Dave47549 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D6975 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I bought 4 of these yesterday. At £4 each you can't complain much about its deficiencies. Ideal for butchering I think. Mk 1 based EMUs and DMUs in particular. The separate side mouldings make this so much easier. As for the general appearance as it stands, in the days pre Bachmann Mk1s these would have been considered as OK. IMHO they look more like a Mk1 than Heljan's O gauge effort. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I've got to admit this is a puzzler & has got me thinking. After all, no one is going to tool a one-off Mk1 from scratch. It depends, if the quantities are such that it becomes a cheaper option than buying in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
84A Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 For those who don't read mreMag, there is a link today http://www.mremag.com/news/article/pre-production-samples-of-the-new-Hornby-br-mk1-coaches/15447 to its initial shots of the Hornby Railroad Mk1 - it appears to be the same tooling. What about the moulded underframe though on the £3.99er? This leads me to believe that its not the same tooling... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
84A Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Errm since when did you become the thread umpire John? At £3.99 it's not an issue and certainly not worth complaining about or for me giving chapter and verse about why in accuracy terms it comes nowhere near the mark 1's from Bachmann - you don't need to look too hard to see the difference. Each to their own. I think the review provided by 7013 shows that, despite some short comings, they can be made to fit into a rake of coaches quite nicely. You stated you thought people were seeing past ''how incredibly bad a toy'' the coach is, however I have to say that unlike other stock i've purchased recently, it actually runs straight from the packaging, with no problems at all. It is robust and fairly sturdy, and i'd feel confident that if I dropped it down a flight of stairs, it would probably remain relatively intact. Surely thats the point of a toy - it works, and its robust enough to be played with? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 IMHO they look more like a Mk1 than Heljan's O gauge effort. To be fair my dad's land rover looks more like a Mk.1 than Heljan's offering ... and it cost less Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Ben Posted August 30, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 30, 2013 Hello all, No interest to me (too big!) but if anyone's interested WHSmith's in Huntingdon have at least a couple of dozen of these in a big bin by the front door. cheers Ben A. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
decauville1126 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Asda at Ferring (down on the south coast and west of Worthing for those up country) had two on the shelf 30 minutes ago. A quick glance at the underside of the bogies makes me wonder if it's a bit tight for P4? That is unless someone has already done it .... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovex Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Now if only part 2 had a GWR toplight attached to it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beejack Posted August 30, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 30, 2013 For anyone interested in the North Somerset area, Clevedon ASDA have just put a few more on the shelf this morning and Clevedon WHSmiths have one left on show (hidden below the computer mags!). I picked up one last night to look over and three more today. They may not be accurate but with some decals and numbers they will go nicely with my existing stock and doesn't look out of place with the one Bachmann coach I possess! Ok the roof colour is lighter and the sole bars are slightly oversized but 4 coaches for less than the price of one Hornby or Bachmann coach is good enough for me. With all the negative comments being made about these being cheap inaccurate coaches, there's one thing to remember "it's my railway and I'll run what I like". So as long as we are all happy with our purchases then that's all that counts. Right? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I flung one around my fairly generous curves (layout, not me personally... ...inappropriate) last night - it struck me that with the wheel diameter fitted to this coach, and the cross sectional profile of the underframe, the clearances are going to be extremely tight for people innocently building the intended partwork on the track-mat provided. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
West_riding Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I picked up two yesterday and for the price I'm very happy. I've made a start upgrading them by painting the roof, under frame and interior. Just need to get some numbers for them and apply some transfers and weathering and they will be good to go. I don't own any Bachmann Mk1s, but they don't look bad with my Hornby ones. Might have to pick another couple up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giz Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I flung one around my fairly generous curves (layout, not me personally... ...inappropriate) last night - it struck me that with the wheel diameter fitted to this coach, and the cross sectional profile of the underframe, the clearances are going to be extremely tight for people innocently building the intended partwork on the track-mat provided. We ran a couple on my daughter's train set (1st radius curves) last night and had a few derailments. Not sure if it was down to the coaches, the rather undulating track or the fact that they were coupled to an Underground Ernie power car with body mounted couplers though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunner61165 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Anybody know where you can get suitable carriage numbers for these please? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
