BachelorBoy

On 14/03/2024 at 01:06, 1andrew1 said:

And let's not forget that the original Hornby brand owner diversified into model cars and trains from its primary business of Meccano.

That is true, but it was a long time ago. More than a century ago for trains, and ninety years for model cars. 

1 hour ago, 1andrew1 said:

The traditional opportunities to asset-strip Hornby are limited as a lot of this has already been done. Move to a cheaper part of the country. Done. Sell and lease back your HQ. Done. Offshore manufacturing. Done. Offshore distribution. Done. 

 

What opportunities are left? Maybe the big opportunity is to focus on Warlord Games and introduce specialist Warlord areas into Game and Frasers. Sell Oxford Diecast back to the founder and decide on the other brands once their performance is better understood.

 

Existing Hornby managers seem prone to gaffes. It might be that the company culture is unreformable.

The biggest opportunity is to fire everybody and sell the brands. 

2 hours ago, teletougos said:

 

 

The question remains.

 

TT has shown pretty amazing early growth.  As predicted it found an obvious niche with folk wanting something more like OO, less like N, in smaller dwellings. Those people fed back that this was its appeal for them. So that guess was right. It's a growing part of the market.

 

But it will be a long time before it returns a profit. 

 

It'd be useful to know what he's done before when confronted with a production range with those characteristics, in a company he's bought.

 

Slow and steady growth with lots of production slot headaches on the way, doesn't sound appealing for someone with his approach or temperament. 

 

 

I suspect TT will be under the microscope. It's not too late to abandon it.

1 minute ago, teletougos said:

I don't know much about him but I assume he wouldn't look well at production schedules having to be constantly juggled as has happened with the TT range.

 

Are people like Ashley interested in new product ranges that will take years to bear fruit and which are likely to present headaches in the meantime ? 

When did Hornby last bear fruit financially?

It's lost money for years. Profits are rare.

4 minutes ago, Combe Martin said:

This is creating as much froth as Kate's operation ! 

Yes, but this could actually affect modellers' lives.

10 hours ago, Peak said:

30' x 26'

TheQ reckons you'd need 19m in OO 

That's 1444m in real life

Or 4873.5 feet

4873.5 feet/30 feet = a scale of 1:162.45

Which is close to US/European N-scale of 1:160. But you'd have to build all the rolling stock yourself as, as far as I know, none is made in that scale for GB railways.

UK N-scale is 1:148, so it would be too big.

Of course, you could turn the layout on to the diagonal of the room, which would give you a max length of 39' 8" which would be just about do-able in UK N, and even make it a triangular roundy-round with fiddle yards next to the wall.

59 minutes ago, 1andrew1 said:

This could be good news for improving Hornby's systems and logistics.

https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/Hornby/news/rns/story/wv4d40w

I hope he kicks some ar5e.

Salisbury Cathedral's spire in OO would be about 5'3" or 1.6m tall

On 18/03/2024 at 04:13, TheQ said:

Go on google maps and use the measure tool.. 

If you measure in a straight line including the sidings you'll need about 19 meters 

Just for the platforms you'll need about 6.5 meters.

 

That's why railway modellers use size compression.

That 19 metres in OO shrinks to 6.5 metres in Z, and just 3 metres in T. 

Alternatively @Peak, tell us how much space you have, and we can tell you what scale you need. 

What happened here?

Train Times of Eastbourne at 37 Seaside (aka Eastbourne Models and Collectors Centre) reopened earlier this year.

https://www.traintimesmodelshop.co.uk/

From the owners:

"Eastbourne's oldest model shop has an undocumented past and we would love to be able to cobble together a complete picture of its history.  We're pretty certain that it was originally opened in 1963 by Mr Ken Morton - who was famous for wearing his pork pie hat and playing cricket for the town.  

"We know that it changed hands a couple of times before Trevor Hendrick took over the shop in 1994 and that he ran it for 19 years until he unfortunately passed away in 2013. 

"We are currently still in the process of adding products and descriptions to the site, in the meantime feel free to browse, and if you can't find what you need then call us on 01323 722 026 and we will be happy to help or visit us on www.traintimesmodelshop.co.uk"

1 hour ago, BernardTPM said:

I think the problem here is not so much the exact shade and perception of colour, which is really another well discussed topic, but the possible use of random colour and guesses when converting a monochrome image. Personally I'd rather have the original non-colour picture.

You have hit the nail on the head. Thank you.

47 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

Looking at it another way, what happens if you take a modern digital photo (which will be in colour, because almost no one takes black & white originals now), convert it to monochrome and saves as such. What happens if you take that saved image and re-colourise it?

Original

Photoshop conversion to B+W using default settings

Photoshop colourisation using default settings

8 hours ago, The Johnster said:

 

I work to the principle that of it looks like the colour I remember, that’s good enough; any more is a hiding to nothing, IMHO. 

What happens in the future when there is no-one alive who remembers the colour? This is where I think colourisation will muddy the water.

1 minute ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

The Crystal Palace dinosaurs are really important, because they show how the scientific consensus evolves in the light of more evidence. 

 

A doctor won the Nobel prize in 1949 for his work on lobotomy,

7 minutes ago, Wheatley said:

On that evidence I don't think it's going to be an issue for a while !

Sorry this is taking the thread off-topic a bit,  but after that I gave the Midjourney the prompt "Oliver Bulleid" by itself (no mention of steam locos at all) and this is what it came up with.  

2 hours ago, Wheatley said:

It's the Juvinus Molestus Sorcero Cashcowium Rapido.  I could do some proper research into what the Latin  for "Annoying Teenage Wizard Express" is but that'll do for the purpose in hand.  It should be in Rowling's Vastly Improved Engine Green btw. 

A good guess!

The actual prompt for the AI program (Midjourney) was:

"1940s steam locomotive designed by Oliver Bulleid. Old black and white photo style"

I think Midjourney needs a lot more work.

Anyone fancy identifying this poorly colourised B+W image?

13 hours ago, Wheatley said:

80/20 Rule,

 

 

How do you apply that to modelling, please?

3 hours ago, spamcan61 said:

The lining (or lack of( would be the key indicator there, irrespective of colourised or not 

Until someone who doesn't know it's been colourised says the photo proves there were maroon coaches without lining.

4 hours ago, Wheatley said:

That's no different to inaccurate paintings or retouched photos.

It is very different, as it's so easy to do. Paintings take a lot of effort. Colourisation adds to the uncertainty.

11 hours ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

No need to be concerned. Any serious research into such starts from the knowledge that colour has no real independent existence, but is only an artefact of the illumination, reflection and absorbtion of light by the subject, and the response of our vision system. Stir in the effect of the gamuts of optics, film or image capture devices, processing and display and it makes the 

Imagine you have a colourised picture of a BR Mark 1 you are trying to date or locate, or find out where particular stock worked at particular times. When colourised, it's maroon. But in fact the coach was Southern Region green. 

1 minute ago, TT-Pete said:

 

..but superglue was involved.

 

It's actually an AI image created by Midjourney 

This has not been Photoshopped.