Accurascale's First Steam Locomotive; GWR Collett 78xx Manor Class!

[KeithAnthony]

6 hours ago, 50025 said:

Can somebody please advise on appropriate coaches to match, for Cambrian duties? ☺️ 

Are you asking colour or type (or both)?

Edited August 22, 2023 by KeithAnthony

[melmerby]

Manor, Manor. So good I ordered twice.

 

7808 now ordered to go with 7801.

[Ian Hargrave]

25 minutes ago, KeithAnthony said:

Are you asking colour or type (or both)?

And the obvious further question is for which era  ?

 

[vanbasher]

Evening all, I can't leave a review on the A/S website as I purchased mine from Rails of Sheffield but I'd like to leave my little write up here just  in case any modellers are in any doubt as to what to expect so here goes.....

 

I returned home from a long 10 hour shift today to find Cookham Manor waiting for me. On opening the box the wow factor is almost instant! once you've unwrapped the loco & lifted her up the first thing you'll note is the weight! she's a meaty one & no mistake. Then you'll start to notice the detail, love & care that's obviously gone into making this. It's absolutely mind blowing! the rivets all over the buffer beam & under the smokebox door being the first things I noticed, then the bronze wrap around the funnel which looks so lifelike I couldn't take my eyes off it! the cab detail is second to none with the huge regulator immediately catching the eye plus the ruddy great hole in the firebox (more on that in a moment). The tender is also superbly detailed & livery application to my eye looks spot on! Just to add I know some Manors come with a couple of headboards but Cookham doesn't seem to have any. Has this been missed or is it not meant to?

 

This is a sound fitted example so next step was to plonk a few pieces of test track down & get some power flowing, immediately on activating function 1 the loco begins to simmer into life. I then did as I always do & started to test each function in turn. All the whistles are fantastic (F7 being my personal favourite). Then it was time to put some power down... The chuffs on pull off sound incredible & like with any loco the more power you put down the louder it gets. I found the pull off to be incredibly realistic & all the sounds of the loco in motion to my ears sound awesome! Then on pressing F8 the crowning glory (for me) of the firebox flicker kicks into life. This looks sublime & really adds another dimension to an already incredible model! 

 

To cap off, this is 00 gauge steam Perfection! I cannot fault any aspect at all! & if I was certain other manufacturers I really would be quaking because for the money, all the wonderful features & absolutely ground breaking detail I'd look nowhere else but to the A/S geniuses once again. If you ever decide to do another big steam loco (A4,Black 5, 8F just to name a few) I'd be first inline with a pre order deposit.

 

Thank you to all at Accurascale for continuing your trend of producing Gold in steam diesel & electric.
 

Edited August 22, 2023 by vanbasher
Adding more

[BroadLeaves]

22 minutes ago, vanbasher said:

Cookham doesn't seem to have any

It should have. According to the web site at:

https://www.accurascale.com/collections/gwr-7800-manor-class/products/copy-of-7801-anthony-manor-gwr-7800

(yes, it has "copy of 7801" in the URL, which seems rather odd, but it is for Cookham Manor) it should have etched metal "Cambrian Coast Express" and "Pembroke Coast Express" headboards.

My Cookham has yet to arrive... Can I ask - going on from the above recent discussions - do the handrails go all the way to the cab roof, or is there a gap? I'm really hoping it's just some models and they are OK for the Cookhams.

[melmerby]

Although the Cambrian Coast Express ran on the GWR from 1927 there were no headboards

The curved choc/cream ones with a crest atop were a BR thing.

The Pembroke Coast Express was a BR idea.

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by melmerby

[vanbasher]

1 hour ago, BroadLeaves said:

My Cookham has yet to arrive... Can I ask - going on from the above recent discussions - do the handrails go all the way to the cab roof, or is there a gap? I'm really hoping it's just some models and they are OK for the Cookhams.

Hi BroadLeaves, I've just had Cookham out of the box again & the handrails run all the way along either side of the boiler & finish just underneath the small cab windows. I couldn't see any gaps so if it is an issue maybe that's with other builds. As regards the headboards if someone from A/S could confirm whether they should or shouldn't be present I'd be most grateful.

[50025]

3 hours ago, KeithAnthony said:

Are you asking colour or type (or both)?

Type. I’m assuming Hornby collets in chocolate and cream?

[Hal Nail]

1 hour ago, vanbasher said:

the handrails run all the way along either side of the boiler

it's the rails up the back of the cab that people are talking about.

 

 

 

[vanbasher]

15 minutes ago, Hal Nail said:

it's the rails up the back of the cab that people are talking about.

 

 

 

Ahhh my apologies I thought it was the side handrails, yes there are gaps on Cookham too. 

