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


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2 minutes ago, Hilux5972 said:

In this view it actually looks quite handsome. And then you see it side on and that’s when you see how long and ungainly it looks. 

 

Divided drive just like Swindon.....   or Crewe    Thompson just overdid it a tad. :)

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10 hours ago, robmcg said:

I feel very lucky to have received a 60523 'Sun Castle' yesterday from Kernow,  and am very pleased, it was a bit nerve-wracking opening the box, it rattled, but it was just the rear coupling fallen out...  also the front body-retaing screw had come out but was still lurking in the model's chassis....

 

this pic is as received, it runs smoothly and quietly.

 

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The most difficult part so far getting all four pairs of wheels on the tender on the track for photos. This photo is natural window light with a touch of 40w reading lamp, auto settings for colour and exposure.

 

Well pleased, and a weathered version of 60512 has just left TMC today... :)

 

Further pics....

 

60523_A2_portrait42_1a_IMG_2974ab_r2080.jpg.02ae70f1f9d7fa0c7562058ee7bbd955.jpg

 

 

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Hi Robbie

 

Thats one very nice looking model so much detail, just needs some brass etched nameplates to finish it.

 

Regards

 

David

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11 hours ago, Hilux5972 said:

In this view it actually looks quite handsome. And then you see it side on and that’s when you see how long and ungainly it looks. 

 
I think it depends what I am recently accustomed to. I have spent so much time looking at Thompson Pacifics in the last month that everything else looks a bit squat by comparison :swoon:

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15 hours ago, landscapes said:

Hi Robbie

 

Thats one very nice looking model so much detail, just needs some brass etched nameplates to finish it.

 

Regards

 

David

 

Yes and I think it's pretty much well-accepted now that the green is too flat and pale in most lighting , but in some lighting situations it's not too important to me anyway.

 

I have been lucky I guess with three out of three A2s delivered undamaged.

 

Cheers

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8 hours ago, robmcg said:

 

Yes and I think it's pretty much well-accepted now that the green is too flat and pale in most lighting , but in some lighting situations it's not too important to me anyway.

 

I have been lucky I guess with three out of three A2s delivered undamaged.

 

Cheers

You certainly have. Maybe your location meant they wanted to avoid returns, better inspection pre-dispatch.

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 My model of 60523is now ready for service & I enclose some pics of it on my layout . The green has had 2 coats of satin varnish , then a coat of Humbrol 27004 metallic black & then finished with a coat of matt varnish .

  Hope the green looks more realistic now .

                             Cheers ,

                                       Ray.

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4 hours ago, Ray Flintoft said:

 My model of 60523is now ready for service & I enclose some pics of it on my layout . The green has had 2 coats of satin varnish , then a coat of Humbrol 27004 metallic black & then finished with a coat of matt varnish .

  Hope the green looks more realistic now .

                             Cheers ,

                                       Ray.

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It certainly does look the business!  Excellent! 

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10 hours ago, juke said:

You certainly have. Maybe your location meant they wanted to avoid returns, better inspection pre-dispatch.

 

I don't know. I have bought hundreds of models over the years sent by Royal Mail  Air to New Zealand and seem to have had about average damage, or faults.  Only five or six returns, quite a few need parts re-attached and small repairs, but sending back to the UK is expensive and involves time and customs, so that's a last resort, usually only for major mechanical fault e.g. won't go.  I should mention that this latest model received 'Sun Castle' had the front chassis retaining screw loose, moderately tricky to re-install, lucky it wasn't lost, and the rear coupling on the tender was sheered off, broken in two, (you have to ask 'how?').... I have try to remove the remaining section in the housing somehow and replace with a spare, of which I think I have a couple.   

 

I know I come across to some as an apologist for Hornby but I find the detail we get today astonishing for under UKP200.  Weathering/paintwork further enhances it as in Ray Flintoft's 60523 in today's posts above. 

 

I very much doubt that sellers like Hattons, Kernow and AJM open boxes and remove them to check everything, nor TMC for pristine models but I'm happy to be proven wrong. At best I suspect a visual check? That's why I think TMC's value weathering is excellent, they have to check and run the engine as well as their good basic weathering. Packaging used for air to NZ is usually just basic, a layer of bubblewrap plus cardboard.

Edited by robmcg
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I finally had the chance to take a look at my Sun Castle today, there was a mystery black plastic item loose in the box. It took a while to work it out but it was the footstep from the radius of the running plate adjacent to the front of the smoke deflector, on the fireman side. All lamp irons present and correct and the water scoop faces the correct direction, so not too bad.

