Theo C. Cupier Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) " Do let us know what "original" you think the clone is based on - Hornby, Lima....or the dreaded Trix? " Sorry for the delayed reply. I'm pretty sure it's a Lima clone, as stated by previous posters. My Lima Westerns are all in the loft, so haven't done a direct comparison. Edited May 27, 2015 by Theo C. Cupier 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
46256 Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 The GBL loco....dismantled...front sill reduced and awaiting small roof filler piece to be added...rain strip removed and replaced. Windows moved forwrd 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Thought: the Brassmasters kit recommends that the Craftsman DK3 detail kit be used in conjunction. As the latter appears to be no longer available (given the rather shaky takeover aftermath at Craftsman), it is probably worth going to DCC Supplies or Howes for Dapol or Heljan detailing parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 A few in WH Smiths Wigan today. A nice model, sits nice on peco track. Mine had a wonky bogie frame quickly made right by slackening the securing screw underneath. Both bogies are different (underneath) as stated. The wheels look odd, no holes in the wheel disc, soon sorted. It'll do as a static loco in my diesel depot. The mag is quite good as well, some nice photos, I especially enjoyed the story of how D1015 was purchased for preservation at the last minute. I'll never forget the ride I had from Bristol to Cardiff back in 1967 behind D1011 Western Thunderer, head out of window through the Severn tunnel, as well as Kemble to Swindon back around 1963/4 behind D1000 herself, in dessert sand livery. Brit15 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrel Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) Just got mine from the local shop. Not a bad copy of the lima model. I think at least the tail lamps need removed. Cast numbers and nameplates. Repaint the skirt at the front. A coat of varnish will make it look less plastic. New crest. However I may repaint one or two. A nice weathered BR blue is tempting. Somewhere I think I have spare lima western bogies, the chassis got broken in two years ago. Should be an easy way of motorising it. Edited May 27, 2015 by darrel 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
46256 Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Thought: the Brassmasters kit recommends that the Craftsman DK3 detail kit be used in conjunction. As the latter appears to be no longer available (given the rather shaky takeover aftermath at Craftsman), it is probably worth going to DCC Supplies or Howes for Dapol or Heljan detailing parts.yes it does recommend that extra detailing kit...sadly my recent experience in obtaining parts from that source makes me agree the other avenues mentioned might well bear better results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'CHARD Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 My favourite class, of which the day began owning no representatives in miniature, and which ends the same. This lump won't invite me to part with my hard-earned; had it been the Dapol cloned it would have been another story. Moulded-on oil lamps indeed: spent long enough carving off four dozen of these when I had my oh so large fleet of Italian plastic, back in the day... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Yes, the Western is "iconic", and I was quite taken wiuth my LIMA model....but in the end I received "an offer that I couldn't refuse", so it went. Not a steam die-hard, I actually quite like the Diesels, small shunters especailly (in Black!), but the J39 looks likely to be joining the fleet.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Brit70053 Posted May 27, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) Evokes a recollection of one of my earlier (mid 1970s) forays to the Severn Valley Railway on one of their Gala weekends. National collection Black 5 No 5000 failed near Arley and the Western was summoned to recover the train. Rather cheekily, the crew displayed '50 00' on the Western's headcode panels. Edit for syntax Edited May 27, 2015 by Brit70053 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Cram Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 There were 2 in Asda in Chelmsford this evening and there were still 2 when I left primarily because I don't model diesels and the western is one of the uglier ones to boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo C. Cupier Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 (edited) Been up in the loft to unearth my LIMA Westerns, at least, two of them, I was sure I had a green version but can't find it. Here's the GBL Western Courier on the right of Western Enterprise and Western Gladiator. I may be tempted to repaint a GBL body into Western Talisman, the first Western I encountered, idling in the bay platform at Chester, having worked via Wrexham on a Birkenhead service. This was sometime in the mid-sixties, before it had the battery box incident and came to grief at Ealing. Be nice to get some bargains now like the sand version, it hasn't seen the light of day since the early eighties. Edited May 27, 2015 by Theo C. Cupier 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 By increasing the size of the headcodes, I feel that makes a big visual difference. This is a 30-year old Lima model. I gave the GBL a miss too. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium JDW Posted May 27, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 27, 2015 At £8.99 for the GBL model, £6.00 for Enterprise looks like even more of a bargain Theo! (I'll take two... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrel Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 The bodyside grills on the GBL loco are a lot cruder than the lima ones don't know if there are any etched ones available. But to be honest by the time you add on the cost of them it wouldn't make sense to try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Just broken my GBL Western down. Do my eyes deceive me, or is the cast chassis essentially a reproduction of the Lima chassis, even down to the correct size/shape "hole" for the motor bogie? A bit of drilling and cutting, and I can drop in the bogies from a Lima Western that had a nasty accident a while ago..... (Just have to fish the bogies from the spare parts box - they'll be somewhere near the bottom!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Just broken my GBL Western down. Do my eyes deceive me, or is the cast chassis essentially a reproduction of the Lima chassis, even down to the correct size/shape "hole" for the motor bogie? A bit of drilling and cutting, and I can drop in the bogies from a Lima Western that had a nasty accident a while ago..... (Just have to fish the bogies from the spare parts box - they'll be somewhere near the bottom!) The result will probably be heavier than the Lima one ever was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torn-on-the-platform Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 I've never been particularly impressed by GBL models (for the price though, its kind of fair enough), but I had a quick look at the 8F in Hillsborough Sainsburys. I was sorely tempted, it looks pretty good! I then remembered I don't have much money thanks to my purchase of a Hornby 8F a few months ago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Yes, I thought the 8F was excellent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
46256 Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 By increasing the size of the headcodes, I feel that makes a big visual difference. This is a 30-year old Lima model. File2018.jpg I gave the GBL a miss too. i totally agree reducing the sill, moving the front roof cowl..all add to making the model better..but the head codes panel enlargement as shown on your photo....but if we are all honest ...save our money and buy the Dapol...or Heljan..if you want a superb western...or if like me a layout loco , of a type I don't really need..( my beloved thinks I don't need any..how can one so lovely be so deluded...) that does not jar too much with ones senses...especially after a glass of Rioja or three.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 i totally agree reducing the sill, moving the front roof cowl..all add to making the model better..but the head codes panel enlargement as shown on your photo....but if we are all honest ...save our money and buy the Dapol...or Heljan..if you want a superb western...or if like me a layout loco , of a type I don't really need..( my beloved thinks I don't need any..how can one so lovely be so deluded...) that does not jar too much with ones senses...especially after a glass of Rioja or three.... ....but then where would be the challenge in modelling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
46256 Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 A last thought before the sandman beckons..if I can improve a model...not necessarily make it "perfect"...but make it better that it was originally.....not always achieved...these are cheap source models let's enjoy them whilst they are here...support our small suppliers buying the bits that might make them worthy of their own thread...and if all else has been achieved those hours of problem solving that have absolutely no bearing on the rest of our lives, other than pure enjoyment....that Rioja was really rather good... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hroth Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 The result will probably be heavier than the Lima one ever was. Heavier, yes. But next time it'll be the other loco/floor that comes off worse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 The result will probably be heavier than the Lima one ever was. That said, my LIMA one had one heck of a metal billet for a weight! I am so glad I never dropped the weight on anything, such as my foot! (The postage on the LIMA Western was quite high as well! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Neither WHS Ealing nor Brent Cross had a Western. Brent Cross said they only had one, which was sold the same day it hit the shelf, so might have been someone on this Forum! Asda Colindale had none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
46256 Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 The western seems to have sold well here in my part of the Black Country ....went out today seeking another purchase...all sold out in the usual shops....in the end bought the last one in merry hill smiffs..packaging iffy...but the real reason unsold...careless application of silver window paint...needed it for my own nefarious reasons..a careful razor saw cut here...a bit of filler there..some Whitemetal add onns.....hey presto a fell locomotive...not really needed a glazing unit ...used the one good one.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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