Accurascale Fran

Hi @Awes0mesauce, Very sorry to hear that about your loco. Off hand I am not sure what you would need, but if you send us an email the guys can check for you and we can see if something can be done. Cheers! Fran

Hi @Cliff - Exeter TMD, We are currently awaiting a new batch of motors to be sent to us (the factory sent us a batch of the wrong motors. A new batch will be with us by the end of this week and we will get it out to you as soon as they land. Apologies for this delay. If you send me your order number by PM I will keep on top of it and ensure you get sorted. Many thanks, Fran

Hi everyone, It is an excellent recording we received from a private source. We really must get round to doing a video of it. It sounds mega. Cheers! Fran

*Fires up oxyacetylene torch and begins scrapping new tooling Joke, of course!

Hi Jim, That sounds excellent. If he likes we can always add it or turn it into a blog post on our website too. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, To add to @McC's post above we can also repair a model out of warranty, it would just be charged for labour/time and possibly materials. No one size fits all, so if you require more info please email us. The first port of call of any issue should be our support email, warranty or no warranty, as it is where you will get best advice and help from people who know the models inside out. Cheers! Fran

Hi @Meerkat, The chain on the 37 is made to be push fit to go back into the chassis, so just look at the other end for guidance and replicate it on the side where it has come out. Regarding your running issue, just drop us an email via support@accurascale.com and we will sort you out. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Our last outing for 2023 will be another Accurascale Take-Over of Making Tracks! We will be there (including my good self!) for the day so if you are about on the day, come by and say hi and chat all things Accurascale. It would be a pleasure to see you! And yes, we will have a small but rather important and poignant announcement, and something you can help us with! We will reveal it on the day, and of course have all the news for you here on RMWeb and across our social media channels and website too. We look forward to seeing you there! Cheers! Fran

Hi @Awes0mesauce, The livery on 609 took two attempts to get right and was indeed the most tricky of the lot to do. We're very proud of that one, as was the factory! Cheers! Fran

Hi folks, At this moment we remain non-committal on EM/P4 conversion of the Panniers as despite setting into each project with thought given to it, it hasn't always got all the way though the manufacturing process with it still being easy by the end. So, despite best intentions, it has come back and bit us on the bum. Diesels are a lot easier for this so we can say them with some confidence, but steam is a different kettle (soz) of fish for us to consider. That said, one of our Manors has been converted to EM ahead of a forthcoming article in everyone's favourite finescale journal, and without giving too much away, the modeller in question has informed us it was quite straightforward enough using the existing chassis, and indeed has been quite complimentary. We will do our level best to make the Panniers at least the same as that, but we shant be using it as a selling point just yet! Hope this helps! Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Well, did you spot our little clues? Our little references to POO? Our little sneak peek in our update yesterday? If you didn't, then let us confirm it for you! The latest 'Accurascale Exclusives' announcement is the iconic 16 ton mineral wagons in the wonderful ICI livery which were used for soda ash traffic. Prototype History Of ICI Mond Division’s Wagons for Soda Ash Traffic When the Imperial Chemical Company (ICI) won a contract to export Soda Ash from the Northwich Wallerscote site in the mid-1960s, they encountered a significant barrier to operations when it was found that the vessels allocated to the shipping could not navigate the River Weaver. Instead, it would be necessary to load the Soda Ash at Partington Wharf on the Manchester Ship Canal via the existing wagon tippler, previously employed for coal traffic, however this necessitated the use of unfitted rail wagons, no bigger than the existing 16T Mineral stock. To accommodate this new traffic, between December 1969 and December 1970 ICI’s Mond Division undertook a programme to convert 120 16T wagons at the Avenue Workshops in Northwich, covering vehicle numbers in the 652 to 801 range. These conversions were straightforward, merely adding a sheet bar and sealing the interior across the three door sides of the wagon and while the majority of these vehicles were scrapped by the mid-1970s, a number were re-liveried from their original ICI Green-Blue into the more familiar Grey-Blue, surviving into the early-1980s. Pack P covers these Batch One conversions in their later life, with Nos. 751, 737 and 690 all being fitted with the stepped shank buffer housings and fabricated (but redundant) end doors, as well as Morton Double 2-shoe independent brakes. Axle journals are a mix of standard and square types, with both solid and pressed steel handbrakes being featured. A further batch of 100 wagons were converted by C.C Crump, Connah’s Quay, between November 1971 and March 1972 and while they retained the sheet bar, the sides were reinforced with horizontal side braces and the removal of (in most cases) the side door, which was replaced by a welded panel. These wagons were numbered in the ICI 900-999 range, (C.C Crump 5500-5599), although at least one wagon from this batch, CLWD 5540, is known to have carried the TOPS code of POO.. Pack Q covers these Batch Two conversions, showing the wagons in a later bleached ICI Grey-Blue livery and covers Nos. CCC5534 and CCC5579 in this condition and CLWD 5540 with its POO TOPS Panel (the decorated sample incorrectly shows this wagon as CCC5558 and is being revised). All wagons are fitted with stepped shank buffer housings, fabricated end doors, standard axle journals, solid handbrake handles and Morton 2-shoe brakes. The Model Making up the final two packs from our first production run of 16 ton minerals, these wagons will have the same unbeatable specification and will also be delivered in Q4, 2024. Priced at £74.95 per triple pack, with 10% off when you buy two packs or more, they will come with our usual special presentation packaging and are available to pre-order now from the Accurascale website direct only. Demand is expected to be high so make sure you get your pre-order in via this link: https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/news/accurascales-exclusive-is-a-load-of-poo-ici-soda-ash-16t-minerals Cheers! Fran

