nathan70000

I have two models I have bought advertised as "new" recently that were missing the little bag inside with detailing parts inside. One J36 in the very early L&NER livery, and the DVLR Ruston 48DS. Is there anywhere I can buy new detailing packs for these models? I'm aware it's only a little thing but these models were advertised as new.

Eh?

They've done Barnsley in late crest BR livery with the GS tender. I have one!

Locomotion No 1, interesting choice. There were a few hints in the latest Hornby A Model World series- IIRC there was a large scale model of it in shot at one point. Otherwise, oh dear. Several items from that list I can already see ending up in bargain bins - WWII black W1, Tiger, IoWC four wheelers, possibly the Triang nostalgia sets too. As for the B1, which is it? 61306 or 61379?

Manufacturers will be bothered about duplication when it starts hitting them in the wallet... Don't get me wrong, it makes solid business sense to retool something where the only available model is nowhere near current standards. But if the big manufacturers just start an endless cycle of producing the "definitive" version of everything I suspect they will face financial trouble very quickly. Most people don't have £300 to drop on a single loco, especially not one they already have. There gets to be a point where introducing further fine detail is just driving the price up, and makes the model impossible to handle without something falling off.

All versions have long since sold out, DJ Models has gone under and there's no sign of the tooling reappearing from either Hattons or EFE yet. Hornby are rather territorial and I wouldn't be surprised if they saw it as "their" model since they inherited the Airfix tooling.

Since we're playing the guessing game, I'd like to make my predictions... I do think this will be another consolidation year for Hornby, no dazzling slate of new announcements. Of course there will be something new, and I predict that we will get a retooled, state-of-the-art Stanier 8F to match the 9F and Black 5 already announced. Frankly they'd be daft not to, given the competition snapping at their heels. I predict it every year, but I reckon 2024 will finally be the year Hornby tackle the Saint 4-6-0. I reckon they'll only do the straight framed variant for now so they can accurately represent Lady of Legend, but I'm sure we'll see later versions in due course. I wouldn't be surprised if the 14xx has been retooled and appears in shops soon after the announcement, like the Terrier in 2020. I do think it's notable that Rapido shied away from doing one when they did the Titfield stuff, and none of the other manufacturers seem very enthusiastic despite it being ripe for a re-tool. I don't think we'll get any new tooling wagons or coaches. If they do the Saint, it would make sense to retool the GWR clerestories to modern standards, but I bet they just reissue the old ones. As for my personal wishlist, I'd love to see a Raven B16 4-6-0 or a D20 4-4-0, but there's absolutely no chance Hornby will touch either. I reckon there are all sorts of pre-grouping locos that would fly off shelves but Hornby simply aren't brave enough.

I love Kato Unitrack - as you say, fantastically well engineered and I notice far fewer derailments compared to when I used Peco and Hornby setrack. The only problem is that it looks wrong in a UK OO gauge context - the sleeper spacing is off, there aren't any UK style buffers available. A UK equivalent is a fantastic idea. Kato even make plug-in working signals that you can simply screw in and they work - imagine semaphores you could just plug in and control with the push of a button; no soldering required.

Does anyone know what the absolute minimum radius for these is? Would they safely be able to navigate 215mm radius curves? Thanks

As someone who generally models LNER/BR (ER) I'm actually really pleased at this choice. LNER modellers are really spoilt when it comes to little 0-6-0 tank engines up to modern standards, LMS and SR modellers aren't far behind, but pre-war GWR modellers have to put up with a 57xx tooling dating back to the 80's and a 2721 tooling that goes back even further. Quite fancy a pre-war one myself but I'm also tempted by the as-preserved 7714.

A wise and oft-requested choice, plenty of appealing names and liveries which is rather ironic considering these were designed for wartime grunt work! If I'm honest though, the first thing that caught my eye was the price. £295 - certainly enough to make a budget conscious modeller think twice. However, if that price reflects in the quality of the model- and I'm sure it will- this could be one of the finest RTR OO gauge models ever manufactured.

