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Hachette Mallard


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OK. Think I've decided to run with this.
 
Hachette's build a Mallard in weekly parts. http://www.buildthemallard.com/
 
I have form in this area. having done their Flying Scotsman a few years ago.
 
Here's what your 50p gets you in the starting issue.
The an etch for the cab, and also a couple of cast (in Zamak I think) washout plugs (they're not in the picture :) )

This is a much better effort that Flying Scotsman's cab which required much fettling.
IMG_0631.jpg
 
Hachette expect you to superglue it together so they coated the whole lot in lacquer. I want to solder it so the stuff has to come off. It's quite tough so Nitromors & elbow grease seems to be the order of the day.
 
I thought I'd have a go with solder paint here. Probably need to use les.
IMG_0632.JPG
 
The cab folds up quite nicely but the bend is tricky by the window frame. There's a bit of a crease that shows up more on the photo than in reality.
IMG_0633.JPG
 
Also keen observers will notice I put the washout plugs in the wrong way up the first time.
IMG_0635.JPG

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I should say so........you have something worth having and also worth decent money once built, instead of health problems.

 

I've checked, but can't see if the loco can be built as any other member of the class?

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Jeff it maybe a way of getting your inside frames.

 

Click and the door closed,

OzzyO went out onto a dark back street

In the distance he spotted a red light,

on closer inspection it turned out to be

A Bass pub, so he went home.

Edited by ozzyo
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Not much doing with part two.

Just some holes to drill for the lamp irons. I also got gouging out the slot for the front coupling done. This is through the full thickness of the solid zamak buffer beam so I drilled part way through from the back with a full size drill to make things easier.

 

IMG_20140910_123318.jpg

 

IMG_0639.JPG

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Not much doing with part two.

Just some holes to drill for the lamp irons. I also got gouging out the slot for the front coupling done. This is through the full thickness of the solid zamak buffer beam so I drilled part way through from the back with a full size drill to make things easier.

 

Any chance of a photo of the zamak buffer beam?

 

To be fair it does cost more than other more detailed A4 kits.

 

But you do get the option of paying for it monthly, and you can always add more detail to it,

 

OzzyO.

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To be fair it does cost more than other more detailed A4 kits.

 

First issue is 50p, second is £3.99. If you subscribe you get one free issue, thereafter its £7.99/issue for 127 issues, making £1019.22.

 

In addition, I notice they automatically send you binders for the "magazine" bit, first is free if you subscribe but rest cost £6.99 "as they become available". You have to return them, within 14 days and at your own cost, if you don't want them. This will cost you £2.80/folder, using 2nd class royal fail. However, the form says you must return your despatch in its original packing. So if they are packed in with your model bits, you're buggered.

No idea how many there will be, lets assume there's 8 to buy (so about 15 issues per binder, allowing for one free one). They'll cost you £55.92, or £22.40 to return, not allowing for additional packaging. However, I suspect there might be many more-the promo pic for the free gift folder shows 5 dividers. So if thats 5 issues/folder, you could end up with 26 of the damn things!

 

In return, you get the kit, with wheels, but no motor. I think you get the lining and decals too, going off the hachette A3 thread on here? But presumably have to buy your own paint.

You also get your free gifts. If you get them all, there's a folder (£6.99), a coaster set (round £12?), a magnifying/holder thingy (about £10 on ebay), an A3 sized poster (£5 for similar on ebay), and a modellers tookit, which I'm going to guess at £30 worth. So that totals around £64 of free stuff if my price guessing is right.

 

In contrast, you can get a super-duper detailed A4 kit from DJH for £645, plus £168 for wheels, totalling £813. Not sure what a lining/decal pack will be, but DJH do one for another LNER loco for about £40. Or if you prefer a fairer comparison, a main range DJH kit of an A3, A2, Britannia, Clan, Jubilee etc is £540, wheels and transfers the same price, making £748

 

So: Bare minimum for the hachette (assuming you return folders, I've correctly guessed the number and you deduct the value of all the gifts) is £977.62. The Piercy/DJH A4 kit totals £853, plus P&P, or a similar sized and detailed loco for £748+p&p. Your extra £200 odd quid gets you 130 lots of what look like quite detailed instructions, and the usual reheated "look at the trains" type articles in a large pamphlet. That works out around £1.60 an issue for said paperwork.

 

Yes, I have nothing better to do than work out the costs of something I'll probably not bother with anyway. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions, both about the kit and how exciting my life must be.

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Again the negativity! Please support what you say..... 

I don't have to. If you'd bothered to read the tags applied by "30801" himself, you'll see that he chose "money pit". It was this refreshing cynicism that I rather liked.

 

The fact is that he will be paying more for it than he might otherwise have done if he'd bought an ordinary full kit.

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He will, but he'll pay it in instalments.

 

To some of us, that's important.......quite a few manufacturers don't take any sort of card, and finding even £200 out of a month's pension, isn't always possible.

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I don't have to. If you'd bothered to read the tags applied by "30801" himself, you'll see that he chose "money pit". It was this refreshing cynicism that I rather liked.

 

The fact is that he will be paying more for it than he might otherwise have done if he'd bought an ordinary full kit.

 

OK point taken ....

 

In actual fact, the overall cost (which includes everything including the wheels, transfers etc - as long as it follows the FS precedent) is not too bad taken over a couple of years. Certainly I couldn't have afforded (or justified) the the up front cost of the FS kit (which I am slowly building) but paying monthly meant it was easily within my reach. OK, I had to pay a bit extra for the facility - but then inflation took care of some of it!

 

I'm going to have a crack at the Mallard and if there is a general feeling of  'a fool and his money are soon parted' then so be it, I'll be the one with the loco though.  :sungum:

 

Phil

 

PS I have just done a quick squint at the DJH site - the A4 kit (if it's available) is £645 - going up on the 1st October - and the set of Slaters' wheels comes to an extra £145.53. At a rough calculation it will cost me an extra £130 (at today's prices) spread over two years. Not such a bad deal then, particular as it includes fully illustrated instructions, as has been already noted.

Edited by PhilEakins
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I quite agree Phil,

I don't model LNER but spending 32 quid a month on my hobby is fine by me, and at the end Iwill have a working model. Much better value than £ 7.98 for 20 cigs, or £5 to £7 for a bottle of wine , or £3 to £4 for a pint of beer in my view.

The enjoyment of construction and problem solving of course is priceless.

And I,m already over budget as I've just sent for a set of Laurie Griffin lamp irons.........!

 

John

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Got enough parts now to make something loco-shaped.

That paint's a bit thick!

IMG_0645.JPG

 

Got the paint off. Curiously the nose, valences and boiler all reacted differently to Nitromors.

The paint on the nose jumped off, merely being in the same room as some Nitromors. The paint on the valences came off fairly easily, but the stuff on the boiler was tough!

Took the whole afternoon!

 

The fit on this isn't as good as Flying Scotsman where the cab, boiler & footplate mated perfectly. There's a huge gap ahead of the valences and the cab will need some fettling to sit nicely.

The joint between the boiler & smokebox looks OK-ish but I'd need to give it skim of filler and some primer to be sure.

IMG_0647.JPG

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