Hornby, A Model World. Series 2.

[Buhar]

Adrian Chiles has an short piece in the Grauniad which mentions producers' demands that the content be made simpler in the documentaries he was presenting.  He complained that "it's not Playschool" but had to acquiesce.  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/30/why-are-todays-tv-dramas-so-devastatingly-difficult-to-follow

Alan

[Barry Ten]

4 minutes ago, Buhar said:

Adrian Chiles has an short piece in the Grauniad which mentions producers' demands that the content be made simpler in the documentaries he was presenting.  He complained that "it's not Playschool" but had to acquiesce.  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/30/why-are-todays-tv-dramas-so-devastatingly-difficult-to-follow

Alan

 

Weirdly I just read that 30 seconds before reading your post.

[The Stationmaster]

23 hours ago, Pacific231G said:

Actually Phil this IS  a factual series and not light entertainment: that is a real genre distinction.  

It's not the inevitable simplification that concerns me but but the way that the programme makers appear to be simply parroting whatever Hornby is saying about itself.  What any of the contributors say in their interviews is up to them but ensuring that what is said in the voice-over narration is accurate, even if simplified, is the sole responsibility of the programme maker. Even for a fairly sympathetic portrait, I can't imagine making a single programme, let alone two series, about a company without doing my own research into both it and its history. 

I don't know whether Hornby did actually vet the scripts or were given editorial approval - the shennanigans around transmission of the first programme  in the series did rather suggest that- but that's certainly not how factual television in this country, even at the lightest end of that spectrum, is supposed to be made. Section nine of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code is very clear "9.1: Broadcasters must maintain independent editorial control over programming."

It's not actually Hornby I'm concerned about, they've managed to get a load of free publicity and good luck to them (but they'd have got that from a more objective series too),  but I am concerned about Channel 5 and its commissioning/editorial  process.

Did we ever really get to the bottom of what happened around programme 1?

David why do you think I call it 'The Hornby Show'?  It is not a documentary although it might be a mockumentary but it is in the end all about entertainment otherwise the viewing figures would be far, far, lower.

 

Most  people would quickly lose interest in the convolutions of the story of the Hornby brand and a series of failed companies, buyouts, and whatever else went on, as the brand name bounced around the corridors of various company directors.  and to then refer to a model by its origins would mean little as the history story will have been forgotten a couple of episodes on.   And yes - my name for it does draw on a certain film where similarly the actuality of the real world was carefully obscured from the key player.

 

So just watch it and take from it what you want while ignoring the rest if it causes you to swear at the tv.

[Graham_Muz]

At the end of the day,  this Hornby show and the Great British Model Railway Challenge programmes put our hobby, in a generally positive creative and skilled light, in prime time TV slots to a wide audience, what's not to like...

[Barry Ten]

It was good to see the live steam stuff being mentioned in an open and forthright manner. I liked the fact that it was SK's favorite venture, even if it wasn't economical to continue with it.

[Phil Parker]

2 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

It was good to see the live steam stuff being mentioned in an open and forthright manner. I liked the fact that it was SK's favorite venture, even if it wasn't economical to continue with it.

 

He's said this in the past - that bit certainly wasn't made just for TV.

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, RedgateModels said:

 

Oh agreed and for those who chose to knock the show, please don't forget that some RMwebbers were also team members. @noiseboy72 and team brought the James Bond Muddle & Go Nowhere layout to the Mansfield Show and it was a big hit, but then our target audience is families not armchair modellers 😉

I went to watch the filming of one episode (the final) and there was some very impressive modelling involved on the part of some contestants and some very original (and occasionally weird) ideas from various of them.  But it was fascinating to see it up close and as mentioned above some of the layouts were saved and can be seen on the exhibition circuit where I'm not surprised to read how popular they can be.  Some of them were every bit as good as you might already have found on the wider exhibition circuit - which the like of us seem quite happy to pay to go and watch.

 

If it drew people into the hobby, even just to attend a model railway exhibition featuring a layout from the show, what on earth was wrong with the idea of the show?