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I have finished both '522 Straight Deal and '519 Honeyway.

 

I got both out into the daylight today for their 'Yard Portrait' today, seeing as the weather and sun elevation is now good enough for such things.

I'm well pleased with these two as this is the first 'Big Steam' I've done in a while.

 

Davy 

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14 minutes ago, 50A55B said:

I finally had the chance to take a look at my Sun Castle today, there was a mystery black plastic item loose in the box. It took a while to work it out but it was the footstep from the radius of the running plate adjacent to the front of the smoke deflector, on the fireman side. All lamp irons present and correct and the water scoop faces the correct direction, so not too bad.

 

I'm amazed that this is a separate part.  

 

Mentioned in the 35024 blue Merchant Navy thread today is the idea that the A2 models are much harder to assemble than the original Merchant Navy models....  certainly the small parts are far beyond the skills I have ever had, even when a teenager assembling Kitmaster!

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9 minutes ago, Mad McCann said:

I have finished both '522 Straight Deal and '519 Honeyway.

 

I got both out into the daylight today for their 'Yard Portrait' today, seeing as the weather and sun elevation is now good enough for such things.

I'm well pleased with these two as this is the first 'Big Steam' I've done in a while.

 

Davy 

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Lovely!   I am filled with admiration for this modelling,  nice photography too.

 

I must check which of these engines were used on the Waverley Route, my books are out of reach right now.

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2 hours ago, robmcg said:

I must check which of these engines were used on the Waverley Route, my books are out of reach right now.


If by ‘these engines’ you mean 60519 and 60522, as pictured in Mad McCann’s post, there are photos of both of them at Hawick.

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On 13/03/2021 at 15:03, thegreenhowards said:

I’ve been working on my Steady Aim and it’s now fully run in. I’ve tried some Klear (actually the modern equivalent ‘Pledge Klear multi surface’) on the tender and I think it improves the colour although it’s still not perfect.

A59E5E96-4317-4031-A9B6-84BEF6197E64.jpeg.8e3fc819e1ab8468cce3579f41d8840e.jpeg

 

 

Hi Andy, my Steady Aim came with a speedometer bracket.  Did yours come with the bracket.  Mine was attached at a jaunty angle and is awaiting refixing (along with the smoke box lamp iron)

Edited by Silver Sidelines
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8 minutes ago, Silver Sidelines said:

Hi Andy, my Steady Aim came with a speedometer bracket.  Did yours come with the bracket.  Mine was attached at a jaunty angle and is awaiting refixing (along with the smoke box lamp iron)

I think it probably did as I found one in the four foot a couple of days ago! Will have to reattach.

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Just got my Sun Castle as very impressed by Steady Aim but unlike the latter with its decoder in it went berserk on my NCE layout and had to shut down to stop. Put it on my prog track and it showed a short. Swapped the Hornby decoder with a Lenz Silver and same result. Hornby decoder fine in Bachmann Class 25. I’m about to return it but I’m wondering if anyone’s had the same issue and resolved it. Perhaps the same wiring problem as my original : Class 50s.

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One of the early posters on receiving their A2/2 found a solder short on the back of the dcc chip socket in the tender. I have checked mine and they are fine. If you have a multimeter it is easy to check. With the blanking plug removed none of the 8 sockets should connect to any other except 2 diagonal corners should have the motor resistance across them if the loco is still plugged into the tender. If you have any other connections, turn over the socket plate and look for a solder bridge. 

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10 hours ago, CCG55 said:

Just got my Sun Castle as very impressed by Steady Aim but unlike the latter with its decoder in it went berserk on my NCE layout and had to shut down to stop. Put it on my prog track and it showed a short. Swapped the Hornby decoder with a Lenz Silver and same result. Hornby decoder fine in Bachmann Class 25. I’m about to return it but I’m wondering if anyone’s had the same issue and resolved it. Perhaps the same wiring problem as my original : Class 50s.

ALWAYS test a new loco with DCC on the programme track first for this very reason  - you're lucky that your chip isnt toast :) Almost certainly this will be a fault with the decoder socket or the wiring to the tender loco connection - at £170 I'd definitely return this to the supplier unless the fault is an easy and obvious fix.

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I have been waiting for some comments on the tender wiring.  Steady Aim seems to have been glued together better than the first Late Crest models but when I came to play trains I had issues with the running of the tender.  This would be analogue running.  In due course I will write a Blog but briefly the tender wheel retainer was distorted because the soldered connections to the pickups had been fused to the plastic preventing the wheel retainer from lying flat.  The tender is very easy to dismantle - one screw beneath the coupling and then just lift off - no nasty prising.  Two screws for the ballast weight and one screw for the plug in PCB.  I mention all this because when I removed the weight one of the red wires had obviously been trapped and the inner core was exposed.   My running problems were resolved by freeing the soldered connections beneath the weight.  The distorted wheel retainer, which also carries the dummy brake rodding, was returned to its original shape by immersing in very hot water (like magic).

