Bachmann 2013 Thomas range - Overview

So I may as well give my two cents on Bachmann's 2013 Thomas announcements. Not going to set out to be bias but I'll be as honest as I can.

HO scale:

The revamped Christmas set does look nicer than the previous one. I was never a fan of the original as Emily's coach seemed a bit strange to me. One thing I do not get is why they could not have modelled the tree akin to "Thomas and the missing Christmas Tree" where the tree is lying on a flatbed very similar to the one Bachmann had in the range.*

* - I'll explain later.

The idea of a Thomas model with factory fitted sound is nice, but I do wonder if it will actually sell. Why cough up more dollars for one model when you can buy one essentially the same for less? Interesting gamble from Bachmann but I do hold doubts over it.

Arry and Bert. Not much more to be said other than this one was obvious. By producing the parts for Diesel, it was obvious we'd see a few more pumped out. I'm happy for these two, namely as I've wanted to have models of them for a while. Big question here is will they have CGI faces or model era faces?

(For those of you wanting Oliver, I personally don't think you'll be seeing him now. From now on I can see characters with more appearances being made, such as Rosie, Whiff etc)

Troublesome Truck four is one to look out for. With no image to work from, I shall merely leave it like that and pray it's one of the classic era trucks/faces.

Jeremy is... interesting. Unless he's going to come back in Season 17 I doubt he'll actually sell. I can't even recall him in the show bar one special and one episode. Why not manufacture a more prominent road vehicle? You have the likes of Bulgy, Trevor, Elizabeth  Caroline and now even Butch and Flynn in the series who are far more suitable. Individually, I cannot see this one selling.

Large scale:

Toby. Not the character I was expecting but a good one regardless. If Emily is anything to go by Toby should be a very nice model to have in the range. Yes there is no sign of Henrietta but you all do remember when Emily's coaches were introduced into the range during the summer with no previous announcement? ;)

The rolling stock is nice. Would have been nicer to get a box van or similar but I won't complain. These two should give more variety to the range.

Back to HO scale, I mentioned Bachmann did make a flatcar. This is one product that has been discontinued, alongside the salt wagon and Gordon's coaches. Don't panic over these. Many retailers will still stock them until they run out. Perhaps these items just didn't sell too well to begin with? It's not something to worry about given they have all been part of the range for a good few years now.

Jack

James The Red Engine - Improvements

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Braking it down

Having taken delivery of the entire Tomix range of Thomas The Tank Engine models, I have been planning a small micro layout to use them on. My main gripe with the range is how limited it is, with no more than 4 types of wagon. To rectify this, I have been drawing up some designs that will be used to make models for this layout.

Click image for full view!

As you can see, rough work yet but this will be a reality very soon!

Jack

Red Coaches - Brake Coach

Well, time to kick into 2013 with an update on my Red Coaches project, as seen here and here. The problem I had was that whilst the composites were easy enough to sort, the brake ends would require designing from scratch and as such were a pain in the backside. I decided to put them on the back burner until I sorted the problem out.

Eventually I got in contact with a guy who does 3D printing as a business, and managed to get a model knocked up. For now, the whole brake end will be a solid model with the windows merely painted in, but I hope to rework this at some point to have fully glazed windows like the coaches in the show. Trial print came through and certainly looks the part attached to the coach.

Still got to apply a coat of primer and eventually paint the model yet, but overall I'm quite pleased with how this little project is almost done with. The imminent release of Bachmann's Duck is also going to help, as I should have them completed by then giving him a smart rake of coaches.

For anyone interested, I do not intend to sell these parts on. I'm quite happy with having unique models that I can truly say are bespoke to my layout, and are as close as I can possibly get them to Ready to Run standards. It's going to be just my luck if Bachmann announce some for their 2013 range now!

Jack

Looking back, sorting things out and moving on

Well, I really need to get this off my chest, but as of late I've been lacking motivation to actually do much in the way of modelling. Having had the cost of converting my collection to DCC (£20 for a decent chip adds up when you're doing several locomotives) I've sold on a few items, including almost all of my OO9 items and a few others like the Jouef tank engine conversion. Along with this, I've also managed to get some room sorted for an actual layout so things look to be going up from here on.