18B Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 If someone had asked on this forum a year or so a go what kind of OO Mk1 coach do you think could be produced and sold for £3:99, most would have thought at best, something like the "Big Train" O gauge offering. There were always going to be deficiencies with a coach for such a low price, but given you could buy 5 for the £19:99 RRP suggested for the Hornby Railroad offerings, or less and spend some time detailing, the £3:99 is (IMO) good value, Anybody know where you can get suitable carriage numbers for these please? I'm sure some enterprising person already has a pack in mind specifically for these coaches? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkwolf1877 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Anybody know where you can get suitable carriage numbers for these please? I've just brought some West Coast Transfers from Precision Models http://www.precisionlabels.com/d32.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alant Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 No interest to me (as wrong scale) but WH Smith in Aylesbury had about 8 or 9 copies available this lunchtime. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Anybody know where you can get suitable carriage numbers for these please? I use HMRS 'Pressfix' myself, but other makes are available. I've bought three of these (so far - grifones can't resist a bargain!) and would add the following points. Dimensionally they're reasonably accurate - lines up well with a Kitmaster (it's two millimetres longer which makes them correct in length!) (I was undecided whether to correct this on my Kitmasters, but decided not to bother - life's too short and it's taken me until now to notice it!) The lining is commendably fine, though the top line is missing the black line. The bogies are limited in rotation leading to derailments on 1st radius curves - I've opened out the slot slightly - and the wheels don't turn too freely - turning a pencil point in the bearings cured that. The wheels are 14mm in diameter at 14.4mm B-B on 25mm axles. Flanges are 0.5mm thick and the total wheel thickness is 2.7mm - not quite NMRA and not quite BRMSB, though the profile is rather angular - coned treads with a sharp curve into the flange. There is a noticeable prismatic effect to the windows, which are the right size, unlike the products of one famous make (which have been around for a long time). this is not too bad on the large windows but worse on the droplights and toilet windows. I doubt that I will go to the trouble of flush glazing with cutout bits of clear plastic though. I think the window corners are possibly a little too angular? The worse part is the solid underframe. This will be cutout or replaced. Wire handrails/pipes are needed, as is painting the interior and they'll join my excursion train of various ex-GWR coaches. All in all, they are not perfect, but better than most and excellent value for £3.99. The track is not up to much - steel rail and yet another example of US standard* H0 'high iron'. Still it did provide five spare rail joiners (one was missing!). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Fisher Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Stub axles measuring 25.04mm Outside face of wheel sets 19.54mm Inside measurement of bogie frame 21.83mm So do-able! Bit like the Bachmann bogie possible but maybe needs a little material removing Ian Asda at Ferring (down on the south coast and west of Worthing for those up country) had two on the shelf 30 minutes ago. A quick glance at the underside of the bogies makes me wonder if it's a bit tight for P4? That is unless someone has already done it .... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Hello all, No interest to me (too big!) but if anyone's interested WHSmith's in Huntingdon have at least a couple of dozen of these in a big bin by the front door. cheers Ben A. Thanks for the scoop! I just happened to be working in Huntingdon today, so I visited WHSmiths based on your info and saw a large metal bin piled high with them. There were five less after my visit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Craig Watson Posted August 30, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 30, 2013 For anyone up our neck of the woods Asda in Motherwell still had 4 today, I bought what I thought was the last two a few days ago but they've obviously put more out. With a little bit of work mine will become either an SRPS rail tours or WCRC set. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fozzy280472 Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 Just picked up five from WHSmith in Romford , still a fair few left there. I think some decals and satin varnish , paint the roofs and they should be pretty reasonable models. I have already swapped the wheels/axles for steel Hornby ones , the originals are just steel wheels with short stub axles pushed into plastic pipe and as soon as I ran them I noticed they didn't run very well at all. Note , I had to use my Truck Tuner device to open the bogies out so the Hornby wheels fitted , I would have had to do the same for Bachmann wheels to fit. I cant think of much recently to have come along at a bargain price like this!!! Cheers Paul. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tetsudofan Posted August 30, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 30, 2013 I've just added one of mine to the parcels train sitting in one of the station sidings: For the price certainly don't think it looks too bad - lines up quite well with the Bachmann Thompson Full Brake... Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BMS Posted August 30, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 30, 2013 I flung one around my fairly generous curves (layout, not me personally... ...inappropriate) last night - it struck me that with the wheel diameter fitted to this coach, and the cross sectional profile of the underframe, the clearances are going to be extremely tight for people innocently building the intended partwork on the track-mat provided. Don't you think that there is not much railway for a layout approx 8ft by 6ft; 5 points total I think. I got one coach free from someone expecting a 6ft by 4, he gave up when I opened the quarter sheet. Missed the market IMHO. . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 I wonder if the manufacturer is reading the threads on rmweb and seeing where all their coaches are going? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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