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Wright writes.....


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2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks Graham,

 

When is Shap next out, please?

 

Wherever/whenever it is, would you like to borrow this?

 

862998815_Clip1Duchess06varnished.jpg.80bf02c65542f83727b7e015a6df9a22.jpg

 

Seen before, but of possible interest to you?

 

It's Hornby's latest die-cast 'Semi' which I've detailed and Geoff Haynes has varnished. It's currently with Geoff for some light weathering.

 

Whatever load you choose to put behind her on Shap (if you should choose to do so), she'll take. With ease!

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

Thanks Tony. Shap's due to be at York next Easter. I'd love to try out a modern 'Hornby Dublo' Duchess on Shap, of course. I'm certainly going to need a good stud of powerful haulers for the sleeper trains in particular on the permanent layout.

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3 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Thanks for the kind comment about Little Bytham, Jol.

 

It's interesting to consider the locos which would have been seen on the prototype in the summer of 1958 (and the last decade of the M&GNR), which are currently available RTR in OO. Of course, some of these are more recent entries on to the market than when Little Bytham was started (13 years ago). 

 

Out of interest, let's see.  

A1. Bachmann.

A2. Bachmann.

A2/2. Hornby.

A2/3. Hornby.

A3. Hornby.

A4. Hornby/Bachmann/Dapol.

B1. Hornby/Bachmann.

B17. Hornby (tenuous, as explained in my previous post). 

D16/3. Hornby.

J11. Bachmann.

J39. Bachmann (is it still available?). 

K1. Hornby.

K3. Bachmann.

L1. Hornby.

N2. Hornby (running-in on its way back south after shopping at the 'Plant').

O1. Hornby.

O23 and O2/4. Heljan.

O4/1. Bachmann. 

V2. Bachmann.

Ivatt 4MT. Bachmann.

4F. Bachmann.

Britannia. Hornby.

BR Standard Five. Bachmann (tenuous).

BR Standard 4 2-6-0. Bachmann. 

Austerity. Bachmann.

9F. Bachmann. 

 

I'm sure I've missed some out, though it's still an impressive list in my view. And, to come we've got a forthcoming A5 and W1 RTR. 

 

Now, the fact that I've got so few of those listed above doesn't imply a dissatisfaction with them as such, only that most are useless for taking the very heavy trains found on LB. That, coupled with the fact that (as is known) I much prefer to make my own locos means I'm never going to be RTR-reliant. Yes, I know I've made recent programmes for Hornby, and I stand by what I said in those about how good the products are, but they were more aimed at what can be done to improve/alter/detail/renumber/rename/weather Hornby RTR locos/rolling stock, mainly with the less-experienced in mind. In that respect, I hope they proved of value.

 

Which leaves us with what's missing off that RTR loco list.

A1/1, A2/1, original A2/2, B16/1, B16/2, B16/3, C12, D9, D16/3 with decorative valances, J3, J6, J17, J69, K2, K5 (tenuous), O2/1, O2/2 (forthcoming from Heljan?), O4/3, O4/6, O4/7 and O4/8 (have I missed any off?). A fair few still to being going on with. I've built all the above, of course. 

 

I wonder how the other main lines are catered for RTR? Of course, these are all steam-outline. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony.  

 

I think a D9 and a J3 are a bit dodgy for a 1958 date Tony. They were all gone by 1950 for the D9 and (from memory) 1952/3 for the J3. Could you add a Bachmann D11 to the RTR types? I don't know if they ran through Little Bytham but they would be a possibility.

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11 hours ago, Chamby said:

 

Hi Jol,

 

Did you perchance see the programme on Channel 5 last night about Hornby?  It showed the modern method of model making... all done with scanning technology and computers.  It made me realise that there is much less of an art in model design now, it being rather more about the use of technology.  Perhaps this is why we're seeing the emergence of new RTR suppliers, now the process is becoming less of a dark art and more openly available?

 

Phil

With modern technology and computer drafting, skills required are much lower and the development cost is coming down.

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1 hour ago, jrg1 said:

With modern technology and computer drafting, skills required are much lower 

 

I wouldn't say "much lower"; perhaps "different". The development process may be made less laborious but there's still a thorough understanding both of the prototype and of the manufacturing process needed.