Speaking of OO9, this doesn't mean I've quit Narrow Gauge. I'm merely going to scale up so I can get better detail, Skarloey and Duncan should be coming soon in the new year. It's not that OO9 is too small, it's just I want to actually have some models with decent chassis that I can rely on for long term running. The Ibertren I had under Skarloey has been replaced 3 times so far, and they don't come cheap!

One problem I've had is dwelling too hard upon the past. Even if someone has annoyed and/or upset me in the past, I've let it stick to me and get at me. Might as well just say I'm starting fresh for 2013 in terms of friends/enemies. There's just not a point in keeping up such immature petty hatred at the end of the day, something I wish I'd retrospectively realized at the time. If I've been nasty, harsh or downright rude to you, I am sorry.

So 2013 should be a good year after saying all that, along with Bachmann Duck I should get a good start at completing my desired collection. (TV series accurate models of all Characters seen between Seasons 1-5 and a few selected ones from other seasons.) Moving past that, I'll also be doing quite a few real locomotives and moving onto a few DJH, Agnoreia and other kits to keep myself busy.

Should be able to update soon!

Jack

8F Works Christmas Giveaway

Simply put, we're giving Railworks DLC out for free. Sounds good huh?

In order to win, simply "like" or "comment" on the relevant picture we post on the draw dates, and you will stand a chance of winning the DLC shown. You must also like the official 8F Works facebook page. It's that simple.

Head to the page today and like us in advance, as the draw will be held on these dates:

December 8/9
December 15/16
The December 22/23
December 25

As I've said, head there today, like us in advance, and wait for the first image to pop up. Be ready to like and/or comment on it, and you could win yourself a very nice prize!

Facebook.com/8FWorks

Moving on up!

Given how troublesome OO9 has been, I've decided to move all narrow gauge work up to 7mm scale. Whilst it may seem like a bit of a foul move, it's far easier to model at this scale.

First Skarloey loco to be built should be Skarloey, but I can't be certain.

Jack

Percy the Small Engine - Running Test

As flawed as the Bachmann Percy model is, I like it. With the addition of DCC, I've been able to get very smooth running from mine, which will be assisted with a few wagons/coaches fitted with a plug'n'play pickup system I have designed.

 

Edward The Blue Engine - Running test

One of the more accurate Bachmann models, with a bit of tweaking here and there along with a decent DCC decoder. Not a bad model at the end of the day.

 

Dusting!

Haven't updated this in a while.

Oops.

N gauge - Harvey The Crane Engine

Well, I guess I'd been holding this one off for a while but now it's revealed. Tomy/Yujin's range of wind up Thomas characters seemed to be around 2mm scale or thereabouts, making them ideal conversion candidates. Having converted Rusty into a passable OO9 locomotive, I set to work on one of my favorite characters.

Having around 9 Ibertren Cuckoo chassis for OO9 use, I decided to employ a spare one for this project, simply as it's slightly smaller than the Fleischmann option.

Just a final picture to show how small he really is!

That's all for now, just going to go to sleep!

BoCo - Strip Down

I'm sorry for the lack of updates recently, but I'm afraid that I've been busy away from the modelling side of things. Work are posting me abroad within a few months (not badly paid either!) so I've been sorting that out as it keeps me going finacially. While I've still been doing things here and there, it's generally been delayed to a point where I need to restart it all.

Looking into the collection of models I've bought and made so far, it's obvious I needed to concentrate on one thing rather than several. Therefore, I've decided to make almost every character from seasons one to four, along with a few later additions. Those seasons in particular are the ones I remember the most, so it makes sense to replicate them exactly as I remember them.

First off, I've managed to start work on BoCo. I know it won't be 100% accurate to the TV series model due to the fact the sides are different, but it'll be a decent match for me and what I need it for. Luckily, I managed to snag a Hornby Dublo model for a decent sum, so I could do a model of a true fan favourite. Had I not been able to get this Dublo model, the Heljan one was tempting me but I feel it's far too detailed to use as a TV series model.*

* - Heljan do however make D5702 in RWS Livery, I have one and will supply pictures if anyone is interested. I'd say you could just give it a face and it'd be a great representation.