 

These models appear very fragile and I can imagine lots of damage and bits dropping off long before they reach the track.

 

Good luck

 

Ray

 

 

Edited by Silver Sidelines
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Sun Castle arrived today, after the courier losing it.

 

Looked great, only piece came off was a small step located next to the smoke deflectors. Tried gluing it back on but next to impossible as it is so tiny but thought I could live with it.

 

Got her chipped and down onto the track. Buzz and a stutter followed by a short.

 

Swapped tenders with ToF and Sun Castle moved away lovely and smooth, only to come back around with the right hand side linkages and connecting rods hanging down. Luckily the screw was next to the track which I managed to retain until getting Sun Castle all boxed up, gods only know where the screw has flown off to. Email sent to Hornby.

 

I feel I need to get something upsetting off of my chest.

 

I have been a life long collector of Hornby products since my first clockwork Thomas The Tank Engine set as a toddler. I'd say 80% - 85% of my collection is Hornby. I never had any issues until these last 12 months all starting with The Rocket's poorly designed tender wiring, then my B12's circuit board gave up the ghost. Can't fault Hornby as they repaired both items free of charge despite my B12 being one of the very first batches.

 

I held my breath waiting for ToF seeing some of the issues people had with their A2/2s and I got lucky. Thought that my luck had held with Sun Castle as it is a beautiful model.

 

I accept that QC at factories and with manufacturers is a random process, they don't test every single one once assembled however I feel that Hornby is letting things slide and go by the wayside in order to get their products to market as quickly as they can. 

 

We have all watched the rise and fall then rise again of Hornby these last 20 years and it is upsetting to see that it looks like they may be on a downward spiral, risking all the dedication and hard work everyone at Hornby has put into making them a brand leader again while risking shedding a very loyal customer base. And every year it seems we have a new company showing the modelling community how it can be done in terms of model spec, quality control, decoration and value for money.

 

Never in my wildest dreams would I thought I would be able to add ready to run models of The Rocket, the Thompson Pacifics and Gresley's amazing P2s and W1 to my collection and that all of those models would come from Hornby. As modellers we have never had it so good but that shouldn't be taken for granted by modellers or manufacturers.  

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20 hours ago, CCG55 said:

Just got my Sun Castle as very impressed by Steady Aim but unlike the latter with its decoder in it went berserk on my NCE layout and had to shut down to stop. Put it on my prog track and it showed a short. Swapped the Hornby decoder with a Lenz Silver and same result. Hornby decoder fine in Bachmann Class 25. I’m about to return it but I’m wondering if anyone’s had the same issue and resolved it. Perhaps the same wiring problem as my original : Class 50s.

I had a similar problem with my 60501 reported on a few pages back. Mine was an intermittent short somewhere in the loco - I.e. not the tender. It was not enough to stop DCrunning but on DCC it did not want to know. It went back to Hornby.

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34 minutes ago, cbrooks122000 said:

After I had added coal to the tender, I noticed the tender buffer beam is not on square. That is impressive I have never known Hornby to screw that up on any of my other Hornby models.

We've all had quality control issues with Hornby at some time, however from your posts, you seem to have more than most.

 

I have to ask the question, why on earth do you still buy this manufacturers products?

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1 hour ago, cbrooks122000 said:

 I noticed the tender buffer beam is not on square.

Sadly all the tender buffer beams that I have seen have not been glued on level and the buffers point downwards.  Cock o'the North arrived with the buffer beam loose in the box and although I tried opening out the holes in the tender body for the back of the buffers I still couldn't get the beam to fit snugly - answers on a post card anyone?

 

Ray

Edited by Silver Sidelines
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1 hour ago, Silver Sidelines said:

Sadly all the tender buffer beams that I have seen have not been glued on level and the buffers point downwards.  Cock o'the North arrived with the buffer beam loose in the box and although I tried opening out the holes in the tender body for the back of the buffers I still couldn't get the beam to fit snugly - answers on a post card anyone?

 

Ray

I had the same angled problem. On 60505. I scraped and filed all the mating surfaces I could get at easily without risking doing any cosmetic damage and I still can’t get it to sit vertically nicely. It is not too bad though. My next step if I tackle it would be to enlarge the holes in the tender chassis slightly. 

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