mattingleycustom

Quite a few posts back, I posted a sneak peak at one at one of my Bulleids which was just about to be weathered. It was significant for several reasons, primarily it was the last Battle of Britain, I hadn't renamed and also the last Air Smoothed one. It's been complete for a while (there's been a picture up in one of my galleries as well), however a few PM's and emails (and attachments) have flown between here and New Zealand and this morning this arrived from Rob:

'The last air smoothed one' - Mr Bulleid would be proud of you for conforming to his description of the Spam Can shape.

Love the doctored photo, it could almost be the real thing and shows just how convincing the Hornby model (and your weathering) is.

Glenn

I've had a lot of Hornby steam outline pass through my hands over the last ten year's or so, but as a Southerner I do have some bias towards the sunnier end of the country.

The N15, Castle and the Stanier 2-6-4T are just about the best I've seen, they all capture the look of the originals well and run well to boot. I thought about the Britannia too, it too runs like a dream, but there is a balance to strike between the amount of seperate details fitted and their tendency to come off and on that basis the BR7 basically needed stronger glue to put it nearer the top of the pile.

The original WC/BB, Gresley A1/3/4 and Stanier Black 5 are fine, but Hornby have done better. Oddly the rebuilt Merchant Navy that started Hornby on the 'super-detailed' range of today, looks a bit lacking in detail nowadays.

Other than the Gresley corridor stock (too boxlike, see Coach for more details) Hornby have produced some cracking coaching stock in recent years. The best thing about modelling the SR nowadays is having the excellent Maunsell stock to run with the locos, thirty years ago it was Sir Dinadan and some pseudo-GWR stock in SR lined green.

Glenn

I've just taken delivery of three of the beasts, 9017 and 2x 9003 and have been running them in. 9017 is noticeably noisier than its DCC cousins despite over an hour of running in.

Does anyone know if the Bachmann GWR green is the correct shade and is it the same as the pre war green (I always assumed GWR green was the same shade from 1928 to 1948)?

As an aside: Hornby's Star is a different shade, but then it seems that Hornby use a different shade of nearly every colour to that supplied by Phoenix, Railmatch or Bachmann.

I am contemplating taking 9003 back to Shirtbutton livery with a 32XX number.

Glenn

Thanks for that review link Andy.I must be behind the times but I hadn't noticed that Bachmann are using that plug in method for connection now or is it just the dcc version using it.I hope it's more user friendly than the Hornby version.It's ages since I bought a 'new' Bachmann tender engine.

 

I do like that black version though.

Another GWR prototype that I'm going to find very hard to resist!

The plug in connector is the same as the Hornby version, Bachmann have used it on the Wainwright C, Midland 3F and 4F that I know of and a few other types no doubt. Fiddly I know, but once you've invested in the insertion/extraction tool easy to use.

I thought all Bachmann motors are 3-pole jobs, I stand to be corrected.

Glenn

My Glasto-Abbey arrived this morning too.

I just love the way the moulded handrail causes the Tampo machine to slightly skew the lining on the cabside, so much better than those pesky separately fitted handrails. Design Clever! ...

... seriously though, it's a great model for the price even with the few niggles.

Glenn

Hornby bogie wheels don't represent anything in particular whether they be 10 or 12 spoke. Gibson bogie wheels considerably improve the look of RTR locos and put them in the 'scale' bracket......I do it as a matter of course.

 

WEB Gibson bogie wheels.jpg

Very nice job Coach, but blacken those driving wheel treads as well.

Having read some of this thread (not all 46 pages), I ordered some 10-spoke wheels from Alan Gibson and fitted them to my Hornby Star yesterday.

A vast improvement on the Hornby originals, I painted the axle ends black, plus the wheel rims on all wheels, the buffer heads and a few other bright items to produce a more sombre Knight of the Grand Cross.

If I can obtain some 'Vauxhall' inside cylinder covers, I feel a rename or two coming on!

Glenn

I took delivery of Knight of the Grand Cross a few weeks back and was quite impressed by its appearance, crucially Hornby have got the orange lining colour correct at last. The latest Castles (GWR and BR versions) all had a blatantly red shade that just didn't work as 'orange', but the Star shines in this respect at least - pardon the pun.

A bit disapointed in the moulded cabside handrail - why?, especially when you contrast that with the copper coloured drain cock adjacent to the smokebox door, black and moulded would have been fine! Long tender fenders and 12-spoke bogie wheels excepted its a fine model and I want more (and a Saint or two).

4018 has been hauling three Bachmann Colletts around the test track; too light a load for a Star, but at least they compliment eachother in their GWR shirtbutton finery.

Glenn

Thanks Ian, I am aware of the major etched nameplate manufacturers, I was just wondering who made those for your A2s.

I used Fox for Sun Chariot and Hornets Beauty, they are more expensive than the other manufacturers, but have the benefit of true Gill Sans typeface for the etched smokebox door number in stainless steel.

On the same subject, I received my Bachmann Peppercorn A2 'Blue Peter' model yesterday, coincidental with the arrival of the nameplates from Fox. Comparison of the etched plates supplied by Bachmann and the Fox versions with photos of those on the original, show the Fox version to be the most accurate.

Glenn

Here are my first pictures of these loco's, still got a bit of work to do which in the main is a little light weathering. You will see the modified smokebox on Suger Palm & Velocity (one piece handrail) & as comes with BP on Happy Knight. New numbers & shedplates off course. They are done as running late 1961 early 1962.

Cheers

Ian H

(silverlink)

Can I ask where you get the etched nameplates and smokebox door numbers from?

Glenn