OO Fell (Batch 2)

[Trains4U]

I had notification today that the second batch of KR Models Fells are in the country.
We have a limited number available for sale now on our website and these can be shipped next week once they've arrived with us.

I understand that this new batch addresses some of the concerns raised on the initial production run.

DCC ready versions are priced at £160, DCC sound at £260

http://www.trains4u.com/c/883/KR-Models


Please don't use this thread to open old wounds/arguments or grind axes :)
 

[JSpencer]

14 hours ago, Trains4U said:

I understand that this new batch addresses some of the concerns raised on the initial production run.
 

 

Another shop reported the same, however I wonder what concerns have been addressed?

 

It will be good to see photos etc when they arrive.

Edited August 1, 2023 by JSpencer

[E100]

I'd presume the easily corrected pick ups being correctly positioned would be the main improvement. 

[E100]

Improved gearing and pickups according to the email I've just received from them.

[Trains4U]

They’ve arrived with us today

 

I can’t comment on the gearing, but the pickups are improved 

 

the paint finish is now satin rather than glossy.

 

 

http://www.trains4u.com/c/883/KR-Models

Edited August 11, 2023 by Trains4U

[The Stationmaster]

My, oh my - now the green livery side is wrong (which was the only bit that was anything approaching right last time round).  How do they do it?  Or are they doing separate green & black liveried versions in an effort to ensure that both are wrong? 

Edited August 13, 2023 by The Stationmaster
typos

[jamieb]

I think the idea is you buy several examples and mix and match to find the version that suits 

[Lee-H]

After a wait of three and half years, my Fell loco was finally delivered yesterday. Gave it a test run and all working well.

[blueeighties]

21 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

  Or are they do separate green a black loverird versions in an effort to ensure that both are wrong? 

Eh?

[adb968008]

Ive not found any photographs of the Fell locomotive, in BR lined Green, late emblem, with the number on the nose.

 

This new batch has moved the numbers location on the black one, to by the cab

Here is batch 1..

though these dont match the pictures on Rails website for either in Batch 2.. the numbers on those are by the cab..

https://railsofsheffield.com/search?q=Fell

 

These dont match either of the two models or real thing picture on the website..

https://krmodels.net/product/the-fell-oo-gauge/

 

or the image of the black one at the top of the page (which should have the centre rod removed to be correct).

 

 

maybe what you get is a lucky dip ?

 

any chance an actual picture of whats in the box of batch 2 as stock images seem confusing… is it like Batch 1 or is it like stock images being uploaded by retailers ?

 

whats also interesting is the Rails images show full grills on the nose.. unlike batch 1… do I get my hopes up that the new black one is actually pretty close to this image whilst pushing the green one further into fantasy ?

 

Flickr url/ not mine ?

 

 

maybe both sides are painted differently ? My memories faded on batch 1..

Edited August 13, 2023 by adb968008

[stewartingram]

So, a simole "outsider's question, if I may?

 

Batch 1 got quite a negative on here, without going through the whole thread to find out what was wrong, have the major faults been corrected? I seem to remember the body omulding was quite a mixed fortune, which rather put me off. I'm not interested in green livery; black would be my preference, and things like numbers in the wrong place can be easily sorted. I have NO interest in lighting or dcc either.

Getting a Fell is very much a diversion interest, (like so many others I get into!), I won't accept a 'wrong' model, but a "nearly correct" one I might. I've got the GT3 and with a little bit of modelling (remember that?) it is quite acceptable.

Can anyone simply say if the previous errors have been corrected?

[adb968008]

54 minutes ago, stewartingram said:

So, a simole "outsider's question, if I may?

 

Batch 1 got quite a negative on here, without going through the whole thread to find out what was wrong, have the major faults been corrected? I seem to remember the body omulding was quite a mixed fortune, which rather put me off. I'm not interested in green livery; black would be my preference, and things like numbers in the wrong place can be easily sorted. I have NO interest in lighting or dcc either.

Getting a Fell is very much a diversion interest, (like so many others I get into!), I won't accept a 'wrong' model, but a "nearly correct" one I might. I've got the GT3 and with a little bit of modelling (remember that?) it is quite acceptable.

Can anyone simply say if the previous errors have been corrected?

