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Bassett-Lowke Steampunk Models


JJ73

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I know it is a 'bit out there' but I didn'y know what to use my "...Special Thank you..." 10% discount for buying the Capt. Tom Moore Loco which you can only use on the Hornby Website. & I found the 'Bassett-Lowke Steampunk Models' & thought that they look quite interesting & fun...

 

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It's a speedy little Loco - it's just a 0-4-0 with a fancy top on it really & the same with the small Carriage & wagon - just done in a "awesome, unique, quirky, stunning and unusually fascinating" style really!!!

 

  • There are 3 differant types of 0-4-0 Locos
  • There are 2 differant types of small carriages
  • There are 4 (or 2 open plank wagons & 2 ventilated Good Vans) Wagons

which you can get  😀 What do you think???

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As already said "Garbage" This rubbish came about from that other rubbish TV programme, that got modellers to make things incorporating household items. So today what can we make with a feather duster and an old Hoover?  It was mainly fronted by Tim Shaw, who should have stayed with Fuzz Townsend making cars good again and not meddling in model railways. I couldn't believe that the main man at Railway Modeller,Steve Flint, ever got involved in the programme. How Hornby ever decided to produce such rubbish, under Basset Lowke's name, is beyond me when they are now making such great accurate models of REAL trains. If this stuff is wanted by people, then scatch build it as none of it relates to anything in the real world. Sorry to be so negative but that production time could have been used to make other things that are now sold out before they are even produced.

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Hi all

They where scared to besmirch the Hornby name with this what ever it is.

Steampunk it is not, basically its a possibly good idea stuffed up very  badly.

Though the figures do have possibilities for those with the right mind set and skills to produce well made proper steampunk instead of this rubbish.

regards John

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I would like to side with @Jimyjames and say that these look both interesting & fun.  Definitely a more ‘railroad’ than premium range, but excellent for introducing people to the concepts of both steampunk & customisation.  I’d never previously considered either, but as an ardent supporter of rule 1, this will be changing!  😀

 

Laurie Calvert (the designer of this range) has even stated that the absence of fine detail was a deliberate choice:

• so that younger hands could enjoy them - without immediate disintegration.

• so that older hands had a beginning - with plenty of space & scope available for personalisation. The railroad range (and second-hand market) can then be used as a blank canvas for further endeavours.

 

My username gives away my age and therefore I hadn’t previously heard of Bassett Lowke - however thanks to this range, I researched its origin and have now learned a little more model railway history!  😀

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@ W. T. D. :- 

Perhaps they will be popular but why on earth did they label them Bassett-Lowke?

Perhaps this will answer your Question...

 

Bassett-Lowke was a toy company in Northampton, England, founded by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke in 1898 or 1899, that specialized in model railways, boats and ships, and construction sets. Bassett-Lowke started as a mail-order business, although it designed and manufactured some items. 

Bassett-Lowke produced trains from 15-inch (381 mm) gauge live steam models to Gauge 2Gauge 1 and 0 gauge.

The first 15-inch steam locomotive, test run on the Eaton Hall Railway in 1905, was Little Giant. Unlike other engines on the line, it was a replica of main-line locos, built for a public miniature railway at Blackpool. It was a quarter-scale 4-4-2 "Atlantic" tender engine, though not an exact copy of any particular prototype. That engine still exists in private ownership.

In 1909, along with Henry Greenly, W.J. Bassett-Lowke started and edited Model Railways and Locomotives Magazine.

 

Looks like the general census is that not a lot of you folk not liking these Hornby Version of Bassett-Lowke Steampunk Models then, but apart from LT&SR_NSE - I thank you  😀 Yes I agree with you - "more ‘railroad’ than premium range"

 

But the funny thing is, as some of you may have guessed I made a video of my 3 buys from the Steampunk range (I made my vid on the 2nd Oct.) then went over to Sam's Trains Channel to ask him about it - just to find out that he had also made a vid also about the Steampunk Range on the 30th September then I found out that Jennifer E. Kirk Channel had also done a review of the Steam Punk range on the 25th September!!!

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@JJ

... you have just reinforced WTDs statement, by giving us the cut and paste potted history of B-L who were a manufacturer of larger scale quality models, not cheap plastic tatt bodged up from the toy-box.

 

These models are obviously aimed at the young kids market, who likely would never associate with steam punk. Any true steam punk fans would I am sure give them a swerve. I am surprised Laurie, who appears to be a genuine steam punker, has followed the brief you quote. I would like to know who wrote it - him or Hornby. The interest was obviously generated by his groups entry in that TV modelling show.

 

If I were you I would keep the nice boxes and bin the models.

 

Just be aware these ‘professional’ box openers and reviewers usually get a per click rake back for their efforts no doubt hoping to boost their ‘look at me’ egos.

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And the point in these models is?

My only word for them is 'Yawn'!

I get that some will like them but personally I see no reason for their making. Maybe in the future we'll see bogies with sails where an electric fan is required to drive them thus saving on our environment.

Sound cynical? I apologise for that but these models are not a serious attempt to bring folk into the model railway scene and will only be around for a very short time.

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@ Raf :- 

If I were you I would keep the nice boxes and bin the models.

No I don't think so - I think they are quite fun really - I like them ...

Just be aware these ‘professional’ box openers and reviewers usually get a per click rake back for their efforts no doubt hoping to boost their ‘look at me’ egos.

I know that - I've been on YT since 2008 & not made a single penny!!! I do it for just the fun of it & apparently

you have got to get at least 1000 Subscribers (as I found out a few weeks ago now) before you can make any money on YT but for some reason after all that time I only have 147 Subscribers but do have over 84,000 views!!! 

 

@ A. C. & Atom :- I think the point is just a bit of fun & get folk inspired into SteamPunk & make there own models or may be like LT&SR above - get folk who never heard about it before - to learn something new & may be help to spread the word about 'SteamPunk' & Even about Bassett-Lowke perhaps!!!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well I never did.... 😉Wenman Joseph Bassett Lowke owned tea plantations!

 

Background Story...

So this is the new world; a world of mad science, Eco warriors beneath the waves and empiric wars. The three mast clippers are now too slow to get their precious cargo past the devastating submersibles of those that despise empires, whilst the horse and cart falls constant prey to the hungry lizards that slip through the streams. The tea must get through though, the world demands it.

Wenman Joseph Bassett Lowke is one of those concerned; a seasoned maker of steam boilers, industrial brewing equipment and proud owner of some of the finest aromatic tea plantations across the world.

.....

 

 

http://www.hornby.com/uk-en/bassett-lowke-steampunk

 

It seems that JJ was quite correct...there is something new to learn!

 

OR....

 

Maybe not such a brilliant idea to use the name of a real person in connexion with a fictional story universe...

 

Why not involve Frank Hornby in this story?

 

Possibly the people behind this story, and the rest of the descriptions of models in the range don't actually know the history of Mr. Bassett Lowke?

 

I do hope that any descendants are OK with this?

 

On a related issue, there are figures described as "10cm" figures....

 

| Description

Compatible with OO and HO track and accessories.

 

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/shop/brands/bassett-lowke-steam-punk/steampunk-lady-triphenia-lovelace-10cm-figure.html

 

 

Very big statues? 😉

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Web page error indicated above about scale has been reported to Hornby admin. I would expect the web page to be corrected during next week. Obviously a 10cm figure is not compatible with OO HO scale. The scale small print is there by default on nearly all product pages and it is a Hornby admin editing over-sight to have left it there.

 

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