brian777999

Had a look at the pre production model on the Heljan stand at Warley and a few points worried me.

 

Firstly the rotating bunker appears to be too low a pitch. If you look at side on photos in LMS & LNER Garretts by Essery and Toms the bunker is clearly much higher than the cab roof - this is significant as it adds a lot to the appearance of 'bulk' to the prototype.The bunker top is in line with the roof on the model.

 

Secondly I think the valve gear and particularly the slide rods appear 'heavy' on the model, this may be because they are bright metal at the moment, this maybe helped by the weathering.

 

Thirdly other is a moulding line all down the firebox, boiler and smoke box which is in line with the corner of the firebox, so this will be very visible from normal viewing angles.

 

Has anyone else noticed this or have any comments now it has been seen at a major venue or am I being overly critical?

These are legitimate concerns, especially the mold lines. There should not be any mold lines on an RTR model. We cannot get rid of them once the model is painted so the manufacturer should take the time to remove them before the model is painted even if this means charging a bit more.

Does anybody have some recent photos of the display model so that we can check the above complaints ?

Barry,

 

Still available at Shildon (locomotion)

 

http://www.locomotionmodels.com/

No, it says ''out of stock''.

Well, they are all gone now. Wow...that was fast ! How many days did they have them available ?

I assume that there will be a second run of these ? Was there a second run of the City of Truro ?

There was a K's Dean single and it it did come with etched parts. As part of the Milestone range it had no motor. I am told by a friend who was involved with Nucast at the time, that when the K's toolings were past on to Nucast, there was no Dean single as the original masters had been altered to form the Armstrong 4-4-0, one of the last kits K's ever produced. 

 

The M&L was the better kit but finding the driving wheels was an issue. One solution was to use the....K's.

 

Neither were particularly good performers and struggled to pull themselves along, let alone a train. Mine was rebuilt with a tender drive unit and now pulls acceptable trains.

 

Mike Wiltshire

So the Dean Single must be one of rarer kits on the market. I do not care if they struggle to pull 3 coaches ; I would like one. There is nobody curently making a kit for this model which I find rather strange given the popularity of modelling the GWR.

..or Margate?

I think the UK wages would stop that from happening. I suggested Thailand and Vietnam because their wages are cheaper than those of China. There are quite a few companies shifting their production facilities to places other than China.

What are the smallest electrical plugs available to connect wires between the tender and the loco ? Does anybody do anything smaller than the Tamiya micro mini plugs ? I am not quite sure how big these are.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mini-Micro-Tamiya-battery-connector-plug-socket-20AWG-/130386758909?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1e5ba80cfd

It isn't listed in Forsythe's book , and I have a clear recollection of hearing Pete Waterman say that he produced a 4mm whitemetal kit for the Dean Single in his days as M&L Kits (c1980?) .   I suspect this is the kit you were thinking of - it's not normal for kit producers to issue something that's already available as a kit in a similar material

What is this kit then ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KEYSER-KIT-OF-GWR-DEAN-4-2-2-RE-LISTED-/261329901187?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item3cd879d683

He has described it as a Keyser kit ? He will not post overses though, otherwise I would bid for it.

I think the problem is Brian, that the 'Dean Single and/or the 'Caledonian Single' and associated coaches are extremely poor models, with lots a 'fresh air' showing under the footplate.  Not a patch on the 'City of Truro' for instance.   Hornby I'm sure would love to have a slice of the NRM pie, but they can't even get their catalogued items out on time and their fidelity is, as mentioned on other threads, declining.

 

It's sad because extra competition would keep everyone up to scratch I'm sure and perhaps produce even more wonderful linked releases.  Stirling Single for me!  But not based on the Hornby offerings!

I quite agree. I only mentioned those models because they have been Hornby's sole attempts at pregrouping. The Dean Singles still sold quite well despite the poor front bogie. The longer clerestory coaches in the Flying Dutchman train pack were quite well done though. It is not beyond Hornby to do a good job on a model but I think they have just gotten lazy and prefer to take the easy route when it comes to new models.

Maybe it is time they set up their own factory in Thailand or Vietnam so that they can get better control of their production.

I think it's pretty clear that Bachmann have got themselves onto a pretty good thing here with their NRM association plus their own special livery versions.  Many modellers of us are mugs for this sort of thing and buy if we've got the readies just because the locos are different even if they don't fit our normal modelling aspirations.  And it is probably the sort of market that suits relatively small runs of variant liveries etc.

