Eats123

30 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

 

Petite the previous version may have been - but maybe they were a tad too fragile and meaning lots of duds / rectification work was needed during assembly. In the current economic environment the pressure to minimise the assembly costs (the most expensive part of model railway manufacturing) as well make the whole process a bit quicker may have impacted on the decision to move to a different style for the HAP.

You make a valid point concerning ease and/or cost of manufacturing that I had not considered.

I shall see what they actually look like once delivered, and if needed, I doubt it would be too difficult to make my own replacements that are more in the style of the previous models.

Appreciate your thoughts.

9 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

 

 

And what do you suggest they do - have them moulded into the cab front as a raised plastic strip?

 

Please remember that those handrails have to be above a certain minimum thickness for (i) The Chinese assembly staff to actually be able to handle them and (ii) Have any chance of not breaking the moment a customer touches them. That invariably means a degree of compromise is required and results in the model having oversized handrails - there are plenty of RTR steam and rolling stock with similar issues if you start looking closely at handrail diameters.

 

 

I guess what I am suggesting they do is stick with the design that is  on all the other Mark I  emu's as well as the demu's. 

While they may not have been 100% correct, they were petite and not standing out as a problem.  And, if they had stayed with their previous design, they would fit in unnoticably when running in a consist, which I do quite a bit of.

2 hours ago, adb968008 said:

HAP handrails are full length and different to EPB ?

at least on the pictures i’m looking at.

 

The class 205 has similar handrails, the trailer 1/2 of a 205 is the same as the trailer 1/2 of a HAP (The EPB brake being the other).

 

not sure what the issue is ?

For me, I find that while the design concept is correct, they are significantly oversized.  Visually, they look like they are 3 prototypical inches in diameter.

Given the high quality of the bakance of the model, this seems like a step backwards as an 'improvement'.

Has anybody seen the recent reviews of the Bachmann 2-Hap?

I have been looking forward to their release with two on order.

However....Please have a look at the full length grabrails for the guard compartment and driver's doors.  Attached photos compare the model to the restored unit.

These grabrails on the model are first, easily 5 times the diameter they should be, and second, quite noticably different from those on the 4CEP/2EPB/MLV/ 4TC models so will stand out in any multiple unit consist.

How could they do this???

I model southern electrics, and own and run every 4CEP/2EPB/MLV produced to date as well as 2 liveries of the 4TC, and am more than willing to support the development of new southern electric EMUs in oo, but this has me seriously considering cancelling my orders for 2-Haps.

This does not strike me as rivet counting.  This is a glaring error that will stand out from ten feet away!

Thanks for your comment and suggestion on the vehicle number. I was in fact aware of that when I numbered it (as this was a complete number on a set of transfers) and will be changing it prior to weathering.

Ian,

Many thanks for providing the motivation and pointers for this project. My effort at a cut and shut 4BEP is now complete (either some light weathering still to come).

As a first effort I am reasonably pleased, however do wish I had your modeling skills.

While I agree with most of the modeling community that the corporate image livery is quite dull, I do quite like Bachmann's (Model zone's) 4CEP. Hence I chose this livery for this 4BEP to go with a similar 4CEP. I am realizing as I write that this could be the only all-blue 4BEP in existence!!

Thanks again.

Thanks Ian and John,

Hopefully some progress is not too far off.  And all going well I hope to be unable to stop!

Ian,

I am giving this some additional thought and have a couple of questions:

-Do you make your own door hinges or are they bits you have purchased (if so do you have a supplier part number) as I am learning these are needed for the left handed doors?

-Where did you get the large air vents for the roof?  I am not having much luck finding these.

Thanks for your help.  I am really looking forward to seeing how tis turns out.

Ian,

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. I'll let you know how this goes (however ordering bits from overseas may take some time).

Ian,

I am very impressed by your 4BEP buffet vehicle. It has motivated me to try doing one in all-blue livery as it seems this is not in Bachmann's immediate plans.

As a 100 percent novice at a cut and shut project, I am seeking your (or anyone's) advice on getting going. Specifically any tricks for removing the vehicle sides from the ends and removing the glazing (I have heard of this being an issue with Bachmann's 4CEPs - hello Colin) and cutting the sides.

Thanks in advance for your help and thanks again for sharing your project.