Hornby: A Model World

[F-UnitMad]

Is it also impolitic to point out that upside down model trains have been done before as well?

This one is on YouTube, from 11 years ago, & there are others.

 

Edited November 22, 2021 by F-UnitMad

[Steamport Southport]

6 minutes ago, RJS1977 said:

I'm afraid the episode demonstrated again to me the 'silo' mentality between the different brands. The 'clip together' Airfix Ford Mustangs (clearly influenced by Lego) were great - but they would have been better still if there was an ability to clip them to a Scalextric chassis....

 

They're quite a bit bigger than Scalextric though.

 

I would say more the size of the old Airfix kit cars. Something like nine inches long.

 

I bought a few for my nephew to see if he was interested in building the proper ones. We do have hopes.

 

 

[Widnes Model Centre]

13 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

I'm sure there was a set of cars years ago that offered this. As I recall, they were American hot rods.

 

One limitation of Quick Build is that the design is licensed by the prototype manufacturer, so it has to be accurate. I wonder if that affects the process. The cars I recall were very full of motor block which could compromise the outline. 

 

Also, I think QuickBuild are a larger scale than Scalextric aren't they?

 

Scalextric launched a Demolition Derby set in 2013. The set featured as you say Hot Rods that blew apart on impact. 

They were called Quick Build cars.

 

Scalextric cars are 1/32. Quick Build doesn’t have scale. But as you say, they are a lot bigger.

[Nile]

They seem to be 1/24 scale, which would match most other car kits. The old Airfix car kits were 1/32, same as Scalextric and other British car kits of the time.

[adb968008]

Tbh what caught my eye more than a new HST was the more than incidental recording of the class 14, they went through full sequence recording of it.

 

I dont think Hornby will make a class 14, there would be no point. But the same engine was used in a class 74… (which is why they were so unsuited to class 1 high speed passenger work to Weymouth), and that they could do a class 74 off their class 71 chassis. Its an odd ball choice though

Edited November 23, 2021 by adb968008

[meatloaf]

11 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

Tbh what caught my eye more than a new HST was the more than incidental recording of the class 14, they went through full sequence recording of it.

 

I dont think Hornby will make a class 14, there would be no point. But the same engine was used in a class 74… (which is why they were so unsuited to class 1 high speed passenger work to Weymouth), and that they could do a class 74 off their class 71 chassis. Its an odd ball choice though

Didnt they record the J94 Austerity tank as well? The J94 is well overdue an upgrade. 

In the first episdoe they recorded a standard tank, cant remember if it was a standard 3 or 4 tank

[stonojnr]

1 hour ago, Markwj said:

Sorry am a little confused are we getting a totally new hst power car or just one upgraded in certain areas. I got the impression it was the latter but it was never explicitly stated.

 

 

maybe it started out as the former, but ended up as the latter, we dont really get shown how these designs  progress, or the timescales they are working to, time to market is the key bit if they were trying to head off competition, so if a totally new power car was taking too long to develop, or the threat of the rival decreased in the intervening period due to world events, its completely conceivable that a full remodel then switches to just a few upgrades in certain areas, that refreshes the HST, and is enough to keep Hornby ahead for now.

 

I note again though they send the junior designer out on a 500mile round field trip, to take a few pictures of a power car,probably for very little actual benefit.

[Dunsignalling]

Whether a "new" HST "keeps Hornby ahead" will depend on who else is doing one (many of us have our guesses) and whether theirs is already past the point at which cancellation ceases to be an option.

 

Most D&E modellers long since threw off any Hornby blinkers they might once have worn and the "somebody else" will almost certainly have costed theirs to break even against the price of the current Hornby one, and from a much smaller quantity than Hornby will need to shift.

 

John

Edited November 23, 2021 by Dunsignalling

[Jenny Emily]

8 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

Sorry Jen but when you were described as a "You Tube Influencer" I very nearly was influenced to switch off   but hopefully that was just modern TV people's speak - it's an awful phrase in my opinion!!

