Pecketts And Panniers

It costs more to paint it, though. I'd heard that fawn was a little deer.

I like that one half of the backscene break is a bridge and one half is just the trees. The soft curved backscene end on the right (further softened by the trees) contrasts nicely with the hard square end of the backscene and the square bridge on the left. The backscene itself is really well painted too, with just the right amount of detail. There's enough in there so that it's not just an abstract representation of countryside, but no so much that it distracts from the layout itself. In summary - I think it's great!

Wil they be specific to the Barclays in any way, or just a generic 6-pin motor-only decoder?

Are the pipes supposed to be different on the different models? Efficient and Victory are close, but still different and the NCB one is is almost a right-angle, compared to the curve of the other two.

I took this in the sense of "make them more visible to the viewer of the model", rather than attempting to replicate the H&S requirements of the day.

Not sure how reliable it really is, but the famous (or possibly infamous) metadata on the Hornby web site has an availabliity date of 20th November, with the recently announced club special a week later.

If you read his answers carefully, he's never actually said they are in stock right now.

I don't think they have. The Accurascale web site is saying "In transit" with an ETA of 23rd October.

OK. so we can pay after the goods come into stock? That seems perfectly reasonable, but it's not what you said above. Given the fact that @Steve Purves (not sure if he's Accurascale staff or not) has said that the production samples haven't even been photographed yet, I'd be relucant to shell out until I've seen the final product.

Is that a requirement? If we don't pay until after the goods come into stock, what then? Is the order cancelled?

Well, I think your tinkering has worked! That looks subperb.

Those coaches look great! In addition to the link above, there's also some detail about coach liveries (you need to scroll down about half way) on http://www.gwr.org.uk/liveries.html

At the very top of the product page https://uk.Hornby.com/products/br-intercity-executive-class-43-hst-train-pack-era-7-sound-fitted-r30097txs it says "Sound fitted" as part of the title. It's in the URL as well! The Tech Specs section says HM7000 Fitted - With Sound Based on that, I'm going to go out on a limb here and says it's sound fitted.

From the Hornby web site blurb "Upgraded for 2023, the Hornby Class 43 pack includes lights front and rear and well as motorised fans in the roof and a kinematic coupling system. Fitted with a 5 pole motor and dual flywheels the motor car is all wheel drive. Both units are fitted with 21 pin DCC sockets and pre-fitted dual speakers which allow for the use of sound on DCC as well as offering greater control of the lights and fans." So, yes, it's DCC sound in each car, and, by the sound of it, DCC-controlled fans in each one too. Can't see any mention of motorised, much less DCC-controlled, fans on the Accurascale model specs, so overall, it's not looking that bad. Certainly, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison between the two models.

This one? https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/p/80124/R30097TXS-Hornby-InterCity-Executive-Class-43-HST-Train-Pack That's DCC sound fitted, so a comparison to a £170 DCC ready Accurascale locomotive isn't perhaps entirely fair. The Accurascale DCC fitted variant is a further £90, at £260, and adding in your £80 PCV gets you to £340, and I'm not sure I'd say that the EFE PCV is equivalent to a full HST body. Granted, it does seem a lot for the Hornby model, but I don't think it's quite as bad as you're saying. Effectively, nobody pays Hornby list prices. If you buy from a retailer, they are all at 10% discount and thise who do buy lots direct will be in the Collector's Club and get the same 10% off, with the caveat that the "saving" then has to be spent with Hornby. Of course, Accurascale do the same thing, but they only offer 3%.