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On 26/03/2021 at 22:11, The Ghost of IKB said:

I hope these arent stuck in the suez canal!

They aren't - the shipment got through well before that. They will be shipped from our Danish warehouse in the first week of April - next week in fact. 

Looking great Peter. I really like that Faller modern warehouse. Pity I haven't got anywhere to put one on my layout! 

Ben

5 hours ago, 47606odin said:

Update today announced by Heljan I think on he progress of the 73 project. Hopefully some cad pictures

CAD images and further information now available to view at www.Heljan.co.uk 

Enjoy!

17 hours ago, adb968008 said:

I miss the 1980’s...

 

 

;-)

Would an 86/1 be possible in the tooling plans ?

 

Much as liked that trio, they're not in our plans at the moment. We have more than enough ground to cover with the more numerous /0s, 2/s, /3s, /4s and /6s and they will keep us going for quite a few years. 

On 12/03/2021 at 22:05, Mike Bellamy said:

 

Yes a new site but the contact is still via Denmark which takes us back to the question in the first posting - - - - 

The new website at www.Heljan.co.uk is the best route to contact us now. Although the Heljan.dk address is shown on the website, there's also a contact form which comes direct to me. I'll to respond to queries as quickly as I can. 

I can also reply to PMs here, but I don't look at the forum every day, so replies will take a bit longer. 

On 13/03/2021 at 17:11, The Ghost of IKB said:

Question to Ben, about lighting under dcc control, is it the same as the 25 model or is there the capability to turn off tail lights and cab lights?

On the Class 86/0 the lighting arrangement is the same as the first batch of 86s a few years ago - headcode panels and tail lights lit in direction of travel and no cab lights. The 86/4 will have separate control of tail lights on DCC but no microswitches for DC users as it's very difficult to find a place for them under the body. 

Our plan is that the 86/2 will be a further evolution, with cab lights added and more DCC functionality. 

Hope this helps

Ben

On 14/03/2021 at 03:07, DBC90024 said:

 

@adb968008 I think its safe to say there will be a big clamour for 86259 for sure, its one I would want definitely, with it being classic and current all at the same time. Although I never saw it, i also fancy one of the EWS Class 86s eventually, maybe 424 ...

 

I think it's also safe to say that 86259 in current condition is likely to be part of the mix when we get around to the 86/2s. There are so many livery options on both the /2s and /4s it will take us a few years to work our way through them. It'll be impossible to keep everyone happy, but we will do our best to cover the most popular liveries in the early batches. 

12 minutes ago, andyman7 said:

My first blue one arrived today. I think it's lovely although as with at least another example received by an RMWeb reader bizarrely an front electrification flash is missing although the background is there. I don't need to return it to remedy that although its' a bit curious. I have actually arranged for a local(ish) retailer to put examples of the other two blue ones by (even the weathered one) as I'm quite taken with these, and even if I need to thin them out later I don't want to restrict my options now - these locos are too fundamental to my core modelling themes.

 

 

Hi,

I've seen a few queries about this. To make it absolutely clear, the missing flash on 25093 is deliberately printed like this - it is not a mistake. A quick '25093' search on Flickr will show that this missing flash (and mucky mark left behind) was quite noticeable on this loco, so we wanted to make it as accurate as possible for the period modelled. 

Hope this Helps

Ben

3 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

, or flog 'em off cheap to those of us with a IPA/Dettol/Dot 4 bath of death?

Of course, that's assuming you'd sell one to a Blade?!!

 

Mike.

No chance. If you're a Bl**e then you can only have a duff one! ;-)

Seriously though, we are waiting to see how many are actually returned before making a decision on what to do with them. If it's just a few then they might be sold off as seconds at a show (on the assumption that shows will start again at some point), but swapping them for new bodies is also an option. 

UTO! 

38 minutes ago, Stevelewis said:

I  received  a  WEATHERED  GREEN  Ref 2531  class  25  today,  it  is  now  packed  up  and  awaiting ROYAL MAIL  Collection  service  tomorrow  for  its  return to  the  supplying  retailer  ( Not a  long  journey  for  it from  our  North  Wales  address!!)

 

I was apalled  when  I  opened  the  box  the  weathering  is  the  worst  factory applied I  have  ever   seen  on  a  RTR  Loco,    vertical  brush  marks   are apparent  on  the  body  sides (vertically) the  roof  appears to  have  been randomly daubed  with weathering  paint  and  even  the  cab windows  have  had  the  treatment!  so much  so the  interiors  are  not  visible, (would  have  been  nice if  the person  doing   the  so called  weathering  had  wiped  an arc on  the  windscreens to indicate  the  windscreen wipers 'path')

 

I would  advise  any one  thinking  of  a  Heljan  weathered 25 purchase to try to  actually  see the  model  first, but  currently  this  is rather  difficult!

Really sorry to see that you got one of the duff weathered locos. Returning it is the correct thing to do so that we can get the affected examples out of circulation ASAP. 

49 minutes ago, muddys-blues said:

I can’t see why Heljan couldn’t put in photo etched grilles

Our new 25 does have etched metal grilles. Many moons ago we asked RMweb members whether they’d prefer moulded or etched grilles and although it was not unanimous, the preference was for the latter. We also showed photos of two styles of grille here and we went with the more popular option. However, I don’t disagree that they could be improved even further. 
 