As I don't model in 4mm, not even Hornby count as an 'influencer' on me, although their dire products of the mid/late '80s did influence me to leave 4mm, never to return....

I am enjoying the series, though.

I dislike the term too but have no say in it being applied. 

[Fireline]

7 hours ago, meatloaf said:

Didnt they record the J94 Austerity tank as well? The J94 is well overdue an upgrade. 

In the first episdoe they recorded a standard tank, cant remember if it was a standard 3 or 4 tank

They'd be really hard pressed to record a standard 3 tank at the minute!

[adb968008]

11 hours ago, stonojnr said:

 

maybe it started out as the former, but ended up as the latter, we dont really get shown how these designs  progress, or the timescales they are working to, time to market is the key bit if they were trying to head off competition, so if a totally new power car was taking too long to develop, or the threat of the rival decreased in the intervening period due to world events, its completely conceivable that a full remodel then switches to just a few upgrades in certain areas, that refreshes the HST, and is enough to keep Hornby ahead for now.

 

I note again though they send the junior designer out on a 500mile round field trip, to take a few pictures of a power car,probably for very little actual benefit.

And to one that is missing bits, and is highly likely to be sitting higher on its springs due to the missing bits.

 

i’d have gone to Ruddington myself, they have a few different power cars to pick from, and they work too. Plus not to down play Crewe, but they are a team of mainline experienced HST operatives specifically, who have direct hands on knowlege.

 

Wouldnt it be ironic if the reason the door handles and runers were in wrong position on the new model, was not due to their current model being inaccurate, but due to the hst body sitting 2-4 inches higher on its springs as theres nothing inside the body to weigh it down when they measured it ?

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by adb968008

[RJS1977]

Was it the same designer looking at the HST who looked at the APT the other week? Perhaps the two were done on the same trip (even if it was a different designer, they may have travelled in the same car). Much cheaper/easier to measure two items in the same place, than two in different places, especially if you have to take a film crew with you.

[Phil R]

"Hornby HQ is also home to the company's other legendary brands. Corgi, Scalextric and Airfix"

Proceeds to show Oxford Diecast Cavalier using Magnorail system passing  street full of Oxford Diecast models.

 

[caradoc]

12 hours ago, adb968008 said:

But the same engine was used in a class 74… (which is why they were so unsuited to class 1 high speed passenger work to Weymouth),

 

IIRC Class 74 did not work passenger trains west of Bournemouth, ie on diesel power, although they did do so over the short and slow distance into Southampton Docks. 

 

[Georgeconna]

17 hours ago, Ouroborus said:

A rival HST???  Who saw that coming??

I didn't fell asleep watching this one. Not that Great TBH. Enjoyed the Upside down thing.

 

[Georgeconna]

On 22/11/2021 at 15:06, Sussex Yard said:

 

Just a genuine question & I may be late to the party, but where does Sam get his finances from?

 

Owning 400+ locos & a room full of stock can't surely be funded by sponsorship from Hornby & YT income?

 

The channel often bashes quality, yet he's (potentially) massacring expensive locos to pull himself on a trolley.

 

Fellas coining in big time with Tube, Maybe he has an only fans page too?

[Robin Brasher]

There was an interesting mix of themes for the Hornby programme last Monday.  Perhaps Jenny would like Hornby to reintroduce their transcontinental series with more powerful magnadhesion so we could have an Australian layout hanging from the ceiling. 

 

I think Sam is very enterprising making money from his videos. I wonder if anyone has run a Hornby locomotive to destruction to see how long it would last. My friend had a Tri-ang Winston Churchill that he ran on an exhibition layout in Boscombe until the flanges wore out. It would be interesting to find out which locomotive would pull the most coaches. According to the Railway Modeller the R3971 Hornby Dublo General Steam Navigation can haul 21 Pullman cars on a layout with 1:48 gradients and 3' radius curves which is probably the best of any Hornby locomotives.

