"I'm planning on having the 3 locos that I mentioned above in the review. Old, new and soon to be released... "
great i look forward to reading it. i have one of the early ones. its "ok"
"Finish on all the models is good and the detail on the 25, 37 and Deltic is really good. The Warship suffers abit being an older model that dates back to Mainline ? days but it to has an impressive weight and an excellent hauling capacity. Another oddity with the diesels is the use of plastic chassis. I would have thought by now that they have intoduced metal chassis which would reduce the size of the weight to allow easier fitment of sound decoders. "
the paint finish i agree is pretty good.
the class 25 detail is good but they have come in for some criticism for changing a few things. the plastic handrails are now just wire. while these are stronger they dont look as good. the deltic is the right shape but the nose end detail looks too chunky. also the panel lines should be scribed not painted. i have scratch built new lamp irons and they look much better.
the warship is a brilliant model concireding its age. (although mine is in for repair at the moment. one of the worms has cracked from end to end and i have noticed that the other one has also started to fail. has anyone else had this problem?) but when its running it is one of the best locos i have. and yes it dates back to mainline although it had a new chassis and various modifications when it was introduced to the "blue ribband" range. in wirting reviews i would concider them to be different models.
"The 37 is proably the best of the Bachmann diesels with nice crisp detail and paint and is a very smooth runner. I'm now looking forward to the the sound equipped Deltic and 20 class coming out."
oah dear!! which 37 do you have? if it is first EWS version they did (i have the same loco) then it is a good runner but accuracy wise it is pretty dredfull. the body sides are compleatly the wrong shape both at the top and bottom. that is why the 37 is being retooled.
the bachmann class 66 has 6 axel drive and the retooled 37 will also have the 6 axel drive.
i know this looks like i am just panning the loco's but 5 years ago i would have hailed them as the best loco's around but at the same time hornby were develpoing the class 50 and that is head and sholders above the bachmanns. bachmann did things with their diesels that they simply cant get away with these days. like the panels on the deltic. painted lines are pretty shoddy by todays standards.
I was supprised when hornby didnt announce a 66 this year. it is going to be the biggest class of loco in the UK for the next 25-30 years. can Hornby afford NOT to have a share of that market? i think its when not if.
Peter
