Model of the Year 2012 - the results

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

That's exactly why I voted for Hornby - I hadn't bought any of the relevant Bachmann models, so I felt I couldn't vote for them. Hornby provided what I wanted to buy, and very nice it was too.

[Michael Delamar]

I also think Hornby's livery application is better than Bachmann's. although I do think both's BR green livery could be improved, especially Bachmann's orange lining..

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

When it comes to Eastern locomotives, both manufacturers could improve their shade of green by making it a lot lighter, and putting 'LNER' on the loco or tender...

[Guest Phil]

When it comes to Eastern locomotives, both manufacturers could improve their shade of green by making it a lot lighter, and putting 'LNER' on the loco or tender...

Do you know, I didn't think British Railways was spelt like that Obi. Must have been wrong all these years !!!

[31A]

Surely people can only base their opinions and votes on what they've bought, and unless you're just a collector you're not likely to have bought all the models in any one category as not all of them would fall within your area of interest.

 

So for example, being an Eastern modeller I bought a B17 and an O1 from Hornby this year (and would have been very hard pushed to vote for one in preference to the other), but didn't buy any of the Bachmann locos in the poll.  Not because I thought one manufacturer was superior to the other, but because one manufacturer introduced the models I wanted and the other one didn't (this year, although I do have several other Bachmann locos).

 

So I didn't vote as I didn't feel that I was qualified to judge whether the O1 or the B17 was a better model than the 'C' class, for example.

[Dunsignalling]

That's exactly why I voted for Hornby - I hadn't bought any of the relevant Bachmann models, so I felt I couldn't vote for them. Hornby provided what I wanted to buy, and very nice it was too.

For me, it was the other way round so I suppose it all balances out.

 

John

[Robin Brasher]

I agree that you need to buy a model or see one running at a club layout before voting.  The B17 and th C class both got good reviews in Model Rail but the B17 did slightly better. I am modelling the Swanage Railway so neither model is relevant. I bought the LNER Sandringham B17 because I live in Sandringham Court and the C class because they were used for goods trains in Kent where I spent my childhood. They are both excellent models and the B17 is harder to make. They both have similar performances and can pull 11 Hornby Mk1 coaches. The C class is more versatile because I can run it through Hornby second radius points. It also fills a gap in the market because it is the only conventional looking Southern goods locomotive whereas there is a choice of LNER 4-6-0s. I have replaced the Hornby points with Peco medium and large radius points on my portable club layout because a lot of the new locomotives will not run through them so perhaps it is not fair to test them on Hornby second radius points.  

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

 I want (Hornby) back in the decent models game alongside Bachmann and Dapol.

 But they are fully in it. I have a lovely group of models of the  B1, L1, O1, B17, Gresley and Thompson non-gangwayed as a result; fully the equal of the best from elsewhere, and not just in 00 come to that. Possibly the recent  'goodness' being fairly tightly focussed on the right part of the UK railway reduced the overall support?

[S.A.C Martin]

 But they are fully in it. I have a lovely group of models of the  B1, L1, O1, B17, Gresley and Thompson non-gangwayed as a result; fully the equal of the best from elsewhere, and not just in 00 come to that. Possibly the recent  'goodness' being fairly tightly focussed on the right part of the UK railway reduced the overall support?

 

They are not just "in the game" they're at the top of their game if you take the models mentioned above as a sample. They are all excellent models, the L1 and O1 in particular being the best of the locomotive models by some way. Hornby's problem this year is that there's none, or very little, of that joined up thinking which fitted those four locomotives and the rolling stock in terms of complementing each other and encouraging multiple purchases.

 

Unless you're going to be doing a lot of modelling to get a streamlined P2, Hornby's no.2001 is going to garner one or two purchases per person, probably the former. Same thing with the Duke. I'm reading posts elsewhere on the internet where people are queuing up to buy multiples of the 64xx, 1F and E4. Throw in the birdcage stock with the previous SECR C Class and the forthcoming E4, and you see the same amount of joined up, lateral thinking in releases that Hornby have been very good at with the LNER recently. 

 

Then of course there's the supply issue for Hornby, but that's been done to death elsewhere.

 

Overall I think Bachmann and Hornby have been doing a similar sort of thing for years. You look at the new LMS releases Bachmann have made (Midland Compound, Super D, Patriot, retooled Jubilee and forthcoming Stanier Porthole stock) and they've done a similar thing with a different region.

 

The big difference is that people currently have more faith in Bachmann to deliver the models to a set spec and within a given period, accepting some delays as Bachmann seem much better at communicating to their customers than Hornby does at the minute. Which is a shame as, for my money, Hornby's O1 and the Thompson stock are the best models you can buy at the minute.

[The Stationmaster]

 But they are fully in it. I have a lovely group of models of the  B1, L1, O1, B17, Gresley and Thompson non-gangwayed as a result; fully the equal of the best from elsewhere, and not just in 00 come to that. Possibly the recent  'goodness' being fairly tightly focussed on the right part of the UK railway reduced the overall support?