 

I was also interested to see how the lady packed the Airfix Mustang. She took one item from each of around 46 trays and then weighed them to see if anything was missing.  When I bought Airfix kits there was a slip inside to return for missing parts. The lights were missing from my Ford Capri but I never got round to returning the slip.

[Dunsignalling]

The HST power car upgrade was rather less comprehensive than I expected it to be, if there really is a serious challenger in the offing. However, it does rectify the worst aspect of the present model, the crude and unsightly coupling arrangement.

 

Didn't really see the point of the upside-down train idea other than Jenny wanted to prove it was possible! Her undoubted ability could probably be better employed...

 

I didn't believe the lady packing the Mustang kits manually for one moment. How many could anybody get through before the job drove them completely round the twist? If it were me, I doubt  I'd make it to elevenses!

 

John

Edited November 23, 2021 by Dunsignalling

[Ben B]

53 minutes ago, Robin Brasher said:

 

 

I was also interested to see how the lady packed the Airfix Mustang. She took one item from each of around 46 trays and then weighed them to see if anything was missing.  When I bought Airfix kits there was a slip inside to return for missing parts. The lights were missing from my Ford Capri but I never got round to returning the slip.

 

We've had to do it twice with the Quick Kits (a Veyron and a VW Camper) which were missing parts, in the case of the Veyron it had two identical body panels and was missing the one from the opposite side.  To be fair, they did send the replacement bits quickly.

[adb968008]

4 hours ago, caradoc said:

 

IIRC Class 74 did not work passenger trains west of Bournemouth, ie on diesel power, although they did do so over the short and slow distance into Southampton Docks. 

 

Agreed in reality, but were the intentions originally different ?

 

A 74 was hopelessly underpowered on diesel beyond the work you stated, but BR had several stints of being over ambitious (or under budgetting) the needs on diesel projects.

[Phatbob]

13 minutes ago, adb968008 said:

Agreed in reality, but were the intentions originally different ?

 

A 74 was hopelessly underpowered on diesel beyond the work you stated, but BR had several stints of being over ambitious (or under budgetting) the needs on diesel projects.

IIRC the modus operandi was to replace the big ED (74) with a Crompton (33) at Bournemouth in the early years after electrification.  In later years they just used a Crompton all the way from Waterloo!

[MyRule1]

17 hours ago, stonojnr said:

I note again though they send the junior designer out on a 500mile round field trip, to take a few pictures of a power car,probably for very little actual benefit.

 

Interesting Blog on the Airfix web-site today about a similar visit to the Shuttleworth Collection regarding the Bristol Fighter and Spitfire. It seems that the main reason for the visits was the filming as the research had been done earlier.

 

https://uk.airfix.com/community/blog-and-news/aerodrome/filming-appointment-shuttleworth-collection?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NEW!!+Aerodrome&utm_campaign=Airfix+-+Aerodrome+-+Week+35+2021%2F2022

 

 

 

 

 

[zr2498]

Thanks Jenny. I knew our world has been turned upside-down of late but I can't see the attraction (albeit magnetic).

[Pre Grouping fan]

2 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

 

I didn't believe the lady packing the Mustang kits manually for one moment. How many could anybody get through before the job drove them completely round the twist? If it were me, I doubt  I'd make it to elevenses!

 

John

 

I used to work for the injection moulding company featured in the episode, they are sorted, picked and packed exactly as shown on TV, though normally by more than 1 person per pick line. Having picked some myself, it does drive you crazy after a while! Mistakes happened as you had to work quick to pack x amount an hour.

[Dunsignalling]

20 minutes ago, Pre Grouping fan said:

 

I used to work for the injection moulding company featured in the episode, they are sorted, picked and packed exactly as shown on TV, though normally by more than 1 person per pick line. Having picked some myself, it does drive you crazy after a while! Mistakes happened as you had to work quick to pack x amount an hour.

Must be quite a trick keeping only the bit of ones brain needed to do such a job in command for hours on end...