Heljan announce re-tooled Class 86 in OO

[97406]

11 hours ago, cairnsroadworks said:

I think it might be the white stripe that is slightly too wide but I haven’t started tinkering yet. My 404 is going blue as 402 anyways ;-)

I’ll use transfers on mine. at least it’ll be easy getting the masking tape straight using the old join as a guide. If the 86/0 is anything to go by, the glazing will be well-glued in, but it does come out if you use a small, sharp flat-bladed screw driver to carefully prize the glazing units from the glazing bars where the glue is. Push the blade of the screwdriver upwards along the length of the glazing bar up from the bottom, and avoid waggling it too much. It will slice through the fillet of glue, but take your time doing it. Stick back in with acrylic varnish afterwards.

 

Please excuse  the late  edit, the forum went down when I tried doing it earlier.

Edited January 25, 2022 by 97406

[letterspider]

I have just received an 86/6 in Freightliner green

 

The TDM cables are moulded but to my eye are very fine and precisely painted - only the modeller demanding the highest levels of precision could, or would want to correct them and the same applies to the pantograph.

 

Evidence of a lot of thought of the fine details by the designers to make a really pleasing product, I can understand why they have sold out.

 

This was a big gamble to take against Hornby and hopefully Heljan will think about the 82 , 83 and 84 as well as the Class 86 in Network Rail livery

 

 

 

[97406]

Every printer should have one. Or 3. Apart from the odd loose handrail, they are very good. Hopefully a stripy one will join them in the next few days! All will be fettled, but they are good out of the box.

[cairnsroadworks]

8 hours ago, 97406 said:

I’ll use transfers on mine. at least it’ll be easy getting the masking tape straight using the old join as a guide. If the 86/0 is anything to go by, the glazing will be well-glued in, but it does come out if you use a small, sharp flat-bladed screw driver to carefully prize the glazing units from the glazing bars where the glue is. Push the blade of the screwdriver upwards along the length of the glazing bar up from the bottom, and avoid waggling it too much. It will slice through the fillet of glue, but take your time doing it. Stick back in with acrylic varnish afterwards.

 

Please excuse  the late  edit, the forum went down when I tried doing it earlier.

Thanks for the tips on the stripping, much appreciated. The Bachmann 90s are a nightmare but I run a small amount of models trip along the edges of the glazing which works ok. You just need to be careful not to get it on the exterior part of the windows. 

[Hal Nail]

51 minutes ago, cairnsroadworks said:

I run a small amount of models trip along the edges of the glazing which works ok. You just need to be careful not to get it on the exterior part of the windows. 

Popping things in the freezer can loosen glue with no force or chemicals involved. 

[97406]

The 80s (and maybe a little early 90s) collection.

[Carl BR]

Any opinions on the BW pan that's fitted to 86404? Will it happily run up against wire's? I'm hoping that mine is waiting for me at home. 

[letterspider]

2 hours ago, Hal Nail said:

Popping things in the freezer can loosen glue with no force or chemicals involved. 

 

This is a good technique - its amazing how super glue seems to crack and flake off

However the plastic does become brittle and I have had a Vitrains body shell split right down the middle just from the handling of it while removing it from the freezer!

[cairnsroadworks]

2 hours ago, 97406 said:

The 80s (and maybe a little early 90s) collection.

That is a frothy line up. Now get to work on 404 ;-)

[97406]

1 hour ago, cairnsroadworks said:

That is a frothy line up. Now get to work on 404 ;-)

Innit!  

The bodies are as tight as a gnat’s chuff to get off. I found that using thick plasticard inserts by the clips and then a bit of leverage around the cabsides worked without damaging the underframe detail. A few choice swear words also helped! Looks like my stripey one is in at Hattons, so not long to wait, now!

[Norski]

4 hours ago, 97406 said:

The 80s (and maybe a little early 90s) collection.

 

Lovely shot. I like your OHLE as well. Is there a mix of products going on there ?

[97406]

18 minutes ago, Norski said:

 

Lovely shot. I like your OHLE as well. Is there a mix of products going on there ?

The wires are Peco, and the gantries are Scale Model Scenery laser board jobbies. The droppers are  scratchbuilt. The geometry matches the Peco spec as per the testbed below:

[97406]

I’ve stretched the panto springs on all 3 so they don’t strain the catenary wire too much. I’m getting some Marklin springs of varying lengths to replace them. The pan heads sometimes flop over against the wire, so could do with a solution to that. I’ve put a Sommerfeldt pantograph on a modified Hornby base on the 86/3, but would like to retain the originals if possible on the new ones. With a coat of grey paint and some weathering.