That is an interesting idea - that prototype interest/affiliation influences the way folk vote for models.  

 

I wonder then what will happen this year with an approximate balance of GW steam era models coming from both Hornby and Bachmann (and of course the exact match in terms of the Shunters Truck)?  It could be very interesting to see what happens with the Hornby 'Star' up against Bachmann's 'Dukedog' as both are looking pretty impressive so far.  Even more interesting might be how those two fare against the 'big & green' contingent in the shape of the P2 and 71000 - will this poll be where wider judgement is expressed on 'design clever' or would it again be influenced by choice of prototype?

[Dunsignalling]

Possibly the recent  'goodness' being fairly tightly focussed on the right part of the UK railway reduced the overall support?

Quite possibly. As a Southern Region (steam) modeller with Somerset & Dorset leanings, my only Hornby locos in since 2010 have been my eighteenth (!) West Country and the re-motored 2P. Nothing properly new since the King Arthurs (of which I have three). All the other red boxes I have brought home in that time contained coaches and npccs (including a couple of Gresley BGs!). 

 

This year, 'Okehampton' will be my nineteenth Light Pacific (and probably the last unless they do 'Bude' in later condition), one of the little Sentinel diesels and two more npccs items. That's it.

 

I never expected to see Bachmann become the main instigators of new Southern models (albeit none of those I want more than one of)!

 

John

[Dunsignalling]

That is an interesting idea - that prototype interest/affiliation influences the way folk vote for models.  

 

I wonder then what will happen this year with an approximate balance of GW steam era models coming from both Hornby and Bachmann (and of course the exact match in terms of the Shunters Truck)?  It could be very interesting to see what happens with the Hornby 'Star' up against Bachmann's 'Dukedog' as both are looking pretty impressive so far.  Even more interesting might be how those two fare against the 'big & green' contingent in the shape of the P2 and 71000 - will this poll be where wider judgement is expressed on 'design clever' or would it again be influenced by choice of prototype?

I can tell you already that, any vote of mine in next year's Model of the Year won't be for a Hornby product, simply because they aren't making anything new that interests me.

 

My best advance guesses at the moment are Bachmann's E4 or the Dapol O2 commissioned by Kernow Models.

 

John

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

I can tell you already that, any vote of mine in next year's Model of the Year won't be for a Hornby product, simply because they aren't making anything new that interests me.

The opposite is true for me. Almost all the new Bachmann models I have pre-ordered are reliveries of existing tooling, whereas I've got several newly-tooled Hornby models on order, simply because of my main areas of interest being better served by Hornby this year. Whether I'll vote for any of said models remains to be seen, however.

[Oldddudders]

I already feel I would be hard-put in the 2013 awards not to vote for the Hornby 2-BIL. Despite the - er - indifferent reception awarded their 4-VEP, Hornby pulled out a corker. Of course there are those who can identify the inexactitudes and mistakes, and I'm sure they are right, but Hornby has become the first manufacturer in the modern era to bring out a Big 4-era multiple unit, it is to C21 model standards, and the market seems delighted. They deserve my vote for that achievement alone.

[Graham_Muz]

Ian

 

Did you mention C21...

 

 

[Captain Kernow]

As a Southern Region (steam) modeller with Somerset & Dorset leanings

 

This year,             one of the little Sentinel diesels

Glad to see that someone else will be making a home for one or more Sentinels on the Somerset & Dorset!

[Steven B]

I can tell you already that, any vote of mine in next year's Model of the Year won't be for a Hornby product, simply because they aren't making anything new that interests me.

 

My best advance guesses at the moment are Bachmann's E4 or the Dapol O2 commissioned by Kernow Models.

 

Why does the model of the year have to be something that interests you? Surely a good model is a good model regardless of the prototype it represents?

 

My votes were cast for the models I thought were the best, not the ones that I bought or were personal favourites.

 

Happy modelling.

 

Steven B.

[Guest stuartp]

Why does the model of the year have to be something that interests you? Surely a good model is a good model regardless of the prototype it represents?

 

But how will you know if its a good representation of the prototype if it doesn't interest you ? I have no idea whether the Hornby 2-BIL (for example) is a good representation or not as all southern EMUs look to me like random coaches with cabs on the end. Conversely I don't expect that many people who don't model the Caley can tell a Jumbo, 812 and 300 Class apart but then why would they need to ? Perhaps we should all just vote for the prettiest looking one.

 

Which brings us back to Red Bull's point about manufacturers (hopefully) not taking online polls with no objective judging criteria too seriously.

[Ian J.]

 But they are fully in it. I have a lovely group of models of the  B1, L1, O1, B17, Gresley and Thompson non-gangwayed as a result; fully the equal of the best from elsewhere, and not just in 00 come to that. Possibly the recent  'goodness' being fairly tightly focussed on the right part of the UK railway reduced the overall support?

