Accurascale Fran

Hi @Wickham Green too, Good shout. We love hearing your ideas everyone, but perhaps we can post them here and leave this thread for the Buckjumper? We do read it and take notes! Cheers! Fran

Hi @Crouchja32, Many thanks for the pics. You can rest assured that we have great plans for a wide range of livery and conditions of our buckjumpers over the coming years which we will cover. We do love the suggestions for future runs though, so please keep them coming. The popularity of the locomotive so far on pre-order has blown us away, so thank you to everyone who has placed a pre-order so far. Retailers are reporting strong sales as we are also seeing direct. It’s certainly given us an appetite for more steam, and there might be some more brewing in the background. Cheers! Fran

Hi @Suzy Sulzer, Many thanks for posting the pics. It was great to show off the body tooling for the first time and modellers seemed to like it a lot. We have a fully finished sample due with us very soon which we will show off once it lands. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, We're still coming to terms with the results here at Accurascale/IRM towers. Sunday was truly mind-blowing for us and well, we still can't quite believe it. We would just like to extend a sincere and heartfelt thank you to everyone who voted for us across all categories. It really capped off an amazing year for us, and we will be working even harder in 2023 as your vote of confidence drives us further. I have put a wee post together on it going into more detail here: Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, We're just back after recovering from a wonderful London Festival of Railway Modelling at Alexandra Palace and want to extend our sincere thanks to our friends from the Model Railway Club, BRM and of course everyone who dropped by to say hi to us at the show. It was great to see familiar faces once again and make new friends too! On Sunday afternoon the results of the 2022 British Model Railway Awards, the poll you voted in was announced on the Model Railway Club stand. We went along with the hope of picking up something and build on our strong showing last year, but what we were presented with truly blew us away. In fact, we're still a bit speechless about it all. To win "Diesel/Electric Locomotive of The Year" was truly special for the Deltic, our first Accurascale loco, and to complete the 1, 2 with the Class 92 was absolutely mindblowing. Then to take the top three for OO Wagons, we still can't believe it. I have to say I've not seen @Islesy smile so much when he found out that the Chaldrons, a wagon he pitched to us when he interviewed for a job with Accurascale took home the gold. It was a new direction for us which seems to have been very well received! Then there was the innovation award for our Class 92 pantographs, which really vindicated all those countless hours of testing and designing, and the decision to move factories to produce the model after the first one did not have the confidence to take on the working pan aspect of the project. A great success for our factory as well as us who were brave to take it on and do everything to make it work, along with our friends at ESU who did all their electronics wizardry to bring it all together for us. We were truly happy with our lot, but then the biggest surprise was yet to come. We missed out on OO Manufacturer of the Year by a tiny margin last year, so we thought there might be a small chance in a very competitive field that we might go one better this year. Well, thanks to your votes for Accurascale and IRM, we did, and we were bouncing off the ceiling! But then, and we still cannot believe this, came the big one; Overall Manufacturer of The Year. We didn't think we had a hope, but your votes said otherwise. We were shocked and delighted all in one go. I myself am a bit speechless about it still. For a company just over 5 years to hit this milestone is unbelievable and we're delighted what we're trying to achieve is resonating with so many of you. I would just like to extend a sincere thank you on behalf of all the Accurascale/IRM team (Stephen, Patrick, Gareth, Paul, Tim, Steve N, Steve P, Simon, Eugen, Jamie, Tony, Marie, Johnson, Graham, Richard and I) to you all. Your votes in what we're doing and striving to achieve are a real shot in the arm to keep going and get better. After all, no model company is perfect, and we know there are areas where we can and will improve as we grow further! After all, getting to the gold medals is hard, but staying there is even tougher. So, after enjoying it on Sunday evening, it is back to work and the extra efforts for the 2023 awards and beyond is already underway. Cheers! Fran

Hi Rich, I appreciate that you said my post above is balanced, but I don’t think I have been overly defensive before or full of PR spin? I really try not to be, and I’m happy to communicate and be open once obviously respect is reciprocated the other way too. I think that’s very important. I even chip in late at night after office hours after working 8 days straight as we’re passionate about our models and our customers. I’m not saying you have been disrespectful by the way, but I’m confused by that element of your post to be honest. You might disagree, but I think it’s a tad unfair. Indeed, RMWeb was set up by modellers for modellers (isn’t that a tagline for a model railway manufacturer? LOL) as was Accurascale. Do you feel we shouldn’t engage? Production models are off the production line for us. Perhaps I didn’t explain that properly last week. We feed back on that and recommend some final tweaks around assembly or areas like DCC programming etc. Cheers! Fran

Hi @sanspareil, Thanks for dropping by the stand yesterday and Rich really is a great addition to our team for sure! I believe that Mike has moved to group editor and Mark Chivers is now editor. Cheers! Fran

