[ashleyh]

I hope I'm wrong, I really do, but it looks like there may be a bit of a howler with the livery of the BR Blue Class 121 Bubble car

. Pictures of it have just appeared on ehattons:-

http://www.ehattons.com/stockdetail.aspx?s...mg=4#imageblock

The yellow ends are wrapping round past the doors at each end. I've had a search for images online and, as yet, can find no evidence of this on the prototype. Particularly as it appears to be from the early days of BR Blue, as the headcode is set to '2B96' rather than blanked or dominoes.

A slight 'hiccup' in the paint shop, or did W55021 ever carry yellow ends like this

Update: Photo of the livery at the bottom of this page.

 

[Garry D100]

Glad you raised this as I was thinking the same thing.
I have sent an email to Hornby to question this and will post the reply here...

 

[Doug]

Here is a photo of W55021 (1980).

Doesn't have yellow on the doors.

Here is a photo in 1984

And here is a photo of 977723 formerly 55021. Another.


This is a photo of the Hornby loco - Without the yellow doors, so it seems that there is an error. Collectible...

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (Doug @ 9 Nov 2006, 20:25) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Without the yellow doors, so it seems that there is an error. Collectible...

Could be - just like unperforated stamps !

regards
Brian

 

[Gary]

Interesting.

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[ashleyh]

Two words spring to mind....

Product recall

I seem to remember something along these lines happening with a Heljan 47 a couple of years ago. Not quite such a blatant error though.

With current production batches usually being around the 500 mark, I don't think they are going to be too collectible either. Pity really as I was up for one.

 

[spongebob]

I think that between this livery mess up and the network southeast one the sales of the green one will probably go through the roof as it's the only one not to have those ghastly 1980's hornby orange ends.
Even if you wanted to buy it and repaint the yellow and blue guaranteed the BR blue will be a different shade too.

 

[Gary]

It does seem to be an actual livery from the early 1970's although one that had a very short life. You would have thought that Hornby would have gone for the colour scheme that was better known and was around for an extended period.

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[Garry D100]

Gary, could you tell me what evidence you found to establish its a real livery.
I could not find any pictures on the web of the livery variation on this or any other 121.

Ta.
Garry

 

[ashleyh]

In the light of comments by Simon Kohler and Mike Hudson on the MREmag website this morning, it appears that the wrap around yellow ends are a correct 1960s livery, though I would still love to se the photo.

I therefore repectfully withdraw my above comments.

 

[Doug]

Here is a photo supplied by Hornby of the Bubble car:

On MRE Mag, Simon Kohler says:QUOTE The reason the livery was chosen was that it had not been produced before. Our fault was that we did not update the website and apologies for that...
Simon goes on to say that other liveries will follow.

Well I suppose this ends the speculation. Many thanks to Simon for sharing the information.

 

[Gary]

No need to recall the loco then.

All those collectors hoping for a Hornby "Penny Black" will be crying in their whisky on this news!

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[DS239]

QUOTE (Doug @ 15 Nov 2006, 09:58) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Here is a photo supplied by Hornby of the Bubble car:

On MRE Mag, Simon Kohler says:
Simon goes on to say that other liveries will follow.

Well I suppose this ends the speculation. Many thanks to Simon for sharing the information.

Yes,this is the photo they based the livery on [taken at Smethwick on 5th August 1967 by Michael Mensing,-appearing in the book 'Heyday of the DMU' by Alan C. Butcher]......BUT it is still a Hornby Cock-up I'm afraid!

The 'bubblecar' in the photo is a Class 122,and Hornby's model is a Class 121!....and,yes, they are aware of their mistake,-there won't be any product recall,but I understand that the next issue of the Class 121 will have the correct livery applied...

 

[ashleyh]

In light of the above information, I reinstate my earlier comments!

It would be nice to get an official statement on all of this from Hornby, do they or do they not have a photograph of a Class 121 in that livery, or any other evidence of it ever being applied to a Class 121?

 

[Doug]

That photo came from Hornby.

I don't know enough about this subject to offer any further info. I'll pass on the queries.

 

[bangerblueed]

That is a photo of a 122 as i suspected hornby have cocked up because there is no evidence that any of the 121's carried this livery which was only applied to some units during the early years of the corporate blue livery

 

[Gary]

There is a happy correspondent at MREmag who is suggesting that this was a standard BR livery applied to Bubble Cars in the late 1960's and praises Hornby for a welcome change from the run of the mill 1970's livery.

Why the need for photographic proof of the precise loco modelled?

It was probably one of the least desirable locomotives to spot and photograph at that time.

Hornby probably provided the image as an example of the type of livery and they would probably have access to BR records for that period which would indicate which locomotives it was applied to.

I'm not saying whats right and whats wrong however Hornby took a deliberate decision to produce this version as they felt it would be something different and they now probably wish they hadn't bothered for the grief they are now getting on various websites.

Next time Hornby and Bachmann will play it safe and we have no chance of getting any more less common and unusual liveries.

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[bangerblueed]

The "standard" blue livery which will be available later is more suitable to most modellers needs far better to produce the main liveries and for those modellers who want something more unusual well they can modify the livery themselves

By the way i doubt hornby went to the trouble of checking official BR records even if they do have access to them which i doubt. From their point of view it would be very costly to carry out research to that depth especially when the sales of this model will probably only be measured in the hundreds or very low thousands at best

 

[Gary]

The natural follow on question resulting from all this is....

...are manufacturers doing the right thing to offer a product without clear and specific supporting evidence of a provenance?

And I am thinking not just livery but headcodes, destination plates and detail such as this. Are general period liveries acceptable or are modellers now expecting every model to be actual prototypes independently witnessed and photographed on a specific day in a specific year going to a specific destination.

In my book thats too much to ask and too restricting however I may be right or I may be wrong!

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[John Webb]

I have to say I generally agree with Gary. I've managed to find photos of both 121 and 122 units and there seems to be little difference between them. There are units of both classes preserved (about a third of each class made it to preservation) and the major difference seems to be in who made them - the technical specs look remarkably similar otherwise. They were even numbered sequentially, running from W55000 to W55019 (class 122) and W55020-35 (class 121).

So I would not blame Hornby for confusing the two classes myself - the potential for error in this case seems quite high. We should remember that Hornby is first and foremost a company trying to make a profit by selling to many people, most of whom are less knowledgeable than most MRF members and who cannot appreciate the minor livery differences that many of us indulge in doing.

I shall be going and getting one of these models soon - but I much prefer the earlier BR Green version myself!

Regards,
John Webb

PS Just spoken to my nearest decent model shop and they've already sold out! Apparently there was such a demand for these models that Hornby have had to ration them out.