Hornby goes Steampunk in 2020

[Coryton]

16 minutes ago, LocoLaurie said:

Hornby also want to give people the idea, and then see what they come up with. Over to you folks really......

 

Maybe they could offer bare chassies and wagon bodies in the steampunk range for people to have their own go at then?

[GraemeWatson]

I have no problems with this steampunk range.

Looks like it could be fun.

 

[truffy]

1 hour ago, Coryton said:

I really don't think it works like that. If the people you annoy aren't your target market, you aren't doing yourself much harm. 

 

You're missing the point, which is if they're trying to onboard the non-railway enthusiast steampunk market, then they're not going the right way about it with a half-arsed steampunk mashup.

[Coryton]

17 minutes ago, truffy said:

 

You're missing the point, which is if they're trying to onboard the non-railway enthusiast steampunk market, then they're not going the right way about it with a half-arsed steampunk mashup.

 

Maybe. I think it depends what you mean by the steampunk market.

 

It seems to me that there are two different groups out there. The "true" steampunk market, who aren't likely to go for anything like this any more than most RMWebbers would buy that Flying Scotsman clock, and from what I'm reading here this is a group of people who don't want things that are ready-made anyway.

 

Then there's layouts like Cato Pass which seem to me something different, but also get called steampunk. They certainly seem to attract a lot of attention, and maybe there's demand from people who'd like to build something similar but with less effort.

 

 

1 hour ago, LocoLaurie said:

Hornby also want to give people the idea, and then see what they come up with. Over to you folks really......

 

That could be interesting. Some actual modelling?

[Coryton]

1 minute ago, adb968008 said:

Hmm...

 

Could be a new lease of life for my scrap box..

i’m thinking my old Hornby / Triang models of low value could be painted black with chalk / grey and glue on any left over parts from my toolbox, add a bit of rust and hey ho..

 

 

Might make a change for the old ebay staple of trying to make old models look ready for the scrap yard.

[sharris]

39 minutes ago, Coryton said:

 

Then there's layouts like Cato Pass which seem to me something different, but also get called steampunk.

 

When I saw Cato Pass last I thought it was more science fiction than steampunk, with more than a hint of a James Bond villain's underground lair about it.

 

As far as the Hornby range goes, someone a few pages back said it was more MadMax than steampunk  - more grimy with odd bits bolted on than shiny and aesthetic.

 

To my eye some of the early LNWR 2-2-2s, along with other early locos reflect what I think steampunk done well is like - ornate with shiny brass bits.

[pete_mcfarlane]

5 hours ago, AlexHolt said:

 Someone earlier in the thread said this was aimed at 'middle aged ex goths' ...

[GWR-fan]

With no disrespect intended to Laurie as I have viewed his videos for years,  BUT the question is WHY???????

[Pandora]

I did not view all of the Great Model Railway Challenge TV programmes,  of those I saw I  detect a commonality between the creative fantasies of certain  GMRC layouts, layouts with space rockets and dinosaurs,   and the Hornby Steampunk

[Pandora]

The outlets for the Steampunk products,  will they  be Wargame shops or model railway shops?

 

[drt7uk]

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

I have the 00 Police Box. (By the way my spelling was intentional - the British style-guide is to lowercase acronyms pronounced as a word - like "Nato". The US style-guide is to capitalize "NATO".) Unless of course the US style-guide has been adopted in Britain now.

 

I just made my Police Box spin!

 

Just stuck it on a 2 by 2 Lego turntable piece. A bit silly but why not

 

pan widget

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, drt7uk said:

I just made my Police Box spin!

 

Just stuck it on a 2 by 2 Lego turntable piece.

I love it!

[ruggedpeak]

Some of the comments remind me of the McDonald's coffee advert

 

 

It's a bit of fun and I hope it works for Hornby. And as I posted the other day, if you don't try new stuff you don't succeed or sometimes survive. And Mr BL was a businessman so I reckon he'd approve.

[eldomtom2]

6 hours ago, Pandora said:

The outlets for the Steampunk products,  will they  be Wargame shops or model railway shops?

 

I'd presume model shops, though none of them (not even Hornby's website) are listing them despite their supposed April release date. Hornby have only gotten into wargame shops via their generic scenery items.

[JSpencer]

Steampunk is a philosophy, mainly a design one. The main theme being to present something as someone in Victorian or Edwardian times would probably have liked it. It is not about cluttering up things with gear wheels and copper pipes. There is a practical purpose or at least appears to have a practical purpose whilst retaining a classical (Victorian/Edwardian) but classy look.

