Heljan 00 poor quality

[Moley48]

Hi, 

 

We have a class 25 and a class 33 Heljan 00 model and to be honest both are below par quality rise. Wonky buffer beams, broken grilles and other poorly fitted parts that have put me right off the whole brand. It's one thing to offer high detail but when some of that detail comes damaged or incorrectly applied what is the point.

 

Sorry to rant but these models are well below what I would expect.

 

Anyone else have a similar experience of Heljan?

 

Rant over..

 

Moley

[Georgeconna]

I have 3 locos, A  Met eletric, Class 33 and a Class15, All pretty nice little engines. No complaint's

[Legend]

No,issue here on my 86

[AY Mod]

Why don't you contact the retailer you purchased them from if you don't feel they are right?

[cessna152towser]

No problems with my Heljan diesel outline locos, 2 x 47s, 1 x 26, 1 x 17 and 1 x 128, some of which I have owned for a good few years now.

However the Park Royal Railbus was a big diappointment.  It suddenly stopped with a puff of smoke after only a few short runs up and down my small layout and first time I opened the H&M2000 up beyond half power.  As the after sales srevice from both the retailer and from Heljan was non-existent I vowed never to buy any further motorised Heljan products.

Edited November 2, 2021 by cessna152towser

[Roy Langridge]

I must have 20+ Heljan locos and other than the well known early Class 17 problems, no significant issues at all. 

 

Edit: how things mount up, had a count, Heljan 37 locos / DMUs.

 

Roy

Edited November 3, 2021 by Roy Langridge

[Moley48]

Cracked grille surround. So am I expecting too much from a brand new model?

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2021 by Moley48

[Mark Forrest]

I think mine include a 27, a couple of Hymeks, Falcon and a 128.  No quality issues and I've always felt that the running was marginally better than comparable Bachmann and Hornby locos; no complaints here.

[Steamport Southport]

Not had any problems with my half a dozen diesels or four steam outline models (2xO2, 1361 and 1366). No mechanical faults and nothing falling off.

 

Seems to me when they do have problems they sort them out pretty quickly. Remember the Garratts had a few problems? That did put me off buying one at the time.

 

The only criticism I will give is sometimes I feel the printing of numbers and logos/crests could be a bit better.

 

 

The crux of the matter is whether I would buy more. Yes, quite looking forward to some of them such as the Class 02, 11 and  PWM Shunters.

 

 

 

Jason

Edited November 2, 2021 by Steamport Southport

[Mark Forrest]

1 minute ago, Moley48 said:

Cracked grille surround. So am I expecting too much from a brand new model?

 

 

 

No you are not; you should contact the retailer who is likely to be able to resolve the issue more quickly than posting about it here will.

[Roy Langridge]

9 minutes ago, Moley48 said:

Cracked grille surround. So am I expecting too much from a brand new model?

 

 

 

No, not expecting too much but also not seemingly accepting that occasionally things go wrong. 
 

As others have said, stop moaning and contact the retailer for replacement. 
 

Roy

[Edge]

Western, falcon, Kestrel, Lion, two manning wardles and several class 17s for me. Whilst I have bought a few products that have gone wrong for others I personally have never experienced an issue with any of them. 
 

might I suggest that the issues you have experienced could be due to handling prior to reaching you, rather than particularly sub-par quality on the part of Heljan? They don’t seem any more or less prone to such issues than others in my experience 

[Moley48]

I take your points and have contacted the retailer. I just think given the way these models are manufactured replacements wont be any better..

 

Seems to me too much detail not enough attention and poor qc.

 

Hopefully we are just unlucky twice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mevaman1]

6 hours ago, Moley48 said:

I take your points and have contacted the retailer. I just think given the way these models are manufactured replacements wont be any better..

 

Seems to me too much detail not enough attention and poor qc.

 

Hopefully we are just unlucky twice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may just be unlucky.

 

I have 45 Heljan locos and none with any faults.

 

I admit that a very small number arrived with detail parts detached but this was quickly fixed.

 

Andrew

[GWR-fan]

I took advantage of the Hattons Heljan firesale and a Rails sale several years ago and picked up around a dozen or more models including a couple of the DP2 models, several class 26 and 27 locomotives,  two class 35 and two class 52, three of the Metropolitan models and six class 128 DMU's.  The only issue found was the class 128 models arriving as a kit of parts with most of the underframe detail loose in the boxes.  A Kestrel or was it a Falcon (?) was purchased on eBay from a U.S. seller and it was perfect.    Two class 16 diesels were purchased locally without issue.

