Accurascale

I'll just leave this here... 😍 'As the sun comes down on a late September evening in 1999.'

BR Blue and NSE Class 50 Deco Samples Revealed! Great news! We can reveal further decorated samples of our Class 50 have showed up from the factory for assessment. We have now received BR Blue, BR Blue Large Logo with grey roof, and original Network South East liveries. These arrived with the Hanson and Hall and BR Large Logo with black roof we previewed before Christmas but we've only got around to photographing them now! As ever, some fit and finish issues are apparent on these samples, such as the headcode glass on D423 and the body to chassis fit on some examples, but these will be corrected on production models that you receive. Enough talking, more pics! As per our previous update, production is now underway with a delivery date of Q4 of 2024 envisaged. Order via your local stockist, or direct below. Please note that there is limited stock remaining across all running numbers as production is now in full swing! Pre-order here: https://www.accurascale.com/collections/class-50/availability_pre-order

Andrew Barclay Saddle Tank Decorated Samples Revealed It's been a colourful few days here at Accurascale Towers, as we have been assessing and evaluating the decorated samples of the Andrew Barclay tank engines which we have taken over following the closure of Hattons. Following on from our colourful reveal last week of our O gauge Ruston 88DS decorated samples, we're thinking of selling sunglasses so you can cope with this kaleidoscope of colour! Overall, they're excellent and will certainly be up to the very best standards that the Hattons Originals errr... original (!) releases were. However, there are some minor corrections that need implementing to get them to those high standards once again. We noted on the NCB locomotive that the buffer shanks need to be black instead of red, and the handbrake centre section should be blue, not black. On the Caledonia Works locomotive, the lining on the cylinders does not extend to the full length of the cylinder, so this will be corrected too. "Efficient" also has some lining quirks which need correcting, including placement on the tank sides, the thickness and again around the cylinder ends. On "Victory", the factory have created a sample with the wrong cab windows, the motion bracket is incorrectly painted black and the base of the buffer shanks should be black. We will also be tweaking the shade. One further change we are looking to make is adjusting the three link chain couplings to give them a slightly more realistic appearance. Overall, these are very minor tweaks required to ready these locomotives for full production, which will now kick off in the coming weeks! This means that the delivery date to customers will be late Q4 of 2024. We are locked into the production run size that Hattons specified with the factory, so there is only a finite amount still available to pre-order. Anyone who has previously placed a pre-order for these locomotives with Hattons can rest assured that their pre-order is safe and has been transferred to us, unless they requested otherwise. Pre-order yours today, with no money down, directly via the Accurascale website below, for £99.95 per loco. Pre-Order today: https://www.accurascale.com/collections/andrew-barclay-14-16-0-4-0st-industrial

Well, Well, Well - A First Look At The Warwells In OO! Following on from the rather exciting news last Tuesday that we had taken on a number of the Hattons Originals toolings, beginning with the Warwells in OO, The Wainwright P Class and the Andrew Barclay tank engines, we can now bring you the first update on these projects. We will have news of the Wainwright P Class and Andrew Barclay tanks in the coming weeks, but first let's look at the production samples of the Warwell wagons in OO gauge! As reported in our announcement blog last week, production of these models is already complete and the models had already been signed off by the Hattons team. We are now responsible for the delivery of these models to market, with any Hattons pre-orders having been transferred over to us and is now logged on our system. If you have not heard from Hattons, or from us and you do have a Warwell pre-order, please get in touch with us immediately so we can safeguard it for you. We can report that the fit and finish, along with the decoration on these wagons is excellent, and a credit to the Hattons Originals team, making these distinctive wagons really stand out. We can now confirm that these wagons will leave the factory next week for their trip from the Far East to our warehouse in the UK. We envisage them landing with us in April, depending on the continued unrest and shipping disruption in the Middle East. Although some of the running numbers are now sold out, we still have a selection which you can pre-order via our website for £25 per wagon. Click on the link below if you fancy adding some to your fleet, and be sure to check out Trains4u who have also commissioned two Warwell Wagons in this production run. Pre-order today: https://www.accurascale.com/collections/50t-kwa-warwell

