Ready to run 1/32 Mk 1 Coaches

Simon

Flying Squad
A fairly significant development spotted on the G1MRA Yahoo group (members only so no link), Trevor Taylor has announced that his long suggested RTR Mk 1 coaches will be available in "February 2013".

See the info yourself off the link from here. As far as I can tell from what's written there will initially be two types, brake second and second, and there is a pre delivery offer of four for £850.00.

I really hope he gets these "right" as I want passenger trains and don't think I would ever manage to build one let alone three of Fred's masterpieces in my lifetime.

Colourwise its everything except blue and grey to start with, green is what I'm after so I think I may take the bait.

This all seems very sudden to me but Tag Gorton says that progress is apparently consistent with the projected dates, we'll see....

If Trevor manages to build in some flaw that "kills it" (I'm thinking of the Heljan O gauge un mk 1 ishness here) then I think he will have also scotched the prospects of anyone else doing it properly in the next 50 years or so.

So a lot riding on what he does I think, has anyone here any more information or any links with the man himself? I wonder what information sources he is working from?

If he gets it right* then I think he will do extremely well with them.

Simon

* "Right" means right shape, no impossibly deep window edges, missing details no problem.
 

AndyB

Western Thunderer
Saw these at G1 North last weekend - my first impressions were that they looked good value.
But as I know nothing about Mk1 carriages, I have no idea whether they are 'right' or not - sorry!
I'm sure some visitors must have taken a few photos...
Too small for me to have more than a passing interest (it was a good Gauge 3 gathering too!)
Got one of the new Slater's G3 MR Covered Goods kits whilst there - so will start a G3 workshop thread when I get some time.

Andy
 
S

Simon Dunkley

Guest
Saw these at G1 North last weekend - my first impressions were that they looked good value.
Were they fully finished? If so, then they were probably the etched ones that have been touted around the circuit for some years now, to generate interest.
 

taliesin

Western Thunderer
Hi all, images of the first production run of the long awaited Mk1 coaches from the Gauge 1 Model Company have appeared on their website today, good news for some here, cheers Rob
 

Simon

Flying Squad
I have put my name down for a set in Southern Region green, and based upon those pictures feel even more hopeful with the prospect:thumbs:

They'll look great as a 3 set behind D6319, with the fourth "loose" coach being the Bude portion of course, detached at Wenbridge Junction:))

All I will need then is a Bulleid Pacific and my garden trainset dreams are completed:cool:

Thanks for flagging that up Rob.

Simon
 

Bob Reid

Western Thunderer
"Skytrex" came to mind when I looked via the link above - apart from the iffy bit of photoshopping (the nearest end far corner of the roof has been err... rounded) the thick body, overly deep looking solebar and general lack of finesse (even when compared with the rather smaller 4mm Bachmann equivalent) would for me be a bit disappointing. Other folks mileage may vary!
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
Cheers for the heads up Rob :thumbs:
They certainly look they are going to do the job whilst getting covered in steam oil :) There are a few things to play with too, painting the side of the floor in body colour will help to reduce the oversize solebar look and its got to be worth speaking to Shawplan about the possibility of flush glazing at some point. To be honest, as long as they run OK, I can forgive the cosmetic faults to start with as they can be improved and altered later - the opportunity to make a set 'personal' is not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love perfection for £200/coach but we live in the real world :D

I do have my name down for a set but already having Tower Brass MK1's i have agreed that Cookie can get up early one morning and annexe them :) cheers Rob

Top man :) That sorts out half of what I need :oops:
Steve
 

taliesin

Western Thunderer
Lifted from Tower's website,
bskmaroon2.jpg

maroonrmb.jpg

They offer five different liveries and nine different diagrams (i think) cheers Rob
 

Simon

Flying Squad
:eek: Call me hopeful, but I think the G1MC coaches look more "Mark One-ish" than the Tower brass ones.

As for looking like Skytrex well maybe - but better that than looking like Heljan (Mark Ones) - I think they were visually catastrophic in the general "looking like a Mk 1" stakes:eek:

I'll admit (on the negative side) that I can't quite see what's going on with the"platform" along the top of the solebar, but as I see it, these coaches and their undergubbins being squirted plastic will make them much more amenable to chopping, filing, filling, sanding and generally titivating than a brass jobbie.

It's hard to see just how"unflush" the glazing is but it looks pretty subtle to me, certainly nothing like the LimaMk 1s in O gauge.

And then there's Shawplan as Steve says....

I reckon the job's a good 'un.

Anyway, don't forget this is Gauge One we are talking about - you can't expect anything to look too realistic:)):p:cool:;):mad::oops::eek:

Simon
 

taliesin

Western Thunderer
Bob, i think you will find Simon's comment is meant to be 'tongue in cheek' , At any Gauge 1 meeting you will see some pretty awful stuff but there are also some very fine models, just like the other scales really. The point is everything has a cost and compared to the others these plastic-fantastic coaches are not costing much, there are always alternatives, Peter Rodgers can build you a fine rake @£1000 each or you can build a rake from Fred's kits, if you get a hurry on you might get to use them before your time is up. There is another source of MK1's, from a chinese company called Bowande, made from brass with opening doors so Horace can get in and out at the station stops, sorry i forgot, we never stop at stations in this scale :),

cheers Rob, who is shortly off to run his Towers behind his 9F, it's a hard life
 

Bob Reid

Western Thunderer
Thanks Rob. It wasn't meant as any serious comment - more an observation that despite the wide availability of surviving Mk1's and supporting information some manufacturers still seem to think it's acceptable to produce Mk1's missing something in the basic outline department or having various fictional add-on's. Which is real shame given the not insignificant input of folks personal cash these days. Don't confuse this with looking for a highly detailed accurate model at pocket money prices, it's not, but would getting that basic shape right and avoiding the fictional add-on to the solebar have cost G1Mc anything? I very much doubt it.

