rob D2 Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 I’ve just noticed this . This is a Bachmann 37 chassis off the 2015 release of 37174. Doesn’t look right at all to my eyes . Have a look at the Photos and see what you think . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 The end of the chassis block does appear to have the tell tale signs of mazak fatigue. I'm not aware of the 37 being one of the significant batch failures so this may be a one-off - not helpful for you I appreciate 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted November 14, 2020 Moderators Share Posted November 14, 2020 My normal point of contact there for such matters is on hols at present but it may be worth making initial contact with the service department by phone next week and see if you can email the pics over for an initial assessment. They keep samples from each batch so they can check if any of theirs show signs. 4 1 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliepetty Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Bachmann are normally very helpfull re this, as Andy says deal with them first, dont go in all guns blazing as this is a known but not common thing. Charlie 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 Will do Andy , I put this up really to see if anyone else had experienced similar as I’ve never seen such a thing on a Bachmann . its like the mazak block has got a bit of a bow and is pushing the flexible plastic ends of the sub chassis down 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxokid Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Ive had few were plastic part has dipped but bodyshells always fits ok over onces screwed in place Rob. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted November 14, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 14, 2020 I've found Bachmann pretty supportive. If working from home however, I'd take the block off, and check it for square, principally on the bottom of the casting. a gentle (and I mean gentle ) attention with a file might well cure the problem. Remember to check for 'wobble' when doing this, otherwise it'll end up wobbling the other corner. In the first photograph, there appears to be dross inclusions at the point of casting. You can see these with the 'rough wave effect' at the extremities of the block. The three main problems might be dirty metal ( not cleaned off before pouring ), metal at wrong temperature, incorrect material composition, etc. Have a look on Wikipedia about Zinc Pest. Remembering that an outside contractor will sometimes use the cheapest possible zinc scrap to enable the order to be made. After all, it's only for toys..... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted November 14, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 14, 2020 I can't recall any Bachmann Mazak rot problems since the early N class waaaayy back mid/late 90s. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted November 14, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 14, 2020 10 minutes ago, spamcan61 said: I can't recall any Bachmann Mazak rot problems since the early N class waaaayy back mid/late 90s. Strict adherence to QC would normally stop that straight away. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaddeus Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 42 minutes ago, spamcan61 said: I can't recall any Bachmann Mazak rot problems since the early N class waaaayy back mid/late 90s. Quite a few of the revised all wheel drive Class 42 Warships disintegrated. Chassis blocks and bogie blocks equally affected. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halvarras Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 4 hours ago, thaddeus said: Quite a few of the revised all wheel drive Class 42 Warships disintegrated. Chassis blocks and bogie blocks equally affected. AFAIK these seem to have been restricted to D800 in green and D804 in blue....? 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JST Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 11 hours ago, spamcan61 said: I can't recall any Bachmann Mazak rot problems since the early N class waaaayy back mid/late 90s. The running plate on my positively geriatric N class disintegrated about 3 years ago but Bachmann still replaced it FOC. I was well impressed with their customer service attitude. I hope you find the same. 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium James Makin Posted November 15, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 15, 2020 Sorry to see this Rob! I’ve had exactly the same issue with the chassis block from my Bachmann Mainline Blue 37242, also produced in 2015 by Bachmann at exactly the same time as they did their EWS 37174 above. I ended up sanding down bits of the metal and some chassis plastic that was now sticking out below the bodyshell line, and will monitor - it’s the one I turned into that grey 37262 a few months back..! Fortunately it doesn’t appear to be quite as bad as Heljan’s exploding 47s but perhaps just a bad batch of metal affecting Bachmann’s 2015 releases. Cheers, James 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
37501 Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Concerning indeed! Does anyone know if there were any other Class 37s produced in 2015 please? John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, 37501 said: Concerning indeed! Does anyone know if there were any other Class 37s produced in 2015 please? John Lots I’d imagine , there was a database of models somewhere ? Edited November 15, 2020 by rob D2 iPad is illiterate 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 (edited) I have emailed Jenni at the Bachmann service facility , with the photos , for comment. Will report back on what they say. Incidentally, the first sign I had of this issue was that the 37174 shell was hard to get over the chassis block, maybe it’s actually expanded . Edited November 15, 2020 by rob D2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
letterspider Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 2 hours ago, 37501 said: Concerning indeed! Does anyone know if there were any other Class 37s produced in 2015 please? John link in this post here 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxokid Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Only other one ive had this happen on Rob is my factory weathered dutch 37254.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 1 hour ago, saxokid said: Only other one ive had this happen on Rob is my factory weathered dutch 37254.. Interesting - must have been made about the same time I think ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 Just out of interest, compare the patina on the dark brown one ( knackered one ) with the light grey of the 2007 37672. Hmmmm. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stationroad Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 From memory, this batch was 3 models of 90s liveries: 37174 - EWS 37242 - mainline blue weathered 37254 - dutch weathered (sound) 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted November 15, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 15, 2020 8 hours ago, rob D2 said: Just out of interest, compare the patina on the dark brown one ( knackered one ) with the light grey of the 2007 37672. Hmmmm. IIRC That cracked / crazy paving paint effect is a sure sign of Mazzak rot (As the metal expands it literally rips apart the paint). 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Walker Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 By the looks of my list of purchases in 2015 there's also - 37405 DRS Compass livery (32-370) 37421 Colas Rail (32-389) There are also a few DMU's by the looks of it and 57309 Pride of Crewe DRS Compass (32-7863) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opelsi Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Looks like possibly also some Class 25's + Class 45's from Bachmann in 2015, though no reason to suspect anything amiss with those at this point in time - will check and monitor! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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