cs233

The gap between the body and the bogies looks much better than the Bachmann offering! Will be ordering at least two of those already listed for release. Cannot be that far away until someone takes the step of a new high spec 37.

Was not keen on the look of the BSI functional coupler at Warley. When comparing with the prototype seems to not match up very well at all. It is good that it is functional but to me does not look right.

So many versions of the provincial 4 leaf doors e.g Newton Heath or the other side of the pennines. Plus the Network North West label that made it to all parts of the network. Also there was an engine swap on the 142 from the Leyland units to the later and still current units there are changes in respect to how the units looked under the floor how well they appear on the model we will have to see.

You have done a great job Charlie although Bachmann paint the rim of the wheel of course not the contact portion with the rail; but I feel for the price it would be nice if the factory could do this during the production run. Totally agree it is quick and easy to do by the modeller although it would be ideal if this was done by the factory like the long line of Bachmann offerings that have had such treatment. Also many Provincial Class 156 units post mid 1990 had the black paint fade away and the windscreen frames were silver specifically 156418 that by 1989 was in such condition. Overall though a great model that sets the standard.

Looks great, although in my humble opinion I feel the exhaust colour could do with being a bit darker it seems very bright, looking at images of the prototype I struggle to find one in which the exhaust is that shade. Also the wheel rims should be painted black like Bachmann offerings it makes it look much better. Even ex works units the wheels never look like how the model represents, Bachmann have it right painting wheel rim in a matt black, it is easy for modeller to do this of course. Despite the very minor points listed it looks very good.

It is a great coach although I agree comparing the two I feel the Hornby glazing is better, overall it is a superb step forward but the Hornby former Airfix coach is still quite reasonable and way beyond the era it was developed and tooled.

Indeed they did 6 car Class 150\2 units running Scarborough to Holyhead and Liverpool was fun. Some units got up to a speedo indicated 85mph on some runs

Original tooling does not include the centre door window, so this livery cannot be recreated in an accurate way currently.

Not sure if it bothers others but I feel the wheel rims should have been painted black like on recent Bachmann offerings. Out of the box the wheels do not look like the prototype.

It did look stunning today. The only drawback I could see was that the later East Midlands version has seats which are much higher backed than those in the as built RR version. They are a very different shape and it appears as if a single tooling represents all seats types which is not accurate. That aside it looked great.

Another vote for Provincial Blue and GMPTE Orange. Perhaps the destination blinds could be Holyhead to Hull a diagram they have operated a number of times!

Whilst I have not ordered simply due to the prices, cannot justify that figure currently for a hobby I really do look forward to the model and knowing the level of quality Dave has produced models to I feel the project will be a success. It is very ambitious in terms of the scale of the project but the rewards should be more than worth it.

Looking good, despite the Bachmann tooling not being at the level of recent releases due to its age the finish looks outstanding and I will certainly be ordering one. The finish and worn condition would date the model around 1992\3?

As I said an E-Mail Charlie I am not sure the artwork for 156418 is 100% there is evidence it left the Washwood Heath with black front cab windows but by late 89 they were silver. A number of pictures clearly show this unit running in the configuration I mention.

My understanding is that the early sets had 'Sprinter' branding then inlcuding 156443 and later the Provincial livery was changed to include 'Super Sprinter' Also some sets by 1989 seemed to have silver framed cab windows whilst some have black frames.

The picture does not give that much away just a single shot from one angle. It overall captures the units well, the bogies looked much better to my eyes than the model that dates from the mid 90's. Also lots of detail around the exhaust that looked nice. Going to be a while yet before people get their hands on one.

I would vote for Northern the version that looks like a tacky non-corporate livery. Or is that all versions?! Only joking clearly lots waiting for this.

It is a really big project and looks like it is off to a great start looking at the CAD the spec of the model and indeed the dates listed for release. Maybe in the course of time other big projects will be looked at e.g. Class 37 or 47

Only Heljan know what will commercially work for them based on the overall end to end costings. I would have suggested £75 - £90 would be a good starting point. I still feel the Class 47 is a good model the high intensity headlight moulding is far better than the Bachmann offering and also the haulage based on my findings is far superior. Running the Heljan 47 along side the Bachmann offering is fine and it does not look out of place in my humble opinion. I still also would suggest that the Class 86 would sell despite the issues list which I have read in detail.

Good points about the shortcomings although I still feel they would sell both the 86 and 47 at the right price. I have Heljan 47s as well as Bachmann and run them side by side and there are areas of the Heljan offering that are better than the Bachmann product.

I fail to understand why Heljan are not releasing new versions based on the tooling they have spent much on developing for the Class 86. Sure it is not perfect but I think overall it is not half bad. I also fail to understand why they do not release discounted Class 47 releases based on the now paid for tooling.

Yes if you remortgage your 5 bedroom detached home in the South East it would just about pay for one of the units, if you want to run multiple working you might need to sign up to an appropriate workhouse.

The images have perhaps exceeded expectations at least in my opinion anyway. It really looks very good so far and does bode very well for the pending Class 158.

I have a different take on this for smaller companies every sale matters, every sale is that much more important due to lower volume compared to larger organisations. Lets not forget Bachmann according to companies house is still a 2 million pound business, IT should have enough resource in a company of that value. There should be no reason for a temp site the older one should have been kept until the new environment was ready.

I tend to disagree, being someone that has purchased every single one of them, I would buy more, if you have a few of them there is a reasonable chance you would always take on another. They seem to sell very well by all accounts.