Agreed, looking at the images of batch 2 is confusing, but the Rails images show what might be a quite close Black one.

hence the interest… but dont want a false dawn.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2023 by adb968008

[The Stationmaster]

Assuming (yes, I know!) that there are now models painted only in one colour - as implied by the Rails site - it appears from the pictures posted by Trains4U that the roof has definitely not been corrected.  

 

My reason for saying this is that on the first batch the side painted in green wasn't too bad and was generally reasonably accurate (apart from dimensions which I have not checked so can't comment on).  But in the Trains 4U photo of the 2nd Batch the green one is definitely wrong and it would appear that the photo shows the side which was black in the first batch along with its most obvious error.  Similarly the Trains4U photo of the 2nd Batch black loco is of the side with the water filler hatch in the correct place so might well be of the side which was painted green in the 1st Batch?

 

Why at is really needed are photos of both sides of both the black and green 2nd Batch models which would then make clear what has or has not been corrected on the mouldings.  It is not clear if the lights have been corrected.

[No Decorum]

On 12/08/2023 at 17:09, Lee-H said:

After a wait of three and half years, my Fell loco was finally delivered yesterday. Gave it a test run and all working well.

Thank you for posting an interesting picture. The black looks better than the gloss verson. Do I see two red rear lights? I know that oil lamps were used at the time but electric lights were fitted and so they should work properly. There should be one red in the middle.

[JSpencer]

I don't think there are no changes in the actual number positions are paint schemes (just replacing gloss with satin).

 

Here is my black one (from an earlier batch) showing early panels and numbers on one side, with late panels and numbers on the other.

 

 

[No Decorum]

It makes me despair. I suppose if KR is on the third batch of GT3s and a second of Fells he isn’t very worried about what I think. I have already deleted Belerophon, DHP1 and the Hunslet from my wants list (well, perhaps the Hunslet didn’t get there in the first place). With a sigh, “Big Bertha” has gone as well; I wonder if the tender will be attached to the smokebox end so that the fireman can see at night how much coal he has left. However, I am very keen on the “Leader”. For that, shall I have to wait for batch 2? Even batch 3?

[Lee-H]

4 hours ago, No Decorum said:

Thank you for posting an interesting picture. The black looks better than the gloss verson. Do I see two red rear lights? I know that oil lamps were used at the time but electric lights were fitted and so they should work properly. There should be one red in the middle.

Yes, there are two red lights at the rear and one off-centre headlight going forward. Mine is DCC so the lights can be turned off if required. There is also cab lighting which only comes on when the loco is stationary.

[Bluebell Model Railway]

2 hours ago, No Decorum said:

It makes me despair. I suppose if KR is on the third batch of GT3s and a second of Fells he isn’t very worried about what I think. I have already deleted Belerophon, DHP1 and the Hunslet from my wants list (well, perhaps the Hunslet didn’t get there in the first place). With a sigh, “Big Bertha” has gone as well; I wonder if the tender will be attached to the smokebox end so that the fireman can see at night how much coal he has left. However, I am very keen on the “Leader”. For that, shall I have to wait for batch 2? Even batch 3?

I still have a Leader on order, in fact Keith messaged me out the blue, although he got my Leader wrong I ordered so fills me full of confidence lol, but message was we know it's wrong but will be sorted before release.... but didn't clarify what is being changed. Anyway apologies for moving away from the subject matter.

[No Decorum]

1 hour ago, Bluebell Model Railway said:

I still have a Leader on order, in fact Keith messaged me out the blue, although he got my Leader wrong I ordered so fills me full of confidence lol, but message was we know it's wrong but will be sorted before release.... but didn't clarify what is being changed. Anyway apologies for moving away from the subject matter.

Thank you, that’s useful and not totally irrelevant. If what we’ve seen of Belerophon and the Fell are anything to go by, the prospects of the Leader being accurate are not good.

[Pre Grouping fan]

10 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Assuming (yes, I know!) that there are now models painted only in one colour - as implied by the Rails site - it appears from the pictures posted by Trains4U that the roof has definitely not been corrected.  

 

My reason for saying this is that on the first batch the side painted in green wasn't too bad and was generally reasonably accurate (apart from dimensions which I have not checked so can't comment on).  But in the Trains 4U photo of the 2nd Batch the green one is definitely wrong and it would appear that the photo shows the side which was black in the first batch along with its most obvious error.  Similarly the Trains4U photo of the 2nd Batch black loco is of the side with the water filler hatch in the correct place so might well be of the side which was painted green in the 1st Batch?