Rainbow Rustons - Decorated Samples Of Our First O Loco Are Here! We first revealed our debut O gauge locomotive at the 2023 GETS show last October, and it certainly raised some eyebrows! Accurascale not doing a large mainline diesel? Good heavens! Indeed! The large diesel sector of the O gauge market is very well catered for, and as a small market, the 7mm side is likely to not withstand two companies competing on the same class of loco. It's also quite new to us, so we said we would go small, cater for layouts large and small, from the sidings of the large empires to the fun shunting planks in the spare rooms around the country and go small, cute and colourful. Our little Ruston 88DS gives us just that. We're delighted to say that our first decorated samples have arrived for assessment, with one complete model for further testing, and a collection of fully decorated bodyshells to give you a flavour of what's coming soon! As with any product development process, there is a lot to like, and some changes that are required! So, what do we like so far? Tampo and overall body paint colours across all liveries are very pleasing. Some of the highlights include W.M.J.E.A No.1 with its lining and Ruston crest on the cab sides. Our BR Green, and two tone Rowntree Mackintosh lined green and shadowed lettering are also pretty highlights! Sticking with our green theme, the Bowaters Northfleet 88DS in its Opaline Green and running gear in red, which really stands out and looks very striking. The cab interiors are very pleasing, with nice, detailed cab desks. We're also delighted with the weight! They are very, very solid and have a real quality feel to them, with excellent haulage capacity for a locomotive of their size as you will see when we demonstrate them in the coming weeks! Of course, there are areas we can further improve on and correct too. For instance, the yellow that has been applied across the Wasp Stripes and Warning panels is a bit ‘thin’ on these samples, so the density needs to be increased. Masking also needs to be improved, but both these issues are normal at this stage and something we have encountered on our OO locomotives at this stage of the process, being fully corrected on the production models customers receive. In places, the excellent fit of the parts has led to that fit being adversely affected by the paint layers; notably on the removable engine panel that covers the PCB which is now too tight and the Donkey Engine panels, which do not sit as flush as they should. Again, this is easily remedied. The glazing panels also suffer from not being cleaned up diligently, which is a common problem on EPs/Deco Samples. Again, this will be corrected for production models. Buffers, Drawhooks and Wheels have not received their chemical blackening, which is normal for this stage, but which does look odd even so. The Panhard Red used on the Tottenham Gas Works 88DS is wrong, but a definitive colour swatch has now been sent, and the red will be adjusted accordingly. Overall, our little rustons are progressing very well indeed through the design process and are bang on schedule. Sound recording for our digital sound fitted models will commence in the coming weeks and we will look forward to bringing you some footage of the finished sound files once we have them prepared. Delivery is anticipated for Q1 2025. Pre-order your O Gauge Ruston and Hornsby 88DS today via your local retailer, or direct for no money down via our website by clicking here: https://www.accurascale.com/collections/7mm-locomotives

Exciting news, Further EPs to our all-new GWR Pannier project have arrived and they're jam-packed with never previously done detail! We're pleased to be able to show you some variants for the first time including the NCB Pannier '7754', which correctly doesn't have a toolbox or train brake (and heat), also seen here are our 67xx samples which bring another variety of pannier to the market for the first time. These models are also without train braking but do still have their toolboxes. Another feature not yet shown is the BR-era smokebox door with its separately applied etched numberplate. With all these variations and many more, it's a real game of spot the difference. Browse the full range and Pre-order today with NO money down: https://www.accurascale.com/collections/gwr-57xx-67xx-8750-pannier-tank

Did we mention these have now arrived? 😁 Grab yours today: https://www.accurascale.com/collections/mdo-mdv-21-ton-mineral-wagons

Did we mention they're here! 😍 At the time of posting they're are only 12 left in stock, grab them before they're gone!! https://www.accurascale.com/collections/mdo-mdv-21-ton-mineral-wagons/products/br-21t-mdv-mineral-wagon-tops-bauxite-exclusive

