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Hornby A2/2 and A2/3 (2020 Range)


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26 minutes ago, 60027Merlin said:

For those who will alter/add things beware that the glue Hornby use is not too strong.

 

If changing the bit of plastic on the buffer beam for a finer screw coupling even giving it a very gentle tug ends up with this!

 

This also happened on 60501 last month however a little run of super glue does the trick. The tender is the same and of course is more important if using the screw coupling for pulling rather than the Hornby one. The A3 and A4 locos certainly did not have this feature!

 

IMG_4425.JPG.c331a044308aaca6b585b8f1e8db3590.JPG

 

I think the build quality really is a bit hit and miss. On my A2/2 it was stuck fast. I cut it off and drill out the original. Interesting to see how eay it will be on the A2/3 when it arrives. Which one will that be turned into?

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1 hour ago, Silver Sidelines said:

The sun is shining!  I wish the wind wasn't so cold.

 

Some pictures of Sun Castle.  It runs well and appears to be glued correctly - although I do wonder about the seam along the top of the boiler.

 

As to Thain of Fife, an interesting combination of screws and glue.  The footplate can be manipulated into a better shape and in my case the reversing rod benefited from straightening.  The rod should lie on top of the linkage and not be jammed behind as the case when delivered.

 

51026090097_2e3ab692ea_5k.jpg

 

Cheers  Ray

 


Have you had this re-painted or is that factory fresh? The green looks much different and much better.

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3 hours ago, gordon s said:

Anyone fitted a decoder into Sun Castle yet?

 

Of course it may be me, but I seem to have some spurious connections from the loco via the tender to the decoder. It worked perfectly well on DC, but there seems to be a crossover somewhere between the motor connections and the track connections. I have removed all the gubbins in the tender and hard wired the decoder to the miniature plug leads.

 

Just off the check it all again, but something appears to be awry somewhere in the wiring connections.

 

Wondered if anyone else had come across similar problems.

 

I received by Steady Aim today and having run it in for 60 mins on DC, I’ve just chipped it and it worked fine. I did have to employ your trick of scraping the inside of the tender wheels to get decent pick ups from there but it’s now working well. Overall I’m pleased with it. It’s missing one lamp bracket and the footplate is marginally wobbly but quite liveable with. Even the tender scoop is on the right way round!

 

I ended up giving up on getting 60501 to work on DCC and sent it back to Collets who were very good about it and a new one is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I feel for poor Leigh at Collets as he said he had 20 different locos to return to Hornby - not all A2s.


Andy

 

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On 09/03/2021 at 17:53, Ian Hargrave said:


An understandable reaction in the light of us all being anxious about the presentation of this model. But so far so good and the assembly issues that bedevilled the A2/2 appear not to be present .Thanks gentlemen for being brave and acting as guinea pigs . The livery as expected appears unchanged. I note 31A’s comparison with the now over a decade old A3.Thanks for that .It does prove the point I think. But we are where we are and for now perhaps be thankful for the improvement.


So taking courage from what I’ve seen thus far ....and making a giant leap of faith.....I ordered from the good and super efficient Leigh Collett one 60523 which arrived in immaculate condition with everything in the place it should be and no bits in the box. No bends in running plates,no crude joins around the cab but the washed out finish is really something H needs to address.  Be thankful for small mercies I suppose. As to the problems with the A2/2 as a comparison look over to the Heljan thread and the difficulties aired there with some of their weathered editions of the 25/3 .So not only are H having problems with rogue models but the other H are too..Hope lessons have been learned.Hornby could take a look at how Ben Jones is dealing with that in an open and frank way too.

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22 minutes ago, gordon s said:

Sorry to disappoint you, but it's either the lighting or a paint job as both models have the same paint and lining....

 

DSCF1635.jpg.fcb18fb8b5ad590aac2fba1ffbbbd35e.jpg

 

That line up still looks fabulous though. So many differences on display for the progenitors of a standard class.

And clever model design too to be able to do the variations Hornby can accommodate.

Can't wait for my A2/3 to arrive. Tom

Edited by Dominion
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1 hour ago, davidw said:

I think the build quality really is a bit hit and miss. On my A2/2 it was stuck fast. I cut it off and drill out the original. Interesting to see how eay it will be on the A2/3 when it arrives. Which one will that be turned into?