Hi @Melangoose, It is not about trustworthy and truthful, it's more that people on one, or indeed both sides can make mistakes or be mistaken is all. We are always here to support retailers in whatever way we can. Overall we're delighted that you got your model and well done on Steve for securing that for you. Enjoy it, it really does look splendid on your layout. Cheers! Fran

Hi @Pint of Adnams, Valid point, but we will be playing around with the shades to see what we can come up with as alternatives, just to see how they sit on the wagons. All part of the fun! Hi @GordonC, Not missed anything yet! News of those shall be forthcoming very soon! Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Great news! We have received our first decorated samples of our 16 ton mineral wagons which we have included many, many pics of in our latest update on or newest addition to our "Powering Britain" range. Of course, usual caveats on fit and finish apply, but check out the blog for more info. We're delighted to report that we are still on course for Q3 2024 delivery as per initial announcement. Read more here: https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/news/decorated-16-tonner-samples-revealed Cheers! Fran

Morning everyone, We have received a number of requests for a "how-to" when it comes to customising headcodes since the last batch of 37s arrived in stock. So, here you go, along with fitting our driver packs from Modelu too! Read it on our website right here: https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/lets-get-involved/fitting-your-class-37-headcodes Cheers! Fran

Hi SulzerPeak, Just a couple of points here; 1, regarding “why so long for returns? We hold our hands up here, but 37 spares went missing between China and UK, and only just turned up. It has also coincided with Simon moving house. It’s on us, and we need to improve there so we hold our hands up but we are getting back on it now. 2. All manufacturers have issues with locos, and the odd dud slips through the net, us included. After all, the manufacturer you named wouldn’t have had the famed “Warley rugby scrum” for years and now the big sale on club members day if all models they sold operated perfectly. And that’s not to run them down, merely to point out that It happens to us all. Can we improve? Always! My recent trip to China has looked at that and we can always do better. It’s what drives us. However, I can assure you that “issues/returns” are extremely low, and indeed lower than we envisaged when we first took the leap into making powered models. in the meantime if you need an update on a model please PM me your order number and I’ll chase for you. Cheers! Fran

Hi @meatloaf, Drop support@accurascale.com an email and we can help you out! Cheers! Fran

