Administrators Phil Parker Posted November 7, 2013 Administrators Share Posted November 7, 2013 It appears to have ground to a halt. Our local Asda still has (or did until a day or two ago) their 2 copies of part 5. Most retailers will only stock a partwork for a few weeks. WH Smiths does the first 6 or 7 and then if you want it from them you have to order it. I suspect the supermarkets want bulky items like this on the shelves for even less time. There used to be a newsagent in Ely who seemed to have stocks of whole series, I suspect he bought leftovers or had a lot of customers who ordered a set and then didn't pick them up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
YK 50A Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Most retailers will only stock a partwork for a few weeks. WH Smiths does the first 6 or 7 and then if you want it from them you have to order it. I suspect the supermarkets want bulky items like this on the shelves for even less time. Agreed, but that doesn't account for a good number of independents not being able to get enough of issue 1, not shifting any of issue 2 and giving up by issue 3. The partwork may run its course, but not in great numbers. Alun Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold big jim Posted November 7, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 7, 2013 going back to the coaches, after my rewheeling and boring out of the axlebox centres with the trucktuner i have had a rake of 6 of them running round the layout behind my Heljan wcr 33 without so much of a derail in over an hour of continuous running, and i only had to stop as the 33 began to run erratically Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Noticed that my local Asda had the latest issue on the shelves today. They do seem to be selling them, so someone must be buying them!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonBoulton Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Have had a go at close coupling the coaches. The Bachmann "brake hose" gets very close but has the obvious disadvantage that the coaches can't be easily uncoupled. The Bachmann 36-027 replacement coupler that Alun recommended gets the coaches even closer but I found that you can't just push the coaches together to get them to couple as the coupler is too short. I tried the coupler with a pair of Bachmann mark 1's and had the same problem, once you do get them coupled up it looks very good though, Best wishes, Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
YK 50A Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Have had a go at close coupling the coaches. The Bachmann "brake hose" gets very close but has the obvious disadvantage that the coaches can't be easily uncoupled. The Bachmann 36-027 replacement coupler that Alun recommended gets the coaches even closer but I found that you can't just push the coaches together to get them to couple as the coupler is too short. I tried the coupler with a pair of Bachmann mark 1's and had the same problem, once you do get them coupled up it looks very good though, Best wishes, Simon The next best thing is to alternate the Bachmann 36-061 (supplied tension lock coupling) - without getting a ruler out the Hachette coupling appears to be similar dimensionally - with the Bachmann 36-027. Not as close, but easier to marshall without 12" to the foot hands getting in the way. Almost by definition, the more realistic you get the close coupling, the less easy it is to couple/uncouple the rolling stock. Alternatively, go down the Kadee route or maybe the Roco style Hornby couplings. I've tried the later, but it requires modification to clear the coach ends, I believe the former may also require work because of the non NEM standard coupling pocket height. By the way, I've now put what I did close coupling Bachmann Mk1s and Hornby and Bachmann Mk2s with tension lock couplings into a blog, have a look here. Alun Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 The latest part consists of a (small) bag of dark green flock and a curved piece of track - hardly worth £8.99 IMHO (and SWMBO's who was astounded when told the price!). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 The latest part consists of a (small) bag of dark green flock and a curved piece of track - hardly worth £8.99 IMHO (and SWMBO's who was astounded when told the price!). I suppose Hachette would try to argue that you're getting the value of the printed material as well. That's supposed to be part of the deal with these partworks that the print builds into a valuable reference. However I was seriously underwhelmed by the editorial content of Issue 1 and wonder what anyone who has been following the series thinks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Huw Griffiths Posted November 21, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 21, 2013 The latest part consists of a (small) bag of dark green flock and a curved piece of track - hardly worth £8.99 IMHO (and SWMBO's who was astounded when told the price!). I suppose Hachette would try to argue that you're getting the value of the printed material as well. That's supposed to be part of the deal with these partworks that the print builds into a valuable reference. However I was seriously underwhelmed by the editorial content of Issue 1 and wonder what anyone who has been following the series thinks. Value - that's a good one - certainly from Issue 2 onwards - and it seems like the concept might now have been completely abandoned. I also hadn't noticed any real editorial content - but I seriously doubt if this concept would have featured too prominently in the thoughts of most of the people who were bulk buying Issue 1, a few months back. Obviously, I might be wrong - it's always possible that some people might have bought loads of copies of Issue 1 just for the magazine and the backing card - and then discarded the Mk 1 coaches. A lot of things are possible - if unlikely. All I know is that, at the time YMRV Issue 1 was in the shops, I passed a few city centre bins which seemed to have these magazines (and backing cards) sticking out of them, with the coaches nowhere to be seen. (I didn't look too closely - I just noticed out of the corner of my eye, after I'd passed them.) Seriously though, I think a number of RMweb members have made it clear that they were only interested in the Mk 1 coach that came with the first issue. I don't think anyone's tried seriously suggesting that it was a particularly good model - I don't think anyone would - but, at the bargain basement price, it made great fodder for "bashing" / rebuilding / "proof of concept" experiments. A number of workshop type threads on this site (and, no doubt, others) bear witness to this. Apart from the cost, there's also the knowledge that nothing really good would get ruined if anyone were to put a scalpel to one of these coaches - and that can sometimes be an enormous confidence booster. Anyway, I think I'd better get off the line - and let anyone who is still following this "first part" work say what they think. Huw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 In all fairness, the magazines did offer a fairly good calorific value when burnt in the garden incinerator. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Huw Griffiths Posted November 21, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 21, 2013 In all fairness, the magazines did offer a fairly good calorific value when burnt in the garden incinerator. I don't know why, but this reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon from the 1990s: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1995-01-16/ Somehow, though, I suspect it would probably take quite a few of the YMRV magazines I saw to fill a stove. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie3 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I have just received issue's 4 & 5 today from the Postman, It has the free tractor/trailer with it and the cork is said to be arriving by courier, Now it's time for me to make up my mind whether to continue with this build or not, If I did I would have to make my own layout as this one is far to big for my spare room, I can afford to go a bit longer but would have to shorten the width. I have never done anything like this before and that is why I need the step by step instructions, I have always wanted to have a train set layout since I was a boy, now I am in my mid 50s and FINALY got round to doing so, I am retired now due to type 1 diabetic problems and got a lot of spare time on my hands, I also got October & November issues of the Hornby magazine but not sure about the card buildings ect. I know it is an expensive way to do a build but I can easily put £8.99 away every week, the other issue is it will take a couple of years to complete. Like I said, I will give it serious thought now whether to continue or not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&WR Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Good luck whatever you choose, eddie3. I think you will find the card buildings a joy to put together, and once you've learnt a few techniques from building them you will have the confidence to strike out into scratchbuilding or doing the odd bodge to the kits themselves so they fit your railway and itdoesn't look completely identikit! That's how it worked for me - see my thread. I was lucky enough to have a basic layout down from my boyhood, but it's been a world of fun rediscovering it and making it what I wanted it to be thirty years ago... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie3 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Good luck whatever you choose, eddie3. I think you will find the card buildings a joy to put together, and once you've learnt a few techniques from building them you will have the confidence to strike out into scratchbuilding or doing the odd bodge to the kits themselves so they fit your railway and itdoesn't look completely identikit! That's how it worked for me - see my thread. I was lucky enough to have a basic layout down from my boyhood, but it's been a world of fun rediscovering it and making it what I wanted it to be thirty years ago... Absolutely brilliant, I wish I had the knowledge and experience, how did you get the sea effect, that is stunning, now I can see where my time is going to go, I have a lot of catching up to do, I hope I can get mine finished before the big man calls my number.lol Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 In all fairness, the magazines did offer a fairly good calorific value when burnt in the garden incinerator. I agree, the printed detritus from my 5 coaches went up in smoke along with some garden waste. Probably the glossy paper, but the smoke prompted my neighbour to complain, which I thought was a bit rich. This is Sheringham, and when the NNR's B12 is in steam, you can hardly breathe around here... I don't notice anyone moaning about that... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&WR Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Absolutely brilliant, I wish I had the knowledge and experience, how did you get the sea effect, that is stunning, now I can see where my time is going to go, I have a lot of catching up to do, I hope I can get mine finished before the big man calls my number.lol Sorry, a bit OT here. Many thanks for your comments. I only started railwaying again in January 2012, the layout having been folded against the wall for the best part of twenty five years prior to that. I read about Scalescenes on a non railway-related site, decided that I wanted to get the thing out for my lad and set to work. I started with the free downloads of the provender store & low relief office, an old Stanley knife, and the only thing I bought was a large sheet of thick mountboard from a local art shop. This was the first thread I ever read about making card kits, hope the Mods here don't mind my pointing at another site. Anything on here by Chubber (aka Doug) is well worth a read too - the card structure sub-forum on RMWeb is where to find his stuff including a link to his own guide to card kits. Just don't be put off by the superb scratchbuiding & be tempted to give up! My water effects are done with a sheet of Faller plastic. The sea uses the plain water with the blue backing sheet, dry brushed over the top with white enamel for surf. As much as anything this was to mask the joint between the blue backing paper and the fine grit sandpaper I used for the beach itself! The stream is a mucky coloured file cover muckied up some more with watercolours before laying the Faller water over the top. Good luck with it, it's lots of fun, and whatever you do if you can post pictures! I have had so much help on here as a result of doing so my modelling has come on no end Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