 

David,

 

It will be Airborne from Heaton , a regular visitor to Edinburgh.

 

Eruc

 

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My Sun Castle arrived down here in the far south east corner late this afternoon courtesy of Bure Valley Models.

 

Bit disappointed at first when I got it out of the box and found one piece of metal left lying in the box. Not to worry though, it turned out to be the reversing rod easy to replace.

 

Put the loco on the track and ran it in on dc each way for 30 minutes and all was well. Decided then that it was time to fit a decoder and, to my great surprise, the tender came off without the normal trials and tribulations of trying to separate body and chassis. Remove one screw under the tender coupling and that was that.

 

As the ultimate aim is to install a sound decoder, in the meantime I fitted a TCS DP2X-UK decoder (which was from another loco that was recently fitted with sound by Coastal DCC) and found that the TCS decoder works perfectly. 

 

Result? One happy bunny.

 

Keith

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8 hours ago, Daddyman said:

Well done for alerting them and well done to Collett's for sending them back - the more people tell Hornby this is unacceptable the better. I could buy one and repaint it but that would send Hornby the wrong message on what is acceptable for £170. My money has gone to PDK instead - and it's an A2/1, which is far prettier than the variants offered by Hornby anyway.  

Cheers, I'm glad I mentioned it. I suppose it's not only saving them money but also us modellers (and a few headaches lol).

 

I have since thought, if I repaint this one... I'd have to repaint most Hornby loco's that I have here to match as they are all milky and flat alike so.. no I don't think it will be done after all. 

 

 

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On 11/03/2021 at 17:12, MGR Hooper! said:


Have you had this re-painted or is that factory fresh? The green looks much different and much better.

Straight out of the box, factory finish.  interestingly I thought the firebox looked darker that Thane of Fife.  I wondered if the slope of the firebox sides on Thain of Fife were flatter and reflecting more light.

 

I have just had the sand boxes off Thane of Fife  this evening - the foot plate is much improved.

 

51019492006_be1ba65492_5k.jpg

 

Cheers Ray

Edited by Silver Sidelines
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6 hours ago, gordon s said:

Sorry to disappoint you, but it's either the lighting or a paint job as both models have the same paint and lining....

 

DSCF1635.jpg.fcb18fb8b5ad590aac2fba1ffbbbd35e.jpg

Hi 

Two very nice looking model locomotives.

 

It’s such a shame that they have got the green

livery so wrong on both types of model.

 

To my mind there is no excuse for that as they have been producing A3’s & A4’s for years now with no problems regarding Brunswick Green.

 

Thanks for showing them.

 

Regards

 

David

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4 hours ago, Silver Sidelines said:

Straight out of the box, factory finish.  interestingly I thought the firebox looked darker that Thain of Fife.  I wondered if the slope of the firebox sides on Thain of Fife were flatter and reflecting more light.

 

I have just had the sand boxes off Thain of Fife  this evening - the foot plate is much improved.

 

51019492006_be1ba65492_5k.jpg

 

Cheers Ray


Thanks, I now see the milky green

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Well I found a fault with my A2/3......

I ran it a few times back and forth on my limited run on the layout, and was impressed. Also when I examined it, I thought everything was there and properly assembled - even the tender scoop was the right way round.

However, I tried again yesterday, and took it, pretty fast, to the present country end of the station, over the crossover. There was an almighty clunk as it stopped. The tender scoop had struck a rail on the points, and it had fallen off.

Was it not fitted correctly? No idea. And do I care? Easily fixed, I'll stick it back on later. A lovely model, ready to morph into Dante.

 

Stewart

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On 11/03/2021 at 09:43, D9001 said:

Very disappointed to have received an email from a well known Liverpool based retailer this morning saying that my money has been refunded for my Sun Castle because they are sold out; I must have been one of the first to order with them, immediately following the announcement of the Hornby A2/3 so how can they be sold out of it?  I have emailed back my disappointment but Has anyone else received such an email? 

