Ravel Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Obligatory at this stage. 18 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
didcot Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 The uncoupling is amazing. 2 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 97406 Posted February 6 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 6 It does look nice but it's not my favourite class and I'll have 5 Lima/Hornby/Accurascale ones in a few months. I'd far rather see them do a proper job on their 40 which is lagging behind on the detail front out of the box. I'd argue the same goes for the Peak. 5 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Outcast Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I'm curious about the autorelease couplings, but in all honesty, if I wanted a 31, I'd get an Accurascale one. 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris56057 Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Wow. Interested to see what liveries they announce.. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Fair Oak Junction Posted February 6 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 6 Not convinced by those "auto couplers". After years of the hobby trying to make tension locks look better, they've managed to make them look worse. And it's another thing to potentially go wrong. I'm normally on the fence about gimmicks, but that one is VERY gimmicky! I'm a big fan of Bachmann, but not impressed by this one at all. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold MikeParkin65 Posted February 6 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 6 Love it - as consumers choice is a brilliant thing. Its for the manufacturers to worry about the market. It would seem that this model has been in development for at least as long as its competitor. 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Don't worry tomorrow they will announce a Deltic and some new Mk1 Suburbans. Nothing in it for me and no issue it's a duplication, we're told competition is good and duplication is competition. It cannot be good that one company can do models already done by others and everyone loves them for doing it, but when another company does the same thing it's somehow bad. All model companies should be able to pick and choose which models they believe they can sell to it's customers. From what I can see it looks like a good model of a 31 and the uncoupling feature is a useful development over a more gimmicky one. 2 10 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolkchinaclay Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Bit late to the party. God knows how much these are going to be price wise. The working coupling is very impressive, very clever, yes it’s innovative but I won’t be able to retrofit it to all my other locos so the big hand from the sky will still be needed into the future. i only need one 31 and Acc are already doing that… 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrainsRule88 Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I like the idea of the automatic uncoupling which will be great for end to end layouts like mine, however I am interested in whether it is possible to still swap out the tension lock as I don’t use tension locks on my stock and use chain links. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Tim Dubya Posted February 6 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 6 2 minutes ago, woodenhead said: It cannot be good that one company can do models already done by others and everyone loves them for doing it, but when another company does the same thing it's somehow bad. All model companies should be able to pick and choose which models they believe they can sell to it's customers. Personally it's just disappointment that we're not going to see something unique from Bachmann. I agree it's good for the market and therefore us but there's plenty of stuff out there that we don't have or that needs a retool to modern standards. Nevermind 😕 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Fair Oak Junction Posted February 6 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 6 (edited) Duplication both increases and decreases choice. Yes it increases choice when it comes to a specific class, but it takes away the opportunity for us to get a model of a class never done before or a new tooled loco that hasn't been done for years. Edited February 6 by Fair Oak Junction 1 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete the Elaner Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 4 minutes ago, Fair Oak Junction said: Not convinced by those "auto couplers". After years of the hobby trying to make tension locks look better, they've managed to make them look worse. And it's another thing to potentially go wrong. I'm normally on the fence about gimmicks, but that one is VERY gimmicky! I'm a big fan of Bachmann, but not impressed by this one at all. I am not convinced either. I am not a fan of tension locks because they look dreadful & do not work particularly well either. I liked the trend towards NEM pockets because it provided the choice of using something different, like Kadee or Hunt couplings. It would be interesting to see if they have managed to make the auto-uncouplers work with standard NEMs. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Outcast Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I don't think the issue is duplication, actually. I think it's timing of duplication. If Accurascale came out tomorrow with a new 8F, it's not quite the same thing as Bachmann coming out with a new 31 at the exact same time Accurascale is coming out with a new 31 - the current 8F models are dated, so a more modern one would be appreciated. If we were years out from Accurascale's Class 31's release, then I don't think Bachmann would be getting any backlash over duplication. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanguard 5374 Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I find it strange how we see models duplicated with many of our beloved manufacturers, when you consider there are many models that have yet to get a RTR release. I can't exactly draw up a list of models because it'll have bias and it would be too long but surely looking away from the normal choices and going for something different could be a winner? Instead we see another model offered by two manufacturers. Again. 