Prometheus

The Heljan modelling of the canvass dust cover is not a particularly happy offering: it looks like a plastic moulding of a plastic moulding. I suppose had some detail or texture been moulded into the surface it would have looked far better. As it is, it's better dispensed with. Probably the only real defect in this lovely model. Tony

Ah, I thought that it might have been a case of a mis-aligned bulb / LED or fibre optic. Not so, it seems. Just a dull bulb / LED then ? Tony

I thought that's how the light worked - thanks. The plate over the frame extension is a thin brass rectangle. On most models I've seen it sits awkwardly. I have assumed that it should sit flush at the same height as the rest of the footplate. Removing mine was quite easy as there was a gap into which I could insert a scalpel blade and then gently lift the plate off. It came away without damage and the underside was cleaned up with an emery board to remove super-glue residue. I then used the emery board to clean up the tops of the frames[plastic mouldings] and reduce their height slightly. A dry fit established how much I needed to remove. The cover was then re-attached using super-glue. It is worth doing and makes a significant cosmetic difference. Removing the buffer beam to reposition the buffers was another matter altogether though ! Tony

Has anyone yet removed the water tank body ? It is supposed to come free when the small screw that is hidden under the tank filler is removed. The body on mine won't budge however. I'm keen to get inside this part to see why the front light fails to shine as efficiently as the rear one does. Otherwise, I have to say that the model runs beautifully. I did remove the front buffer beam to straighten the buffers and also lifted the rectangular brass plate that covered the frame extension in front of the smokebox [to make it fit flush]but otherwise have had to do little. Tony

I'm staggered: damaged Garratt returned to Hattons on Monday afternoon. First post this morning a replacement arrives. And its flawless, too. Interestingly, its arrival coincided with my giving my wife a new necklace. Timing, or what ?! Tony

I cannot remember in which forum I saw this but someone has mentioned a need to re-gauge the pony wheels so that they were not too traumatised by pointwork. Tony

Agreed - and I saw something else missing from mine !!! The cover on the coal bunker lifts easily enough - a nail removed mine, to show a full coal load underneath, with bunker-side reinforcing bars. The only very slight drawback is that the cover's fixing holes are just a little visible. Not really a problem though. Tony

Unfortunately mine is wrapped up for return so I cannot access the handbook - I've a feeling that just over 17 inches was recommended as a minimum. I'm sure that others will be able to correct this if incorrect. Tony

Agreed - mine were definitely production / boxing problems, not postal damage. The box itself was first class and the absence of missing parts indicates from where the issue originated. I do have real sympathy for retailers in situations like this. With regard to earlier reference to pre-postal checking, I'm not certain that all faults would be spotted by retailers anyway. I went over mine with a magnifying glass several times to look for faults. I found several places where paint either had not adhered and had flaked off [or been scratched away by careless fitting of details], where there were small glue marks or just signs of rough finishing. I probably didn't see them all but all were, in my view, easily rectified and not worth a return. The faults which did generate the return were not spotted until later, at a time when I thought that I had a good 'un. It's a big model and really easy to miss things, even when in hindsight they appear obvious. And of course, if you are not familiar in detail with the prototype........... Tony

I have to say that I'm impressed. Less than an hour after e-mailing Hattons about the return, I was sent a collect+ postage label. Tony

This is frankly more than a little disappointing. Mine will be returned for a replacement on Monday morning as a number of parts are missing [and not in the packaging]. Returning this parcel will be expensive also, I have asked for a refund. Otherwise, the model ran very smoothly and was really impressive. It's such a shame that this has happened as the quickest of lookovers would have seen that parts were missing [something which should have fitted into a small hole on the left hand side of the smoke box and a part which should have been attached to the outside of the triangular bracket situated half way along the bottom of the footplate on the right hand side]. Hattons are to be commended for commissioning this remarkable model but I'd be less than honest if I said that I wasn't expecting to find some defects with the replacement [given earlier comments here]. I really do hope that I'm wrong. Tony

