Hornby's 2013 Announcements

[griffgriff]

I'm amazed at the wonder and effectiveness of the Hornby prime mover... so remind me who manufactured the 4 VEP then???

 

TBH I think a well built mechanism beats a poorly built one no matter how many poles the motor has it has but time will tell.

 

 

PS I realise that the 4VEP had the 'Railroad' bits powering it and I'm sure they wont go there again

[buffalo]

And here lies the big question , this in the livery I'd prefer , or £108 + p&p from a well know shop for

one in a livery that I'm not quite so keen on ?

 

Brings us right back to how much are we prepared to pay for a model that meets all our needs as opposed to

one that is 'almost ' there ...

For anyone choosing between the 'Steam' version and one of the 'normal' ones, there are other considerations than just the livery that you may wish to bear in mind. It does look like Hornby have done their research well here.

 

Lode Star is in the 1928 livery and is without a whistle shield or any form of outside steam pipes. According to the RCTS volume, whistle shields started appearing just before this new livery and most had them fitted by 1931 though there were some still without in 1934. Lode Star did not receive outside steam pipes until March 1949. As pictured in the Hornby slides pdf all is probably correct for 1928-31, and could probably be backdated by a simple change to the tender crest.

 

Knight of the Grand Cross is again correct for its 1934 livery. This time it has outside steam pipes and a whistle shield. The outside pipes were fitted to this engine in 1931. I haven't been able to determine whether it retained a tall safety valve bonnet at this time, though would guess that Hornby have taken this from a photo. A change to a later tender livery would probably be ok too.

 

Glastobury Abbey in early BR livery again correctly has the pipes and shield and (probably) short bonnet. It received its outside steam pipes in July 1949.

 

Both the Knight and Lode Star have an earlier tender, probably correct (I can't find dated confirmation at the moment) whereas Glastonbury Abbey has the later tender that started appearing around 1927.

 

There were actually two styles of outside steam pipes, the difference depending on which of two different saddles were used when cylinders were replaced. Both the Knight and the Abbey have the correct 'elbow' type that curves inwards to the inner cylinders. Other engines of the class had pipes like those on the Castle class that go to the outside cylinders. So, not only a choice, but some traps for the unwary if you choose to rename/renunumber them.

 

Nick

[Ron Ron Ron]

email sent to SK with some ideas so the reply is awaited as he seems to have replied to many here which I didnt expect he'd have time for.

 

Amazing that, almost like Father Christmas. How does he get time to deal with all those letters?

 

Think !

 

 

.

[Downer]

The P2 - eyecatching to look at, and I expect most of them will end up in cabinets. Nothing wrong with that, but I'd have preferred something with a wider applicability.

Same goes for the DoG, which as far as I can tell is modelled as preserved, with the wrong tender for its BR service years. Golden Arrow do the others of course, but that's another £16+p&p, and a lot more work than adding deflector handrails.

The 2-Bil looks fantastic, oversize rivets and all, but I'm afraid third rail is still a rail too far for lots of us.

I can't see what the fuss is about the Sentinel, but the number of welcomes it's received on here suggest its a good idea.

Likewise the Star, but God only knows why they've duplicated the Hall - surely HP fever is rapidly waning and even the Railroad version will be hardly any cheaper than the more detailed Bachmann model.

The new Mk1s - seriously limited in livery, type and presumably detail - seem redundant already.

The shunter-truck is cute, but the LMS CCT and Blue Spot fish van are both available in easy-to-construct Parkside kits.

I'm unimpressed, but as I said in an earlier post, it's hard to complain after the LNER/ER locos and coaches that Hornby produced in 2011-12. And the list of stuff promised by Bachmann, Heljan, Kernow for 2013 is already long enough to empty my wallet.

Still, I do hope this programme works better for Hornby than it does for me.

[Ed-farms]

Same goes for the DoG, which as far as I can tell is modelled as preserved, with the wrong tender for its BR service years. Golden Arrow do the others of course, but that's another £16+p&p, and a lot more work than adding deflector handrails.

 

That is what I intend to do, I only noticed the handrails on the deflectors were moulded on today. Now do I file the handrails off and fit new seperate ones (if it bothers me once I see the model) or buy new deflectors and fit them? Either way I will be hoping to make a great model even better.

[Fenman]

Amazing that, almost like Father Christmas. How does he get time to deal with all those letters?

 

Think !

 

But, but... Simon Kohler is real, isn't he? I mean, I've seen him at shows, standing at his special stall, attended to by his little helpers, and... Oh God. I see where I've been going wrong.

