micklner

1 hour ago, JohnR said:

Although I share peoples concerns about Ashley's business practices, we do need to get it into perspective. He has simply bought 9% of the shares. That does not entitle him to tell the Hornby Management how to run the company. It might, jut might, be enough for him to get a single director on the board. But even then, that individual would be easily outvoted by the other board members.

 

Its clear that the two biggest shareholders (Phoenix Assets with 73.4%) still have confidence in the company, although it appears that Artemis Investment (the second largest shareholders) are the ones to have sold shares to Frasers - their shareholding is now only 9.7% 

Dont hold your breath on what the next move by Ashley, maybe ????.

23 minutes ago, ColinB said:

Interesting you say that, a few years ago I was talking to one of the staff and she was saying it made more profit than the Bluewater store.

Interesting the Lakeside branch before and after Ashley was always a bit of a white elephant , stock either overpriced or total rubbish if priced cheaper. Being local to me, there was never many customers in there at any time.

Bluewaters branch is much larger and not any  better in stock or customers , I was surprised to see it still open on my last visit, I had presumed Frasers shops had all gone.

Both shopping centres are barely half full of shops/units in actual use . I doubt if either Centre are charging very much for shop spaces/rentals.

Perhaps Ashley wants the Hornby old factory !! 🤣

Nice review.

However not mentioned in the review.

They have  fitted 1930's LNER Parallel Buffers not the NER Taper Buffers as used in that period.

There appears to be a large join "gap'on the Boiler top behind the Dome's location.                                                                                     

Poorly moulded "Handrails" on the Cab sides access area. It would have been easier to have simply added the Doors to the Body moulding, instead of supplying them as seperate items. 

Mentioned in the video, but I am still not convinced re the different Green colour of the Dome .

They could easily bring out a A5/2 which was used in the LNER and BR North East area with reduced height fittings. A lot cheaper to make than a all new Loco as well.

JW

    Is the Pivot arm free to move at both ends? . How is it fixed/located onto the front screw ? Any spring at the Bogie end ? Is the Bogie still removable ?

Thanks for the photo and drawing .

Mick

1 hour ago, jwealleans said:

There's also the dodge of having it on an arm, but with the fixing point ahead of the bogie instead of behind.    Barry Oliver suggested that to me when I was rebuilding a DJH C7 and it#snever been a problem even through the very tight pointwork on Grantham.   There is a formula which I can send on if you think it might be useful.

A photo of the set up would be good please.

God help Hornby  cause Ashley wont !! . Hated by one and all.

If ??  House of  Fraser are doing so well !! how comes it has just shut the Frasers store  in Lakeside Essex, which was losing money for years . He buys up loss making companies and then shuts or sells them at a loss or whatever.

Nothing good will come of it !!

Simply Beautiful !!

It will be very intersesting to see what Squires actually do with all of the DJH range. Many kits need a serious update, and as said their prices are laughable on a lot of the items.

3 hours ago, Downer said:

They shouldn’t, but the model is out there now, and moaning won’t get it fixed.

 

 

As far as I know, smokebox door handles are available from a number of sources.

No one is moaning its called a discussion.

Hornby cannot claim now they are not aware of the faults on the 8F. They either reduce the price of  the 8F  to around the Railroad pricing level and hope they still sell, or lose lots of money sending them all back to China for correction.

My prints of the LNER Steel container (not printed by me) are in  4mm there are other scales as well, the decals are on the same page as the download as well. The different scales are on the Download.

https://www.printables.com/model/349082-oit-lnerlms-shipping-container-1-148

Matches the lovely huge lump posing as a Bogie . U can't make it up !!!

3 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

F1 livery Power Rankings: The best and worst looks of 2024.

 

https://www.espn.co.uk/racing/story/_/id/39524732/f1-livery-power-rankings-best-worst-looks-2024

Aston Martin at no 1 errr nope !!

I wonder what the large bumps either side of the Airbox actually do ?? Newey wouldnt say .

The Front wing looks very vulnerable , slightest touch and it will be in space !! In fact the whole car looks flimsy!!

3 minutes ago, andyman7 said:

 

 

Even the old tool 8F was originally released in 1988 so that's not a 1970s model

 

 

Furthermore, even if it is it won't be the tool from the 'old' 8F because that won't exist. If it is a different smokebox moulding the most likely explanation will be that the previous one was broken or missing and a new one has had to me tooled up. The manufacture of models for Hornby is undertaken by a number of suppliers. Many of the older Chinese tools were originally used to produce models at the Sanda Kan facility and when that closed there was not an orderly transfer of tools - some may recall the threads from a decade back relating to the rather difficult situation that Hornby found themselves in.