Me Too. This is the third cancellation of my pre-orders in a month. Like you I was quick off the mark following the announcement so I fail to understand why I've been singled out for special treatment. The email refers to a "technical issue" with their system, which I presume means that someone screwed up. This Liverpool "stack 'em high and flog 'em cheap" emporium won't get the chance to cancel my other two pre-orders as I will cancel them first. Enough is enough.

 

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Minor thing on both models. If using the close coupled position, the loco and tender doors clash and something has to give.

 

Just found two between the tracks and wondered what they were and where they came from.....:D

 

Now carefully fixed back but almost in the folded flat position.

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A2/3 Sun Castle arrived today from TMC. All parts intact. Clearly the same paint shop as A2/2 and same colour boiler bands which will need changing. Looks as though the tender wheels will need a hair cut on the back for the pick up contact (thanks for the tip).

Ran very smoothly straight from the box. Impressed, but a shame about some of the fundamentals. The smoke box door is a tad out of alignment but not easily visible on the layout especially with deflectors blocking the view.

 

DSC05623.JPG.c4c28a3b51f957b3a4a53cca32ac439c.JPG

DSC05621.JPG.b6cafc48e4959cba4d64f7fffa7ca85f.JPG

 

Edited by zr2498
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On 10/03/2021 at 20:27, landscapes said:

Hi Ray

 

I would have loved to have been able to see any of the A2/2’s but they were all scrapped a year or two before I started train spotting in 1962.

 

If you are happy with the colour of the numbers and linings perhaps a coat or two of Johnson’s Klear on the green livery may be a good starting point and take it from there.

 

That’s what I did and just kept going as I just wasn’t satisfied with my efforts to hide the Hornby green, that is until I almost completed covered it.

 

I must say when I first finished the weathering yesterday my initial thoughts were Oh god what have I done but a day later I am now very happy with 60501 it sits nicely with the other Brunswick Green Pacific’s.

 

A nice contrast to the lovely clean gleaming Haymarket Pacific’s.

 

Regards

 

David 

Thanks , David , I've given her a coat of satin varnish which has improved the situation . A second coat then light weathering I think will do the trick . It's strange how different the green looks in photographs under different light conditions !

   Thanks also to 31A . I haven't checked as the battery box suits me fine . Jobs to do both engines include replacing Hornby's fragile lamp irons with brass strip , replacing the smokebox darts & fitting better sand pipes . "Chamossaire" had the extended lamp irons in 1959 so would have to be done anyway .

I have replaced the Cartazzi wheelset with a Gibson flanged set & it gets round the sharpest curve on my layout without problem , looks better to me .

    Good luck to everyone with their Thompson pacifics .

                                                       Ray .

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1 hour ago, Bishdurham said:

Just had a request from TMC for funds.  Chamossaire is on the way to Yorkshire.

Chamossaire ?  In LNER green (which would be the first one mentioned), or a BR green one you have had renumbered ? Thanks, Tom 

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Interesting thread, and as a lucky ? recipient of two undamaged A2/2s  and looking forward to two A2/3s in the next few weeks, I thought I'd put up two photos which show the rather much critcised Hornby Brunswick green, which I have to say doesn't offend me greatly.

 

I noticed that the colour was mentioned by Tony Wright in Wright Writes a day or two ago and he said that some sort of expert advice to Hornby was 'in hand'. I recall that they may have used the talents of Coachmann Larry Goddard when they did the LMS Crimson Staniers.

 

Meanwhile here are my two entirely satisfactory A2/2s. No editing beyond minor details and basic settings.   I really like these models. 

 

60501_AA2_portrait131_1ab_r2080.jpg.155340edcdf37443864f1f9d325917c3.jpg

 

 

 

60505_A2_portrait131_1ab_Img_2901abcdef_r2080.jpg.2a1360bbba523aa467d881f2ec600880.jpg

 

cheers

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Whilst enjoying a running session yesterday, I was suddenly struck by the similarity in colour and lining between my A2/2 and my B17/2 and looking back through RMweb, there was a review of the much awaited B17/2 over 8 years ago. 

 

I'm reminded of that wonderful film 'Groundhog Day'........:D

 

Made me chuckle...

 

DSCF1640.jpg.a4c9a962797a17f9bed81cf1d079857c.jpg

 

 

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