[spamcan61]

17 minutes ago, Barry Ten said:

It was good to see the live steam stuff being mentioned in an open and forthright manner. I liked the fact that it was SK's favorite venture, even if it wasn't economical to continue with it.

Although it was of no personal interest to me in terms of actually buying it, Live Steam was an amazing achievement in terms of actually making a 'volume' manufacturable product passing product safety legislation in this day and age. Kudos to whoever (Sanda Kan?) did that.

[noiseboy72]

We sold our 2 GMRC layouts a couple of years ago. Our Mars layout from the heat is still pretty much in one piece, with all the main items still in place, but it's been modified as a roundy roundy, to make it easier to operate. The Bond layout has been stripped back to bare boards, which was unsurprising, given the less than stellar track plan we were given to work with!

 

It was great fun making GMRC and we'd happily all do it again.  The production team knew very little about model railways, but then again, they probably knew very little about Thai airports - which had been their previous production! They are there to make general entertainment, not 100% authentic records of what went on during filming.

 

Had they set out just to capture 3 team building some model railways against the clock, there would have been lots of shots of people drinking tea while waiting for things to dry, shots of people chatting to other teams about the best way to do things, people lending tools and materials, and generally just building train sets at an much increased pace to normal. They need to make entertainment and tell a story from a particular viewpoint, and that's what they do. If that involves enhancing the few disagreements and problems the teams encounter, so be it.

 

I think the Hornby show is similar. They will show a very small part of the design process, scenes of things not going quite right, followed by the grand ending of the finished product going on show. They compress it down to seemingly a few moments, but we all know it's a 12-18 month project end to end, with the designers probably working on a large number of other projects - at different stages of completion at the same time.

[RJS1977]

Personally I enjoyed both HAMW and GMRC in different ways. Whilst I think the ideas on GMRC got a bit too outlandish towards the end of the second series, I think a series of "Let's make a model of Little Snoring as it was in 1927" would have lasted for precisely one episode. What GMRC set out to do was to show that a hobby that is often perceived as "anoraky" doesn't have to be seen that way, and for the most part it did it well. I'm sure we've all seen layouts at shows with Thunderbirds vehicles, dinosaurs, etc which have been built to be of interest to younger would-be modellers. And if we take away the outlandish themes, the actual quality of the modelling on those layouts (at least on those I've been fortunate to see at shows) has been pretty good 

 

Whilst I do enjoy HAMW as well, I think to a degree its emphasis on detail and accuracy is almost reinforcing the "anorak" stereotype - and Simon's repeated blanket statement of "Modellers demand accuracy" almost has me wanting to throw something at the screen. Yes, it's a popular view, and possibly a majority view, but certainly not a unanimous consensus. Fortunately it does find time for some more light-hearted items like the Mr Bean Mini to provide a bit of balance.

[Phatbob]

53 minutes ago, RJS1977 said:

Fortunately it does find time for some more light-hearted items like the Mr Bean Mini to provide a bit of balance.

But is it an accurate model of the iconic Mr Beans Mini and does it have detail, detail, detail?

😉

Edited March 30, 2023 by Phatbob
Forgot to add a simley, just incase anybody thought I was being serious.

[steve1]

So, next up, “Bachmann, A(nother) Model World”?

 

steve

[Legend]

1 hour ago, steve1 said:

So, next up, “Bachmann, A(nother) Model World”?

 

steve

 But it will only be available on Premium channels 

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, steve1 said:

So, next up, “Bachmann, A(nother) Model World”?

 

steve

 

But do they have anyone as iconic and heedlessly enthusiastic/passionate as Mr SK?

 

[AY Mod]

42 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

But do they have anyone as iconic and heedlessly enthusiastic/passionate as Mr SK?

 

 

They have plenty of people who are genuine enthusiasts for their whole lives, knowledgeable, innovative and entirely frank. I know that's a poor substitute. 😶

[Jeff Smith]

I have been able to watch parts 1 through 10 on YouTube here in the US.  Looked this morning for part 11 and all parts are now missing.........