 

I'm not going to comment on the pricing of this model but it is worth laying to rest the impression that models from old tools are always cheap to knock out. There may not be the origination cost of cutting the tools but finding them, testing them, making sure all the ancillary bits (glazing, smokebox door, detail parts) are accounted for is a considerable piece of work. and the assembly costs a lot more than it used to when most detail was moulded on (smokebox door handle or not...) now that Chinese labour costs have risen. 

No idea why excuses are being made or even suggested. Hornby for reasons only known to themselves have decided to rehash a very old model,  and are then trying then sell it a premium price . For that money it should be a all new model.

Perhaps you have missed below ?

In the Kimber D20 instructions on of  the page with the Backhead drawing  Arthur recomends Alan Gibson 4844C 3' 8" 14.6mm. 12 spoke Plain wheels for the Bogie and mentions the tight clearances if using anything larger. He also recomends Gibson 6'8" drivers as they do not make 6'10" ones. He does'nt mention the Tender wheel size needed. I have just ordered the same Gibson 3' 8" wheels for mine,  hopefully they will match the undersize ones on the Loco.

My D20 is still in its box, as my Raven A2 is nearly done, it might be my next build. I have never heard of a Chivers D20 only a Chivers Q6 ?.
 

28 minutes ago, Chas Levin said:

And as Quentin Crisp remarked, "vice is its own reward"! 😉

 

I'm impressed Mick that you use this piece of kit on your lap: it's pretty hefty and I find it a little unwieldy because of its weight and length and irregular shape, so I found securing it in something made it much easier to use. That vice that you see in the photos is the type on a posable ball joint which has to be done up tightly to keep it stable and it's not really designed for anything as long and heavy as these rollers so a little care is needed.

 

I'm guessing that you've been using your rollers for quite a few years and that you've used them on a considerable number of models, so you're very practised with them? Give me a few years and perhaps I too will manage handheld rolling! 😄

As already said you are rolling thin metal . The big advantage for me is you can lift the rollers at any angle to see what is actually happening with the metal as the rollers turn. You are limited what you can see when its fitted into a Vice.

Yes its heavy ish but the rolling takes a few minutes or less !!. Stick a Towel on your legs first will help, if needed.

One tip, dont try and roll anything in one go especially with Boilers , keep taking it out of the rollers and checking as you go.

Plus my small Vice is a very cold outside shed, as is my Workmate.  No tittering  😅!!.

My friend also said "Turn the handle"

44 minutes ago, Butler Henderson said:

Maybe someone should try contacting Hornby. There is the other possibility of the factory pulling a fast one and they may not be aware,

No company will be so naieve. Could they  ???

I have never used my GW Roller in any kind of Vice, it just rests on my lap during the rolling. Its only ever rolled thin etched Brass parts without any issues . There is virtually no effort/force in rolling required.

I simply just adjust the Allen Screws until the shape is right too !!.

If I ever needed a Vice, as said above  the Workmate is ideal.

They look like HMRS decals, if they are not varnished, they will come off with a cocktail stick.

Sadly that looks something like a SR M7. Loco or similar. Its nothing like a LNER G5 .

One of my G5's for comparison.

3 minutes ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

 

The Markits wheels situation appears to lie with Markits supply. Roxey Mouldings website shows a similar picture.

Indeed, I believe Roxey gave up selling the Wheels a while ago.

On 09/02/2024 at 19:03, melmerby said:

They were caught pirating TCS decoders and it got legal.

Their decoder tester is a blatant copy of the ESU one.

 

If you are OK using cheap Chinese rip offs, so be it.

I am not and won't touch them with a barge pole.

I can buy a genuine European made decoder that isn't a pirated one for less than an Imperium 21 pin.

Needs must in the real world.

No idea re DCC products, as I do not have any interest in DCC .

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

Ah. Lais, the pirating company.

No idea either way. One of many if it is.

I found a correct size motor for a Hornby Loco for £6 therin , no one else had them anywhere. A old list said £46 from the makers when they had some .

No brainer for me, and the motor works far better than the original,  simply because the original was fried and it actually works and does'nt try to melt the Locos body when running !!.

3 hours ago, gr.king said:

Ordered by phone, to avoid any hitches with on-line two-step card verification, mid afternoon Wednesday (day before yesterday), had a nice conversation about the state of the model railway trade too, items delivered by post by 9.30am today. I was also offered the alternative of collecting the items, post free, from a nearby show this weekend if I happened to be going, but that's not the case. Costs not at all unreasonable compared to the spiralling prices in the RTR sector. Happy customer!

 

Yes always excellent service. The problem now is a lot of his stock has sold out especially the Markits range.