Hornby 2021 - HST & Mk3 range

[newbryford]

2 minutes ago, CazRail said:

My FGW powercars have arrived this morning. Couple of printing sloppiness with some numbers not being 100% straight, but overall very happy. No decoders yet to run them, so they'll have to wait. 

A little confused as to why they havent supplied magnetic couplers mind, but no biggie as I have plenty of Hunt couplers in stock.

 

 

 

You have two options to run with Hunt couplings.

Either fit a Hunts to both PC and outer ends of the coaching set.

Or modify the Hornby magnetic coupling on the two outer trailers by cutting off the small pins that protrude either side of the coupling to enable it to couple to the Hunt on the PC.

[toby_tl10]

I noticed the bogies of the power car and dummy car are very different. The engine room detail too. This is one of the reasons I don't really buy into the idea of dummy cars - they look different, which they shouldn't. Is there anything Hornby could've done to make them look a bit more identical?

(Photos from Hattons)

[Delta_Who]

31 minutes ago, toby_tl10 said:

I noticed the bogies of the power car and dummy car are very different. The engine room detail too. This is one of the reasons I don't really buy into the idea of dummy cars - they look different, which they shouldn't. Is there anything Hornby could've done to make them look a bit more identical?

(Photos from Hattons)

As far as I see, just the bogies look significantly different (probably to hide the gearing on the power car).

[CazRail]

1 hour ago, newbryford said:

 

You have two options to run with Hunt couplings.

Either fit a Hunts to both PC and outer ends of the coaching set.

Or modify the Hornby magnetic coupling on the two outer trailers by cutting off the small pins that protrude either side of the coupling to enable it to couple to the Hunt on the PC.

Ive taken the second option, but found I didn't need to modify the Hornby couplers.

[newbryford]

6 minutes ago, CazRail said:

Ive taken the second option, but found I didn't need to modify the Hornby couplers.

 

Which Hunts do you have? I think they might work Ok with the earlier (smaller) magnets that had to be fitted in polarity order (North to South)

[CazRail]

1 hour ago, newbryford said:

 

Which Hunts do you have? I think they might work Ok with the earlier (smaller) magnets that had to be fitted in polarity order (North to South)

Ive used the close coupling Elite ones. 

 

I think it's probably possible to use the ultra close variant, but all mine have been used up.

[ianmacc]

9 hours ago, scouse889 said:

As I recall the original release of these toolings R2707 43100/43101 in VT had the headlights illuminating regardless of direction of travel, so I guess this has not been changed in any of the subsequent releases (original blue/grey InterCity 125, GWR green in a train set, and now these IC Swallow PCs).

Whilst not particularly a problem for me that is poor. They had it right in 1977 so why not a few decades later!?

[GBRf66701]

The lining looks really crooked on those FGW power cars.

[scouse889]

9 hours ago, GBRf66701 said:

The lining looks really crooked on those FGW power cars.

I’m guessing the lines are water slide transfers like on the coaches?

[Class 158 productions]

GWR castle pack has arrived! Everything looks in order. Would say the finish is on par with other GWR packs, not as caked in gloss as 198/002 though! 
Cab area looks better and the doors are an improvement with not opening. Still has that light recess that looks a bit off on refurbed models and I couldn’t tell you what their ‘retooling’ on the guards door was from looking at it, other than the guards windows not having the silver surround and that now being on the body (I’ll put one end to end with an ‘old’ one later to find out).

The fans seem more accurate on the Voith cooler group, but a Dapol 68 spare part looks far more realistic in that regard. Xx
However, no bits missing, printing done well and the new coupling system feels decent! Now just awaiting the next batch of MK3SDs.  
Overall verdict, a nice model and the upgrades seem welcome, I don’t run DCC so a lot of the 21 pin stuff is lost on me but for those who do it’s a welcome upgrade. Some areas still feel dated, the lack of variety in the bogies tooling, the actual shape (minor) as well as slightly crude parts like the exhaust cowlings when fitted poorly look particularly bad. Personally I’d see if I could find a cheaper 005/041 pack and fit some plates to them and you wouldn’t be missing much over this pair, but it’s a welcome addition to the collection and a noticeable increase in quality. 