 

Well, someone wrote a nicely judged reply to my email: it was certainly personalised and showed the content of my email had been read. How nice was that? Whoever did it!

 

Paul

[Downer]

But, but... Simon Kohler is real, isn't he? I mean, I've seen him at shows, standing at his special stall, attended to by his little helpers, and... Oh God. I see where I've been going wrong.

 

 

Simon Kohler is actually a hologram.

[BR_Blue_1986]

Do people suppose modelzone will get the FGW mk3's? I am rather after a bunch of them.

['CHARD]

.....but the LMS CCT and Blue Spot fish van are both available in easy-to-construct Parkside kits.

 

 

And I expect the kits will remain available for those with the time, skills and inclination to construct them.

[griffgriff]

Simon Kohler is actually a hologram.

 

I wonder if it's an anagram...mm on second thoughts that might be a bad idea

[stewartingram]

Amazing that, almost like Father Christmas. How does he get time to deal with all those letters?

 

Think !

 

 

.

 

Hornby employ Elves as well

 

Stewart

[Multiple identity account 2]

I've been awaiting SK's reply for a few days now. Any idea if the Class 153 is a modelzone exclusive?

[frobisher]

PS I realise that the 4VEP had the 'Railroad' bits powering it and I'm sure they wont go there again

 

Same motor bogie that's in the 5BEL remember... The lesson Hornby learnt from the 4VEP is that you should properly weight the motor bogie if it's going to be hauling more than a single carriage around.

[Ron Ron Ron]

But, but... Simon Kohler is real, isn't he? I mean, I've seen him at shows, standing at his special stall, attended to by his little helpers, and... Oh God. I see where I've been going wrong.

 

Paul, I sorry to break it to you...... but you're probably old enough now....let's see, I'm not sure how to break it to you....

 

Well that wasn't really Simon Kohler. It was a man dressed up as Simon. You see, Simon Kohler isn't real.

I'm sorry to have broken that to you, but let's not talk about it too loudly, there are lots of boys and girls on here who are still believers.

 

 

 

.

[S.A.C Martin]

Just to balance things out a bit, and some defense of the Hornby 3-pole motor plus flywheel chassis: Hornby's Railroad Tornado (which I've had for two years now and is the "workhorse" whenever my godsons are round) is one of the smoothest operators I've ever come across. That hasn't changed despite being run nearly every week for nearly two years. At all speeds it is a supreme mechanism. Further, I have regularly had 60163 pulling 14 of Hornby's old MK1s (around 2040grams) proficiently and on the level at decent speeds. It's had a lot of abuse from my godsons, and is still going very strong with little in the way of damage.

 

It's not going to win awards for hauling heavy kit built rakes of coaches, nor is it going to be as smooth as some of Heljan's diesel models, but as a budget locomotive intended for the purposes of a trainset to be played with, there's nothing better than Hornby's Tornado.

[coachmann]

When so many folk say they cannot do this or that, I wonder how many will be able to fit handrails to Hornby or etched brass smoke deflectors. It is not the simplest of tasks.

[ThaneofFife]

Amazing that, almost like Father Christmas. How does he get time to deal with all those letters?

 

Think !

 

 

.

 

 

Simon Kohlers almost like a Father Christmas is he Ron? Arh......bless your little cotton socks.

 

Ease off with the mulled wine.

[Dave47549]

.

[Oldddudders]

Now, there's model PULs, BILs & PANTs sorry, VEPs, but no new locos or units with coathangers on the rooves

Sadly, Sir, not PULs but BELs. PULs would be far more versatile - running every day as they did to Worthing, Littlehampton, Eastbourne and Hastings - but they lack the populist image that the BELs have, so would not have sold as well, I'm sure.

 

I'm genuinely sorry that the electric-string brigade haven't got any new Hornby goodies - but note that Dapol Dave has posted initial ideas about headspans, at least.

[Dave47549]

.

[gc4946]

Hornby opens up a lot of possibilities with the 2BIL. The same 62'6'' chassis and underframes could be used for these types with new body tooling and centre coaches, if applicable, as follows:

2 BIL (early units)

2 NOL

2 HAL (both 1939 original and Bulleid "tin" versions)

4 LAV (with new centre coach toolings)

Original Maunsell 1925 3 SUB design, and also those rebuilt from pre-grouping carriages on new frames, later on 4 SUB (with new centre coach toolings)

Bulleid 4 SUB, 4 EPB (with new centre coach toolings)

Bulleid 2 HAP, 2 EPB

 

Where the design clever philosophy could work, would be if a Bulleid design EMU was tooled up. It would have been prohibitively expensive in assembly costs if the roof vents and conduits were all separate parts.

[The Stationmaster]

When so many folk say they cannot do this or that, I wonder how many will be able to fit handrails to Hornby or etched brass smoke deflectors. It is not the simplest of tasks.

I didn't find handrails too difficult (but my eyes and hands were a lot younger back then) but the critical thing is the matter of paintwork. The latter was no problem on the pannier tanks I titivated (in pre Mainline/Bachmann days) but green liveried locos with lining were a different kettle of fish. With today's standards of r-t-r finish the task becomes even more demanding although Cap'n Kernow's tip about 'dirtying' is a good one.

 

We shall see what we shall see and I suppose in reality there's nothing wrong with having to do a bit more than renumbering but it will be interesting to see if the old needs and skills re-emerge for a potentially much larger cross-section of the modelling fraternity.

[Butler Henderson]

Do people suppose modelzone will get the FGW mk3's? I am rather after a bunch of them.

I've been awaiting SK's reply for a few days now. Any idea if the Class 153 is a modelzone exclusive?

 

They should be available in Hamleys,Modelzone and any other store (?) that has a Hornby concession

[griffgriff]

I didn't find handrails too difficult (but my eyes and hands were a lot younger back then) but the critical thing is the matter of paintwork. The latter was no problem on the pannier tanks I titivated (in pre Mainline/Bachmann days) but green liveried locos with lining were a different kettle of fish. With today's standards of r-t-r finish the task becomes even more demanding although Cap'n Kernow's tip about 'dirtying' is a good one.

 

We shall see what we shall see and I suppose in reality there's nothing wrong with having to do a bit more than renumbering but it will be interesting to see if the old needs and skills re-emerge for a potentially much larger cross-section of the modelling fraternity.

 

A 'Bill Bedford' jig, dividers and a pin vice... what could possibly go wrong???

[Metr0Land]

I’ve posted a couple of positive diatribes in this thread and am about to post another – but pls note my wallet is very happy that there’s very little in the announcements that I need, it’s just from a business perspective it seems a very good announcement to me.

 

Apart from the supply chain going belly up, and the Olympic debacle, the last decade or so has been good for us and Hornby, and we now have Hornby, Dapol and Bachmann all delivering much requested items which shows we have a healthy market (and indeed 4 pretty good monthly mags as well).

 

It seems to me that Hornby do have their finger pretty much on the pulse as to ‘where the market is heading’ albeit they may not always be willing or able to produce everything the market wants. Time was, when the perceived wisdom was that British modellers wouldn’t pay more than £x for a loco but wanted better quality.

 

The most noticeable change with Hornby was the departure to China and the SR Pacifics which lifted the bar. Now, the original gestation period must have been in the 90’s when we had a burgeoning economy (remember that?) and Hornby tuned into that, with Bachmann playing catch up initially and then overtaking (don’t forget that originally Bachmann = Mainline).

 

The world has now changed. If you look at retail elsewhere, firms like Primark and Lidl are targeting the ‘squeezed middle class’ for want of a better expression. M&S, Next and Tesco don’t seem to be heading for the wall but are seeing their higher value products squeezed.

 

More or less the same ‘squeezed middle class’ people are also having to juggle ever tighter budgets when it comes to their ‘entertainment spend’.

 

I think Hornby are right to tap into ‘a value range’ or ‘design clever’ call it what you will. They will still be producing high fidelity stock as well, but they need to be absolutely sure the volume/price is there for them to turn a profit on the higher end goods.

Pretty much every month, at least one of the mags has some article or other on how you can improve a Lima/Airfix/Railroad item relatively cheaply, using modest skills, to turn out something creditable. RMWeb itself is littered with similar projects where people share their exploits upgrading value items.

 

We recently had the £100 project on here which drew IMMENSE interest amongst the discerning population here. We’ve got used to getting a lot for our money, and now money is squeezed we’re all trying to get back to what is important for each of us, and for a lot of us that means value and enjoyment in some shape or form.

 

I don’t think we should be decrying the ‘lower spec’ way a lot of the Hornby models are heading – rather accepting there are probably fewer people with enough spare money to throw at high fidelity models.

 

Yes I know things like the BP have sold out at the factory, and maybe things like the Heljan Beyer-Garrett will do, but in this climate I don’t think a volume player like Hornby would be right to keep all its eggs in high-price high-fidelity.