Hornby Gresley Full Brake

[Green Nigel]

Oh, I don't recall mentioning anything about the Hornby teak finish either. I just don't think they are very good value for money, I shall repeat, people buying them should expect to get something as good as an MJT kit in this day and age.

[strang steel]

Oh, I don't recall mentioning anything about the Hornby teak finish either. I just don't think they are very good value for money, I shall repeat, people buying them should expect to get something as good as an MJT kit in this day and age.

I dont think you are quite understanding the argument.

Could you give us a guide as to how much the individual MJT components would cost for one coach?

Two sides, two ends, two bogies, one roof, one underframe, sets of trussrods, etc etc

[scottiedog]

I built an MJT Gresley 61'6" Dia 113 Full Brake a good while ago, and the parts then cost me in the region of £40.00. I have just sat down and worked out how much they would be today - nearly £70.00. Then you have to build it and paint it (still haven't painted mine!). Each to their own.You makes your choice and pays your price.

[mick b]

Quote

I agree with Atlantic, once you've built your own or examined a GA drawing, or the real thing for that matter, it's hard to tolerate the discrepancy's in the expensive Hornby product. Even in a rake of their own non corridor stock they stand out like a sore thumb.

Perhaps I have misunderstood ?



I am sorry finish to the average punter is 90% of the reason to buy and as far I am concerned it is for me too. Hornbys are half the price and with their superb finish to most people are a bargain.

I have added MJT sides fitting them to Hornby stock aka Coachmanns thread on how to convert them reducing the width of the undeframe at the sme timea. For this I bought secondhand BR Gresleys for £15 each plus MJT sides at £12 = £27 plus paint decals and paint = a real bargain at about £30 all in.
However I have only built the three MJT Resturant versions not available from Hornby and these run with my Hornbys and IMHO they look fine. I ignore the slight tumblehome issue

Each to their own, enjoy either way

cheers

[Green Nigel]

I have added MJT sides fitting them to Hornby stock aka Coachmanns thread on how to convert them reducing the width of the undeframe at the sme timea. For this I bought secondhand BR Gresleys for £15 each plus MJT sides at £12 = £27 plus paint decals and paint = a real bargain at about £30 all in.

If you are discussing cost, then the above is far more to the point. If Hornby sold them as conversion kits for £15, then a happy man I would be, in the meantime fleabay comes to the rescue with the odd bargain for scap here and there. Obviously dissatisfied customers disgruntled by Hornbys triumph of detail and finish over accuracy.

[strang steel]

Yes, but the point is - the kit producers are only providing half the service that the RTR manufacturers are.

In effect, you are giving your time for free to construct and paint the model.

I assume that the RTR manufacturers have to make compromises in order to produce a fully finished item that is as accurate as possible within the RRP price range that they consider will sell in large enough numbers to make a profit on their tooling investment.

I can purchase a 'teak' full brake for around £36 at my local discount model shop. I'm sure they could improve the accuracy threefold but would the resulting price of £80+ be acceptable to enough modellers?

Compromise between price and accuracy is the name of the game.

[Bill Bedford]

I've seen some excellent kit built Kirk and mailcoach carriages in both 4 and 7mm that are superior to the Hornby offering.

Mmm. Your whole posting really has to be taken with a large pinch of salt. I've never seen anyone successfully disguise a 4mm Ian Kirk Gresley......

[Green Nigel]

But if it was well enough disguised you would never Know. To me the Hornby and Kirk Gresleys are on the same level only one is more expensive then the other.

[mick b]

Sorry, beyond belief .

I look forward to seeing photos of the mystical Kirk build. A Mailcoach stunner would be good too

[Green Nigel]

It's a good job I'm not happy with the Hornby Gresleys or I would never buy anything off you Bill.

[Green Nigel]

There is a serious point about carriages in disguise, if you come and watch Leicester South (wigan 2012) you will spot the odd Hornby and Kirk Gresleys in trains because they don't look like the real thing, they look like Hornby and Kirk Gresleys. Hopefully there will be other stock fingers crossed that that can be only identified by the as a Gresley.

It would be lovely if we could to drop accurate RTR LNER corridor stock into trains but I bet your the average punter would spot the current crop of RTR corridors a mile off. Dose this matter?, I think so, to me part of the magic is simply watching a V2 on a set of Gresleys rather then a Bachman V2 on a rake of Hornbys, or a DJH A3 on a set of Kirks. If you see the manufacturer rather then the prototype then the spell is broken.

Judging by the response from this thread I don't think I shall be that bothered in the future. Let me see the GWR have some rather nice stock they might be worth modelling, how about battleships, dose anybody know of a good battleship forum?.

[strang steel]

Why give up just because the reaction from this thread is not completely in agreement?

We are not all cloned to have the same opinions.

[mick b]

Some pictures of your builds or the layout you are talking about would be good to see.

[Green Nigel]

Because the consensus is, we will gladly pay a premium price for a second rate model. And I am odd for believing that Hornby should have produced an accurate model of the Gresley BG for the price. Not really much more to say, different worlds gents.

As for Leicester South, some chap on this forum posted a video up on you tube might be in a thread here somewhere or try Googling Leicester South GC.

Many Thanks.

[S.A.C. Martin]

In fairness, not everyone has access to the skills or funds to build complete rakes of perfect trains. That also equally doesn't mean we shouldn't aspire to the best standards achievable.

However, case in point - Hornby Gresley Suburban Coaches. The non-corridor stock is out of this world. Sorry chaps - perfect teak finish, can be found for £36 and below online, and I even got a bulk buy discount a few months ago. For the cost of four of those, you'd be hard pressed to get one from a kit of the same type finished to the same standard, and certainly not if it was built by a professional coach builder - it would cost far more for a similar finish.

Am happy to agree to disagree on the corridor coaches, but Hornby have proved they can do the goods when it counts. The subs are just perfect.