There's an Esso one there right now for £55 post free..... Tony

You get this rather worrying feeling that the further down the page you scroll, the cheesier the photos will get. But she does have rather a lot of skirts...... Tony

The chassis came from an originally DCC-fitted diesel shunter was was part of a Hornby two-loco DCC boxed set. I think - think - it's pretty much identical to the current Chinese Jinty/Thomas/etc 0-6-0 chassis. Attached is a link to another place which shows some of the 'improvement' - lots of compromise though ! http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=42619 Tony

I don't ! I can cut 'em up and produce even greater atrocities !!! I feel safe placing these photographs on here because, as yet, there is no 'blind rage' button to endorse postings. These two horrors were intended as no-cost quickies last autumn to see what was possible. The Grampian stock coach is finished and painted but I have no photos of it in the shirtbutton livery. The last job was sorting the roof and adding metal ventilators. It has full interior. Shockers though they are, they add variety to my endless successions of Hornby and Bachmann coaching stock. The provenance of the next one is obvious.It runs as a Corridor First, the gullible believing the tale that the GWR converted it from a First Saloon in the mid-twenties, it continuing to run in service as a pleasing anomaly until 1947. Tony.

Converted from an old LBSC edition and with a replacement Hornby chassis. Sits too high, too much brass and I'm sure the lettering is incorrect but it runs nicely now and is light years ahead of where it was........ Tony

I think it is - they look otherwise like the Mainline/Bachmann LMS coaches that have been around for a while. Tony

I collected mine today and it was worth waiting for. In perfect condition - except for a bent tender brake stanchion, easily repaired with superglue - it ran well straight from the box. Quiet, responsive and true-running, it now awaits fitments from the substantial bag of bits. On haulage however this one is no big lifter. Four Hornby clerestories on level track were possible but a little taxing; on the club's incline, it stalled with two.The stall in part was due to the 1 : 36 challenge, but 'Truro' will make it with two happily. Does this disappoint ? Not in the least. Who models Lickey Bank anyway ?! Tony

If I've understood your post correctly, I'm not sure that one can generalise accurately in that way. To be absolutely honest, I have returned more Bachmann models pro rata to my local dealer because of poor QC/assembly issues than I have Hornby. Obviously everyone's experiences will be different but mine have led me to expect loose, broken, ill-fitting or missing parts either way in every case - one of the reasons that I try to avoid postal purchases. I will say that my Star and my L&Y tank were absolutely fine however [apart from rather misty name plates on the Star - something which I can rectify easily and which would neither prevent me from purchasing nor lead to a return]. My worst ever purchase was a Bachmann G2A, that resulted in the fourth model being, finally, the acceptable one. In terms of general accuracy however [eg the 12 spoke issue, which I neither noticed nor would have been aware of], I don't feel able to comment. I'm one of the many whose view is that if it looks like a duck........ I know this doesn't satisfy everybody but then we've always been the broadest of churches. Tony

Thank you Mike - appreciated. I hadn't realised that the existing plate was a brass overlay. The replacement is the same - KGC - so I'm hoping it is the same size or a fraction bigger. It's such a shame that the original is so fuzzy. Tony

I wish to overlay etched name plates onto my otherwise fine Star [the originals being annoyingly somewhat fuzzy]. As a number of you have already done this, I'd be grateful for advice upon which is the best make to use for a] colour match and b] general fit. Many thanks - appreciated. Tony

Tony

Absolutely - a huge frustration, but in DVDs at least possibly more often the editor's cut ? Annoying, anyway. On the sentence, I though that 6 weeks was a pointless waste of money. Surely far better for the tax-payer would have been a couple of hundred hours community service. Tony

By return-of-post Kernow sent a replacement Sentinel and I am honestly amazed by its out-of-the-box performance. I have not seen such smooth and controllable slow speed running before. This model crawled almost imperceptibly and was so quiet we had to go looking for it from time-to-time ! Tony

I picked up an all-third and a composite today. Very nice models, but the curtains might not please everyone......... Tony