[Harlequin]

4 hours ago, vanbasher said:

Hi BroadLeaves, I've just had Cookham out of the box again & the handrails run all the way along either side of the boiler & finish just underneath the small cab windows. I couldn't see any gaps so if it is an issue maybe that's with other builds. As regards the headboards if someone from A/S could confirm whether they should or shouldn't be present I'd be most grateful.

Check the pocket in the foam packaging. They might be at the bottom in a separate plastic bag.

 

[noss]

5 hours ago, vanbasher said:

Ahhh my apologies I thought it was the side handrails, yes there are gaps on Cookham too. 

 

[noss]

It does seem to be all of them. That’s a shame. Given the perfection of everything else, I am surprised  it wasn’t addressed. On the actual engines there is a larger diameter bracket that the handrail goes into when it meets the roof. Dapol seem to have picked this up, albeit overscale on their version. 

[Hal Nail]

7 hours ago, 50025 said:

Type. I’m assuming Hornby collets in chocolate and cream?

this thread may help:

 

 

 

[zr2498]

1 hour ago, noss said:

It does seem to be all of them. That’s a shame. Given the perfection of everything else, I am surprised  it wasn’t addressed. On the actual engines there is a larger diameter bracket that the handrail goes into when it meets the roof. Dapol seem to have picked this up, albeit overscale on their version. 

This is a pic' of what you refer to:

 

 

The gap is hardly visible, but now we know it is there. This is similar (but not as bad), as the handrail on the front of KR Models GT3 which did not meet the floor plate. To fix that I added a very small length of tube over the end of the handrail. The picture of that fix on RMWeb thread is one of those lost I'm afraid. Quite a tricky fix, but possible I reckon for those with 20:20 vision.

 

[noss]

Yes, that is it. 

[HExpressD]

A rather odd little gap I now can't unsee which is annoying. It looks like the handrail tapers out towards the 'floating' end so maybe an attempt to model that bracket was there, the overall length of the rail was just too short. I'm sure it'll be confirmed in any case

[BroadLeaves]

It's a puzzling one, for sure. I can only assume that Accurascale designed it that way deliberately, as it appears to be for every model.

It certainly looks wrong, and the handrail appears really delicate. Catch it when picking the model up, and it's going to bend at the lower point. Thin metal like that will only bend back so many times before it breaks.

It shouldn't be necessary, but adding some sort of bracket (as per the prototype) would be the way to go. I've seen references to shrink wrap tube, which is a nice idea, and cheap and easy (always two good things) to implement. Maybe a short section of round Plastruct could be fitted. Drill into one end to take the handrail and wedge it between the roof and the top of the handrail. Either of those would address the visual issue, but the handrail will still bend if caught.

Looking at the prototype (handily @Phil Bullock provided a perfect image a few pages back), the collar is really quite small. As an alternative, as it affects so many (all?) the models, is this something that Modelu can help with? A small collar that sits over the top of the end of the handrail? Can @Modelu Chris comment on that one?

[Harlequin]

The gaps on mine are small enough to be invisible and thus won't annoy me I'm pleased to say:

(Image quality poor because of maximum zoom macro close-up.)

 

I think the handrails are glued at the bottom and the middle and so they could be fixed at different positions by accident if the person assembling was not careful. Maybe if they were working very fast the rails might have slipped after gluing?

 

In my case, the gaps are small enough that I reckon a small drop of some kind of low-viscosity glue would capillary in there and hold the top in place.

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Harlequin

[Pteremy]

I have had to get a magnifying glass out to see whether my Erlestoke has gaps - and I am still not quite sure - could just be a join. So in my case not a visible issue. I think that at least some of the close up photographs may be exaggerating the gap, but maybe there is also some variation in assembly.

[Mallard60022]

If I can't see a fault from 3' away, I don't care.

Phil

[ed 66 plant]

It is surely time  to hear from Accurascale on this matter?

[Northmoor MPD]

People will literally complain about anything…

 

I’m sorry but a tiny gap like that does not take away from what is an outstanding model in my opinion.

 

[G-BOAF]

Is there a 'hole' or 'slot' on the underside of the cab roof for the handrail to be located?

 

From the EP pics here it appears to just abut against the edge of the cab roof... which means a longer handrail could be fitted assuming the existing one comes cleanly out of the diecast running plate. And that Accurascale can provide paint-matched lengths of handrail (as otherwise it will stick out on an unweathered model)

https://www.accurascale.com/blogs/news/minding-our-manors-fully-tooled-first-sample-revealed

[noss]

I am certainly no expert and cannot claim to know the details of any locos, let alone the manor class, but let's not say that it is a case of 'people will complain about anything'.

 

The handrails on mine finish around 1mm below the roof. The error seems pretty obvious to me, especially in the light of other discussions about accuracy. It just seems such as obvious thing to get wrong.