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Hopefully the rumoured and, no doubt, far superior competing HST will have been announced by then!

Happy New Year to all and here’s to some fabulous announcements hopefully on the way from the guys at Accurascale! Having just cancelled all of my Hornby orders due to their bullying tactics it needs to go somewhere else! Lol. So 31 and HST please, hint hint!!

My own view would be for Hornby to stick to Railroad and Playtrain type stuff and leave the serious models to those who can do them justice! They have that segment of the market almost to themselves and should probably maximise that rather than picking fights and trying to snub out competition.

Personally I don’t agree with no duplication across the board as that would mean some of the Hornby models I’d like to see done much better (31 and HST for example) wouldn’t! I do believe in an open market and that those who bring out the better models and for the best value succeed. Where my issues lies is in Hornby’s bullying tactics and trying to spoil the market for better models by flooding the market with mediocre ones when they get a whiff of competition! I’m sure if someone else announced a BR Blue 31/4 for example then suddenly one would appear from Hornby despite ignoring requests for one for years! In the past I probably would of or have purchased Hornby, but I’ve now reached the point where I’d rather do without and hope that someone better produces a competing model

I totally agree and I for one certainly wouldn’t shed a tear if Hornby were no more! I’d already decided that I’d not be purchasing anything further of theirs regardless of what they announced today but their bullying tactics have really left a bad taste in the mouth and I’ve cancelled all my outstanding (not in terms of the quality that’s for sure!) pre orders for Hornby. Anything I already have will be going on eBay shortly and the de-Hornbyification will be complete! For those who think that’s a bit extreme, it’s about the principal of it and Hornby’s tactics having a negative effect on the hobby. If they think they can just bully others out of the market - especially those producing far superior models - and get away with it then I’d rather make do without.

But if I had to pick one or the other I’d take correct shape of body over buffer beam detail which is where Heljan is far inferior!

But they do at least know how to enjoy themselves! I don’t actually watch this morning (but will admit to occasionally watching the short videos when they lose it!) but I’ve watched about 5 mins of Sam and found it so dreary - I’d imagine having Long Covid is less energy sapping than sitting through his videos! As you say though, back on topic and I think I agree the prices are eye watering and, although not necessarily about affordability for me as I’m generally lucky enough to be able to buy what I like, I do feel with Hornby that it is not value for money as their models are pretty basic (dcc wise at least) in comparison to competitors.

I think I’d take Phil & Holly over that other annoying t…!

I agree, that is the one big thing it is lacking. That and the snowploughs are probably going to be my biggest issues with it. I think had Heljan got the shape of theirs correct then my money would have been heading that way with a full fleet replacement eventually as they certainly have the better range of models at first release. I think I had about 10 of the first batch on pre order but have subsequently cancelled because of the problems. I’ve ordered 2 Bachmann - the SFX 47004, mainly to see if the extras are worth bothering about and a standard 47828. I guess as these kind of complement the existing Bachmann version then full replacement isn’t necessary, or for that matter achievable, unless Bachmann change their usually limited release schedule and up the number of versions available then it would take decades!

Sorry, I maybe wasn’t too clear but it was a more general observation about Heljan models rather than specific to the Hymek! The ‘revised’ part being that their models are usually different from the prototype as they’ve messed up the shape somehow! Anyway the plus side of that is, trying to get back on thread, is that it allows for someone to come along later and do them properly!

I know some may choose otherwise, but I wouldn’t spend £200-300 on a loco just to repaint/correct it because the manufacturer can’t get it right in the first place. So if Hornby can’t be bothered to get it right then for me that says there is a gap for an alternative manufacturer who will. Obviously the easy answer is for Hornby to put a bit of effort in to get the liveries correct as the base model is, I agree, pretty good and probably one of their best.

Does a Heljan revised model mean they’ll find something else to get wrong that they hadn’t already?!

Bodywise I’d agree it’s pretty good but it usually suffers from Hornby’s inability to decorate anything correctly!

SF = Sound Fitted so I’m assuming SFX is Sound Fitted with Xtra’s? (Ie working fans and fancy windscreens!)

I think that present needs to have Heljan’s name on it! Haha.

I would say - again - a 31/4 in BR Blue! Although, now having waited so long for one I wouldn’t actually buy one if they did, I think the 31 is ripe for picking off by one of the new manufacturers (along with most of their diesel range to be honest) so I’m in the process of selling anything I have that’s Hornby anyway!

Looking on the other thread the rivets are measured and scaled. Dapol’s looks almost ‘bald’ to me which I think adds to the plasticy look I feel. World would be boring if we all thought the same though!

I may be in a minority but I’m actually glad there isn’t a driver! For those who use their locos in both directions or have depots/stabling points they look daft as they’re either at the wrong end half the time or you’d have a depot full of drivers just sat there! Very unproductive! Lol.

Never mind! At least there’s a decent alternative to choose from! ;-) The Accurascale version is winning hands down for me, makes the Dapol one look very ‘plasticy’.

Quite interesting comparing the new Bachmann 47 with the Heljan one above. Bachmann does seem to have made a much better job of the shape and looking at the Railfreight Construction one in particular the livery layout seems to be pretty good too. Another issue with Heljan’s model, and this is probably caused by the issues with the roof I guess, is that the body side windows are to low. The lower edge of these should be higher than the lower edge of the cab side windows but isn’t and looks practically level - this causes them issues on the sectorisation freight/parcels liveries as there should be some of the upper body side band under the window but if they paint them correctly there isn’t the space! If you look at pictures of their O gauge model in Civil Engineers livery (the same basic layout as Construction) you can see how they’ve tried to hide this fact and fudge it by broadening the upper band and then adding copious amounts of black under the cab windows with a taper up to the front ledge! It just looks odd to my eyes. It’s a shame they didn’t spend the time getting it right in the first place than having to come up with a fudge to hide the errors!

I guess it depends on your point of view but I’d say it can be majorly improved - assuming by HST you mean loco AND coaches then Hornby’s Mk3s really let the whole thing down. The power cars aren’t too bad but something isn’t quite right with the front and then there’s the basic dcc functions with Hornby being wedded to 8pin. The coaches are just too basic these days and I find Hornby’s bizarre decision to mould the CDL lights compromised both those models that should or shouldn’t have them. Surely it would have been better not to have moulded them, therefore not spoiling coaches not so fitted with these pointless lumps and merely printing orange squares for the ones that should? I don’t think the current orange lump makes much difference than if it had been flat and would actually be easier to improve if you wanted to upgrade it to a CDL light. And on top of the above, Hornby’s inability to actually match the right body parts on occasions and errors in decoration I really feel the HST is crying out to be done properly to current standards by someone else!

If it takes much longer it must be getting nearer to the time taken to deliver from 59001 to 59206!! Lol.

Thanks for posting this, that clearly shows that all the previously noted issues are still there, most obviously the roof where the grills/serck slat area looks completely wrong. The serck appears to be one slat short and should be much higher up the roof than the other grills, but they’re practically level.

Anything suitable for 1985-1991 will be welcome! I’ve already offloaded my Bachmann fleet in readiness! ;-)

Yes that would be good! It will either cause major elation or disappointment depending on an individual’s pov! Personally Heljan would be a real disappointment as they’d probably make a worse job than Hornby with the shape! And they both have issues with livery application errors. Bachmann would cost a fortune and they’d probably only release one of each coach so would take decades to assemble a full rake at the rate they release them! Dapol, not sure as not really ever bought any of their models but I guess they have some research from their n gauge version so may scale up. Hoping for Accurascale personally!