Edited by Compound2632
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8 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

I think a D9 and a J3 are a bit dodgy for a 1958 date Tony. They were all gone by 1950 for the D9 and (from memory) 1952/3 for the J3. Could you add a Bachmann D11 to the RTR types? I don't know if they ran through Little Bytham but they would be a possibility.

Good morning Tony,

 

I did state in parenthesis that the MR/M&GNR section of Little Bytham represents the last decade of the line's existence (modeller's licence), so the D9 and the J3 fit into the early part of that period. 

 

My Bachmann D11 is now running on Retford, re-gauged to EM by my good mate Ray Chessum. I do have an of-its-day BEC D11, but purely for sentimental reasons. I saw PRINCE OF WALES at Chester Northgate and less than a month later I saw it at Kiveton Park. D11s certainly could be seen regularly at Doncaster, Retford and Newark in my spotting days, but not on the main line in my experience. I suppose the Lincoln ones could have got to Grantham, but further south to Little Bytham? In LNER days, of course, D11s could be seen on Pullman trains on the main line.

 

I think I missed off a B12/3 from my list, a type which ran on both systems at LB in the '50s. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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9 hours ago, LNER4479 said:

Thanks Tony. Shap's due to be at York next Easter. I'd love to try out a modern 'Hornby Dublo' Duchess on Shap, of course. I'm certainly going to need a good stud of powerful haulers for the sleeper trains in particular on the permanent layout.

Good morning Graham,

 

With my review of the model appearing in the next issue of BRM, there should be some moving images of it on the digital edition, hauling in excess of 25 carriages (until the train became unstable). 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

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10 hours ago, Chas Levin said:

Hello Jol, another factor is that people frequently don't know who designed a kit - it often isn't mentioned on suppliers' sites or in the instructions. I only knew about some of your designs because we had exchanged posts elsewhere on RMWeb.

 

At the risk of courting controversy I think the designer's name should be prominently featured: even with my fairly limited kit-building experience, it seems to me that he (or she) is pretty key to a successful and enjoyable build...

 

Chas,

 

I usually put my name, together with the kit/model name, design year and brand name on any etch items I designed - space permitting -  as  a little protection against it being copied (not at all usual in this hobby but not entirely unknown in the past). I did that because I was designing for someone else. I expect though that those designing for their own business might leave their name off, leaving the brand name as identification.

 

Jol

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One of LRM's other designers is very active on the LNER forum where he engages with people building their kits and is always interested in feedback.   Unsolicited, he sent me some extra parts for the one I'm part way through at the moment as they'd been improved since the kit was released. 

 

I have to agree with the sentiment expressed earlier that some kit designers/manufacturers don't know how to deal with the model buying public.  I wonder how many of them, though, have fallen into it by accident after they designed something for themselves and then found a demand for it.   In those circumstances you'd think it would be better to hand it on to someone who can do the commercial side better, but not everyone views it that way.

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16 hours ago, Chamby said:

 

Hi Jol,

 

Did you perchance see the programme on Channel 5 last night about Hornby?  It showed the modern method of model making... all done with scanning technology and computers.  It made me realise that there is much less of an art in model design now, it being rather more about the use of technology.  Perhaps this is why we're seeing the emergence of new RTR suppliers, now the process is becoming less of a dark art and more openly available?

 

Phil

 

Phil, what was the programme please? Perhaps I can find it on catch-up.

 

The other evening I watched a couple of the Peco films on YouTube. The lengths (and enormous expense) they are going to in order to bring their production 'in house' is very interesting.

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1 hour ago, jwealleans said:

I have to agree with the sentiment expressed earlier that some kit designers/manufacturers don't know how to deal with the model buying public.  I wonder how many of them, though, have fallen into it by accident after they designed something for themselves and then found a demand for it.   In those circumstances you'd think it would be better to hand it on to someone who can do the commercial side better, but not everyone views it that way.

 

There must be some very widely differing ideas of what amounts to doing the commercial side "properly", especially in respect of how much is done to suit the customer, how much of the effort is purely aimed at getting maximum profit in short time, and how much thought, if any, is given to future prospects and continuing efforts to develop new products and keep old ones up to date. I don't claim to know the "best" way to do any of it.

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5 hours ago, jrg1 said:

With modern technology and computer drafting, skills required are much lower and the development cost is coming down.

Have a look at an Edge kit. The Judith Edge kits are very well designed and Mike is anything but unskilled.