Hi @PJ10, Apologies, the last thing I wanted to do was raise stress levels, rather lower them! Regarding overload protection, this is a fail safe built into the chip and is affected by a great many of factors, not just within the loco, but the supply and environment around it such as voltage spikes etc. ESU have protection built into all their function outputs as well as motor protection to prevent against overloads and short circuits for example. It is also advised by ESU themselves to turn down sounds as not to overload the speakers. Please note the below which is from ESU. After all, if was being exclusively caused by internal components then every single loco would cut out as it is the same design, and they obviously do not. We have made a lot more than 100 Class 37s so our data pool, not to mention Deltics, 92s, IRM A Class and Manors, so it is a lot bigger of course, and apart from duff chips the returns for any chip issue is minimal. What I would suggest in your case is that this is not an issue that will manifest over time, so if you have any concerns we would advise you to test your locos within the warranty period to make sure you are happy with them, and if there are any issues to get in touch with our support team who can advise a lot better than me personally as I just seemed to raise your concerns than allay them. Once again apologies for that. I hope this helps, and if it doesnt I recommend dropping Simon an email via our warranty channels as he would have a lot more knowledge than me on this subject. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, Great news! Hot on the heels of our Dublin Show announcement of the Bulleid Open wagons, our next wagon on the iconic triangulated underframe is the LB flat wagons, and the Permanent Way Department variants! A fully diecast floor makes up part of the underframe structure to allow the wagon to get some much needed weight in and assist with delivering excellent running characteristics. A wealth of separate plastic detail consisting of all the braking and underframe gear, stanchions, sprung buffers and brass bearing cups to allow the smoothest of running complete the make up of these beautifully detailed wagons. Read more and browse the range here: https://irishrailwaymodels.com/blogs/announcements/we-got-a-flat-announcing-the-bulleid-lb-and-pwd-flat-wagons Cheers! Fran

Hi @Mallard60022, Fair play, you're stronger willed than me! I had to have one, it just looks the part. Cheers! Fran

Hi Richard, The 'cut out' that some people are having is the ESU overload protection kicking it which is protecting the decoder. This is a built in safety device which helps to prevent overload so the chances of them destroying through this is extremely low by increasing volume. Indeed, since we first released locomotives 3 years ago now we have seen very few, if any failures of decoders outside the odd dud that creeps through which usually fail very early in their lifetimes. There is also the statutory 2 year guarantee from ESU covering decoders should anything go wrong with them which is supported for Accurascale customers through us should anything go wrong. I hope that reassures you regarding your previous and future purchase of Accurascale locomotives. Cheers! Fran

Hi @Mallard60022, Odd, we have them for sale new on the website at the RRP! https://www.accurascale.com/collections/gwr-7800-manor-class/products/7810-draycott-manor-br-manor-class Cheers! Fran

Hi Ian, Many thanks, I have also just emailed you. Just for the record, I do not mind people tagging me for queries. It gives me the notification which I do keep track of. As above, I am not always around to answer straight away, as life can get in the way. So, if I dont answer in a timely manner, please note I am not ignoring you. However, if you need a prompt answer, on anything, email and chat on the website will always get you the quickest answer. I hope this helps, and I'll be back up to speed with all things RMWeb next week. Cheers! Fran

Hi everyone, There's a bit to unpack here. Firstly, it was me that was tagged in the post, and apologies for not responding sooner. I've had a very busy month away from work with a house move and compassionate leave (when the query was put to me and I was tagged) which I promptly missed. I've not been on RMWeb as much as usual or as I would've liked and the notifications can build up fast as a result and get missed. I've just been on to post news and not go through threads as I would in my normal manner. This is what was been referred to as outside hours I believe. We shall endeavour to answer quicker and faster in the future for sure, but we would just ask members to be mindful that private lives and things can happen. If you require an official update, we do have our customer support channels who will update you via chat or email should you not get the response you require here in a timely fashion. Apologies once again, Fran

Hi everyone, et's Get Involved, our step-by-step modelling guides on how to personalise and take your Accurascale model to a new level is back, and it's a big one; the ultimate Class 37 weathering guide! Talented modeller @James Makin has taken on the weathering of a number of our models in the past, but he has gone to town on one of our tractors, looking to replicate 37059 in it's decrepit condition in the early days of privitisation, complete with faded logos, removed nameplates, filth, patches and rust, not to mention former liveries coming through the paint work. This step by step guide shows you how you can inflict such grime on your own loco, using some or all the tips if you want to go for that real run down appearance! Check it out here: https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/lets-get-involved/lets-get-involved-class-37-weathering-guide-by-james-makin Cheers! Fran