Iskra

9 minutes ago, Rich Papper said:

Rails have some Dapol 73s for £89.50:

https://railsofsheffield.com/collections/Dapol-oo-class-73s-reduced 

There's also an extra 5% off code this weekend: EXTRABARGAIN

8 minutes ago, McC said:

Started yesterday. I saw a facebook post earlier on a layout. 

Awesome. I was starting to feel left out! 

Do we know when WCRC ones are being posted please?

I took this last night and feel that the hills in the background look a bit back-scene like, with the case further helped that the working is a bit of rule-1/special train. The lights also appear over-bright which is another model railway thing that I’ve noticed.

1 hour ago, NBL said:

 

I don't know why folk are so obsessed with the price of things.  Businesses have to make money so they can reinvest to continually evolve their products, to meet our demands.   We ask for multiple variations, right down to obscure one off variations, so the tooling has to cater for all of those, or forums will rip the manufacturer a new one.  

 

Imagine the uproar if AS where to introduce a generic class 37.  We demand these variations, which pushes the price up.

 

Some manufacturers can offer what we ask for at lower prices than others, and generally older companies have higher overheads due to legacy commitments.  Unless the companies are making exactly the same model, using exactly the same process and factories, and having the exact same overheads, at he exact same time, we cannot reasonably compare pricing.

 

Heljan are a 60+ year old Danish company, and Denmark has a high wage economy.  Even though they are a small company by headcount, legacy costs have to be covered.

 

I often read that someone won't pay £500 for a model, but will happily buy 3 or 4 class 37s for example.  Whilst you may have more trains to play with, that won't get you the Class 104 that you really want, so that void still exists.

 

Things cost what they cost, because it's what they cost.  

 

 

 

Where’s the evolution in a standard DC 2-car DMU with working lights? Manufacturer’s have been churning those out for years now. And then I need to spend additionally on it to make it DCC fitted or sound, which other manufacturers are offering at the same or similar price to this DC only unit. So, yes in this instance the very high price does grate somewhat. 

Accurascale are providing choice, variation and value all at the same time. They are showing other manufacturers up in the value department and showing value, quality and variation can all go together. 
 

Heljan are welcome to charge what they like, but if nobody buys them, where does that leave them? …discounting and wiping out their fat margin anyway on the rest of the stock. You could argue revenue wise, it’s the same financial result as selling more with an initially lower price and therefore profit margin, but one looks a lot better than the other on the manufacturer. 

18 hours ago, GordonC said:

I cant help wondering whether the tooling is overcomplicated for this in trying to cover every conceivable variation of a Class 104. Admittedly there will have been quite a lot of changes to the units over their lifespan, but it must add to the complexity and tooling/assembling costs having individual roof vents added separately to cater for normal and later smooth roof.

 

Or if underfloor motor makes things more difficult or expensive, could the old fashioned style of power bogie in the guards van have worked?

 

I just cant see how the RRP this comes out at is in any way realistic

My theory is the price is simply hedging against UK inflation, but that does seem to be easing slowly now and pricing (niche) models highly is risky during an economic crisis. The Mexican Bean 104 is so obscure most people can happily do without and just not buy, or buy Accurascale 37’s or Mk2’s instead and get a lot more for your money, which also turned up on the West Highland Line year-round, season after season and with much greater frequency. From what I can see high-priced models aren’t doing so well if you look at various model railway retailers bargain bins, you see quite a few in there. Yes, there’s a minority with lots of cash, or those where a specific model is a centrepiece to a project so they may stump up to secure one straight away at the asking price, but if the price is too high most will leave it for the price to drop, at which point there’s always the risk of something more interesting and better value popping up and taking away that potential sale from the manufacturer. 

On 13/10/2023 at 12:34, GordonC said:

I think the decorated samples look really good and it definitely fits the area and era I model, but that price is painful for something that'd be 'nice to have' rather than 'essential'. In the late 80s when DMUs were a bit mix and matched, even a driving end would be good to have to use with other units, but selling as 2 and 3 car sets gets expensive for that.

 

Agreed. I wouldn't mind a Mexican Bean one for my layout, but by comparison you can pick up Bachmann DCC Sound 150's for less than what they're asking for a DC version here and DCC Sound 158's for not much more. More era relevant- you can get Bachmann sound fitted 101's for less than this 104. I'll take the risk on not ordering one now, and might pick one up later if the price drops- the Mexican Bean 104 is a very specific model, and for me it is optional rather than a strict necessity. 

Can anyone confirm on the Class 144 Regional Railways, one destination is Lincoln, what is the other unshown end please? (I'm assuming Sheffield)

Is there any explanation as to why we haven’t had a Caledonian Sleeper 73/9 yet? Seems a fairly obvious one now teal Mk3’s and Mk5’s exist?

I’m not quite sure how exactly it should be modelled, as clearly it could be done fully but whether it would add enough value to the average modeller to justify the price of full functionality is questionable. But, how about doing a GWR slipcoach? 

Regional Railways North Western/First North Western please

20 minutes ago, 97406 said:

One great thing about an Accurascale 40 would be the DCC sound option. The Accurathrash speaker won’t fit in the Bachmann one unless you get the milling machine out. 

That’s one of the reasons why a 40 is more likely than some other suggestions Accurathrash and lighting is going to be easier in the bigger loco’s, so I think AS releases are going to be trending towards larger sized locomotives.

1 hour ago, Accurascale Fran said:

Hi everyone,

 

Our next newly tooled model in OO/4mm will be announced this coming Friday, Sept 1st. Place your bets!

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

Has whatever it is, already been named in this thread?

Also, do we know when the next batch of 37's will be announced please?

I'm still thinking that the two most likely units to emerge from Accurascale are Class 325 or 185. They'd both go well along side the Class 92's, CS MK5's and TPE MK5's. 

Excellent news. These locomotives have gotten around a bit in preservation and are a good ‘rule 1’ loco as you can say they appeared anywhere due to wartime conditions. It will be interesting to see what livery options they do.

Very happy with my latest arrival :)

FGW at Hull

I received my 37 yesterday and it’s amazing. Great weight, fantastic sound and looks the part. Has a real presence on the layout. Wipes the floor with the competition 

Just need a Large Logo one now to go with it 

Any chance of a Regional Railways North Western livery 156 in the future please, as seen on the Furness Line?

A recent one and an old one: