R3095 Commonwealth of Australia

[brushman47544]

Has anyone got one of these in their hands yet? There are photos of the actual model on both the Rails and Kernow websites and something doesn't look quite right. Other than the nameplates that is, which look ridiculous in the wrong font. What happened to QA and/or QC?

 

I'm seriously considering cancelling my ore-order even though I have Fox Transfers brass nameplates on order. What do others think?

[gordon s]

Hi Andrew. I'm struggling to see the wrong font on the nameplate. It's appears to be the same in Yeadons. The 4491 and LNER lettering also appear correct.

 

What makes you say it's wrong?

 

Here's the Hornby one..

 

 

...and here's my own, albeit in BR colours.

 

[Ian Hargrave]

Has anyone got one of these in their hands yet? There are photos of the actual model on both the Rails and Kernow websites and something doesn't look quite right. Other than the nameplates that is, which look ridiculous in the wrong font. What happened to QA and/or QC?

 

I'm seriously considering cancelling my ore-order even though I have Fox Transfers brass nameplates on order. What do others think?

The namepltes are a complete mess. The other pont could be--and this is entirely subjective----the shade of 'garter blue'. Too dark for my taste.

[Ian Hargrave]

Gordon--have you looked at the images on the Rails website ? The nameplates rendered on the actual model are plain wrong.

[gordon s]

Thanks Ian, I see what you mean. The first pic is the one from the Hornby website and is correct. The other pics show a totally different set of plates...

 

I can understand your concern now. If the other pics are production models then they are completely wrong.

[The Stationmaster]

The pic on the Kernow website shows the plates with excessive gaps at the beginning and end of the name - which is definitely wrong.

[Ian Hargrave]

If I wanted to model this particular loco,I simply would not purchase this particular offering. Cheaper---and more effective to buy R 2339 'Mallard' --always available on e-bay---or any other previously released garter blue Hornby A4 ,,get it renumbered with a set of Fox plates & crest

[davidw]

Looks to me like the name plates are underscale and the numbers and lettering are overscale.

[Ed-farms]

I think the nameplate is not too bad - I am unsure if they were brass or chrome in the 1930's. To me the only wrong point is the lettering on the tender does not look right, perhaps fitting some fox cut out letters would help.

[The Stationmaster]

I think the nameplate is not too bad - I am unsure if they were brass or chrome in the 1930's. To me the only wrong point is the lettering on the tender does not look right, perhaps fitting some fox cut out letters would help.

 

The Commonwealth/Dominion series originally had chrome finish metal numbers and matching nameplate, the crests were transfers on a separate steel sheet (presumably the tenders also had letters to match the numbers?).

 

By comparison with prototype pics the cabside numbers are too deep although they look correct for width (or certainly in proportion in relation to the horizontal handrail above them - is it the right length?). The nameplate is simply weird with incorrect spacing at the ends which makes the lettering look underscale even if does happen to be correct. Clearly it would seem that the livery sample - if there actually was a livery sample(?) was not properly checked or the production models differ from the sample; all part of the managing how Chinese factories produce the desired goods and perhaps symptomatic of a rush to get to market or, possibly, a lack of care in specifying or checking finish?

[micklner]

Nameplate totally wrong, Lettering and numbers oversized. Probably a mock up.

 

One serious problem is the Tender chrome band at the bottom should be inline with the cab edge band not above it. Did the original have the band hung below the black edge of the underframe not on the tender tank?

[davidw]

The Kernow and the Rails pictures don't look like mock ups. Oh dear!

[gwrrob]

On a limited edition costing £135 too.

[brushman47544]

Thanks for all your comments. I was interested in this model particularly because I have family connections to Australia and I like this version of the LNER livery with chrome numbers that the more common one. But they don't look quite right either. Hornby seems to have made a real pigs ear of this one so I've pretty much decided to cancel my pre-order. With these errors and the likelihood the blue is too dark as well, I can find better models to spend the hard earned on. What a shame.

[60027Merlin]

Nameplate totally wrong, Lettering and numbers oversized. Probably a mock up.

