[paul_d]

I require a class 57 'thunderbird' and to see Rails selling them off at £39 seems too good to be true. Anybody got one of these models....what are they like (running quality/detail)

I have a dillema though, as Bachmann are releasing one soon with a dellner coupler in retracted position. This makes a massive difference to the frontal appearance.

So the dilemma is the bargain Heljan which doesn't quite look like the real thing, or the Bachmann which will be much dearer but will have the authentic looking front end?

Decisions, decisions

 

[37197]

I nearly got suckered into it and talked myself out of buying one for the sake of it being a bargain

, if you're going to buy the Virgin 57 then buy the Bachmann as it has the correct name plates, which Heljan were unable to secure the licence for, appearance wise they look fine until you place them next to a Bachmann version, then the discrepancies become apparent. Now if it were some Heljan duffs at that price then that would have been a different matter for me

.

 

[Gwent rail]

When is a bargain a bargain? Only when you are completely happy with the purchase, or can alter/ fix your purchase to an acceptable level and still save enough cash to make it worthwhile.
In this case my personal opinion would be no. Others might fancy the challenge. Best of luck.

 

[paulk]

At the end of the day it all depends how fussy you are with your hobby. The standards we are provided with nowadays are supurb compared with a few years ago. At 1/76th scale how desperately important are some details when the item is running on tracks ? You are running on the wrong gauge anyway so the front end will always be wrong !! Most people seem to be able to live with this major compromise. I bought one of these and I will probably also buy the Bachman.

 

[37197]

QUOTE (PaulK @ 30 Jun 2006, 10:59) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I bought one of these and I will probably also buy the Bachman.

Just don't put them too close to each other, the dimensional inaccuracies become apparent in the Heljan (bloater)

.

 

[spongebob]

But the same inaccuracies will also apply to the class 47's. The FGW one would be more appealing. I already have a virgin one that the wife bought before prices plummeted. You could conceivably run a period before the naming ceremony or copy the badge from google and print it off.

 

[paul_d]

Well, thats the decision made for me. From 33 in stock, to 0 in a couple of days

The Bachmann one it is then

 

[bangerblueed]

Best way to do it ponder on it for a fewe days till theres no descision to make and what a wise descision you made