 

The locos here look like something from Warhammer battle space (they might actually sell well here for wargaming purposes!), the coaches...… bah uhm…. and the buildings like normal buildings with a couple of cogs on the outside that have no apparent purpose. Yes the young do like to dress up (role playing, cos play etc) and they go to exceptional detail and art doing this. The base idea from Hornby is quite good but not I am really convinced about by its execution.

 

[rosetheromani]

But if it is steam punk, and meant to be aimed at a different audience why oh why, did they stick with analogue technology, they should have embraced digital technology, and used it to redesign their basic four wheeled chassis so that it could hold a decent sized DCC chip and a small speaker. Have cogs that could move things, who knows things like a revolving parasol at the minimum, made steam sounds and more, have amazing lighting techniques. Then made the chassis modular so you could easily customize it. Think out of the box. To me this is not enough. Made me think, though, gives a whole new meaning to its my railway. To me it just says that Hornby is just trying to use the old tooling and that means disaster to me for Hornby. Let us see in the future if it was a clever decision or a lead weight for Hornby

[Coryton]

35 minutes ago, JSpencer said:

Steampunk is a philosophy, mainly a design one. The main theme being to present something as someone in Victorian or Edwardian times would probably have liked it. It is not about cluttering up things with gear wheels and copper pipes. There is a practical purpose or at least appears to have a practical purpose whilst retaining a classical (Victorian/Edwardian) but classy look

 

No, but the term (as often happens) seems to have been hjijacked to refer to something rather different.

 

19 minutes ago, rosetheromani said:

But if it is steam punk, and meant to be aimed at a different audience why oh why, did they stick with analogue technology, they should have embraced digital technology, and used it to redesign their basic four wheeled chassis so that it could hold a decent sized DCC chip and a small speaker. Have cogs that could move things, who knows things like a revolving parasol at the minimum, made steam sounds and more, have amazing lighting techniques. Then made the chassis modular so you could easily customize it. Think out of the box. To me this is not enough. Made me think, though, gives a whole new meaning to its my railway. To me it just says that Hornby is just trying to use the old tooling and that means disaster to me for Hornby. Let us see in the future if it was a clever decision or a lead weight for Hornby

 

Well so far as I can see if this doesn't sell well it won't be a disaster for Hornby because they have used old tooling and not made a big investment. Doing it your way might have paid off, but probably would have been a disaster if it didn't.

 

I find it interesting that the track pack on offer in this range consists of straights and points - no loop.

 

I also didn't see any mention of compatibility with the normal Hornby range, i.e. it makes it look as if what's on offer track-wise is all there is.

[papagolfjuliet]

That forty quid starter diorama set could well turn out to be the basis of a lot of microlayouts; I shall certainly be ordering a couple.

[ruggedpeak]

It occurs to me that the next RMWeb challenge could be based on the Steampunk range...........

 

I also note that loading gauge may be an issue for some of the locos on traditional layouts.

[papagolfjuliet]

1 minute ago, ruggedpeak said:

It occurs to me that the next RMWeb challenge could be based on the Steampunk range...........

 

In which case some of the bits and pieces in the Bachmann Thomas range might be suitable cases for treatment.

[ruggedpeak]

Just realised that the Starter Track might be problematic in terms of power, even if the power track was relocated. That needs a rethink perhaps?

[papagolfjuliet]

10 minutes ago, ruggedpeak said:

Just realised that the Starter Track might be problematic in terms of power, even if the power track was relocated. That needs a rethink perhaps?

 

It will probably be supplied with those staple-like dead frog bypass clips which are also found in Hornby DCC sets. Fine if you only want one engine; awkward if not.

[phil gollin]

.

 

What is missing is a "Steam Punk Turbo Car"   -    I would suggest this for next year, a Beam Engine driven 6-wheeler with a riveted plate formed giant spike !

 

.

[Mel_H]

10 hours ago, Coryton said:

 

That could be interesting. Some actual modelling?

 

Surely not!

[PaulRhB]

6 minutes ago, phil gollin said:

.

 

What is missing is a "Steam Punk Turbo Car"   -    I would suggest this for next year, a Beam Engine driven 6-wheeler with a riveted plate formed giant spike !

 

.

Ironically the battle space car in the quirky poll would be a good start  

 

Or this from Bandai in N where they offer a range of clip on bodies to standard shorty chassis. Very collectible and fun. 

 

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