Underrated Hornby Models, the Duke, the P2?

[robmcg]

I dug out a rather old model of the Hornby BR 71000 'Duke of Gloucester' the other day, mainly to try out a new digital full frame camera. (Canon EOS RP).

 

I had thought of a more recent 'up-to-date' model but had not photographed the DoG in this form, full lining 1960 version.

 

I was impressed, especially with details on, and here it is. An undervalued model in my opinion, rather like the P2.

 

 

 

Then as is my habit I touched up some details, around the front and firebox mostly, and got this.

 

 

I really think this model is undervalued

 

Do readers think there are any others which might qualify ?

Edited February 13, 2022 by robmcg
typo

[Johan DC]

I have both, the Duke from the Glouster City Pullman set (my first OO gauge train!) And the P2 (TTS version). The Glouster I haven't really looked at since I discovered the difference between Railroad and regular Hornby. I really should take a good look at it. 

The P2 is a favourite of mine, a gift by someone very dear, passed away since, so maybe I am a little biased on that one. But I think it's a great model that got let down by some cheap tricks. It captures the Mighty Mikado quite well. 

[Butler Henderson]

Most DoGs were turned out without cab glazing; more recent one were so equipped but Hornby in their typical lethargic manner have not though of making it available for those with earlier models.

[No Decorum]

I think they both deserve poor ratings. The P2 in particular has been very hard work. It’s had a new motor, new front buffers and the TTS sound scrapped and replaced by a better aftermarket version. They both belong to the “design clever” period. The worst feature (all owners are free to chose their own) is the motor. They seem to have been a cheap batch bought in and not tested. Some were not bad but some were truly awful. As for the Duke, the finish was getting worse and was going to get even worse. Hornby used to use decent paint but the tin seemed to have been thrown out when design clever was the big idea. Sorry Rob.

[Helmdon]

The O1 is my candidate for Hornby's 'under the radar model hero' of recent times.

[G-BOAF]

For me, the biggest problem of the Duke is the super-cheap chassis without bearings, and the moulded pipework detail

Must be a candidate for a retool; if they can do the W1, then the Duke, with a career from the 1950s to the present day, must be viable. The can use the tender chassis from the Britannia/9F and tool up a BR1J body.

I wonder of the drivers and bogie are the same as for the 'full fat' Britannia?

[Torn-on-the-platform]

Great photos of DoG Rob. Unfortunately when this was available I wasn't in a financial position to buy one, hopefully I will get another opportunity in the future!

 

I'd throw the Adams radial in as an underrated model. There was a bit of a hubbub around the radial when released, partially due to the Oxford Rail rival product, but you don't hear so much about it any more. I have two, and other than a loose chimney on the preserved version (easily fixed) they've both been reliable, quiet runners with a good level of detail and livery application. My second was picked up at a reasonably good price, and there were a few BR black versions that lingered in 'bargain' sections of the box-shifter's websites.

 

Models of a similar age such as the S15, K1 and J15 all seemed pretty good too, but struggled to shift. They seemed to fall victim to Hornby churning out a further variants in surprisingly quick succession, perhaps saturating the market.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Torn-on-the-platform

[Hilux5972]

1 hour ago, G-BOAF said:

For me, the biggest problem of the Duke is the super-cheap chassis without bearings, and the moulded pipework detail

Must be a candidate for a retool; if they can do the W1, then the Duke, with a career from the 1950s to the present day, must be viable. The can use the tender chassis from the Britannia/9F and tool up a BR1J body.

I wonder of the drivers and bogie are the same as for the 'full fat' Britannia?

All wheels on both the Britannia and the Duke were the same diameters.