I am surprised the Hornby have not realised the untapped potential of the pregrouping era. They have done the GWR Dean Singles with Indian red under frames but not much else. Given the popularity of GWR modelling I would have thought pregrouping GWR locos with red underframes would always be a sure thing when it comes to sales.

NOTE : Locomotion will deduct VAT for overseas sales of locomotives in case anybody was wondering.

In case it is of interest, this variant with original front handrail, door and safety valves, No. 10730, appeared in LMS crimson lake livery.

I think we might expect to see Bachmann do that version a bit further down the track ; it would look great in crimson lake. Did it have the full lining ? I assume that Bachmann know of this variant ?

1. I have just found out that K's made a kit for the GWR Dean Single. Does anybody have a photo of a completed kit ? Ihave never seen one before. Anybody got a kit for sale ?

2. I have received my Midland Single kit from an RMWEB member and I am very impressed. It has great instructions with exploded drawings. All kits should be like this. My kit is loco drive, however other discussions about the K's Midland Single kit mention tender drive. Did they produce two different versions of this kit ?

I think David - pending any new website / e-mail / telephone facilities - will respond to an enquiry accompanied by SAE.....

 

Do you have his address?

I do have his address but as I live in Australia it would be much quicker to use email or the telephone.

While you are waiting why not order (Mitchell kit) one from David Geen - www.davidgeen.co.uk

I have sent numerous emails and I get no reply.

Who makes/sells a 4mm GWR class 517 loco kit ? I have tried sending David Geen emails but I do not get a reply. I did see an Alan Gibson kit for sale but I cannot access the website for some reason. It sold on ebay for big money ! Does he still make them ? Is there anybody else that could sell me one ?

I can think of all sorts of tasteless jokes to make here but I think I will refrain from saying anything !

They do but...

 

http://www.crphillips-models.co.uk/newsflash.html

 

Autocom took over K's some years prior. So perhaps if someone wanted to buy the moulds, maybe still available for now, but I assume if no one does, they'll end up melted down!

How much would such a business be worth ie. how much would it cost to buy the moulds ?

I assume you mean Malcolm Mitchell's kits? If so, the 4mm versions are listed by David Geen. I keep meaning to contact him about this kit but still haven't got around to it, so can't say anything about it's availability. Be aware that David's web pages haven't been updated for a long time and I'm told it's best to contact him by phone or at an exhibition (probably not an option in your case).

 

Thank you for the information.  I have looked at  David Geen's  web page and the 517 is listed there. The price list is dated 2009 ! There is no phone number though ; just an email address.

I tried to send an email to Swindon Works to inquire about their 517 class loco and ask if it is available in 4mm scale but my email bounced back. Are they still in business ? The GWR.org site says it is available in both 4mm and 7mm scale but the Swindon Works website mentions only 7mm scale.

Ozzyo : what are the thick black ''lines'' underneath the crescent shapes ? I cannot quite see them.

I have ordered a rivet tool from London Road Models for 11 pounds. It will be here in a few weeks. I have no idea what form it takes or how it is used ; I will work it out when it gets here.

I spent two days last weekend running US locos at the Inverness Exhibition. Power was supplied by a 1000ma wallwart and control (DC) was a second hand AGW solid state hand held picked up at Glasgow (I think it cost me a fiver)- I took 6 locos just for a bit of variation and every one would run so slowly that you could barely see it moving with three 50' cars attatched - the motor literally cogging over - DCC simply isn't needed, for smoth slow running - Flak jacket and tin helmet on!

The only problem with DC is that the major manufacturers have either forgotten how to build a decent controller or they are just not interested  any more. I suspect that they see far more profit in pushing everybody towards DCC.

So what to do ? What can I buy from a large hardware store (Bunnings) that will do the job for me ? Perhaps even a  jeweller's tool of some description ?

What size and type of punch is required for punching out 4mm scale rivets ? The dedicated tools for doing this job seem quite expensive.

Would something in this metal punch set do the job ? The small one on the right looks promising.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Finkal-Centre-Punch-Set-Round-Head-4-Piece-CPS104-/310405298572?pt=AU_Hand_Tools&hash=item484598f98c

Why did they paint the insides of the frames red ?

What happened to the K's kits ? I assume that somebody still has the molds ? (I am sorry if this was covered earlier.)