The new APA ?

[Hippo]

Just been browsing the Ikea website, and i found this

 

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/50268398/

 

Its sizes are 60cm x 30cm and 35cm tall.

You can also buy ends or tops seperately.

 

They don't appear to be in stock in either of my local Ikea's but when they come in I will definately will be getting one.

 

 

Ta

Owen

[Hippo]

Well it turns out Ikea in Lakeside did have 1, and yes i was going there anyway honest

 

So the first picture is off it assembled and on my desk how its designed to be, tall and thin. The beatie well tank is the only loco I had to had.

 

The next picture is of it turned on its side so its deeper but not as tall, The buildings are the free Scalescenes ones from Hornby magazine.

 

I reckon it has potential, it will need some work, as it can only be built one way, so a bit of re-engineering and I should be able to mate 2 together.

 

Owen

[tractionman]

Nice buildings Owen!

 

These units look rather more substantial than the older version of APAs - is that the case?

 

The price has gone up, so I imagine perhaps the thing is more sturdy with better quality materials?!

 

cheers,

 

Keith

[Kelly]

Couldn't see ends or fronts listed, only top panels.

 

They look much more sturdy than the APA ever were, which were flimsy chipboard with thin pine frame.

 

Do look like they've potential. They're designed as shelving, hence sturdier.

[Hippo]

The end, back and bottom are 15mm fibreboard with a Bamboo veneer, the are recessed down to 12mm around the edges to enable the modules to interlink. The metal seems pretty sturdy.

You can buy ends and tops however they get pretty expensive,

One is 35x30 (£7), the other is 30x25 (£4)

Is if you wanted a second end and a top it would cost you an extra £15, making it £35 in total. Too much compared to an APA box.

 

Owen

[cromptonnut]

This could be very handy for moving portable layouts though http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/00288657/

[Ramblin Rich]

The new boxes look to be useful, but I'm not sure layouts will get named after them - 'PS Park' is nowhere near as good sounding as 'Apa Park'

[47137]

They look much more sturdy than the APA ever were, which were flimsy chipboard with thin pine frame.

 

A point of detail for anyone reading this topic some time from now, but the APA box is hardboard panels with a softwood frame. The longitudinal panels can be replaced with something of the builder's choice (e.g. foam board) or omitted altogether during assembly. The APA lends itself to customisation, but as Kelly points out the whole thing is not a sturdy as we might like for a baseboard.

 

- Richard.

[Steve Purves]

I looked at these a while back and dismissed them on cost reasons, by the time you have bought all the bits to make it a full box, and made it railway friendly (ie by adding a baseboard) its not so cheap.

 

Moving away from Ikea, anyone who fancies a micro layout box or such like, keep you eyes peeled, I should have some thing (s) to announce next week.

[Russ (mines a pint)]

They do look more sturdy but to be fair the Apa boxes could be made very sturdy with minimal extra work- glue / screw and a ply track level supported by thicker pine.

- these look a less suitable size though the Apas are compact by any standard the dimensions of these look to be shorter/taller - I Don't think I'd even consider using one in the context of 'Hippos' first picture - though two might be practical as in the context of the second pic.

Will we see inflated prices of the original Apas on ebay lol