[Gary]

There is a new review at Model Rail Forum of a recently released hopper wagon that is now on the shelves:-

Hornby R6214A CDA China Clay Hopper

Review feedback is welcome.

We have plans for a number of rolling stock reviews in the coming months and would prefer to cover certain products in depth rather rather than give a very brief description of a new release. We are happy to publish plenty of images with each review and we can only improve with your help!

Regards
Gary

 

[DS239]

Well Gary,

Not sure about the shape of the actual Hornby wagon body,where it turns in behind the horizontal framing...,and also the height of the 'hood',did you measure it?,do you have prototype plans for comparison?

 

[Rail-Rider]

Although I am not in the market for these, that doesn't stop me from admiring the ever increasing quality of Horby's current output. An interesting comment on the 'redundancy' of sprung buffers, which is accepted. But I feel that not only is there some psychological satisfaction in the knowledge that they are sprung, but that they actually look more realistic, with that obvious separational air gap between 'piston' and 'cylinder'.

Really excellent stuff.

 

[Jennings]

On the weathered version why didn't Hornby weather these in white as they would be in service?

 

[Gary]

QUOTE and also the height of the 'hood',did you measure it?,do you have prototype plans for comparison?

I'm not the sort of bloke who is going to moan about a 1mm there or a 1mm here. The manufacturing process does mean that compromise has to be made and George Smith in the Dapol interview makes this very point.

Basically I take the view that if I want it I will have it and I trust the manufacturers to do the best that they can with the technology available to them at the time that the item was tooled up, whilst at the same time offering the product to me at a price that is acceptable to me and customers like me. I believe this item was tooled up a few years ago and manufacturers have shown what they are capable off with some of the new rolling stock released recently designed with state of the art technology.

Hand built perfect rolling stock with prototypical thickness made out of etched brass costs a lot of money. Fantastic if you can afford it. Great that it is available if you want it. Would somebody like to offer me one of these hand built models for review?

And if you would like to see a review complete with prototype plans and measurement comparisons then please submit one! Reviews are not limited to those prepared by Doug or myself. Those who fancy themselves as reviewers now have an opportunity and Model Rail Forum would be a good place to start!

Happy modelling
Gary

 

[DS239]

QUOTE (Gary @ 18 May 2005, 11:14)Review feedback is welcome.

We have plans for a number of rolling stock reviews in the coming months and would prefer to cover certain products in depth rather rather than give a very brief description of a new release. <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Gary,
Well,you asked for feedback...

An 'in depth' review of a scale model must by its very nature have comparison of the model dimensions to those of the prototype at it's core...
Surely this is fundamental to determining its accuracy....
Personally,you may not be bothered about "1mm there or 1mm here",which may be fine for you,-but plenty of people are,and I would expect an accurate,unbiased review to point out any basic discrepancies in the model.

We are all aware of the limitations of a mass-produced plastic model,
but, all I was doing was quierying the basic shape and 'feel' of the thing,-something that is essential to a model,if it is to capture the essence of the real thing,even without a high level of small detail parts..
And it was not that long ago that this wagon underwent a complete retooling...

Keep smiling

Here's to accurate modelling

 

[Dennis David]

I'm all for in depth reviews myself but understand the time it takes to get some of the information required. If I had to choose I would prefer whatever can be easily gotten over nothing at all. May I suggest that once a review is written if people can assist with additional information that they please contact the reviewer for inclusion in the original review. Acknowledgments would of course be given.

Hopefully this would "lighten" the load on any reviewer and encourage others to share their new purchases.