Hope this helps

Ben 

3 minutes ago, Porcy Mane said:

The white pipes on the bogies. Are they printed on?

Raised moulded detail, picked out with white printing on some models, but not all. 

On 09/03/2021 at 09:53, adb968008 said:

86/2’ and 86/4’s are my hotspots.

 

I will be looking for a Rainhill trials 86, either rtr or diy.

Me too. Rainhill livery 86235 is already on my list. 86214 had an odd early style headlight at that time, which would require extra tooling, so unlikely to feature. 

14 hours ago, The Ghost of IKB said:

Blue /2s are what im after too, as well as a couple of /0's.  None of those in the first batch are fitted with mw jumpers, any chance these could be supplied loose?

Not possible to supply MW jumpers with this batch as they are complete and already in transit. As part of the work to do the 86/4, we have also completed extra CAD versions to enable the production of MW fitted 86/0s and 86/3s at a later date. 

Hope this helps

Ben

On 04/03/2021 at 03:02, InterCitySpud said:

I do apologise if its been covered before but are there plans for an 86/2 at a later date?

 

I would very much like to produce my own ultimate 86213 "Lancashire Witch!"

 

2:47 Massive thank you to the amazing Roy Harrison for all the wonderful memories!

 

 

We do plan to work our way on to the Class 86/2s after we've completed the 86/4s. Planning and research is already underway, but we need to deliver what we've already promised before moving on to more '86s'! 

Hope this helps

Ben

25 minutes ago, The Ghost of IKB said:

I think its unlikely that these are the only two rogue examples. Theres lots of things that can be said about olivias, but i think its not feasible that they picked the only 2 bad ones out of their allocation and chose to put them on the web site. Heljan have been screwed over by the factory and should pull them (the weathered locos) out of the market before their reputation is damaged too much.

I agree that these are unlikely to be the only examples not up to scratch -  it's important to wait until we find out the full extent of the problem, rather than speculating. Like any busy retailer, Olivia's doesn't have time to indulge in picking out examples to suit any agendas - the first one out of the carton gets plonked in front of a camera and then they move on to the next of many jobs. This is not an Olivia's issue - it's an issue for us to take up with our supplier and resolve asap. 
Hence why I said earlier that if anyone receives one that they are not happy with, it should be returned for exchange/refund. 

36 minutes ago, Zunnan said:

I know I've laid into these models, but I still recognise they are for now leaps and bounds ahead of what is currently out there so are the defacto Rat on the market. That is a monumental let down by the factory on both of those weathered models, and something that I know will not sit easy with anyone at Heljan in the slightest. Some stern words with the factory and hopefully easily resolved for future releases.

 

As an aside, that is a similar gunk and slapdash application to the weathering done on the Kernow edition Dogfish, which I found a bit disappointing in the flesh and very at odds with the samples shown online. Ben, are you sure the factory is following instruction with the weathering spec?

Thanks Zunnan,

It is a let down - anyone who knows me will confirm that I'm usually pretty laid back, but I'm furious about this. Since I joined Heljan I've used professional modellers to supply high quality weathered control samples for the suppliers to copy and the results have generally been excellent (LLB 37116, faded blue 33012 etc) and well received by customers. Although we don't yet know the extent of the problem, in this case the factory has not supplied what we asked for and the production models shown in Olivia's photos do not match the quality of the samples we approved.

The 25s come out of a different factory to the Dogfish and as the wagons you mention were before my time with Heljan I can't say what the process was at that time.

Ben

5 minutes ago, Class 158 productions said:

Thank you for the clarification, glad to hear that you are on the case. From those photos, the head codes that looked ‘pushed in’ and damaged, could this be from rough handling? Cheers 

Without seeing it in the flesh I couldn't say for sure. I don't want to speculate as I don't know the recent history of this specific model. 

16 minutes ago, letterspider said:

Thanks Ben for looking in and letting us now. If they are in the EU then no doubt they will take longer than they normally would have done - post Brexit.

Just means I have more time to save up!

No problem. Happy to help if I can. Unfortunately everything is now taking longer and costing more to ship than it did before Jan 1st. 

3 hours ago, WILLIAM said:

Yes, definately some late surviving banger blue versions would be most welcome. Obviously you cannot please 'all of the people all of the time' but I was a little surprised at the blue TOPS domino versions chosen in the first batch being relative early withdrawals; 093 withdrawn in 1982 and 252 in 1980 respectively.

Thanks. Some late survivors are definitely in the plan. 25093 was chosen because it looks a bit different with the numbers on the bodyside and 25252 was selected as we had some excellent photos of both sides. We also needed a good spread of regions to *try* and keep as many people happy as possible. 

2 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Hi Ben

 

Boiler fitted 25/2, in green and small yella.

 

ScR one with a tablet catcher recess, again in green.

 

Please

Hi Clive,

Thanks for the suggestions. Both of these would require new tooling, which we do not have planned for this model at the moment. One to consider for the long term though. 

Ben