cambo74

Back on the paints today ......a new approach to Inter City ScotRail Livery .... am going to try Fox Transfers stripes ......also the obligatory pair of Scottish Large Logo 47s, a DRS Class 66 no 091 and finally a Freightliner Green Class 90 - 90041....

Ok then .... off we go .....

To start with a couple of 47s which have been resprayed and renumbered into Large Logo Livery and then detailed and weathered ...... 47517 Andrew Carnegie & 47550 University of Dundee.....

does anyone know where you can order these or have they not been put up yet ?

Tried Model Rail and Kernow websites and no link to pre-order

Ben 

2 hours ago, DBC90024 said:

Thumbs up here Ben ... 

 

You do it how you see fit, personally I liked what you did before, it was kinda cool watching things come together ... I had actually been looking for your latest workbench upload .. but it has to work for you of course first and foremost.

 

Kat@johnsonstreetIEMD

Cheers Kat- ill probably try and find some middle ground but I guess what im trying to say is that im going to slow down a bit and not go at 100 miles an hour all the time .... the small bits are usually the most important ones ....

Ben 

Right little update for you guys and girls out there on the RCS Coaches and the postage charges .....

It is technically correct in that they charge postage based on the expected release dates ..... and they obviously dispatch separately when released.

The dates for the coaches are 26/12 and 27/12/2021 and therefore as one is Boxing Day and there is not postage then common sense will hopefully prevail and they will be packaged together when released (assuming they hit the expected release date). 

I did ring them and was advised that even if the coaches arrived in two batches as per expected release dates, as the value of both packages would be over £50 then free postage is applied.  

So well done to Hornby and a lesson, that yes you should ring to enquire .... but alls well that ends well ......... but technically the website was correct but as the items are all related then the release dates are close together ......

So give them a ring to order ... may take a bit longer - but worth it ....

Ben 

Oh no - fortunately post is back to normal here and seems most days there is either a new model to do or new decals and nameplates arriving for models in progress.....

Ben 

2 minutes ago, blueeighties said:

Yep, it's a tricky balance getting everything right....I'm now 8 years in and every day is still a school day for me. We have discussed this before....quality is paramount and all else is worked around that. You can have your cake and eat it with this business, but you have to be honest with yourself and know your strengths and weaknesses. 

 

Best of luck.

Quite right mate .... we do have many chats about things over the years ....... looking forward to putting things into practice .....

Great work as always Jerry 

Ben 

So, what follows here is either an attempt by me to be honest or it will turn out to be a Gerald Ratner style professional suicide ...... lets hope its the first option ......

Last night I received a semi anonymous email which contained lots of constructive criticism of my work from my peers - some of whom may frequent this forum ..... It mentioned various things from taking on too much work to the quality of my finishing and it made me think - it certainly didn't make me sleep last night - but I have to admit that they were right on a number of the points raised ... 

So, what to do .... well I could get arsey and defensive but there is no point, there is enough negativity and bad feeling in the world at the moment so with that in mind I have decided to take the positive route ....

Im not going to list excuses or reasons why, aside from saying, 2020 has not been a great year for anyone and if I'm honest my focus has changed from it being a hobby to becoming a job - something a wise old sage said to me when I started out doing this to avoid at all costs.  I've become a production line and as a consequence have rushed through things at times and not finished the models off to the standards I would expect myself and in what is a growing and competitive industry, these types of things make you stand out from the rest. Dont get me wrong its nice to be busy but sometimes the balance wasn't there.

I have decided to remove my previous thread and will use 2021 to start afresh on many fronts, I will also not update as much as I used to as although people enjoy seeing work in progress - it can also be seen as unfinished and I think that less is more sometimes and will mostly publish pictures of the final product as apposed to when there may be the odd thing still not completed.

This is my livelihood and as a consequence how I am perceived by my customers and colleagues is of paramount importance and something I will endeavour to improve moving forward.

