Black 5 Bear

A newly tooled, Rebuilt Merchant Navy or an airsmooth B of B/ West Country?

Mike, Must admit, I'm also tempted by an A2/3. I did succumb to a rebuilt E/C W1, which was also in Kernows sale for £149.99. Thoroughly recommend the W1 in BR green livery!

If that was the case or indeed a rumour, you can be sure Hornby will have an 06 out before March next year!

A Stanier 8f, airsmooth West Country or a Rebuilt Merchant Navy for steam era. Diesels - Class 50 has got to be a racing cert following on from the 37's.....

Indeed, I remember speaking to Simon Kohler at one of the Hornby road -shows a few years back. He openly stated that older tooled models (Sanda kan produced locos) throughout the range, will be subject to constant improvement going forward.

TBH,neither you nor I know what Hornby is planning. I'd be very surprised if they are about to release a new W/C or BOB as they have two versions of the current model scheduled for Summer release in 2023. It could be that they will scrap these models and produce a "surprise all new loco" for next year in the new model range. Bachmann for example, are one such company, who only announce a loco just before release. Time will tell, but I don't think the wait will be too long before someone picks up the baton!

From memory, that was on the first run. The Exeter WC was seriously short in supply from the Chinese manufacturer, leaving retailers short and customers with unfulfilled pre-orders Because of this, Hornby announced/released a second batch shortly afterwards.

Does it have to be Dapol? Low hanging fruit for some new boys on the block - Accurascale, Rapido etc I would have thought!

What always surprises me is the Hornby pricing policy of the current airsmooth W/C and BofB, compared to the far superior in every way, newly tooled Merchant Navy class. I can't see it being too long before someone brings out a new version up to current standards!

Hopefully, H will retool the twin tender tooling. The second tender, as fitted to the BR Bittern variant was equipped with the massive Triang Hornby style coupling, solid plastic buffer heads and a hook type coupling bar tender to tender fitting. It's so dated now, it's embarrassing!

Rebuilt version gets my vote....

Neither you nor I know exactly how long Hornby have been working on the TT scale models. This is solely Heljans own decision to pull the plug on their products.

Sorry, but this is market forces in action. Hornby are not the only supplying manufacturer to be doing this. You only have to look at Bachmann and their "Surprise" release of a reworked Class 37 to the market before Accurascale.

I didn't say I was buying one. It was more an informative post for others on RMweb, should a new HD Flying Scotsman locomotive be of interest.

Agree in principle with your comments as to the main range 4472 not being highly collectible. I've just purchased two newly tooled A3's Lemberg and FS at a considerable discount within 6 months of release. Could this happen with the newly released 9f a few months down the line? It may transpire that these new offerings within the HD range and limited to 500 models, buck the trend and sell out quickly because of deliberate marketing/hype, targeting the collector on the part of Hornby. In the current financial climate who knows!

HD locos are usually strictly limited to a 500 model run. I would have thought that the Flying Scotsman Centenary Year models won't be any different in the numbers produced and offered for sale.

On recent Hornby form, it's a wonder they haven't made these website only purchases.

This may hopefully assist you Ian. Photographs of both loco and tender recently posted on the ROS website:- https://railsofsheffield.com/products/Bachmann-32-510-br-standard-class-5mt-no-73118-king-leodegrance-br-lined-black-early-emblem

Somewhat ironic for the new RRP that the new HD models still feature an 8 pin DCC set up rather than the new 21 pin arrangement. Additionally, it doesn't appear to to have glowing firebox feature, which is a nice touch on recent releases.

Agreed, I've just purchased the newly tooled BR early crest version from Hobbyshop in Faversham for £160. A superb model in all respects for the money!

Just had the following email from Hornby announcing a plethora of Flying Scotsman variants for release in Spring 2023 :- https://uk.Hornby.com/catalogue/flying-scotsman-centenary

Having just purchased the latest tooling 1950's version in BR green, with early crest R3991, I can thoroughly recommend this loco.

That would make perfect sense as the retooled F/S A3 with S+S and the 21 pin decoder is due shortly.

Likewise, I was really looking forward to getting hold of this model. Makes you wonder if this also applies to the 20t tankers they announced a couple of years back?

Was this from Hornby by any chance Neil?