Class 37, by Accurascale

[Porcy Mane]

27 minutes ago, Accurascale Fran said:

We have gone back to the factory and have come up with a solution to make the headlamp smaller and therefore we can move it to the correct position

 

"Service with a smile". Nice one boys. 

 

Something I may have missed from previous posts? Is the door mouldings on the splitty's, a separate moulding?  It's just that my twisted mind is considering some flexible connections between a double header.

[97406]

12 minutes ago, Porcy Mane said:

 

"Service with a smile". Nice one boys. 

 

Something I may have missed from previous posts? Is the door mouldings on the splitty's, a separate moulding?  It's just that my twisted mind is considering some flexible connections between a double header.

 

Before the official response, I would say it is as there are plated over versions to accommodate.

[Enterprisingwestern]

19 minutes ago, Porcy Mane said:

 

"Service with a smile". Nice one boys. 

 

Something I may have missed from previous posts? Is the door mouldings on the splitty's, a separate moulding?  It's just that my twisted mind is considering some flexible connections between a double header.

 

There's always one!

 

Mike.

[scissors]

Excellent in-depth post by Rick_Skateboard. I've been meaning to post regarding the height of the spotlight and corner handrails but you beat me to it.

 

Great to hear from Fran that they are trying to do something about the light. I would agree that the corner handrails are too tall though.

 

Just a few more items of feedback I don't think has been covered:

1. Is it possible for the lights in the headcode boxes to be more opaque? They look a little too clear.
2. Specifically on 43043, the nose of the prototype only has the OH warning flash label on one side at the radiator end, none at the engine end. The sample shown by Accurascale shows two at the radiator end.
3. On 37043 again, the mesh in the side radiator grilles looks to be black on the prototype but is blue on the sample.

 

 

Edited May 27, 2022 by scissors

[Accurascale Fran]

12 minutes ago, scissors said:

Excellent in-depth post by Rick_Skateboard. I've been meaning to post regarding the height of the spotlight and corner handrails but you beat me to it.

 

Great to hear from Fran that they are trying to do something about the light. I would agree that the corner handrails are too tall though.

 

Just a few more items of feedback I don't think has been covered:

1. Is it possible for the lights in the headcode boxes to be more opaque? They look a little too clear.
2. Specifically on 43043, the nose of the prototype only has the OH warning flash label on one side at the radiator end, none at the engine end. The sample shown by Accurascale shows two at the radiator end.
3. On 37043 again, the mesh in the side radiator grilles looks to be black on the prototype but is blue on the sample.

 

 

 

Hi Scissors,

 

1/ They should be opaque, this is a factory oversight at the deco sample stage. Have feedbacked to the factory and it will be fixed for production.

2/ 37043 has only the one nose OHLE warning flash on the driver's side at the No.1 end and none at the No.2 end. This was on the artwork but the factory went overboard, nor used to our bespoke warning flash configurations which change on every loco. Again has been feedbacked to the factory and will be fixed for production.

3/ The bodyside rad grille colour is very difficult to ascertain accurately on 37043. All our photos suggest they should be blue but if you  can provide evidence to the contrary then we can take another look.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

[Rick_Skateboard]

1 hour ago, Accurascale Fran said:

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks for the feedback over the past few days. We have gone back to the factory and have come up with a solution to make the headlamp smaller and therefore we can move it to the correct position. They are going to pull out all the stops to ensure any delay is kept to an absolute minimum but we will have a full and in-depth 37 update in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for that.

 

We agree the horn grilles are a little weak point and these was fed back to the factory when we got the initial samples so is an area that is being improved.

 

Regarding the the handrails. We have consulted scans and survey material this morning, and we are convinced that they are correct, with the angle of the photograph causing the perception that they are not in the right place. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

4 minutes ago, Accurascale Fran said:

 

Hi Scissors,

 

1/ They should be opaque, this is a factory oversight at the deco sample stage. Have feedbacked to the factory and it will be fixed for production.

2/ 37043 has only the one nose OHLE warning flash on the driver's side at the No.1 end and none at the No.2 end. This was on the artwork but the factory went overboard, nor used to our bespoke warning flash configurations which change on every loco. Again has been feedbacked to the factory and will be fixed for production.

3/ The bodyside rad grille colour is very difficult to ascertain accurately on 37043. All our photos suggest they should be blue but if you  can provide evidence to the contrary then we can take another look.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

 

Thanks for the updates Fran. 

 

Aside from the outstanding products at reasonable prices, this is where Accurascale is really leading the field - communication with modellers/customers, and reacting to feedback.  Brilliant.