Hi Rich, We appreciate the feedback and understand that different people will have preferences for each model, and isn’t it great to have a choice? Some people will prefer ours, including our windscreens, and others will prefer the other model. Some people have been doing significant modelling work including using replacement glazing on the other model, and that’s their choice too. At the end of the day, modellers have the choice of class 37s now, something we will see more of more of in the hobby in the future as more companies come into the market. That can only be a good thing. I have skin in the game, so people know where my allegiance lies naturally, but we respect the competition greatly. I did get to “unbox” a production sample of our 37 on Thursday last, and it blew me away. Honestly, our 92 was a fantastic model in my eyes, but I believe our 37 is even better. Ultimately the market will decide when they land, and my opinion above is not relevant. We had lots of very positive feedback on it over the weekend at Ally Pally which was great. I’m excited to see the reaction from the masses when they arrive on layouts in the coming weeks. Cheers! Fran

Hi @Daddyman, No problem, just drop us an email support@accurascale.co.uk and we can help you out! Cheers! Fran

Hi Dan, Can you email us on support@accurascale.co.uk and we can advise and help you on this? Cheers! Fran

Hi Tom, Was a pleasure to do the interview with you and what an honour to have the first ever video recorded interview with N Gauge News. Many thanks for that! Cheers! Fran

Hi @97406, Correct, they are still the first painted samples. As per the update provided last week the first three production samples we have received are 37419, 37423 and 37425. All the rest are the old samples. Once production samples of these others roll in on the phased delivery basis in the coming weeks and months we will show them to you all! https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/news/a-first-look-at-class-37-production-samples-and-delivery-schedule-update Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Thank you to everyone who came by our stand at the London Festival of Railway Modelling at Alexandra Palace today, it was great to meet so many new faces and catch up with old friends too! If you’re in the area tomorrow please drop by our stand for a chat, pick up your free catalogue and buck jumper postcard too! Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Been a busy day getting set up for the Ally Pally show and the buckjumper show but just want to extend a sincere thanks to Howard and the BRM team for putting the excellent video together and helping us to bring this announcement to you all! Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Yes, we've listened! Following our first foray into steam traction with the Manor (due very, very soon!) it is time to tackle another steam locomotive and spread our love to another part of the country. We fancied something a bit different, not done before. A challenge! Something cute. Something amazingly tooling heavy, an something rather pretty. There was only one thing for it, it was time to buck the trend. It was time to do the Buckjumper! History Where do you even begin when trying to summarise the history of the Great Eastern Railway’s ‘Buckjumpers’? Built, then rebuilt, with new orders then being built to a similar design, then improved again, and again, and again. Boiler swaps, reclassifications galore and a celebrity loco that was lovingly cared for by its crews and which wore several faux liveries, only to be scrapped rather than enter preservation. And of course, just to muddy the waters, despite being a design that is unequivocally connected to the Liverpool Street ‘Jazz’ services, the locomotives were in use across the country from East Anglia, to Stratford, to Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, to Scotland and on to Manchester, Liverpool and Wrexham. And designs differed between Passenger and Goods versions! Is it any wonder that no one has attempted to model these in Ready-to-Run 00 gauge? Our Project Manger Paul Isles has detailed the history of these beautiful tank engines in our latest "History File" blog which you can read by clicking here! The Model Never afraid of a challenge, we're delighted to be able to bring these delightful tank engines to the RTR market for the first time, with this first batch of five models (four main range, one 'Accurascale Exclusive') covering several of the important changes undergone by the classes between 1890 and 1962. A full 3D scan of the sole survivor of the class GER no. 87 at Bressignham, which provided an excellent basis to design the model across its vast array of detail variants. As always, the tooling suite developed by Accurascale is comprehensive, and covers R24, R24r, S56 (J67 and J69) classes and C72 (J68) class. Taking a ‘high quality’ approach to ourfirst ever tank engine, we have specified a diecast boiler and chassis for added weight, factory fitted brake rigging, a fully detailed cab with magnetic roof and sliding ventilator, flickering firebox glow, full sound provision with twin sugarcube speakers on DCC sound fitted model and powerful coreless motor with next18 DCC interface. Helical gearing also to ensure smooth running qualities as per our other locomotives. The first production run consists of five models, with four main range models covering the extensive career of these locomotives, supplemented with the celebrity BR J69 68619 "Liverpool St. Pilot Pet" which will be an “Accurascale Exclusives” model which will be available in limited numbers direct only via our website and will feature special certificate and presentation packaging. S56 Class No. 84 – GER Ultramarine Blue S56 Class No. 84 was one of the last batch of ten locomotives built for the Great Eastern Railway, to Order P57, at Stratford in 1904 and incorporated many of the improvements made to the R24 Class in the 1902 Improvement Programme. No.84 is portrayed in the classic GER livery of Ultramarine Blue with Vermillion lining and shaded lettering, as it operated from Stratford Shed until being repainted into the GER’s ‘austerity’ grey livery in 1915. LNER J69 No. 359 – LNER Lined Black LNER J69 No. 359 came from an earlier batch of ten locomotives built at Stratford in 1892 and was rebuilt in 1904 into the R24r Class, gaining new safety valves, a new boiler design and 1180 gallon side tanks, but retaining the original narrow cab and coal bunker. No. 359 is portrayed in the earliest 1923 version of the LNER livery of Black with Red Lining, with fully shaded L&NER initials. BR J69 68535 – BR Black Early Crest BR J69 68535 was from the same 1892 batch as No. 359, being originally numbered as 358 under the GER and 7358 under the LNER and was also rebuilt as R24r in 1904. Along with 19 other J69 locomotives, 7358 was transferred to the Scottish Area during 1927/28 and while 11 of those locomotives were returned to the South between 1944 and 1952, the now renumbered 68535 remained in Scotland allocated to Dundee Shed 32B, until withdrawal in August 1959. BR J68 68646 – BR Black Late Crest BR J68 68646 was built in September 1912, part of the first batch of A.J Hill’s improved C72 Class, the final development of Holden’s 0-6-0T classes. First numbered as 50 under the GER, then 7050 under the LNER, 68646 spent its life working the ‘classic’ Buckjumper suburban services out of Stratford shed; firstly, on the Enfield Town and Chingford ‘Jazz’ services and then in places such as North Woolwich, Palace Gates and Blackheath. 68646 was, along with 68649, the only J68 to receive the ‘late’ British Railways crest. BR J69 68619 – Liverpool St. Passenger Pilot (Accurascale Exclusive) BR J69 68619 was the ‘celebrity’ Buckjumper and undoubtedly the most photographed member of the class, due to being the Liverpool Street Passenger Pilot and was kept immaculately presented by its crews and Stratford Shed. Carrying several presentation liveries, 68619 is probably best recognised in its 1959 faux-GER fully lined livery with GER crest addition, which it carried to withdrawal in October 1961. Tooling is now underway with a delivery date slated for Q2 2O24 for the finished models. The first tooling sample is expected this summer with decorated samples due in the winter. Price for the models is £139.99 DC/DCC ready and £239.99 DCC sound fitted with our powerbank set of stay alive capacitors. Place your by clicking here or via your local stockist, and if you're attending the London Festival of Railway Modelling this weekend drop by our stand to check out the 3D print and pick up a catalogue! Cheers! Fran