[Carl BR]

My 86404 was waiting for my at home and once having had a good look at it I've come to conclude that the BW Pan won't be happy running up against wire's with the head not wanting to hold position and excessive upward pressure even after softening the spring tension. 

[Norski]

2 hours ago, 97406 said:

The wires are Peco, and the gantries are Scale Model Scenery laser board jobbies. The droppers are  scratchbuilt. The geometry matches the Peco spec as per the testbed below:

 

Cheers - They look the business. Ive built the scale model scenery gantries but its the scratch built droppers that are out of my skill zone / knowledge at present. 

 

 

[Ncarter2]

As I missed the RES ones, I opted to get one of 86634. It arrived today and the excitement soon turned to dismay. 
Unlike the pair of 86622, the livery finish on this one is terrible. The light grey is patchy, and is full of what looks like sanding marks. This one will have to be sent back. Has anyone else had any livery finish issues? 

[43179]

That's disappointing about the paint finish - but also a rather unflattering shot of the bogies - 

I cant help thinking that the sideframes off the old Hornby 86 would do wonders for the model - (I think they'd need to be stretched as they're a tad short from memory)  the half moulded brake cylinders and various other details on the bogies in general all look a bit 'flat and 2 - dimensional -  one of several areas of this model that look a bit more '1992' than '2022' perhaps.  I'm guessing the sideframes on these just unplug as per usual with Heljan locos?

 

Jon  

 

[97406]

Mine RFD example is a little bit like that, but nowhere near as bad. It will be getting weathered slightly in my case. 

 

Hattons have some of the executive ones in stock again. Mine is on its way. This will be the first one that I dive into. I quite like the look of 430 in the linked image. Note the black cab window surrounds and the positioning of the lower edge of the grey band over the headcode box.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tutenkhamunsleeping/5251356950/

Edited January 26, 2022 by 97406

[Pete the Elaner]

On 24/01/2022 at 22:50, Ncarter2 said:

My RfD pair turned up today, just need to renumber one, either 86608 or 86618. 
Sadly missed out of the RES example, hopefully more will arrive soon. 

RES also had some 86/2s so if you do miss out on these, you should get another chance later.

There are lots of other potential possibilities for 86/4s so I doubt this will be the only batch.

[cairnsroadworks]

1 hour ago, 97406 said:

Mine RFD example is a little bit like that, but nowhere near as bad. It will be getting weathered slightly in my case. 

 

Hattons have some of the executive ones in stock again. Mine is on its way. This will be the first one that I dive into. I quite like the look of 430 in the linked image. Note the black cab window surrounds and the positioning of the lower edge of the grey band over the headcode box.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tutenkhamunsleeping/5251356950/

It’ll need a pantograph swap but I suspect you have that in hand anyways :-) if you end up with a spare BW pan I’ll take it off your hands haha. I have my eye on that one too. 

[97406]

There are 3 RES ones showing in stock at Hattons, @Ncarter2

Rails are still showing them as On Order, but I’d keep checking them.

Also Olivias, but you’re paying full whack plus postage on them, alas.

[97406]

1 hour ago, cairnsroadworks said:

It’ll need a pantograph swap but I suspect you have that in hand anyways :-) if you end up with a spare BW pan I’ll take it off your hands haha. I have my eye on that one too. 

Actually, if you have one of the really old Hornby AMBR pans that went on their first 86, then I’ll swap for one of those as the Mazac base can be machined and is a good fit for the Sommerfeldt 927. My Heljan 86/3 has just that. They go for silly money on Ebay

[Ncarter2]

34 minutes ago, 97406 said:

There are 3 RES ones showing in stock at Hattons, @Ncarter2

Rails are still showing them as On Order, but I’d keep checking them.

Also Olivias, but you’re paying full whack plus postage on them, alas.

Hattons now down to 1. 
Thank you for the tip off. 

[cairnsroadworks]

1 hour ago, 97406 said:

Actually, if you have one of the really old Hornby AMBR pans that went on their first 86, then I’ll swap for one of those as the Mazac base can be machined and is a good fit for the Sommerfeldt 927. My Heljan 86/3 has just that. They go for silly money on Ebay

That’s a shame, alas I don’t. 

[97406]

47 minutes ago, cairnsroadworks said:

That’s a shame, alas I don’t. 

I can try and scratchbuild one. I tried modifying the Heljan AMBR base to accommodate the Sommerfeldt pan, but it’s plastic and broke under the strain of my fettling! PH Designs used to do an etched base, but it was out of production last time I checked.