YK 50A Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Just to 2nd the last post... I've consulted on here every step of the way with my latest (and first semi-serious) layout and am incorporating things like cab control, electro-frog medium and large radius points, flexi-track, several elements of prototypical running, etc, etc, etc... It will end up costing something like half what the Hachette job will cost and will be infinitely more fun and flexible, realistic, space for loads more stock, I won't go on, until it's closer to being completed anyway. It fits in my son's bedroom and there should be trains running for Christmas. Nuff said? However, I am grateful to Hachette for their coaches, which are slowly but surely being turned into 1970s/80s dormitory vehicles. Alun Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 several elements of prototypical running there should be trains running for Christmas. I fear these statements may be mutally exclusive - these days, anyway! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TheQ Posted November 21, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted November 21, 2013 They Missed a trick there, the whole series would have been much more valuable if they had printed constructional buildings like Metcalf or Scalescenes on those huge backing cards. The Q Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Value - that's a good one - certainly from Issue 2 onwards - and it seems like the concept might now have been completely abandoned. I also hadn't noticed any real editorial content - but I seriously doubt if this concept would have featured too prominently in the thoughts of most of the people who were bulk buying Issue 1, a few months back. Obviously, I might be wrong - it's always possible that some people might have bought loads of copies of Issue 1 just for the magazine and the backing card - and then discarded the Mk 1 coaches. A lot of things are possible - if unlikely. I didn't say that I thought it good value because I don't. Obviously almost everyone here who bought edition one did so just for the cheap coach just as they did in France and Italy where Hachette have published a similar partwork. I was though wondering whether people who actually were interested in the potential of the whole project have found the editorial content to be any good. In other words would someone following it actually get the information they'd need to buld a half way decent model railway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Judging by the fact our local supermarket is still stocking the latest parts someone out there must be buying and following the series. I wonder whether they are enjoying the slow rate of progress. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
6959 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 When I saw the MK1 coach in part one of this part work in mid-September, I did not know who made it so bought the three coaches that WHS had just to investigate. A few days later I ordered a box of ten more which were delivered to the store in four days. On the premise that it is better to have too many at 3.99 than to have too few and pay double the price for used ones at a later date, I ordered ten more. As of today in late November they have not turned up so I assume that they are sold out at publisher or being restricted to new subscribers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
YK 50A Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 I've found a use for the track. I only kept 4 pieces as a "mount" for taking pictures of my departmental dormitory coaches, but Christmas being just round the corner means that the there will be track on the baseboards before I get round to making or ordering custom transfers and finishing. Anyway, there are a few Peco points where I need to solder droppers directly to the rails as opposed to the fishplates, so I've been practising with the track to make sure I've got the technique right without melting the plastic sleepers. Alun Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_nicole Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 I've found a use for the track. I only kept 4 pieces as a "mount" for taking pictures of my departmental dormitory coaches, but Christmas being just round the corner means that the there will be track on the baseboards before I get round to making or ordering custom transfers and finishing. Anyway, there are a few Peco points where I need to solder droppers directly to the rails as opposed to the fishplates, so I've been practising with the track to make sure I've got the technique right without melting the plastic sleepers. Alun As the Hachette rails are steel, I would have thought they would make soldering much more difficult than the nickel silver rails used by Peco ? Chris - Black Hat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 Oh my God - why won't this thread just die...!!!??? Only joking - I just went a bit OTT with the Issue 1 coaches (as I'm sure hundreds of you have), and now I'm not sure I'll ever find a use for them... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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