After a period of locomotives, coaches and railcars, we are going back to our roots and will now bring you a whole new range of beautifully detailed, uniquely Irish wagons. We have been famed with making use of common chassis for wagon ranges since our inception, and it is a number of years since our last mammoth wagon project, the hugely successful "Project 42". So, where do we go this time? Well, we wanted a range of wagons that would be widely useful to modellers, widespread across the network and eras, and uniquely Irish. So, we decided there was only one place to go, the Bulleid triangulated chassis, starting with the CIE corrugated open wagons. History In 1950 the board of Corás Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) appointed Oliver Bulleid as its Chief Mechanical Engineer. Bulleid, renowned as designer of the distinctive Merchant Navy and Light Pacific locomotives during his tenure with the Southern Railway in England, did not have an opportunity to pursue his legendary innovativeness to the same extent in Ireland, but his arrival nonetheless heralded a period of modernisation and standardisation. Apart from implementing the complete transition to diesel motive power, he also set about standardising CIÉ’s fleet of rolling stock with his patented triangulated underframe providing the basis. Perhaps the most recognisable of the goods vehicles was the humble open wagon with its galvanised pressed metal body. More than 2,500 were constructed at Inchicore between 1956 and 1969, with up to twelve being outshopped each week at the height of production. They quickly replaced older wooden-built equivalents, many of which had entered service with CIÉ’s predecessor, the Great Southern Railways, or its constituent companies. The welded construction of the underframe provided excellent strength despite being relatively light and the pressed metal panels used to create the bodywork were both durable and easily replaceable, resulting in a hard-wearing wagon which could cope with rough treatment in unfitted trains and less-than-careful handling during loading and unloading. The wagons were a common sight across the entire CIÉ network, from major yards in Dublin and Cork to the most rural of branch lines, carrying a wide variety of loads ranging from peat briquettes to gypsum, pre-ISO shipping containers and farm machinery. However, their most famous duty was the conveyance of sugar beet during the annual autumn-winter harvest season, when trainloads of the crop would be transferred from loading points across the country to plants at Carlow, Mallow, Thurles and Tuam. Even as more modern continuously-braked goods stock was introduced in the 1970s, rakes of these open wagons were retained for beet season, persevering in traffic until replaced by vacuum-braked wagons in the 1980s. Wagons were initially outshopped with ‘Flying Snail’ totems before giving way to the CIE ‘Broken Wheel’ logo during the 1960s. Typically for Irish Rail, the wagons were rarely, if ever, repainted, with many of the wagons ending their careers with the earlier Flying Snail logos in the 1980s! The Model With an abundance of recent locomotive releases, particularly in the CIE era of the 1950s-1980s timeframe in recent years, we felt it necessary to provide the most numerous and important wagons from this golden era to help the modeller to build accurate trains. The Bulleid triangulated underframe was a standard unit that gave birth to a whole host of wagons, which will be reflected in our range in the months and years to come. We kicked off this adventure with the Bulleid open, oft our most requested wagon model for IRM and one that reached every corner of the network from the mid 1950s all the way to the 1980s when they made up the now legendary sugar beet trains. An essential wagon for any Irish modeller with Silver, green, grey, black, black and tan and supertrain locos, these are a must and the first step in our CIE unfitted wagon range, which will feature other wagons yet to be announced. We took a trip to Dunsandle over the summer of 2021 to survey their excellent open wagon undergoing restoration. A big thanks to Maurice Mitchell at Dunsandle for facilitating our visit and survey. The open wagon may seem like a fairly simple wagon to produce, and for the most part it is. However, there is one tricky piece to the puzzle, and something that is essential to capture the essence of these characterful wagons; the interior. Due to their corrugated construction, the inside of the wagon required extra tooling to capture the distinctive ribbing inside. Our factory came to the rescue here, with intelligent toolmaking to ensure this was achieved. We also wanted to get some weight into the wagon, but not compromise with a false floor to spoil the look of the wagon interior, so we have a fully diecast floor as part of the underframe structure. A wealth of separate plastic detail consisting of all the braking and underframe gear, door bangers, sprung buffers and brass bearing cups to allow the smoothest of running complete the make up of these beautifully detailed wagons as you come to expect from IRM. Available in our typical triple packs, our first production run covers a variety of eras, from original flying snail, to CIE roundel and then both beet and permanent way packs. Priced at €89.95 per triple pack, and 10% off when you buy two packs or more, they are due to arrive in stock in Q3 of 2024. Click the link below to place your pre-order. Pre-ordering early is recommended to avoid disappointment as production slots will be limited. Pre-Order your Bulleid Open Wagons here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/bulleid-12t-corrugated-open

A few shots taken over the weekend. The new 88ds looks right at home in this single shed by JSModels!