 

Cheers

 

Rick 

[scissors]

13 minutes ago, Accurascale Fran said:

 

Hi Scissors,

 

1/ They should be opaque, this is a factory oversight at the deco sample stage. Have feedbacked to the factory and it will be fixed for production.

2/ 37043 has only the one nose OHLE warning flash on the driver's side at the No.1 end and none at the No.2 end. This was on the artwork but the factory went overboard, nor used to our bespoke warning flash configurations which change on every loco. Again has been feedbacked to the factory and will be fixed for production.

3/ The bodyside rad grille colour is very difficult to ascertain accurately on 37043. All our photos suggest they should be blue but if you  can provide evidence to the contrary then we can take another look.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

Excellent Fran, thanks for that.

 

I couldn't provide definitive evidence on the radiator grille colour. As you say, it's very difficult to ascertain.

 

 

[Graham108]

3 hours ago, Pillar said:

 definately 

Somebody had the same spelling tutor as @ERIC ALLTORQUE

[westie7]

15 hours ago, Rick_Skateboard said:

 

Some of my thoughts on the decorated samples.  Obviously these are the best rtr model of a class 37 we've ever had, and the fact that peope are nitpicking over little issues shows how good they are overall.  The nose and windscreen are the 'face' of the loco and it's so important to get that right.  The windscreens look excellent, infinitely better than the Bachmann ones, and I'm looking forward to not having to go down the Extreme Etchings/Laserglaze route again; excellent results but a lot of work! 

 

I do agree with people who are saying the headlight is too high.  I understand that it's overscale and that throws the proportions out, but I think it would have been better to get the actual lamp in the right place even if that meant the bracket went too low down on the nose door.  The lamp is the bit that the eye is drawn to, especially when it's lit, and it should be below the centre line of the marker lights.  I'm guessing it's too late to change this now?

 

The bracket should be yellow, not black, which would also help to hide it being overscale.  Easy enough for the modeller to change if they have to, but yellow is always a pain to paint, especially over black.

 

I'm not convinced by the horn grilles.  I can see what Accurascale have tried to do here, but I think the gap between the last luvre and the rounded side is far too big and looks a bit odd.  Perhaps that gap is slightly bigger on the real thing, but I don't think it scales down well.

 

 

Finally, I think the handrails on the corners of the nose are too long/go too far up.  There should be a bigger gap between the top of the handrail and the bottom of the headcode box.

 

As I said, I'm being picky and overall these look excellent.  I've got two on order and will certainly buy more as different versions are released.  Apologies if I'm just repeating what others have already said.

 

To prove I'm not scared of doing some actual modelling occasionally here's a picture of one of my heavily detailed Bachmann 37s, and now as I'm looking at it I can see a load of things I'm still not happy with!  I am really looking forward to the Accurascale ones!

 

 

Cheers

 

Rick

 

Interesting points, your marked up images have now got me looking at the tail lights

 

Mark 

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 hours ago, Graham108 said:

Somebody had the same spelling tutor as @ERIC ALLTORQUE

 

Most definately.

 

Mike.

[aeroplane]

 

from https://twitter.com/accurascale/status/1527004462149140483

[Gilbert]

11 minutes ago, aeroplane said:

 

from https://twitter.com/accurascale/status/1527004462149140483

Presumably all sold out.....

[Bucoops]

13 minutes ago, aeroplane said:

 

from https://twitter.com/accurascale/status/1527004462149140483

 

I'm straining to read the name on that ;)

[aeroplane]

38 minutes ago, Gilbert said:

Presumably all sold out.....

It is on accurascale's website, but still some here for example

https://railsofsheffield.com/search?q=37608

[scissors]

I'm supposed to be concentrating on the late 80's but I can't get those checkerplate steps out of my head.

[Krieghoff]

Well folks.

Ive just caught up with all the feedback and the replies from Fran and the team at Accurascale. My hat is well and truly doffed to a company that have not only listened to their customers but gone back to the factory and made an alteration to the light at the nose of the loco. That is surely deserving of praise of the very highest order. I have never known this sort of interaction and even collaboration between a company and its customers. 

 

Well done to Fran and the whole team. 

 

I have 4 class 37's on order and a Deltic (Royal Scotts Gray)

 

Cant wait !!!!

[adb968008]

10 hours ago, Accurascale Fran said:

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks for the feedback over the past few days. We have gone back to the factory and have come up with a solution to make the headlamp smaller and therefore we can move it to the correct position. They are going to pull out all the stops to ensure any delay is kept to an absolute minimum but we will have a full and in-depth 37 update in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for that.

