agreed.

[stovepipe]

I thought the original Heljan 86 came out before the Bachmann 85 - 2010 vs 2012.

[wombatofludham]

No idea how people are judging these models seeing as my pre-order hasn't arrived yet.

 

[Gibbo675]

2 hours ago, wombatofludham said:

No idea how people are judging these models seeing as my pre-order hasn't arrived yet.

 

Hi Mr Wombat,

 

I agree, its a shame for them especially the ones that don't build their own models such as I do. Here is some of the absolute rubbish I produce from bits of old Trix body shells and incorrect pantographs !

 

 

Gibbo.

[ThaneofFife]

On 17/04/2021 at 00:52, YesTor said:

 

Why are the bogie steps so incredibly 'chunky'?

 

Youre way too late to the party now to be finding fault.........any concerns should have been raised a long time back with the development of this model.   I noticed a few things not quite right with Hornby's forthcoming Class 87 "87006" City of Glasgow albeit it was only being shown as a pre-production sample image but I got my feedback into Simon Kohler before final artwork was due to be signed off for this version. 

[ThaneofFife]

16 hours ago, wombatofludham said:

No idea how people are judging these models seeing as my pre-order hasn't arrived yet.

 

I look forward to reading your first impressions when it arrives.......

[ThaneofFife]

16 hours ago, YesTor said:

 

Totally agreed.

 

19 hours ago, charliepetty said:

Things like steps ond other fine components are always an issue, scale steps will break very easily when man handled by the masses, thus you get 'Faulty Returns'. I know from experience that 'If' a step or other small component comes adrift (drops off), they we have about a 10% of customers return the product as faulty, the finer the component, the more damaged returns you get.

There sometimes has to be a commercial compromise to save 100's of returns/complaints.

 

In this current world of RTR models, nothing is good enough for some, you will always get 1% of people on forums moaning about 'Issues' they are not happy with, you cannot win here.

 

Well done Heljan for doing a 99% accurate model, I never understood why Bachmann did the Class 85 and not the better selling (Multiple Liveries) as on the Class 86.

 

Charlie

I'm wondering why they never (to date) followed the 85 up with the 81......very similar. 

[97406]

14 minutes ago, ThaneofFife said:

 

Youre way too late to the party now to be finding fault.........any concerns should have been raised a long time back with the development of this model.   I noticed a few things not quite right with Hornby's forthcoming Class 87 "87006" City of Glasgow albeit it was only being shown as a pre-production sample image but I got my feedback into Simon Kohler before final artwork was due to be signed off for this version. 

Besides, if it still bothers you when it’s sat on the layout, then do something about it. With the ladders, I’ll wager replacements can be made easily from a suitable etch - signal ladders look promising. That’s what makes the hobby fun for me. Not buying a ready-made loco and plonking it on a layout and that’s it. It’s tweaking it until I’m happy with it. I still draw the line somewhere.

I really can’t be bothered with the door handle recesses or those little triangular steps under the corners of the buffer beams on my Hornby models, but they have reached a point where I look at them and gain a sense of nostalgia for those days in the late 70s or 80s or whichever period the layout represents today.

 

I can see my banger blue 86/0 getting sealed beam lights and multiple working stuff in due course. From the pics it looks like an easy conversion to do and the lights will work  

[wombatofludham]

6 hours ago, ThaneofFife said:

I look forward to reading your first impressions when it arrives.......

At least it'll be based on having the model running on the layout, not magazine or publicity photos.  That was the point I was making. 

I agree with Charlie, sometimes when making an adult toy you have to make compromises or risk having business-damaging levels of returns due to fiddly fine details getting broken.  Or, leave them for the owner to apply and risk a huge outcry over having to finish the detailing yourself.

[D9001]

6 hours ago, wombatofludham said:

At least it'll be based on having the model running on the layout, not magazine or publicity photos.  That was the point I was making. 

I agree with Charlie, sometimes when making an adult toy you have to make compromises or risk having business-damaging levels of returns due to fiddly fine details getting broken.  Or, leave them for the owner to apply and risk a huge outcry over having to finish the detailing yourself.

 

“when making an adult toy you have to make compromises”

 

I’ll pass that on to Ann Summers 

 

(Hat, coat, etc. )

[stovepipe]

I see one has appeared on ebay before they have reached the shops.

 

Heljan 8650 Class 86/0 E3104 in BR blue with lion on wheel emblem 'as built' (OO | eBay

 

I'm not sure how that works.