Farish N gauge buses - now out

[mikeharvey22]

The Farish Scenecraft Leyland PD2s are now being delivered. Here are the Southdown and Trent ones. The Leicester one is in this delivery batch too.

 

 

[Les1952]

They look nice, but are they still too small?  If not then the Trent one would look nice on Rise Park - though still deputising for a Midland General Lodekka perhaps?

 

Les

[John M Upton]

Any sign of more runs of Stagecoach Leyland Nationals on the horizon?  Tried picking up some on Ebay a while back but some lunatic went and hoovered the lot up at an average of over thirty notes each!!!

[mikeharvey22]

They look nice, but are they still too small?  If not then the Trent one would look nice on Rise Park - though still deputising for a Midland General Lodekka perhaps?

 

Les

I am away from home just now and the apartment I am in does not have a means of measuring them accurately. They are just under 50mm long so around 1/160 again.

[mikeharvey22]

Any sign of more runs of Stagecoach Leyland Nationals on the horizon?  Tried picking up some on Ebay a while back but some lunatic went and hoovered the lot up at an average of over thirty notes each!!!

There are some more new liveries on Nationals and Atlanteans but I did not see any Stagecoach ones on the racks at Osborns Models in Bideford where I bought the PD2s.

[John M Upton]

Indeed Alder Valley and Green Line ones have just been found at my local emporium.  However if you have a Green Line one on pre-order you are about to be in for a shock....

 

See if you can spot what is very very wrong:

 

Thankfully mine are being repainted anyway but really, what a cock up!!  Looks like London Country light green to me, not the correct NBC Leaf Green.

[acg5324]

Oh dear bit of a cock up with the colour......I've still got the Southern National NBC Dual purpose RELH on order since the buses were first announced. Might see that this year too!

[mikeharvey22]

The final 7 models from the 32 announced originally are now on their way to the UK!

 

There are photos of the production models on this site.

 

http://www.britishmodelbuses.com/

 

Click the News item in the left hand frame, and look at the news item for Thursday 3rd March 2016.

 

These were announced in the 2009 catalogue!

[acg5324]

The final 7 models from the 32 announced originally are now on their way to the UK!There are photos of the production models on this site.http://www.britishmodelbuses.com/Click the News item in the left hand frame, and look at the news item for Thursday 3rd March 2016.These were announced in the 2009 catalogue!

That's how long I've had the southern National DP Bristol RE on order. Looks like it's got the London Country light green colour which I think is still to light even for a Dual Purpose vehicle.

[John M Upton]

Not quite as light as the hopelessly wrong green used on the Green Line National but still a bit paler than it should be.  Final judgement should be reserved for it being seen in the flesh by the mk1 eyeball however as photos can be deceptive.

[acg5324]

Not quite as light as the hopelessly wrong green used on the Green Line National but still a bit paler than it should be.  Final judgement should be reserved for it being seen in the flesh by the mk1 eyeball however as photos can be deceptive.

Very true hope 7 years is worth the wait!

[simpsonjock]

That's how long I've had the southern National DP Bristol RE on order. Looks like it's got the London Country light green colour which I think is still to light even for a Dual Purpose vehicle.

 

I see the SN RE is now out - and after such a long wait it's hugely disappointing to see the livery is 100% inaccurate - it is supposed to nee NBC green and white, but has been issued in light green and cream, very similar if not identical to the Green Line national pictured earlier in the thread. It beats me how this could have happened as the livery mock up in  the GF catalogue shows green and white, so presumably there must be some sort of quality control that what is finally issued is correct?

 

The real vehicle has never carried this livery - the closest vague match would be the tilling green and cream on Bristol DP RE's, but the green on the model is far too light even for that.

 

Having waited so long this is a real shame. We could do with a properly scaled, properly finished N scale bus range, sadly the GF range does not really hit the mark.

 

David

[acg5324]

Mine is enroute from Hattons and with the NBC logos and fleet name on the body side rather than the roof a repaint is going to be impossible without loosing the fleet name etc.

[mikeharvey22]

After a seven year wait it is really disappointing that so many of the recent arrivals have major colour and marking errors. What irks me just as much is the charming mouldings of the Guy Utility bus are about 1/160 scale, and the "competing" version from Oxford Diecast is a caricature and way too large - nearer to 1/144. It has a feel of the very old Matchbox Toys No.5. A true 1/148 scale version with the quality of the Scenecraft mouldings would hit the mark for me, and with a life span from 1942/43 to the early 1960s (even 1970s in some areas as open toppers) could have had a widespread appeal.

[grahame]

. A true 1/148 scale version with the quality of the Scenecraft mouldings would hit the mark for me, and with a life span from 1942/43 to the early 1960s (even 1970s in some areas as open toppers) could have had a widespread appeal.

 

Shame about those Scenecraft buses - the scales are not exactly 1:160 and are often even smaller being inconsistent with variable scales in length height and width (apparently to fit the standard packaging according to one rumour).

 

So, yep, I agree some decent quality 1:148 buses (and other vehicles) would be nice, but that period is far too early to be attractive for me. Something from the mid 70s to mid 90s would appeal far more IMO - like LT Titans, Nationals and DMSs.

 

G.

[mikeharvey22]

I agree completely Grahame.

 

In 1/76 scale Oxford is now producing good quality older double deckers, albeit it with the glazing printed á la Poole Farish Mk 1 coaches. This makes a relivery almost impossible by conventional painting. It looks like the forthcoming Oxford Diecast Borismaster follows the printed livery route, with a very detailed interior. For practical purposes a moulded body with separate glazing holds greater appeal given that no-one can make all the possible liveries. And even London buses of the more recent eras carried a wide variety of different liveries and logo styles.

[John M Upton]

Are the Farish Nationals and Bristol VR's based on a scan of the EFE 1:76 scale versions and then shrunk down?

[mikeharvey22]

Are the Farish Nationals and Bristol VR's based on a scan of the EFE 1:76 scale versions and then shrunk down?

John

 

I think that the origins of all but 2 of the models are the EFE 1/76 scale models. The exceptions are the Leyland PD2 and the dual door Atlantean. The 2009 catalogue illustrations included some 3D images which included the same errors in proportions as the EFE models, most notably the relative heights of the 2 decks on the Guy Utility.

[John M Upton]

So effectively a model of a model!!!

[mikeharvey22]

So effectively a model of a model!!!

It may be that some used the same base CAD file as EFE tweaked for material thicknesses and fit to suit the smaller scale. The body wall thickness of the half cab double deckers is very obvious around the nearside front bulkhead. The BT Models double decker is superior to the Scenecraft version, and a lot heavier too. Much closer to 1/148 too. Also a much easier motorising proposition using Tomytec chassis.