At a £1000 a coach I could build my own - and then have only one person to blame for the errors ;)
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
This is not aimed at you personally Bob, but the sentiment itself:

..snip... but would ... avoiding the fictional add-on to the solebar have cost G1Mc anything? I very much doubt it.


[wry smile]
I guess that depends on if you know why it is there in the first place. I'll freely admit I don't know.
However, whilst trying not to dwell the obvious, I would like to point out that if the G1MC were capable of correcting errors / mistakes without any impact on the time or cost of a project, at any point in the process, then I dare say the manufacturing world would be beating a path to their door and they would not be making G1 coaches:)

[/wry smile]
Humans make mistakes.
Businesses are made up of humans.
 

djparkins

Western Thunderer
Thanks Rob. It wasn't meant as any serious comment ;)

I absolutely do not want to offend anyone as we all enjoy our hobby in different ways but for my part I have to say that I find this whole thread profoundly depressing - and this is meant as a serious comment.

As one or two on here do already know, I have been pondering in recent years the viability of making some of our kits available in 32nd scale and although some of the wagon designs have been adated and adjusted for 32nd, I have always been frightened by the economic uncertaintly that surrounds doing so and whether there would be enough demand - selling only 6 or 10 of something is not good at all.

Cynric was urging me on in this direction just before he left us - saying on the phone that he thought our 08 and some of the wagons & Mk.1s would be well suited to the larger scale.

However I think I am making the correct business decision to stay out at the moment! I hope that will not be a permanent decision as I would rather like some of the items we do in 7mm in the larger scale for myself - but would never let that get in the way of hard-headed economcis!

Regards,

David Parkins
Modern Motive Power
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
That is a shame David, I for one would like to see some of your stuff available in this scale, it would suit my, Simon's and Steve Harrod's lines very nicely. I can't see why you find this thread profoundly depressing though. I can only assume its because some of us are prepared to accept some compromise in relation to the subject of this thread, G1MC coaches - so lets put some context around that:

These coaches, in the main (lets say 98% of production), are going to be running outside, in the sun and rain, behind a live steam loco and getting covered in steam oil. They will be running on tracks four foot off the ground and may very well meet the ground from said vantage point at some point in their career. They stand a reasonable chance of being side swiped by an errant loco, as well has getting caught in a meths fire. They will be viewed from probably 20' away for most of their running life. Against that back ground, how accurate and beautifully finished do you think they need to be?

Given that kind of operating environment, do you really expect me or anybody else to spend 200 hours per coach and then try to build a rake of 8? No, I don't either. I want some Mk1's that I can pull with a variety of locos and I want something that isn't going to have me crying into my beer if it gets damaged. And it will get damaged, make no mistake.

Fred Phipps currently makes the most accurate Mk1 coach in 1/32, Tower do the second best, then there is Bowande. None of those cost less than £400. A painted, finished coach for £212.50 that is likely to see abuse over its lifetime is a veritable lifesaver for a G1 live steam fan. They are also a huge time saver. I'm afraid these coaches are viewed as a load, to be pulled by the object of attention and as such I, and many others, consider them to be a pragmatic choice.

There is a finescale side of Gauge 1 too, quite a few of them are on here. Your target market is here, just none of us know how big that market is. It may be you have made the correct commercial decision, but there is no need to feel profoundly depressed about it - there are two sections of the G1 market and one of them is never going to be your customer base and given the context of their hobby enjoyment, you can hardly blame them. A few of us bash brass and make stuff at the finescale end of the spectrum, it just all has to be fitted in with everything else. One thing is for sure, it won't flourish without products....

Steve
 

Bob Reid

Western Thunderer
By "not serious" David, I meant that I didn't seriously believe that all modellers accepted inaccuracy in models increased as the models grew larger. I'm sure they don't. In response to you Steve, what you are talking about is rectifcation of an error. What I'm talking about is getting it right in the first place. That has no extra impact on the cost and I'm sure G1Mc would have been more than capable of doing that - and irrespective of the target group - those who want boxes to run behind locomotives and those who want models that at least have no fictional parts!

It would be quite something to see 1/32 Mark 1's by MMP but I fear from this thread that there's a lot of folk that would be happier accepting a far lesser product which does surprise me.
 

Neil

Western Thunderer
I'm fascinated by the appearance of the hair shirt/pragmatist interface and intrigued by its location. The one thing I'm not is surprised. In my own creations there are things I go to silly lengths to get right (or right enough to please) and yet there are other aspects I fail to give a stuff about. Good to see others exploring similar territory.
 
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