Form an orderly Q... six

Shortly before we headed to GCR Model Event at the weekend Hornby delivered their latest offering. The Raven Q6.

The first two samples to arrive are R3424 in LNER livery and R3425 in BR Early Crest

 



First impressions are good and the loco certainly captures the real thing beautifully. For those who hate fitting the detail pack the only requirement is to fit the loco brake rigging. There are no provisions for vacuum fitting and from quick research the class didn't receive the equipment, I can't even find evidence of the Consett based ones having it? This might leave a slight challenge for those looking to recreate 63395 owned by NELPG, but one I'd imagine that would be relatively easy to overcome.

 Chipping the BR version proved very easy as there is plenty of room in the tender to accommodate any chip you desire, even the LNER livery version is relatively easy, but as can be seen in the picture it is significantly lower so a Gaugemaster direct plug in chip is too large for the job. As with most Hornby locos it uses the standard 8 pin chip. Hornby's RRP is £140, we are offering ours for £125.


From Bachmann's stable we have a new wagon and some reissue 4Fs to enjoy.

Bachmann 14T tankers in three different liveries
 

The much anticipated 14T tanker arrived on Friday (frustratingly after we had headed for Loughborough!) As with all Bachmann wagons they are all wonderfully reproduced with wonderfully applied liveries and crisp decals of which all the writing is legible and, providing eyesight prevails, can be read right down to the smallest detail. The RRP is £20.95, our price is £17.80. Whilst not being the cheapest vehicles on the market, for your money you are guaranteed a very smart model.

Also arriving from Bachmann are reissues of their wonderful Midland 4F. First up is the first weathered variant of the class. As mentioned in previous blogs Bachmann produce a much better weathered model than Hornby although I can't help but feel the rusty orange is far too vibrant in places. RRP is £124.95, our price is £106.50.

While 44044 depicts the last days of the 4F's working life Bachmann's other livery shows how the class looked when they first rolled out of Derby works, 1917 in 3848's case. The Midland crest is beautifully reproduced on the cab side and the loco displays the letters M R on the buffer beam. RRP is £114.95, our price £97.80.

So there we have it 4Fs from cradle to grave all in one delivery!


A nice selection of new releases this week, the 4F has been produced extensively over the years in a number of guises but I believe this to be the first time the model has been offered in 'as built' condition (by any manufacturer)

Whereas the Q6 delivers a ready to run loco for what is probably the most ready to run starved of regions in the UK, the North East has been long overlooked by many manufacturers and hopefully the addition of Raven's 0-8-0 will open the floodgates for this region to develop in the same way as the Southern did at around the turn of the century. Here's hoping anyway!

Please feel free to get in touch about these models or any others. Keep enjoying your modelling guys. Tony :)