Class 31 Production Update - October 2023 Launched at Model Rail Scotland in 2022, our Class 30 and 31 has been cooking way while our Class 37 and Manor arrive in stock. We're still playing catch-up with factory schedules due to COVID lockdowns in China in early 2023, but recently we travelled to China to see our Class 31 progress into assembly. As reported in June, we had to go through the first EP samples with a fine toothcomb. On the surface, they looked lovely, and many of you will have seen them in our cabinets at recent shows. However, a lot of work was required to get them spot on. We executed 99% of this successfully, but following our last update, there was one area that modellers pointed out still just was not quite right; the bodyside grilles. Unfortunately the consistency of the bodyside grilles was incorrect, with an uneven fitting of slats. It has taken more work and altering than we would've liked to get this correct, but we have finally got it spot on following some tooling alterations. As we saw in the factory, it is now where we want them to be. Another area of improvement of fit and finish required was around the bufferbeam area, which has also now been solved to our satisfaction. While we were working on the fit and finish of these areas we were able to work to improve the locomotive on the electronics side. Oddly, our first sample with fully working cab dials came with them in red, offering a rather odd and bright appearance. These are now corrected to a colour consistent with out Class 37, 92 and Deltic. Hellfire! (but for all the wrong reasons!) We have also taken an opportunity to up the already extensive lighting functions present on our current locomotives even further, with an industry first! From the 50s to the late '80s/early '90s, the drivers head light was operated as a single light - either side. The 31s kept individual switches for tail lights, so there is a L/H tail light switch that is ON-OFF and a R/H tail light switch that is ON-OFF. Our model will be able to faithfully capture this prototypical feature, on both DC/DCC! Not only that, but our working fan, although powered by a separate motor, can also work on DC as well as DCC! For DC users, it will be controllable with the switches under the magnetic roof panel. For DCC users, your decoder will have all this functionality. We have just returned from visiting the factory in China and we saw that production is well under way. Everything has been cast and moulded and painting is almost complete for batch 1, with assembly about to get underway. Batch 2 is also moulded and painting is underway. They're wheely coming along! (sorry!) Body shells awaiting painting as part of batch 2. Chassis blocks being prepped before paint. In further good news, we brought the factory the specifications required for our drop-in EM and P4 wheelsets, so look out for updates on those ahead of delivery for you fine scale modellers. And finally, the biggest news of all; we managed to finally track down a high quality sound recording of the original Mirrlees power unit and we are in the final stages of perfecting the sound file for these original Brush Type 2s. Watch out for a video preview of these in the coming weeks! It will be offered as a separate plug and play decoder which modellers can install along with a large Accurathrash speaker for full effect! So, the big questions are; when? Is the loco delayed further? Yes, there is a further slight delay. We're really disappointed about that, and we know you are too. The 31 has proven to be a massive challenge to get right. Could we have just accepted it as a 98% model with the grilles buffer beam and put it out there? Perhaps, but we just couldn't be cynical and do it. We see how many people love the standard of our locomotives, and we just cannot let the standards diminish. So, we take that extra time to make it better. It's our way. We hate delays, but it has got to be where we are happy with it before we can put it out there. Now it is in a place where we are happy with it. So, the updated schedule is as follows; Batch 1: ACC2741-5544 ACC2742-5544DCC ACC2745-31248 ACC2746-31248DCC ACC2749-31409 ACC2750-31409DCC ACC2753-31402 ACC2754-31402DCC ACC2761-31432 ACC2762-31432DCC ACC2781-31128 ACC2782-31128DCC These will arrive in stock at our warehouse in Q1 2024. Batch 2: ACC2729-D5549 ACC2735-D5615 ACC2737-5803 ACC2738-5803DCC ACC2739-5674 ACC2740-5674DCC ACC2755-31110 ACC2756-31110DCC ACC2769-31420 ACC2770-31420DCC ACC2771-31514 ACC2772-31514DCC ACC2773-31421 ACC2774-31421DCC These models are due late Q2 2024. Our exclusives including 31407, 31466, our Network Rail pair and limited edition models for Hornby Magazine, Model Rail Magazine and Rails of Sheffield will be Q3 2024. We apologise for this delay, but with production now well underway delivery will be smooth. For those of you who know what to expect following delivery of our Class 37, 92, Manor or Deltic, you know that getting it right now ahead of delivery will be well worth waiting for. Most of these locos are sold out direct, but we still have some of our exclusives available. Make sure you check them out via the link here: https://www.accurascale.com/collections/brush-type-2-class-30-31

