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Hornby goes Steampunk in 2020


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21 hours ago, HonestTom said:

 

 

One idea I thought might be fun would be to produce a new bodyshell for the 0-4-0 that would have absolutely minimal detail, but a lot of holes that you could plug detail parts into. Elaborate funnels and domes, oddly-shaped tanks, different cab roofs, condensers, even crazier accessories like gun turrets, spikes, armour etc. That way, you could produce one new body, one new sprue of parts and give people the wherewithal to create a vast range of possible locomotives.

 

 

And why not ?  Its worked for Lego. They took a basic range that had been around for Donkeys years and started adding themed kits. Look how vast and varied the range is now, but all based around the Original.

 

Following on from the success of the GMRC show and the interest it stirred up, Hornby have an opportunity, at low cost, to tap in to a new market and trial something different. Que the howls from the NIMBY brigade,  but look just how successful GMRC was  and the NON MODEL RAILWAY audience it tapped into ?   I've seen loads of comments in here from various members saying  "it's terrible... It's not true Steampunk" etc, well guess what ? Until this cropped up , I had never heard of steampunk and wouldn't have a scooby how many cogs, levers and whirly bits go to make up Steampunk. But I looked at what Hormby are offering and kinda like it !  I've sent the link to various friends and family who have no interest in Railway Modelling (and never heard of Steampunk) but had  watched the GMRC show,  and guess what ?  They like it too  !! In fact a couple want to know when it will be launched :)

 

 IF. . and its a big IF, Steampunk proves successful then Hornby could  take a cheap, robust chassis with themed  resin body, in a starter pack with Track, controller etc and adapt it to any theme or commercial tie up they wish,  Then also do kits with a resin body (as in the quote above, with holes in) and  add-on packs,   so you can make  your own (kitbashing ?)  Nothing to also stop them launching some Airfix kits in the chosen theme at the same time. 

 

Its about hitting a DIFFERENT target audience and I think getting it into the right outlets along with  Advertising and Marketing will be crucial to its success

 

I wish them all the best 

 

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On 07/01/2020 at 02:29, Pandora said:

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

 

I can see that there will be a new lease of life for purveyors of junk on eBay - the damaged, “professionally weathered”, repainted, “rare, collectible” stuff - soon to be listed under the magic word “steampunk”.

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https://assassinscreed.fandom.com/wiki/Train

 

I think the aquisition of an Assassins Creed license could be a goer, I've been too busy fighting the Templars to truely appreciate the locos in the game, I'd recognised the Terrier and the Dukedog, but the illustraions here they look a good match with the Steam punk asthetic, any one fancy Minoiries with an Assasins Creed theme?

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13 hours ago, MarkSG said:

 

Unlike Nato or Radar, though, the TARDIS is a fictional entity for which there is a canonical form used in that fictional universe. The BBC uses the all-capital version, and that's also the version they have a registered trade mark for. So I think it's reasonable to stick with that version when referring to the same thing.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/5Dp7g7b0dSVhD2TM1xNlf7c/the-tardis

https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00002054001

Curious then that BBC One uses "The TARDIS" while "THE TARDIS" is trademarked. 

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10 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Curious then that BBC One uses "The TARDIS" while "THE TARDIS" is trademarked. 

 

If you look at that page, you'll see that it says "1 of 2" above "THE TARDIS". Click on the right arrow, and it becomes 2 of 2, which is "TARDIS".

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On ‎07‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 21:45, Pandora said:

It is valid point that the Caley Single would be a good candidate for the steampunk treatment, the large driving wheel and splasher as a focal point  for the makeover, the Caley single has a head start by exuding Victorian and Edwardian style in a manner which the 0-4-0 tank cannot compete

 

Maybe that's one of the old toolings that was destroyed though . The Rocket they are  re introducing is new tooling because of that  and if they were to reintroduce something Caley id prefer a 4-4-0. But not steam punk

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2 hours ago, Edwardian said:

Personally, I'd go for Cramptons; they're pretty much pre-punked as it is!

 

 

 Live_Steam_Model_Crampton_Loco_as172a456z.jpg.5fe70a40ad48c59f17e799f462864f63.jpg

cramp1.jpg.cb9b6e5cb2a7cff9938977b36fe05e28.jpg

 

Though some are weirder than others .....

 

No50 crampton.jpg

 

I think in general, steampunk creators miss out by not knowing how much bizarre steam-powered stuff really existed. Douglas Self's website is an absolute goldmine, and that's just for stuff that's considered weird among rail enthusiasts. If you don't know your trains, concepts like Fairlies, Brunton's steam horse and the NYC Hudson seem pretty out there.

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1 hour ago, Talltim said:

Petrol(gas)punk

And the problem there would be that any of the plant - whether off shore drilling rig, oil refinery or large scale tank farm immediately out-punks imagined punkery, and leaves if gasping on the sidelines.

 

There's a  thought. Perhaps we can rebrand the Buncefield tank farm explosion as a spontaneous and  ground (or possibly window) breaking example of gaspunk installation art? ('Gaspunk' has the better ring to it I feel, over petrolpunk.)

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I think perhaps if o e of the items was something tou coukd buy as a piece of ojet d'art and proudly display on the mantel piece rather than a few kitbashed 0-4-0s.

I can see the dilemma, rhey are a cheap way to toe dip the market, but they lack the wow factor that would tempt non modellers to buy.

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16 hours ago, Cunningham Loco & Machine Works said:

image.png.163cd768b9c7d4f3b34659235236df50.png

Here's an appropriately steampunk locomotive, which could even be built on a stock chassis.