Froth time! 😉 I'm 99% sure the two scales referenced will be OO and OO9. What exactly might be produced is anyone's guess, but there have been some good suggestions. I think that a newly tooled OO steam locomotive is very likely since it is so long since one has been announced. Possibly more than one! In a cost of living squeeze, I think it would be wise to choose something that would sell below the £200 mark. There are a raft of small, attractive pre-grouping types to choose from which won't break the bank. An L&Y or LNWR 0-6-0 is long overdue, and either would complement models elsewhere in the Bachmann range. There are a couple of older models in the range that would sell well if upgraded- the 57xx/8750 and J39 come to mind. Mainline diesels have been done to death, and I'm not sure the market would support a likely £500+ 4-car modern EMU either. What about OO9? Anything Ffestiniog sells like hot cakes, so even though there is only one, I don't think Taliesin is off the table. An Alco 2-6-2T would be a savvy choice~ they were used by the WD and in industry, as well as Mountaineer on the FR. Bachmann might even feel they can take on Kato/Peco and release Englands of their own. The Kato models, whilst nice, are not DCC ready and lack some of the finer detailing that Bachmann are so good at. I'm 99% certain there is zero chance of an RTR NGG16. They're too big, too complex, and physically would not fit on most OO9 layouts. The price tag required to make one remotely viable would be eye-watering. It's worth bearing in mind that many OO9 layouts are either small quarry or industrial locations, or add-ons to larger OO layouts. We'll find out if I'm right in 48 hours!

I think modellers have definitely become savvy to the "release undesirable liveries first and the popular ones later" trick. It's not just LNER steam, Hornby have misjudged the demand for many items. Someone brought up all the random obscure coach liveries they've done. For what it's worth, I think the issue with the K1, J15, 700, 42xx etc. is that they flooded the market with them and to be honest, they did all sell eventually. I don't think it's a bad idea to have reasonably affordable, fairly anonymous black 0-6-0s continously available as they're ideal starter locos and the bread and butter of steam era layouts. Something like a J15 is far more representative of a "typical" British steam locomotive than an A3. Despite what some people say I reckon they'd be even bigger trouble if they started focusing on modern era EMUs and DMUs etc. They just don't inspire people in the same way- young people entering the hobby if anything seem to prefer the pre-war or pre-grouping period. And god forbid we get every manufacturer coming out with the "ultimate" Class 37, Class 47 every year...

I got a flyer in a TMC order lately for Hornby A1s/A3s, on special offer at £125 or thereabouts. Excellent value for the consumer, but presumably very bad for Hornby's bottom line since these were the new partially retooled examples. That said looking at the versions they've chosen I can sort of see why they haven't exactly flown off the shelves. Two almost identical LNER green A1s, one A3 in wartime black (never a particularly popular choice) and Flying Scotsman, but in a rather obscure and short lived configuration. Given the popularity of the period I can't believe they didn't choose to issue a BR late crest example. In this period they were used over the Settle and Carlisle so plenty of appeal even to non-LNER modellers. Equally strange is that they didn't take the opportunity to issue an A1 (preferably 4472) in LNER green with the 1928 corridor tender. I'm 100% sure this would have sold like hot cakes and I would have preordered one in this condition had it been offered. There are a number of other configurations and liveries that Hornby have never done despite having the tooling to do so. No GNR 1470 or 1471, no BR purple, no post-war BR apple green. It's not just A3s. Hornby seems oddly adverse to preserved examples of various classes. Surely 926 Repton as preserved would have been a commercially astute choice, as would 61306 Mayflower. Hornby have issued many variations of K1 but not 2005 Lord of the Isles in apple green. You still can't buy a late crest J36!

My Q6 has started randomly slowing down and running hot. I see I am not the only one to have this problem, yet it looks like there's absolutely nothing I can do about it? New motors aren't available and I don't really fancy messing about jamming a different motor in a £100+ model. Any suggestions?