Using a mix of paint stripper and sandpaper, I got the majority of the paint off the body leaving it ready for respraying. I shall get newer pictures, but I've managed to get it in primer and a light green base coat.

In the meantime, I'll get around to taking newer photographs to show off the progress. Will post more soon!

Destruction

Well, to whoever wanted to know how I get a face.

This reminds me. I need to work on Arthur.

Jack

Video of the Week - Thomas & Gordon

Simply put, this is a far better remake than most out there!

Watch it on YouTube

Jack

Detour

Going to be taking a well deserved break from work for a week or so, which is needed after the past few months.

Have a random Derpy Hooves picture.

That said, I will be back soon :)

Jack

N gauge - Henry The Green Engine

Quite happily, I've been looking at doing N gauge models. I really like the scale, which works out at roughly half OO/HO. One range of items that caught me, unsurprisingly, is the Tomix range.

Sold in Japan, there are multiple locomotives, coaches, wagons and buildings you can buy. Whilst the buildings aren't anything special, the rolling stock is amazing.

So far, I have a Henry and a Percy. I'm aiming to get the other two in the range, Thomas and James, then complete the gaps by making my own locomotives. It'll take time but it'll look decent.

Jack

Video of the Week - Tywyn Wharf Layout Tour

Okay, so whilst this may seem like a lazy way of making posts, I feel it's a good way to get videos out and noticed. Sadly, YouTube have disabled the function to place someone else's video in your channel so it leaves me with little to no alternatives.

This week's video comes from Adam, better known as TywynWharfOO9. It's a showcase of his layout, which is pretty sweet to say the least. Building a variety of Talyllyn prototypes and a Talyllyn based layout, it just shows how effective modelling in 4mm scale can be.

Watch it on YouTube

Jack

Red Coaches - Painting Trial

Yesterday I continued working on the first one. At the moment I'm making two composites as I'm still working on the parts to make the brake end. One thing I have noticed is the new ends do stand out by a millimeter or so, but it's not too noticeable.

Not a huge difference, but still adds a bit of length to the body.

As you can see, I got the body into a coat of primer to ensure everything was flush and smooth. My biggest fear was creating something that wasn't identical to the Bachmann end, but it's extremely close.

Quite happy with how it turned out, so I cleaned a few areas and sprayed it again, making sure everything was clean and flush.

After letting it dry, I proceeded with the body paint. Whilst I did buy it for Arthur, I do have a large can of the stuff so I have plenty. Not a 100% match for the TV series, but I prefer it. Reminds me of Midland Railway livery infact.

Few shots to show how it compares to Annie & Clarabel. I've yet to paint the chassis and alter the cab roof.

 

Just got the other 2 to do to so I can have a rake, then I'll have a nice bespoke set of coaches. Currently working on the other composite, and I should have the brake end done soon.

Any comments, questions and criticism are welcomed!

Jack

Red Coaches - Composite work.

The Red Coaches, known by their livery, are one of the most demanded items for OO/HO scale. Whilst neither Bachmann or Hornby are quick in making their own, I've decided to go ahead with mine.

I have about 7 Bachmann Annie/Clarabel models I purchased in bulk. The reason for doing so is conversion projects, but I fancy a rake of 3 red coaches, with two composites and one brake. Using 3D printing, I was able to make a near accurate end for the coach, which simply glues on.

It's worth noting that you have to remove the face on the donor model, but it is worth it to get a flush surface. Another thing I've yet to do is modify the roofs, but I shall do this when I have all 3 done.

Hopefully I'll have the duckets and parts for the brake arrive soon, so I can start working on it. I'm rather impressed with how they have printed, as it's far neater than I could have done with plasticard.

Jack

Confusion & Delay. Literally.

I know you're probably reading this saying to yourself it's another pointless post. If you actually take time to read this, I thank you.

Whilst I try and keep deadlines on modelmaking, it hardly ever works to plan. Sat typing this, juggling between ordering parts I need and designing components for the company, it occured to me that I need to stick to projects I have already started.

Too many builds have been delayed, it's time to rectify that.