 

 

 

What do you mean by the side that was painted green/black in the first batch?

 

Unless I've misunderstood what you have written, the first batch didn't have models with both sides of the body painted in different liveries. They were either all green or all black like this batch.

 

Apologies again if I have misunderstood what your saying.

[nathan70000]

I don't understand the vitriol directed at KR Models. I doubt any other manufacturer would tackle the kind of subjects that KR Models have embraced, and without them things like Leader and GT3 would most likely never be available RTR.

 

The Fell no longer exists, so there is no possibility of scanning or measuring the locomotive. Relying on plans and photographs I can at least understand why these errors have arisen, especially when the locomotive was modified extensively throughout its life. It is frustrating, but otherwise it is a fine model- the shape is right (not always a given with diesels- see Heljan's initial OO 47), the standard of decoration is high and there is a wealth of separately fitted detail.

 

There is a comparison photo on the old thread of the KR effort alongside an old resin kit- the difference is night and day.

[leezer3]

Blunt answer-

There are some self-styled 'experts' (trolls), who are the entirety of the problem, and the moderators are totally failing to reign in the vitriol.

 

KR's communication is abjectly poor, and said 'experts' made suggestions, which were either brushed off or ignored totally, along with often confused and misleading communications to the general public, and a general scarcity of images of the work in progress / feedback to the community at large.

As I noted in my previous post on the subject, it took ~30 pages of argument before we managed to find a set of pictures which were (probably) taken on the same day of (probably) the two different sides, so I understand & accept the difficulty here- I'm not faulting them on the model they produced, but the abject communications.

 

Whether they've made the right choices is debatable, but at the end of the day they've put up the cash and produced a model.

Some of these appear to have had issues, but the vitriol echo-chamber and poor communications from KR appears to have magnified these issues out of all proportion.

 

At the end of the day, producing a RTR model is far more than anyone else has managed.

[No Decorum]

1 hour ago, nathan70000 said:

I don't understand the vitriol directed at KR Models. I doubt any other manufacturer would tackle the kind of subjects that KR Models have embraced, and without them things like Leader and GT3 would most likely never be available RTR.

 

The Fell no longer exists, so there is no possibility of scanning or measuring the locomotive. Relying on plans and photographs I can at least understand why these errors have arisen, especially when the locomotive was modified extensively throughout its life. It is frustrating, but otherwise it is a fine model- the shape is right (not always a given with diesels- see Heljan's initial OO 47), the standard of decoration is high and there is a wealth of separately fitted detail.

 

There is a comparison photo on the old thread of the KR effort alongside an old resin kit- the difference is night and day.

That may be aimed at me because I made a critical post recently. I have no criticism to make of KR’s choice of subject (except for the Class 40, perhaps better left to established producers) nor that it is courageous to say the least. Prices too are reasonable for such specialised choices. What gets me are inaccuracies which could be avoided and are ignored when pointed out. It’s a shame because KR is occupying a niche which no-one else does. The points made by leezer3 are well made. The claims made are a bit too extravagant.

[The Stationmaster]

13 hours ago, Pre Grouping fan said:

 

 

What do you mean by the side that was painted green/black in the first batch?

 

Unless I've misunderstood what you have written, the first batch didn't have models with both sides of the body painted in different liveries. They were either all green or all black like this batch.

 

Apologies again if I have misunderstood what your saying.

Ah - I'm with - all I ever saw were photos of a green side which was, as I said, fairly ereasonable in terms of detail anda black side which was all over the place in term sof detail with  the most obvious thin g being teh water fill;er hatch at teh wronf g and not lining up with te steps siupposedly leaning up to it.  The impression was certainly given that the model was in different liveries on the two sides in order to try to get period details correct.

 

So was it in fact even worse in that one side, when painted green (even with the minor lining errors which could be easily corrected with a drop of paint), was pretty good and the other side was wrong whatever colour it was painted in?   Quite how that happened is not clear although the impression I (and I think others) got was that one side was detailed for green livery and the other was detailed for black livery.

[Halvarras]

With the mis-positioned water filler hatch on one side presumably suiting neither livery!

Edited August 18, 2023 by Halvarras
I meant (and typed) hatch not batch!