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5 minutes ago, johndon said:

 

The program is Hornby: A Model World but it's not on Channel 5, it is on Yesterday:

 

https://yesterday.uktv.co.uk/shows/Hornby-a-model-world/episodes/

 

 

Thank you John. That explains why I couldn't find it on the listings! :) (Am I the only one who is confused by the number of TV channels?)

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3 minutes ago, TrevorP1 said:

 

Thank you John. That explains why I couldn't find it on the listings! :) (Am I the only one who is confused by the number of TV channels?)

Nope the Freesat guide is full of channels I would rarely watch.

 

Must be 10 or more variations of channel 4.

 

BBC news is most confusing as bounces around various EPGs 200 on Freesat HD and 80 on Freeview.

 

Not retuned Freeview in years as channels would move again.

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6 minutes ago, Jesse Sim said:

Always a good chat Tony on the phone, mostly swearing and laughing with talk of the meaning of life. As I said I finished that Chivers CCT van today, very easy to put together I must say apart from the roof which was a bit of a fag. Can I still say that? Anyway. 
 

Lettering was proving troublesome as I couldn’t find a photo, this is the LNER design based on the NER version, built in 1940 so the small lettering is better suited. Every photo or drawing I found was in pre-37 large lettering.  
 

I’m quite happy with it, it was going in the parcels train but after a good day or two of non stop chatting with JW I’m planning a stock train. So this will go into that with another couple of NPC’s, a brake van or two and some coaches at the rear. I do like the weird the wonderful. 

2FF43BDB-854B-48A2-90D1-E82561ADDFD7.jpeg

Looking good mate, where can you find these kits from?

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2 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Good morning Tony,

 

I did state in parenthesis that the MR/M&GNR section of Little Bytham represents the last decade of the line's existence (modeller's licence), so the D9 and the J3 fit into the early part of that period. 

 

My Bachmann D11 is now running on Retford, re-gauged to EM by my good mate Ray Chessum. I do have an of-its-day BEC D11, but purely for sentimental reasons. I saw PRINCE OF WALES at Chester Northgate and less than a month later I saw it at Kiveton Park. D11s certainly could be seen regularly at Doncaster, Retford and Newark in my spotting days, but not on the main line in my experience. I suppose the Lincoln ones could have got to Grantham, but further south to Little Bytham? In LNER days, of course, D11s could be seen on Pullman trains on the main line.

 

I think I missed off a B12/3 from my list, a type which ran on both systems at LB in the '50s. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

That is fair enough Tony. I had missed the bit about the flexible timescale on the M&GN bit.

 

If you were as flexible on the main line, you could add a few interesting types, like GNR Atlantics!

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1 hour ago, MJI said:

Have a look at an Edge kit. The Judith Edge kits are very well designed and Mike is anything but unskilled.

My name goes on all etches I design, including the ones for other people - mostly in New Zealand so not well known on here.

We also answer all emails as quickly as possible, even when we are on holiday but we aren't always here to answer the phone.

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2 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

 

Thank you John. That explains why I couldn't find it on the listings! :) (Am I the only one who is confused by the number of TV channels?)

 

John beat me to it... clearly I am the one confused with TV channels!  I believe the episode is repeated on Thursday evening at 8pm?  This was the second episode, the first is  available on catch-up.

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7 hours ago, jrg1 said:

With modern technology and computer drafting, skills required are much lower and the development cost is coming down.

 

My Dad would disagree - he's a mostly retired patter maker with 60+ years experience under his belt but would struggle to start a CAD application, let alone begin to use on to convert a drawing into a 3d item.

 

The skills needed to produce decent, reliable tooling from a series of 2d drawings are still as much a dark-art as they were back in the days of pen and ink. Even interpreting a 3d scan takes time and effort. It's probably a faster process now (less time needed sharpening pencils) and the skill set may be a little different, but it's certainly no less skilled.

 

Steven B.

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4 hours ago, jwealleans said:

I have to agree with the sentiment expressed earlier that some kit designers/manufacturers don't know how to deal with the model buying public. 

 

I'd also add that some members of the model buying public don't know how to deal with kit manufacturers; I'm sure all manufacturers (and traders) have horror stories of some members of the public.

Actually, that could make a very interesting thread in itself.... 

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2 minutes ago, polybear said:

some members of the model buying public don't know how to deal with kit manufacturers;

 

That goes for the public in any circumstance.   I worked in retail, briefly.  Never again.   There are enough examples online to show that the public should as a rule be avoided if possible.

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