Dazzler down under Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 I know thcan't be a new idea, but for what reason would Hornby have for releasing rolling stock un numbered and include decals so we can number then ourselves? Same with names for locos, take the Britannia for eg, why not include decals so we can choose a name rather then settling for what they put on the loco, I'd buy more rolling stock and britannias if they did this and wouldn't have to wait 20 years to complete my collection of britannias. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Take the A4 loco. They built 35, which names and numbers should Hornby include? There are companies such as Modelmaster that make renaming/numbering kits for about £8. Should Hornby include all the name/numbers for a class. It would be only fair to do so. If that would be an extra £280 per loco. I agree they could sell them without any name/number so you can buy your own but not include them with the loco. The renumbering kits are a piece of cake to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzler down under Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 why so expensive, transfers can't cost that much to make if they give them away in s pack of chewing gum for kids, plus they are saving in labour by not having to do it in the factory. I'd be happy with un named un numbered products with decals sold separately but they should include a small variety of names and numbers, especially with rolling stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDR Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 The real problem is how do you do it without risking spoiling your model. Most waterslide transfers do not stick too well on a matt (or semi matt) finish so the surface has to be treated with a gloss varnish first. Failure to do this risks a white 'bloom' appearing afterwards when matt varnish is applied to secure and seal the new number and blend it in. As for name plates these need to be carefully attached or they fall off again.Hornby did once sell some of its models with alternative name and numbers which were to be applied as self adhesive stickers (or sometimes as waterslide transfers) over the original ones. R459 Hall class, R061/R859 Black 5, R053/R060 B17/4, R258 Princess Royal, R864/R871 Princess Coronation R869 / R374 Battle of Britain R259 / R033 Britannia, R878/R2237 Class 25, R284/R347/R285 Class 37 and various Class 47 models all had alternative names supplied. Even the 110 DMU came with an alternative set of stick on numbers, and the Class 77 in CKD form as well.In my experience the stickers were difficult to get looking right, and in the case of the Battle of Britain the colour colour of the waterslide cab side transfers did not match the body finish. If you do want to give your loco a new identity then the Modelmaster* transfers and nameplates that WTD refers to are ideal, I use them myself. They are not that expensive, and easy to apply, and you can choose the identity and not be forced to use the ones supplied. . You do have to remove the original ones of course, but T'cut and a cotton bud soon fixes that, and you really need to put some gloss paint or varnish to help them stick. *other suppliers are available, including Fox and Cambridge to name but two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 The Modelmaster renumbering transfers have a background colour that covers the original number and come complete with lining if applicable. Why so expensive, because it includes etched nameplates if applicable, cheaper if it doesn't need them, and I think you'll find the ones in chewing gum packs aren't quite up to the job. 😆 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VESPA Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 How damned annoying as I have just spent 30 mins replying to this thread only to be logged out without knowing. Why do I bother coming on here 🫨???????All my efforts lost and I am not repeating it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDR Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Vespa I had a similar recurring problem some months ago and reported to Adam. It has not troubled me since he fixed it, fingers crossed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzler down under Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 I just think hornby need to get a bit more innovative and take the initiative with their models to keep them ahead of the game, give me a reason to preference hornby locos and stock rather then that of the opposition, namely bachmann, who to me have their colors all wrong anyway, if its too much of a nightmare to include names then atleast sell them seperatly. I realise you can already buy them but theres no incentive for someone like me to go out and double up on coaches ect when its a process to renumber them, atleast if they are sold unnumbered half the job is done and id have some incentive to buy more, and i think locos without names like the black 5s and standard 4s among many without names, aswell as rolling stock, and especially diesels ans electrics, could be done easily. We could also decide for ourselves what crest we want the loco to carry. I think it would lead to more sales and profit for hornby moving forward, i know id buy more locos and stock if they were to do this. It seems stupid hornby bringing out the same models every year with different names and numbers, they could keep production down and lower costs of the manufacture if they were to do this and save lots of time, with the time saved they can be working on new tooling or something to further the brand. We also wouldnt have brand new locos sitting in model shops for 10+ years, I know theres a dozen bits of rolling stock in my local model shop thats sat there for years that i wont buy because i already have them. Decals for british locos are a little rare in Oz so its a big process if you wanna go down the renumber/name route down here so theres not a lot of incentive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzler down under Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 Vespa, ive had that happen to me a few times in the last few weeks its very annoying, i was looking forward to hearing your opinion on this too, damn it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjb1961 Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Hi Dazzler ,,,,,,I brought this topic up way back ,I referred to the merchant navy class at the time ,some of the guys on here didn't think it was a good idea at all ,but me personally,,I think it wouldn't be a bad idea ! ,,,,,mjb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDR Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 It is SO easy to remove or obliterate the original name and number and apply a new one I really cannot see the benefit of issuing models without numbers. These would NOT be attractive to people who do not really care what number a loco or carriage is carrying who I suspect are in the majority, and it isn't too much hassle for the minority of people like me who do want to change them (at least 50% of my models are carrying names and numbers not applied in the factory!!). I think a lot of potential purchasers would feel hard done by if they were obliged to apply the names and numbers themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzler down under Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 Good point LC, im gonna have a go at a renaming on my busted up britannia and see how easy it is. The reason i bought this up is because several of my hornby models already come with extra nameplates and ive always wondered why they dont do it with all of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 I think it's better leave the renaming to small companies that specialise in the products. Keeps them going. Also if as I said in my first reply Hornby did what you suggest which names and numbers would they include. All of them? What do you do with the stuff left over? Some of them? What's the bet the one you want isn't there? Still you never know, it might happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzler down under Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 Not every loco in each class is the same, so they produce 1 unnamed version of each variation and include the relevent names. With the leftovers you could save them for a rainy day and give your existing locos a new identity, plus not all locos had names, the black 5 for example. After explaining the process i understand it would be hard to do but the guys in the marketing dept on the big bucks are the ones who should figure out how to make it work. There are manufacturers who already do this, sooner or later hornby will be left behind if they dont look at an option like this, and considering they almost went under last year obviously their business plan moving forward needs to be reviewed. Simply raising prices will do more harm then good imo. Maybe they produce the models named but decrease the production number and introduce un named locos and stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Fair enough. I agree with you about just numbers, but a sheet is pretty cheap and as LC said, removing numbers is a doddle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81F Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 I just wish Hornby would make transfers for it's Locos. I want to rename a spare Adderly Hall so attempted to use some Garth Hall plates (Jackson Evans I think) but they do not completely cover the Hornby ones. The same can be said of Knight of St John to Cover Knight of the Grand Cross, King George V to cover King George II (though I've yet to try some Fox plates on this one).Interestingly renaming a spare Bachmann Hall was a little easier because the Trinity Hall Plates were only about 0.5mm out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rule 1 Applies Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Heljan tried selling unnamed and unnumbered locos in reponse to 'modeller demand'. They found that the 'demand' was, in reality, so small that they had trouble shifting them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81F Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Heljan tried selling unnamed and unnumbered locos in reponse to 'modeller demand'. They found that the 'demand' was, in reality, so small that they had trouble shifting them.I think the answer is to supply a loco with an identity and provide transfers (either with it or separately) to overlay the numbers/names. A really obvious one would also be wagon numbers but at least Hornby and Bachmann seem to have started bringing out different numbers in later batches without too much of a wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDR Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 I still cannot belive the extra cost would be justified when it is so easy to obtain and apply appropriate transfersand plates from existing established suppliers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fazy Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 If you want to rename a loco buy them yourself and do some modelling. I am not going to buy models amd have to pay more, just so some people can rename. Hornby would only do 2nd rate printed ones anyway. Meaning if your wanting a decent job all the names go in the bin. And GW or fox ect get a phone call. Rapiedo has not long said that they are no longer going to do un-named/numberd models because they don't sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81F Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Just out of interest do those that rename their locos (particularly GWR ones), remove or trim the original plastic plate on the loco or have you been lucky enough to choose names that will fit over the top? I gave up trying to overlay an etched Knight of St John nameplate over Knight of the Grand Cross as the new plate was not only too short but the arc was different leaving a gap between the top of the splasher anf the middle of the plate. In the end I got a cheap North star body off eBay. I think the big problem with the etched plates is that they are too close to scale whereas Hornby and Bachmann are not necessarily so or made to be "about right" for a range of names. I should add I have virtually no problems with un-named locos as most plates will overlay the printed originals exactly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 On one occasion the new plate wouldn't cover the old so I trimmed the old until it was smaller than the new. Once it is covered it doesn't matter what shape it is. GWR locos are by far the easiest to renumber because the number is on an etched plate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDR Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 I had a similar issue re-naming a Mainline Jubilee from 'Orion' to 'Rhyl' and found it is better to remove / trim the old nameplate first. What is harder is renaming a Hornby Dublo 'Castle'. The diecast body is harder (impossible) to trim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VESPA Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 I carefully choose the donor loco to have a smaller plate than the one I am converting it to if I can. I have on odd occasions chosen one with a longer plate than I expected ie same number of letters but just a fraction too long for the new plate to go over so I place the new plate over the old and just touch out the old with a spot of balck paint. It is hardly noticable. On a Hall class I did the plate was too big and the wrong arc so that was readjusted with a bit of careful filing to get Warfield Hall. Some WR region Brits carried a red spot under the number and I just use the tip of a 0 brush with a small blob of red paint on and just touch it carefully on the cab. Then leave it to dry and it shrinks back to level and stays round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 The GWR and BR (WR) route restriction and Power Group "Spots" are also available as transfers from various sources. Most real spots have a letter (Power Group) on them....except the lowest Power Group that is. There is also the "uncoloured" "spot" for the lightest locos... Uncoloured Yellow Blue Red Double Red (Only the King Class) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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