The problem with steampunk is that its emulation of Victorian or Edwardian mechanical design is all too often extremely superficial and ill-informed, which results in not an emulation, but a poorly executed parody.

TB2NOgbDnJYBeNjy1zeXXahzVXa_!!3301220119.jpg

 

I blame Back to the Future III, which is generally wheeled out as an example of steampunk that everyone's seen and includes a locomotive that just has stuff stuck all over it. Now, in fairness, there is a legit reason for this in the film, but it's not exactly the Victorian aesthetic.

 

A very well-researched steampunk work is William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's novel The Difference Engine, which imagines that Charles Babbage perfected his Analytical Engine and so brought about a technological revolution. Consequently, the world is a very different place technologically, sociologically and politically

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I'm still trying to get a grip of this, as a non-Steampunker. 

 

It seems to me that Steampunk is probably an over-used and often inaccurately applied term, but that Steampunk is nevertheless a very varied genre, both in stylistic interpretation and quality.

 

How well the "Basset Lowke" range scores in terms of its stylistic interpretation and quality is for each customer to judge for themselves. 

 

Unlike a model based on a prototype (or prototype practice) there is clearly a far greater degree of subjectivity in any judgment one might make.

 

It comes down to whether it's to your taste. Rather like tea, different flavours suit different palates.  

 

And Steampunk strikes me as in any case hard to define, yet I feel that I know it when I see it. Am I seeing it here?

 

Well, while it's pretty hard to rule the Basset Lowke range definitively in or out as Steampunk, my feeling is that it's locos are more dystopian grunge sci-fi/diesel-punk, whereas the rolling stock and accessories are simply poor steampunk of the just-stick-some-gears-on-it-and-call-it-Steampunk Ebay tat variety.

 

Quite apart from questions of stylistic interpretation and quality, is the range even internally consistent and coherent? To me, the locos seem to follow a different aesthetic to the buildings, stock and figures.  Watch the promo-video posted a while back; the 1:1 scale Steampunkers and their shiny brass equipment do not seem to inhabit the same world as Hornby's locos.

 

We are told that the loco design is based on Laurie Calvert's work.  I like Laurie Calvert's work, and I think the concept of layouts such as Cato Pass is fun, refreshing and welcome. I like "non-literal" railway modelling. I'm a fan.

 

It appears to me, however, that Cato Pass is undeniably a sci-fi layout, apparently set on another planet.  This is not Wellsian or Vernian Victorian Sci-Fi, but a futuristic Warhammer 40K sci-fi, or "space opera", world.  I like it, but, to me, there is nothing Steampunk about it. Why the heck Hornby Execs thought it represented Steampunk, I don't know.  What, I wonder, do they think Steampunk is? I'm reminded of Mr Kohler in that TV prog, fumbling around virtual reality tech, feeling he should do something with it, but apparently not having much of a clue as to what.

 

Still, some may love it, and more power to their wallets!

 

 

 

 

 

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41 minutes ago, Edwardian said:

I'm still trying to get a grip of this, as a non-Steampunker. 

 

It seems to me that Steampunk is probably an over-used and often inaccurately applied term, but that Steampunk is nevertheless a very varied genre, both in stylistic interpretation and quality.

 

How well the "Basset Lowke" range scores in terms of its stylistic interpretation and quality is for each customer to judge for themselves. 

 

Unlike a model based on a prototype (or prototype practice) there is clearly a far greater degree of subjectivity in any judgment one might make.

 

It comes down to whether it's to your taste. Rather like tea, different flavours suit different palates.  

 

And Steampunk strikes me as in any case hard to define, yet I feel that I know it when I see it. Am I seeing it here?

 

Well, while it's pretty hard to rule the Basset Lowke range definitively in or out as Steampunk, my feeling is that it's locos are more dystopian grunge sci-fi/diesel-punk, whereas the rolling stock and accessories are simply poor steampunk of the just-stick-some-gears-on-it-and-call-it-Steampunk Ebay tat variety.

 

Quite apart from questions of stylistic interpretation and quality, is the range even internally consistent and coherent? To me, the locos seem to follow a different aesthetic to the buildings, stock and figures.  Watch the promo-video posted a while back; the 1:1 scale Steampunkers and their shiny brass equipment do not seem to inhabit the same world as Hornby's locos.

 

We are told that the loco design is based on Laurie Calvert's work.  I like Laurie Calvert's work, and I think the concept of layouts such as Cato Pass is fun, refreshing and welcome. I like "non-literal" railway modelling. I'm a fan.

 

It appears to me, however, that Cato Pass is undeniably a sci-fi layout, apparently set on another planet.  This is not Wellsian or Vernian Victorian Sci-Fi, but a futuristic Warhammer 40K sci-fi, or "space opera", world.  I like it, but, to me, there is nothing Steampunk about it. Why the heck Hornby Execs thought it represented Steampunk, I don't know.  What, I wonder, do they think Steampunk is? I'm reminded of Mr Kohler in that TV prog, fumbling around virtual reality tech, feeling he should do something with it, but apparently not having much of a clue as to what.

 

Still, some may love it, and more power to their wallets!

 

 

 

 

 

Indeed.

 

A diesel really doesn't work in what I think of as steampunk.

 

However....suppose Hornby saw the popularity of Cato Pass and the like, and wanted to bring out a range inspired by it...what else would they call it?

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27 minutes ago, Coryton said:

Indeed.

 

A diesel really doesn't work in what I think of as steampunk.

 

However....suppose Hornby saw the popularity of Cato Pass and the like, and wanted to bring out a range inspired by it...what else would they call it?

“Battlespace” of course! Which would tie in with, but be distanced from, the mainstream Hornby centenary releases...

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