[scouse889]

11 hours ago, ianmacc said:

Whilst not particularly a problem for me that is poor. They had it right in 1977 so why not a few decades later!?

Yes, shouldn’t be a difficult thing to do - not like you would need an electrician of such genius that you would have to go head-hunting at Cape Canaveral.

 

There were a couple of suppliers on eBay who sold drop in PCB replacements for both the original Hornby and Lima (Hornby Railroad) toolings which weren’t bad. They were a few quid and you got directional white/red lights, and they were available in bright and cool white to represent the LED and incandescent bulbs used over time. I got a pair from Black Cat Tech which were pretty good. They were DCC compatible too (not that I used this). Can’t find this supplier on a quick search this morning, but there are others.

[scouse889]

8 minutes ago, Class 158 productions said:

GWR castle pack has arrived! Everything looks in order. Would say the finish is on par with other GWR packs, not as caked in gloss as 198/002 though! 
Cab area looks better and the doors are an improvement with not opening. Still has that light recess that looks a bit off on refurbed models and I couldn’t tell you what their ‘retooling’ on the guards door was from looking at it, other than the guards windows not having the silver surround and that now being on the body (I’ll put one end to end with an ‘old’ one later to find out).

The fans seem more accurate on the Voith cooler group, but a Dapol 68 spare part looks far more realistic in that regard. Xx
However, no bits missing, printing done well and the new coupling system feels decent! Now just awaiting the next batch of MK3SDs.  
Overall verdict, a nice model and the upgrades seem welcome, I don’t run DCC so a lot of the 21 pin stuff is lost on me but for those who do it’s a welcome upgrade. Some areas still feel dated, the lack of variety in the bogies tooling, the actual shape (minor) as well as slightly crude parts like the exhaust cowlings when fitted poorly look particularly bad. Personally I’d see if I could find a cheaper 005/041 pack and fit some plates to them and you wouldn’t be missing much over this pair, but it’s a welcome addition to the collection and a noticeable increase in quality. 

Thanks for the info. Hattons still have 005/041 in stock - no link other than I happened to be looking at the pics of 004/155 on their website the other night and was comparing.

I think 187/188, 005/041 and 016/093 were glossed only on the bodysides like the coaches, but 002/198 were glossed all over. Seems 004/155 revert to side-only glossing, would be nice to see some pics of them against the earlier releases.

I have to say I am very tempted by these, despite the price. I live just North of Oxford so used to see the real things and have a soft spot for them - I have all four previous power car packs, plus the three rakes of slam door and two rakes of sliding door coaches released so far. So yes, very tempted by 004/155. Buy now or hope they stick around a bit and the price gets lower…???!

[scouse889]

17 hours ago, CazRail said:

Ive used the close coupling Elite ones. 

 

I think it's probably possible to use the ultra close variant, but all mine have been used up.

I see Hunt have released an “Extra Close” variant of their Elite couplings which gives more opportunity to get the closest coupling depending on your layout. In this context, “Extra Close” means closer than “Close” but less close than “Ultra Close”.

Now I need them to make a “Not So Close” pack which is in between the lengths of “Close” and “Intermediate”!!!😂😂

[Class 158 productions]

Couple of photos of the 155/004 pack compared with the 005/041 pack. 

Fan motors louder than actual motor, pack is running smoothly. 

[boxbrownie]

49 minutes ago, Class 158 productions said:

Couple of photos of the 155/004 pack compared with the 005/041 pack. 

Fan motors louder than actual motor, pack is running smoothly. 

Does the fan in the non motorised Loco work?

[Class 158 productions]

5 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Does the fan in the non motorised Loco work?

Yes 

 

[scouse889]

Thanks @Class 158 productions.

Is there as much of a difference in the green as the photos suggest? The previous releases have all been quite close to each other.

