Rapido Announces "Evolution" pre-group Bogie Coaches

[Atlantic 3279]

Going by the digital image renditions....Yet another load of generic coaches masquerading very poorly as GNR items, with totally the wrong sort of panelling of the sides, to pick but one fault. At least they are apparently going to go to the trouble of producing something like a correct end profile to permit an approximation to the Howlden (three centre) round roof, rather than the Hattons Genesis and Hornby "take it leave it" arc roof only. Overall lengths roughly similar to the proper thing, but location and profile of guards duckets looks set to be another feature nothing like anything truly GNR.
The teaking will have to be seen on the final models in order to be judged. Maybe the roof profile combined with the round-cornered panelling might satisfy some NBR fans? The clerestories in GCR livery look a bit more promising, but I haven't looked particularly closely.

[mick b]

£70 a pop , no chance.

Premium price for something , which might look like the real thing or not and 99.9% of the time wont .

[Woodcock29]

Graeme
I agree with your comments on the GN options.

As to the GC version - at a first glance they're probably closer maybe than the GN versions but again the duckets are nothing remotely like what the GC used. The ends appear to be flat so don't have the turnunders at the bottom. The roofs might be the closest thing to the GC look. The bogies don't look like what the GC used. On the third the compartment spacing appears too wide but like you I've not made a full analysis.
The GC livery might be the best aspect.
I certainly won't be getting any but I guess many will.

Andrew

[Atlantic 3279]

I notice that contributors on a well known and seemingly "in the pockets of the manufacturers" model railway forum are not allowed to criticise the price unless they wish to be publicly rebuked by its chief of opinion-police. Yet it is obvious that £70 for a mass produced model that is not an accurate representation of anything is even more outrageously expensive than £70 for an accurate mass produced model of a real coach.

[mick b]

Plus "they" now want £12 a year just to avoid a stupid pop up and repetive bland video. Dream on again !!!

[Atlantic 3279]

It occurs to me, that although the coaches would still be incorrect in many details for any given pre-group company, at least some of the hideous price could have been avoided by not messing about with design, manufacture and decoration of a needlessly "exquisite" interior. Some plain partitions and plain bench seats in roughly the right colours would be enough to cater for the most the average modeller is ever really likely to see of the dark interior through the small windows.
A little bit of design thought, not requiring genius, might also have led to a standard moulded arrangement of doors and panels on the brake compartments that was totally devoid of any duckets, with some separate simple duckets produced in a small selection of styles, to be stuck in place (if required, in whatever position might seem least-wrong for each pre-group company) either by the manufacturer or by the customer.
As it is, it appears to me that model authenticity has taken second place to the production of something that will appeal to buyers of feature/gimmick laden "shiny things", and which may make the designers feel good about justifying their jobs by putting in a lot of details, even if those details are wrong or not visible.
The price (for most real modellers) is far too high for the coaches to serve as fodder for conversion / improvement. Butchering some cheap old Triang clerestories, or Ratio kits, with the aid of various new bits such as roof, bogies underframe fittings will be a far cheaper way to produce coaches something like those of the companies that actually had vehicles with that kind of panelling.

[Horsetan]

Going by the digital image renditions....Yet another load of generic coaches masquerading very poorly as GNR items, with totally the wrong sort of panelling of the sides, to pick but one fault. At least they are apparently going to go to the trouble of producing something like a correct end profile to permit an approximation to the Howlden (three centre) round roof, rather than the Hattons Genesis and Hornby "take it leave it" arc roof only. Overall lengths roughly similar to the proper thing, but location and profile of guards duckets looks set to be another feature nothing like anything truly GNR.
The teaking will have to be seen on the final models in order to be judged. Maybe the roof profile combined with the round-cornered panelling might satisfy some NBR fans? The clerestories in GCR livery look a bit more promising, but I haven't looked particularly closely.

We've been discussing on the Irish railway modelling whether or not some of the Evo or Genesis coaches might be suitable for the companies that operated in the pre-Great Southern Railways period, i.e. GS&WR, MGWR, GNR(I) etc.

So far, it looks like the three-arc roof is one of the few assets of the new production, along with the 48ft underframe, plus some of the GNR-liveried coaches might pass for GNR(I). The clerestories were thought to be unsuitable.

One of the things we'll never know is whether Hattons and Rapido actually looked at any pre-group carriage drawings and, if so, which ones since that would at least allow us to understand what they were using as a basis and whether sectional cut-and-shut might be possible to produce something more acceptable. Having said that,*seventy quid* a coach is a ton of money to be sacrificing to the razor saw and scalpel, so probably this is something to be left aside until such time as these generic coaches end up in a bargain bin somewhere.

...appeal to buyers of....."shiny things"...

[Hatfield Shed]

£70 a pop , no chance.

Premium price for something , which might look like the real thing or not and 99.9% of the time won't .

Strange move from Rapido, when a competitor is doing it right with a RTR OO Quad-Art set.

[Horsetan]

£70 a pop , no chance.

Premium price for something , which might look like the real thing or not and 99.9% of the time won't .

Strange move from Rapido, when a competitor is doing it right with a RTR OO Quad-Art set.

Who knows what motivates these ideas and the "business decisions" that give them the green light for production? Rapido's timing suggests they saw what Hattons were doing and the orders generated, and decided they wanted some of that for themselves.

After all, "who cares what it looks like as long as it sells?"

It is a bit mad, though, to put in that much time and effort into designing and producing essentially "nonsense" coaches when just a little more effort might have led to some decent models of real pregroup designs.

[Atlantic 3279]

...appeal to buyers of....."shiny things"...

Shiny things or Precious things?

[NZRedBaron]

Okay then, so it's not something that you'd want to run on your layout? Fine, don't buy it.

You're all acting like Rapido strangled your children in front of you.

[Dave S]

Okay then, so it's not something that you'd want to run on your layout? Fine, don't buy it.

You're all acting like Rapido strangled your children in front of you.

The thing for me about Rapido doing these generic coaches is that they are a company that has built a reputation on accuracy and a high level of detail, so I don't see how that squares with producing something so inaccurate (in the case of the GNR for me)
They have to be careful that they don't taint their brand.

[Atlantic 3279]

Okay then, so it's not something that you'd want to run on your layout? Fine, don't buy it.

You're all acting like Rapido strangled your children in front of you.

Okay then, so if you don't like the criticisms, don't read them.

I won't buy the Rapido coaches, nor will many others. Unlike a certain other forum, harsh criticism of main manufacturers, where justified, is generally permitted on here. The criticisms in this case are well justified, the attempt to pass these "luxury-priced" nonsense items off as models of any sort of former GNR coach being an insult to proper modelling.

[mick b]

Okay then, so it's not something that you'd want to run on your layout? Fine, don't buy it.

You're all acting like Rapido strangled your children in front of you.

Okay then, so if you don't like the criticisms, don't read them.

I won't buy the Rapido coaches, nor will many others. Unlike a certain other forum, harsh criticism of main manufacturers, where justified, is generally permitted on here. The criticisms in this case are well justified, the attempt to pass these "luxury-priced" nonsense items off as models of any sort of former GNR coach being an insult to proper modelling.

Totally agree. "Mr Baron" can leave anytime he likes!! Thanks in anticipation.

[Horsetan]

...The thing for me about Rapido doing these generic coaches is that they are a company that has built a reputation on accuracy and a high level of detail...

....as well as making it almost impossible to convert to P4.