 

We agree the horn grilles are a little weak point and these was fed back to the factory when we got the initial samples so is an area that is being improved.

 

Regarding the the handrails. We have consulted scans and survey material this morning, and we are convinced that they are correct, with the angle of the photograph causing the perception that they are not in the right place. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

Oh guys, well done.

 

I appreciate we may have put the spot light back on you guys there, but thats excellent news. Imo its the right decision, its a unique aspect to these locos and will serve you longer than just the 4 announced.

 

 

[adb968008]

On 27/05/2022 at 13:54, scissors said:

 

1. On 37043 again, the mesh in the side radiator grilles looks to be black on the prototype but is blue on the sample.

I seem to recall them being blue but dirty.

The inside grill wasnt always scrubbed as much as the body side in the carriage wash, and it seemed to be dirt more than anything else.

 

if you zoom on the next image, you can see the dirt accumulating on the insets of the grill, and it sits in shadow, but its blue. As a kid I used to often darken the grills on my Lima 37’s and 31’s, it made them look better, but it should be blue, however my reason for doing it was Limas paint didnt always cover the grill and it showed up plastic yellow !

 

Flickr url / not mine. Of 37043.

 

 

I did look through my own images, none of 043,  but pulled this one of 37418, and you can see here its definitely dirty, building up from the bottom, but blue… (taken in 1987, not perfect but I was a kid)

 

 

By comparison this full shot also in 1987 of 37418 it looks black from a distance.

(not mine/flickr url), 

(as an aside I dont recall air con stock at Kyle that often).

Edited July 30, 2023 by adb968008

[westie7]

18 hours ago, Accurascale Fran said:

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks for the feedback over the past few days. We have gone back to the factory and have come up with a solution to make the headlamp smaller and therefore we can move it to the correct position. They are going to pull out all the stops to ensure any delay is kept to an absolute minimum but we will have a full and in-depth 37 update in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for that.

 

We agree the horn grilles are a little weak point and these was fed back to the factory when we got the initial samples so is an area that is being improved.

 

Regarding the the handrails. We have consulted scans and survey material this morning, and we are convinced that they are correct, with the angle of the photograph causing the perception that they are not in the right place. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers!

 

Fran 

 

Outstanding 🤩

[Enterprisingwestern]

11 hours ago, thetrains said:

I am amazed you can keep your patience, who runs their trains with a magnifying glass 2" away.  18" viewing should be good enough for most.

 

I think you're missing the point?

 

Mike.

[Michael Hodgson]

12 hours ago, adb968008 said:

(as an aside I dont recall air con stock at Kyle that often).

You don't need air conditioning there - the atmosphere is quite clean if often rather dreich.

All you really need is a decent heating system and a means of excluding midges.

[64F]

13 hours ago, adb968008 said:

 

(as an aside I dont recall air con stock at Kyle that often).

 

There was a period around 1987 when the seating coaches off the Euston sleeper did a round trip to Kyle during the day.  Various pics on Flickr including this one, complete with first class:

 

 

[scissors]

15 hours ago, adb968008 said:

I seem to recall them being blue but dirty.

The inside grill wasnt always scrubbed as much as the body side in the carriage wash, and it seemed to be dirt more than anything else.

 

if you zoom on the next image, you can see the dirt accumulating on the insets of the grill, and it sits in shadow, but its blue. As a kid I used to often darken the grills on my Lima 37’s and 31’s, it made them look better, but it should be blue, however my reason for doing it was Limas paint didnt always cover the grill and it showed up plastic yellow !

 

Flickr url / not mine. Of 37043.

 

 

I did look through my own images, none of 043,  but pulled this one of 37418, and you can see here its definitely dirty, building up from the bottom, but blue… (taken in 1987, not perfect but I was a kid)

 

By comparison this full shot also in 1987 of 37418 it looks black from a distance.

(not mine/flickr url), 

(as an aside I dont recall air con stock at Kyle that often).

Great pictures and just what I was after, thank you very much for taking the time to post them.

 

Looks like I need to get some weathering practice in.

[Enterprisingwestern]

3 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

You don't need air conditioning there - the atmosphere is quite clean if often rather dreich.

All you really need is a decent heating system and a means of excluding midges.

 

Pedantically, a/c isn't only for cooling, its just as efficient as a heating medium, it's the best way to defrost car windscreens.

 

Mike.

[Growling]

Could anyone kindly offer me an expert opinion on renumbering and re-decalling 37043 as 37026 Shapfell, when the latter was large logo in the  Motherwell fleet?

 

I know the headcode boxes will need yellowing but are there other major detail differences between the 2?

 

Thanks, Richard.