 

Your selective quoting of my post makes it look so wrong doesn't it. This is the complete post I made:

 

Really? Hornby down at 21% compared to Bachmann's 58% doesn't look so good to me. The manufacturer polls give an indication of how each manufacturer sits in the estimation of the voters. Now while Hornby certainly don't only see the likes of the modellers on RMweb as their only source of a 'satisfaction index', it surely must be of some concern to them? They have in the past (up until 'Design Clever' anyway) proven they can produce good models to good standards, certainly on a par with anything Bachmann can do. So they really should be level pegging with Bachmann, not some 40 points behind. I really do hope, somehow, that Hornby finds the will to be a modellers manufacturer again. I may seem to 'bash' them at the moment, but it's only because I want them back in the decent models game alongside Bachmann and Dapol.

 

Which mentions up to Design Clever. Those models you pick out from 'pre DC' are good, as I said, but it's not currently where Hornby are headed in the future (which is what I was referring to re 'back in the decent models' game) and that may be having some bearing on where they appear in the OO Manufacturer part of the poll.

[trisonic]

Er, Bachmann have a "few" diesels on sale over here with molded handrails too ( actually a mix of molded and wire) - some of them new releases.

 

Best, Pete.

[Accurascale Fran]

Just to go away from the Bachmann v Hornby debate for just one moment, a big well done must be extended to Murphy Models, finishing ahead of Dapol and Heljan in the OO manufacturer of the year category. A brilliant achievement for a minute segment of the market. 

 

Mind you, to fly in the face or another area of voting I would go out on a limb and say the 071 is a lot closer to the real thing than the Olivia's 76 is to a real Woodhead leccy!    

[coachmann]

But how will you know if its a good representation of the prototype if it doesn't interest you ? I have no idea whether the Hornby 2-BIL (for example) is a good representation or not as all southern EMUs look to me like random coaches with cabs on the end. Conversely I don't expect that many people who don't model the Caley can tell a Jumbo, 812 and 300 Class apart but then why would they need to ? Perhaps we should all just vote for the prettiest looking one.

Telling us of your own innadequacies and assuming the rest of the modelling fraternity is the same is frankly niave. I for one know which locomotives are good representations of the prototype thanks to my eyes.

[Guest Phil]

But how will you know if its a good representation of the prototype if it doesn't interest you ? I have no idea whether the Hornby 2-BIL (for example) is a good representation or not as all southern EMUs look to me like random coaches with cabs on the end. Conversely I don't expect that many people who don't model the Caley can tell a Jumbo, 812 and 300 Class apart but then why would they need to ? Perhaps we should all just vote for the prettiest looking one.

 

Which brings us back to Red Bull's point about manufacturers (hopefully) not taking online polls with no objective judging criteria too seriously.

Telling us of your own innadequacies and assuming the rest of the modelling fraternity is the same is frankly niave. I for one know which locomotives are good representations of the prototype thanks to my eyes.

With respect though Larry, we are human. It is going to be a natural thing for us to vote for something we like. For example, if Bachby produced a fairly good L&Y "Dreadnought" and Damann did an absolutely exquisite "Dunrobin", the chances are that you would certainly buy the Lanky engine, but maybe not the the l'il tankie.

 

How would make a voting decision ?

[Dunsignalling]

Why does the model of the year have to be something that interests you? Surely a good model is a good model regardless of the prototype it represents?

 

My votes were cast for the models I thought were the best, not the ones that I bought or were personal favourites.

 

Happy modelling.

 

Steven B.

I am unlikely to closely examine very many of the models that do not interest me and would certainly not vote for anything on the basis of magazine reviews or what other people may have raved about.

 

My vote will go to the best model of a prototype which does interest me and about which I know enough to be able to make an informed judgement as to how well it has been reproduced.

 

Other factors, such as running quality and the ability to handle a realistic load for its type will also come into the equation but the fact that a particular model might be large, impressive and representative of an "iconic" prototype would be irrelevant.

 

For me, a really tip-top model of (say) a Ruston 48DS would beat an equally good model of 'Cock o'the North' as MY Model of the Year simply because I would want the former but not the latter. By definition, if any model is good enough for me to vote for, I will have bought at least one example.

 

John

[coachmann]

With respect though Larry, we are human. It is going to be a natural thing for us to vote for something we like. For example, if Bachby produced a fairly good L&Y "Dreadnought" and Damann did an absolutely exquisite "Dunrobin", the chances are that you would certainly buy the Lanky engine, but maybe not the the l'il tankie.

 

How would make a voting decision ?

I voted on the principle that I appreciate very fine models no matter which railway company they eminated from. While I never considered the real SE&CR 'C' class to be any great shakes, I could see the 4mm RTR model captured it to a tee. Same with the 01, B17, D11 and LMS Compound, which are not merely excellent models of their respective prototypes, but they also capture that certain essence......call it character if you like.  A Lanky 'Dreadnaught' is poo incidentally