Brand New LNER J68 Exclusive Added To Our Line Up! Our first tank engine, the beautiful 'Buckjumpers', have been very well received since we announced them earlier this year at the London Festival of Modelling at Alexandra Palace. This has gone up another level since we previewed our first tooling samples in late August, with the modelling public very much enjoying the first glimpse at the depth of our tooling suite, covering the wide variety of detailing differences among each loco. But, some modellers felt that there was something missing. A small gap in our range. The lack of a later LNER liveried model. Well, fear not. Here it is, due to popular demand, and another for our "Accurascale Exclusives" fleet! HILL G75 (LNER J68) 0-6-0T No. 7027. The second batch of Hill’s ‘improved’ 0-6-0T locomotives, GER Nos.21-30 to Order G75, differed from the initial C72 order by being designated for shunting duties and differed in build accordingly. Sixteen spoke, unbalanced cast iron wheels were fitted, along with lever reverse and the side tanks were straight topped, lacking the raised chambers of the passenger tanks. Steam brakes were fitted from new, along with a wide-rimmed, parallel sided chimney, but the high arched, wooden cab roof was retained; a feature removed from the final I89 order which were fitted with elliptical wooden cab roofs. Built at Stratford,as GER No.27, in December 1913, the locomotive was allocated to Cambridge Shed from new and by Grouping was present at Peterborough East on shunting duties, before being renumbered as 7027 under the LNER. The distinctive high arched roof was removed in August 1928, being replaced by an LNER pattern elliptical steel roof and the three bunker rails were filled during September 1931. 7027 was also the pioneer locomotive for the trial fitting of grease lubrication to the coupling pins and connecting rods in 1936. At Grouping 7027 was still in GER Austerity Grey but from 1925 carried the LNER goods livery of unlined standard black with shaded 7.5" LNER lettering and 12" numbering, unlike the final I89 order that were painted in standard black with red lining, along with the ‘E’ area number suffix and either L&NER or LNER. Pre-order your LNER 7027 in DC/DCC Ready or DCC Sound Fitted formats direct only via our website, with no money down and options to spread the payments over 6 months ahead of delivery to make the purchase kinder to your wallet. https://www.accurascale.com/collections/j67-j68-j69

Hi, Thanks for the feedback it looks like you have a Friday afternoon build, Doh! If you could get in touch with us directly, the team will be more than happy to assist. 😊 support@accurascale.com

Class 66 Update August 2023 - Let There Be Light Time for a quick update on our lovely Class 66, which has been progressing nicely though the Accurascale works! Having taken on the excellent Hattons Class 66 tooling, we documented how we made several tweaks to these models, unlocking more detail variations and taking on customer feedback. This has been very well received. But, as some modellers pointed out, there was an extra yard we could go to to really bring the best out of our shed So we listened, assessed, designed and implemented some further tweaks on these already brilliant models to make them truly special. All lighting units have been revised. We were unsure about changing these early on for the EP and we held out to see what they looked like on the decorated samples. The size of the units have been changed as well as the internal light guides to give a better appearance. We also now have the option of both types of LED light cluster. The Freightliner green has been revised to the proper shade of green for this period. Previously the backing to the Freightliner logo on our first decorated sample was a different shade of green. In order to replicate this properly, we have used the same shade of paint with different gloss levels. It's very subtle but the camera flash shows it to good effect. Both styles of cab interior have been modelled, featuring either wrap around desk or central "pedestal". The correct shade of grey for the roof of the DB liveried locos has now been used. Warning panel yellows have been tweaked. There are actually three different shades used over the period the 66 covers. Here are two of the them! We have tooled an additional buffer beam plate (centre) to correct the position of the lashing eyes on the first 200 EWS machines. 66001 (and 2's) unique arrangement can be seen on the left. and the later "standard" on the right. Among the other smaller and subtle tweaks we have also looked at and improved the fit of the handrails on the bodyside for the doors to give them a more realistic appearance. With all these tweaks in place we can now confirm that the production run is signed off and underway. Not only that, but we are still on course for delivery for Q1, 2024 as originally announced back in February. Pre-order your ultimate Class 66 via our network of retailers, or direct via our website below, with no money down pre-ordering or monthly instalments at no extra cost available. At just £169.99 DC/DCC Ready and £259.99 DCC sound fitted they represent excellent value for money considering the ultimate specification of these models. Make sure you don't miss out. Pre-order your Accurascale Class 66 today: https://www.accurascale.com/collections/class-66