[ess1uk]

Excuse my ignorance, do they still make Meccano ?

[Pint of Adnams]

47 minutes ago, ess1uk said:

Excuse my ignorance, do they still make Meccano ?

A simple search confirms that Meccano is still made, see here: Home | Meccano  but it's evolved and also has a tangled history: Meccano - Wikipedia - who did you mean by 'they'?

[ess1uk]

28 minutes ago, Pint of Adnams said:

A simple search confirms that Meccano is still made, see here: Home | Meccano  but it's evolved and also has a tangled history: Meccano - Wikipedia - who did you mean by 'they'?

In general 

I did do a quick search which brought up I could buy it but went no further 

wiki now tells me that it is not a Hornby brand 

 

[Hroth]

"Meccano" is fabrique en Francais, I believe, the metal strips are a very dull and uninteresting silver colour.  James May got a lot to build a swing bridge over the Leeds and Liverpool canal in Liverpool a few years ago...

 

[Pint of Adnams]

11 minutes ago, ess1uk said:

In general 

I did do a quick search which brought up I could buy it but went no further 

wiki now tells me that it is not a Hornby brand 

 

The history of Meccano has several parallels with that of the model railway business, including production activities in France. I still have some 'real' Meccano in a box in my garage.

 

Digressing further, the Meccano Magazine has been digitised and is available here: Meccano Magazine Online (free.fr)

[The Stationmaster]

3 hours ago, Pint of Adnams said:

The history of Meccano has several parallels with that of the model railway business, including production activities in France. I still have some 'real' Meccano in a box in my garage.

 

Digressing further, the Meccano Magazine has been digitised and is available here: Meccano Magazine Online (free.fr)

However the digitisation seems to only include items relevant to Meccano and doesn't cover the entire content of the magazines.  Thus, for example, all the articles relating to model and prototype railways, including the informative articles on railway operation, are not listed.

[Fat Controller]

4 hours ago, Hroth said:

"Meccano" is fabrique en Francais, I believe, the metal strips are a very dull and uninteresting silver colour.  James May got a lot to build a swing bridge over the Leeds and Liverpool canal in Liverpool a few years ago...

 

The factory was in the ZI Marcel Doret, Calais, between Central Calais and Marck; I don't know if there's a factory shop. However, it won't be there much longer:- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/23/last-dedicated-meccano-factory-to-close-in-france

[Pint of Adnams]

2 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

However the digitisation seems to only include items relevant to Meccano and doesn't cover the entire content of the magazines.  Thus, for example, all the articles relating to model and prototype railways, including the informative articles on railway operation, are not listed.

"An alternate archive is also available where entire issues can be downloaded in PDF format. However, if you desire the entire collection, it is strongly recommended that you purchase them on DVD from Meccano Worldwide Mail Order. The DVD version is complete and also has a significantly better index." A quick check on the link to the DVD location shows that the domain is for sale..

[andyman7]

7 hours ago, Hroth said:

"Meccano" is fabrique en Francais, I believe, the metal strips are a very dull and uninteresting silver colour.  James May got a lot to build a swing bridge over the Leeds and Liverpool canal in Liverpool a few years ago...

 

 

3 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

The factory was in the ZI Marcel Doret, Calais, between Central Calais and Marck; I don't know if there's a factory shop. However, it won't be there much longer:- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/23/last-dedicated-meccano-factory-to-close-in-france

Yes, the French Meccano factory is to close, which brings the curtain down on the final plant that was part of the original Frank Hornby Meccano empire (Binns Road as the main plant with Bobigny-Paris for French Dinky Toys and Calais for French Meccano, both opened to overcome tariffs in the pre-EU world). Bobigny closed in 1972 with the subcontracting of French Dinky manufacture to Pilen in Spain, whilst Binns Road closed on 30 November 1979 at a few hours' notice to the workforce, a final ignominious end to a plant that had been beset by poor productivity and industrial relations for many years and suffering from increasingly outdated facilities.