 

One serious problem is the Tender chrome band at the bottom should be inline with the cab edge band not above it. Did the original have the band hung below the black edge of the underframe not on the tender tank?

 

Yes. The stainless steel strip fitted to each side of the tender was attached below the top of the underframe to line up with the strip running along the foot of the valance thus giving an uninterrupted "flow" running along the complete length of the loco and tender. Unfortunately Hornby have attached the strips to the foot of the tender sides thus giving a disjointed appearance and to me it completely spoils the look of the model. However beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so some people may not be too bothered and some will be!

[Ozexpatriate]

Here is what mine looks like. The nameplate does look noticeably different from the box illustration with spaces at the beginning and the end.

 

The photograph is 'quick and dirty' from my mobile phone taken in my office - which is why I didn't take it out of the packaging. (Lighting is mobile flash plus harsh flourescent lights so the colour balance is way off.)

 

 

In the flesh it is less disturbing than the online illustrations shown earlier. I don't know what the original (in as delivered Coronation chrome) looked like - maybe at this point I'd rather not know!.

[Cor-onGRT4]

_{Just about the question over letterring numbering size namplate and chrome lining}

 

_{In front of me the book Streamlined Steam by A.J.Mullay with some pictures of Commonwealth of Australia in July1937}

_{even with the black / white pictures you can clearly see the nameplates are lighter than the black front, so the plates must bee Coronation red the model is}

_{therefore not right a few red stainless steel Fox plates will do right,}

_{About the numbers and lettering, on a closeup picture of Empire of India the wide and height are just a little beginning and ending}

_{outside the end of the windowframes also visable on a very clear picture of the Union of South Africa on 22 June 1937 , exept for the nameplates those are clear visable black}

_{on4488, so there are some differences between the nameplates.Therefore I think the numbering and lettering are of the right size on the model}

_{exept maybe a little bit to thick wch can give the inpressions of oversized.}

_{Conserning the stainless steel strip on the tenderunderside on these pictures it is clearly visable they are attached on the lower side of the tender and not on the frame}

_{but i don't know anyone has ever noticed Hornby's tender is not in line with the underside of the valances a little bit to high on the wheels perhaps?}

_{A problem of all Hornby's A4's I believe.}

_{That's why the tender lining is not on the same hight with the frontlining clearly visable on the box picture above}

 

_{I am going to order a Fox stainless steel set Coronation red nameplates and solve the problem and if they have stainless steel numbers I will order them to.}

[Ian Hargrave]

Anyone tried the Fox steel set & red nameplates on this,yet ?

[Ian Hargrave]

That looks amazing. Thank you for that.

[vac_basher]

Could somebody kindly confirm what tender this model comes with please?
The one's I see online (Hattons, for example) seem to have non-beaded tenders, while the photo on the Hornby website shows it with the beading

[G-BOAF]

Streamlined Corridor Tender (Bowed ends). The Hornby pictures are nearly always computer mock ups, and do not necessarily reflect the final detail combination or livery variations.

[micklner]

Only the Silver A4's had bowed end tenders. This one should have a normal straight corner version

[C7/2 732]

Only the Silver A4's had bowed end tenders. This one should have a normal straight corner version

 

I thought there were several streamlined tenders produced with bow ends....

Yeadon Register seems to say so, that a batch of streamlined tenders were produced like the Silver A4 type in 1936.

[G-BOAF]

Only the Silver A4's had bowed end tenders. This one should have a normal straight corner version

Not correct I'm afraid!

The sliver batch had them, and a further seven were subsiquently buit for later A4s.

Source is the ever-excellent SNG website

http://www.sirnigelgresley.org.uk/tenders/tenders3.html

 

Remember that the Streamlined Corridor Tenders were the only corridor tenders built specifically for the A4s. All others were exA3 (or W1) tenders.

Rather a shame that none were preserved, or that the opportunity was not taken to recreate one with Bittern's rebuilt to a Corridor Tender.

[vac_basher]

The Hornby pictures are nearly always computer mock ups, and do not necessarily reflect the final detail combination or livery variations.

 

That's what I suspected. I actually thought it could well have been a preproduction model or something.

 

One more question: what is a bow end tender?