I am wondering whether it would be possible to use the previously released SD coaches with these new PCs without it looking incongruous……

[scouse889]

1 hour ago, Class 158 productions said:

Yes 

 

That’s cool. A nice upgrade on these toolings.

[Jamescav95]

I have noticed the RCS HST on the Hornby website is listed as 8PIN? Surely this is a mistake and it is the new tooling model

[LMSfan72]

10 minutes ago, Jamescav95 said:

I have noticed the RCS HST on the Hornby website is listed as 8PIN? Surely this is a mistake and it is the new tooling model

I assume that’s the case…. Unless the delay for that model is due to having to retrofit an 8-pin!

[Jamescav95]

1 hour ago, LMSfan72 said:

I assume that’s the case…. Unless the delay for that model is due to having to retrofit an 8-pin!

I wouldn't be surprised!

[VXDH92]

Am I correct in thinking that the Hornby SD mk3s are made to a slightly different spec to the new slam-door tooling? The new slam-door tooling seems to have separately fitted handrails for the roof water tanks for example; the SD carriages look to be moulded detail. There may be other differences too. It does seem strange to have two new mk3 toolings within quite a short space of time from the same manufacturer that seem to be of a different design spec.

 

Apologies if this has already been covered in the many pages of this thread!

[Hilux5972]

Yes the sliding door versions have moulded roof handrails and the slam door have separately fitted. At least, the Jubilee sliding door versions have moulded roof handrails 

[adb968008]

Its here

 

 

Edit: see next post…

 

Initially I noted there are now 3 motors in this HST, 2 on the power car, one on the dummy (2 of those motors are for fans) and theres a definite additional power draw.

When I first set mine up it was crawling along using almost 0.3amp.

 

Having run it for 20 minutes there was a sudden “learning to walk” surge moment which it seems to have sustained, and its now borderline acceptable..

 

End Edit, see next post.

The power car doors are now sealed and no longer open.

 

 

 

An oval shaped headlight is fitted into the roof.

On the real thing it looks head on to be a circle, but as its flush to the roof, is that an illusion on the real thing too ? Certainly head on the model looks circular due to the angle.

 

 

Note the horn grills are wrong.
 

M43055 is with its nameplate. Both the correctly painted blue band on the drivers window

 

The guards door “white” seems to be double painted and stands out on my dummy car.

 

 

Underneath is the visible change to the coupling to include a cambox rather than bogie mounted. 

 

the headlights all light up

 

i’m somewhat nervous of Hornbys sales tactics, last year the APT cars arrived before christmas, and the APT pack after. People got stung with a 10% new years price rise… here we are again, with the power cars, but a Jan/Feb date for the coaches…. Of course you can pre-order at Hornby.com, but when I tried, despite the bulk purchase of stock, it still wants to add £4.35 P&P for every carriage… unfortunately the retailers I trust, are somewhat wisely not taking pre-orders on their websites.

 

As side of the covers on the exhaust, nothings changed on the roof. As mentioned earlier than fans are separately powered on the roof.

 

Overall… its average. (Pre-2020 it would be better than average but the bar has now been raised by others in the market), making this tooling a little more tired.

 

its the same old HST with internal motor fans, some mods to the baggage and drivers doors, and a cam coupling that should have been there a decade ago.

Not over keen on the printing on the baggage door, and that seam line along the power car cab front is very apparent. The horn grills being wrong doesnt help.

 

 

All that aside, the livery is well applied and looks good. Putting the headlight in, rather than printing it was absolutely the right decision.
 

The motorised fan i’m agnostic too… as a DC user it only works when moving, the old model traded motor performance to a rubber band to operate the fans, which was a DCC bugbear… more recent models just didnt have working fans at all.. so having a motorised fan should appeal to DCC operators.

 

So exactly two years and 1 day since it appeared on the MML on 12th December 2020 we have a Midland Pullman on 13th December 2022.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 14, 2022 by adb968008
Edit related to motor issue, Edit 2 Horn grills

[boxbrownie]

Possibly some drag or Stiction in the mechanism or a bogie gearing, it does seem drastically slower.