Bump!

Hi Mike, You're giving better odds than available at Cheltenham this week! 🤣 Cheers Fran

Hi everyone, As you may have read elsewhere, we are announcing an all new locomotive ahead of the London Festival of Railway Modelling Show at Alexandra Palace today at 12pm with our friends BRM magazine. Check out the video reveal here and feel free to place your bets! Cheers! Fran

Hi Mark, Beauty shots currently being processed. A lot of work goes into them and there are a lot of siphons to be shot. We will also have them on our stand at Ally Pally this weekend if you’re in the area. Once they’re uploaded we will post an update in here. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, The NRM limited edition is in “as service” condition. Cheers! Fran

Hi @Covkid, I've passed the link to Gareth, and it's entirely up to him what he does with it. :) Just an FYI everyone, D6703 is now sold out. Thank you to everyone for the pre-orders! Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, After all the excitement of the Class 37 delivery news earlier this week, we can confirm that our lovely Manors are hot on their tail, and not too far away! Check out our latest update here, detailing all delivery information for our first ever steam locomotive: https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/news/all-manor-of-excitement-78xx-update Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Just a wee update on our Run 2 Deltics. Above is the CAD for D9000/55022 in her Virgin XC days as we are modelling her. Due to the different cab footstep and era, RSG received a slightly different style of high intensity headlight that our other preserved Deltics wear. So, did we just fudge it and go with the same headlight that 95% of people wouldnt notice, or do we do it properly and tool the correct style of headlight? Well, as you can guess, we have gone for the latter, tooling up the new headlight and relationship between it and the unique footstep on a new end tooling. Just an insight into the complexity when it comes to detail on these beasts! Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, We had hoped to have decorated samples of our delicious subs for Ally Pally this weekend, but they wont make it unfortunately. What I can confirm is that they are almost complete and we should have them in the next week/10 days. I can also confirm that they look absolutely amazing, but then again I'm a tad biased... Look out for a reveal soon! Cheers! Fran

Hi Tim, It is a separate part which is glued in from behind, if that makes sense. On 423, it has become a little bit pushed in due to handling (We do bounce the production samples around a bit as you can imagine) so can be pushed into place again if the body was taken off. We will advise careful handling in this area. HTH Cheers! Fran