3 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NXEA! Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 Usually I don’t comment negatively as it’s up to manufacturers to decide what they’re going to produce and whether it’s commercially viable, and I’m all for competition but can’t help but feel a bit disappointed and slightly baffled. There’s plenty of choice out there to either do something brand new to OO gauge RTR or something due an upgrade, but they’re choosing to compete against Accurascale again (who’s project has been well known about for a long time), and as we’ve seen with the 37’s the market appears oversaturated and it will happen again with these. Not only that, as nice as the Accurascale model is it’s a little debatable whether an upgrade was that necessary given the Hornby model is high fidelity and very very good - so we’re expecting the market to support three high-quality models at a time when prices are going up steeply and there is a lot of pressure on modellers wallets. Seems unnecessarily risky to me, plenty of other choice to go at which is disappointing. But best of luck to Bachmann and I hope it’s a success for them - whichever one of the three manufacturers chooses to do D5578 in experimental blue will get my money. 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodnight Sweetheart Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 This smells like a case of “you did a 37, so we’ll do a 31” , I’m already committed to the other firms 31 with I’m very happy with. Easy for a big firm backed by a big parent to engage in tit fir tat duplication, wait for another firm to announce a “long time in development” upgraded 60….. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted February 6 Moderators Share Posted February 6 3 minutes ago, NXEA! said: Hornby model is high fidelity and very very good Not really. 1 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidw Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Another 31...? More gimmicks...? Seriously? I'm sure that it'll appeal to some but is there really a market big enough for 3 manufacturers tackling the same prototype? 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
meatloaf Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Im not suprised really to see a 31. Especially as the N Scale one is a really great model with a decent soundfile. Id like one - but im expecting the SFX version to be a good £350 at retaillers. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
69843 Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 4 minutes ago, woodenhead said: It cannot be good that one company can do models already done by others and everyone loves them for doing it, but when another company does the same thing it's somehow bad. It more comes down to the old adage of waiting for a bus then two coming along at once. The Accurascale one was not a duplication as it was a complete, brand new tooling compared to the now quite dated Hornby tooling. Retooling an existing but quite dated model and offering combinations/details never before done is no bad thing. The reason it is seen as an issue now is that we have models competing where they don't need to be at all. The Accurascale Class 31 was announced two years ago, to the month, at Model Rail Scotland 2022. These are now only months away from hitting the shelves. Suddenly, Bachmann pops up with their model after two years. The frustration stems from the fact that this is two years where Bachmann could have chosen to come out, reveal their hand, even go "We're choosing to walk away from this due to the duplication in the market"-which, yes, would see money lost. But that's also business. Meanwhile, several Bachmann diesels that are not duplications and are very tired old models get at best patchwork updates, despite known flawed areas. I'm not saying Bachmann shouldn't go ahead with these. But it is not the first recent duplication in their diesels either. 1 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators AY Mod Posted February 6 Moderators Share Posted February 6 24 minutes ago, andyman7 said: Apparently they have been working on it for 'some years'. I've known for a couple of years at least which fits with what's been shown today. 4 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrel Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 Don't see the point in this duplication. If we compare the Bachmann and accurascale 37s both are great models. I think the Accurascale one is slightly better. But in terms of price Accurascale win hands down. We will need to wait and see which of the two models is best however I suspect accurascale will win again on price. Instead of wasting money creating duplicate models why not spend the money on something that hasn't been done already or improving on an existing model. A brand new class 08 for example or a 25KV emu 1 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold franciswilliamwebb Posted February 6 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 6 Although I'm happy to be going the Accurascale route for the loco myself, I am impressed with the working coupling idea on the Bachmann version. Love 'em or hate 'em, tension locks are what the bulk of the market uses and this will be dead handy for anyone so blessed/cursed 😉 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodnight Sweetheart Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 (edited) A positive, for me is this new coupling feature it’s a bit clunky at the moment but it’s a huge step forward in the right direction. It is however a shame it’s only available on the high spec / expensive option model. Maybe we should see adverts like cars with a fantastic looking vehicle shown then * saying model shown is several thousand pounds more expensive than the base which is the headline price in the advert. Edited February 6 by Goodnight Sweetheart 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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