Have a few days off with the Kids now which im really looking forward to and come Monday I will sit down in what is Day 1 of Bens Resprays 2 - Spray Harder !!!

Thanks for taking time to read this and thank you to all my loyal friends and customers who have supported me since I started doing this full time in 2018 - here's to a great year for us all...

Ben 

Just now, JGPhoto said:

I can confirm that I pre-ordered all the RCS coaches and was charged £4.98 postage on each coach, all processed as a separate order.

Thats terrible ...... one lost order here ......

Has anybody ordered the RCS Mk3 Charter Coaches which are a Web Exclusive only available from Hornby Direct on their website ......... the coaches are £34.99 and when you get to the checkout - It charges you £4.98 postage ... PER COACH..... therefore to buy the full rake of 5 coaches including the support coach it costs you £25 postage ...

So with that in mind - dont think I will bother ...... what a bloody rip off !!!!

Great work as always Leonardo ......

RCS Coaches deffo on the Hattons Website .....

Good to see the Hornby Website is as useless as ever for responding ......... cant get onto the site for love or money .......

19 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Any truth to the rumours that Railroad plus 47’s are becoming Hornby Website exclusives ?

 

Ive heard it mentioned today that 47593 / 47/7 and Rail Charter coaches are not being made available to retailers ?

 

certainly google agrees, only Hattons and Kernow are showing 47593.. no sites list the RCS coaches... except Hornbys.

 

is that by design or error ?

i seem to have having de-ja-vu.

 

With 6x2MTs, 6xW1’s, loads of fake coaches “designed clever”, loads of A2’s and in quick succession.. ...and now this story of the 47’s...

 

It reminds me the “growing the website” “design clever” business and making too many numbers too soon... those memories of 2013 havent even faded yet. ..we've even got a new P2 

The RCS coaches are on the Hattons site - just search via coaches and select Era 11 and they appear .... pre-ordered some myself 

Cheers Jerry 

Hi all - am in the process of respraying a Class 90 into RfD Livery ... have sprayed the lower bodyside Rail Grey and referring to the Fox Transfers Paint Guide - it says the upper bodyside should be flint grey but looking at the pictures - it seems darker .....

What do you guys use ??

Ben 

Thank for your help - managed to sort some now 

Ben

Correct colours would be a nice surprise ...

There's nothing for me ....... sorry, just wanted to get in first ....

7 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

There's a society for that..........

 

Having said that. Hornby aren't the first or last to contact societies and it can backfire - tries to remember which loco/livery/detail tripped up one of the major manufacturers (Bachmann?), when they got some duff info via a society member.

 

The danger in consulting in multiple sources (e.g. societies) is that it then ends up being designed by a committee.

 

They can't win, but even basic photo research - never mind any specific colour matching to specs - shows these GB50s as just plainly too light.

 

 

Wasn't it Oxford with the Mk3 Coaches ..... the ScotRail flavour .... the so called 'expert' told them the wrong colours ...

Yeah im thinking of doing the same to mine .... though we shouldn't have to .....

On 27/12/2020 at 13:08, adb968008 said:

Perhaps GBRF should enquire, it is after-all their  livery being mis-represented, perhaps theres some terms about using their livery accurately to portray their brand in a positive light.

 

unless everyone wraps up and returns it, its unlikely they will change it. Given how popular this pair is, I suspect many wont want to.

 

I bet this error wont ever happen on the Coronation Scot set.

 

Hornby would do well to engage with some modellers interested in the 1980-2020 scene, in the same way they do with steam era, it is afterall their revenue they should be protecting.

Good idea

5 minutes ago, Squirrel Rail said:

Cheers Ben, hope you have a good Christmas and next years a better year, we ought to have a sweepstake on the duplicates!! Looking forward to the Bachmann peaks and 20s in the new year, all the best Jerry

Me too ...... and the Hornby Kettles ....... #theresnothinginitforme

Great work as always Jerry - Have a great Xmas and I look forward to us duplicating workbenches in 2021 pal .....

Ben