 

A few days ago I received an 18000 class loco and given that many have reported pickup issues and honestly the loco does not inspire me,  I am reluctant to even test run it.

 

Edit:  I forgot about the two 1361 class steam locomotives.  I have no good words to say about these nor would I purchase another Heljan steam model  (diesels no problem).

Edited November 3, 2021 by GWR-fan
Additional info

[Oldddudders]

My 128 would pull the side out of a house, while I have plenty of small bijou tank locos from several other manufacturers, bought new, that have never run properly, or at all. This is the cost of models at a price the market will bear. QC is haphazard at best.

[Gwiwer]

I have a significant collection of Heljan items, not all locomotives, and have never had a problem with manufacturing quality. 
 

There are occasional issues arising from bumps and knocks in transit. Despite the packaging which is arguably excessive though exists to protect delicate models they may have come through storms at sea, rough loading and handling and bumps / knocks in store or in the mail. 
 

The only issue other than design faults (such as the early 33/0 ) I now have with Heljan is the well-known “coupler droop” which can be mitigated by the modeller.  Early models had brass wheels which tarnished dreadfully  but were easily exchanged and haven’t been used for some years now. 
 

Cracking / bits falling off are not issues I associate with Heljan at all. 

[roundhouse]

A quick summary of my Heljan rolling sock:

 

I have 3 Heljan class 33's, all getting on a bit now but they all run fine. The Hymek also runs fine as does my class 128 parcels railcar.

 

The AC railbus runs fine but the W & M railbus has had a split gear on one axle but was easy to replace.

 

However the Manning & Wardle Lynton & Barnstaple 009  locos all required modificaions to get them to stay on the tracks. The later release of LEW and LYD were much better and required a lot less work. They all run nicely now.

 

The Baldwin 009 loco of LYN ran fine straight out of the box.

 

EDIT

I don't recall any arriving with bits fallen off but have had plenty of other manufacturers with bits loose in the box or missing. However I suppose that with all the more fine details thats one of the increased risks with highly detailed models these days. An easy fix for me and I enjoy building kits.

Edited November 3, 2021 by roundhouse

[johnb]

Have a variety of Heljans Cl15s, Cl 16, all varieties of 33s, Met elecrics. No problem with any of them. No loose parts or cracking on any of them. Run well, smoothly and controllable on DCC.

['CHARD]

I've probably one of the largest fleets of Danish eight-wheelers here, 55 at the last count, and no problems except the original Clayton teething troubles, long since sorted.  This is one for the retailer, nothing too complicated, I would expect.    

[Zunnan]

Can't say I've had many major issues over the years with Heljan models which haven't been sorted out in some way or another. I've had the tubby 47s with the old wheels which liked to get filthy faster than you could say 'wheres the IPA?', quite a long standing problem which Heljan eventually addressed...also had a few of the exploding mazak rot 47s in that time too; that was a bit more difficult as it took years for the problem to manifest. The dogfish with the wheelsets that had no insulation, great for 3 rail systems I guess, but those wheelsets were swapped out by the retailer once replacements were made available. I have a 128 which likes to turn itself into a 3D jigsaw, but I knew that they were prone to shedding when I bought it. The most recent issue I have had was with an 86 that decided to self immolate its motor and PCB...again sorted out by the retailer.

 

Thats the point, if there is a problem, first port of call is with the retailer. No, Heljan aren't perfect, but I've had plenty of similar problems with all of the other manufacturers over the years; I've had far more frequent problems with Dapol to be honest.

 

 

[47606odin]

Can’t complain about build quality, I had over 12 OO 47’s and all worked lovely, also 3 class 33’s.

 

I now have 6 33’s, 2 60’s, 2 50s, 2 20’s a 45 and a 37, in O gauge, and no issues. Yes occasionally some damage has occurred in transit, but handling is not down to Heljan, and all replaced or replacement parts sent without quibble. The only issue I have with Heljan is their parts supplier, awful

[Moley48]

Thanks for the comments guys.

 

It's reassuring to know that this sort of thing is not common with Heljan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Roy Langridge]

1 hour ago, 47606odin said:

The only issue I have with Heljan is their parts supplier, awful

 

For me Gaugemaster have been excellent providing spares, the only issue being that they can only provide what they have been given by Heljan.

 

Roy

[blueeighties]

23 hours ago, Moley48 said:

I just think given the way these models are manufactured replacements wont be any better..

Interesting, I presume you have visited the manufacturing departments of Heljan to qualify that statement?

23 hours ago, Moley48 said: