Bachmann V2 release update

[john coffin]

Simon
Maybe if you read the first line of your earlier post on Wednesday, you would understand.

Whilst I accept that they are production models, I was ill informed, I wonder how many people have
actually seen anything more than the photos which are notoriously difficult to judge.

Paul

[S.A.C. Martin]

Simon
Maybe if you read the first line of your earlier post on Wednesday, you would understand.

A closer look at the pics on Rails of Sheffield today confirms a few things to me

Hey Paul. Maybe you should reconsider the tone of your messages. There's nothing wrong with that I've said on Wednesday, and it's backed up by comparison photographs which clearly show the issues I mentioned on the model.

Whilst I accept that they are production models, I was ill informed, I wonder how many people have
actually seen anything more than the photos which are notoriously difficult to judge.

Paul

Paul, everyone is quite capable of looking at the photographs and making their minds up for themselves. However it is very clear that the rivets on the smokebox are in the wrong place. Both rivetted and non rivetted versions are wrong in the smokebox area due to the extra length caused by the smokebox door plug in.





There you go Paul. If that doesn't convince...?

[mick b]

I look forward to seeing the actual model far sale version .

I know the above photos are a "current version" aka the recent dark side photos. I sadly cannot believe how poor this model is at the time . Everytime I look at the photos something else either does'nt look right or is missing from the Loco . I have yet to any decentclose up photos of the Tender.

At £220 or more each . I think they will be in the bargain bin quite soon !!.Quite sad.

[Pebbles]

From when I first saw pre-production samples I was concerned that the raised section of the running plate was to high, subjectively, I still believe this to be the case. Now having seen further photos I believe the shape of the firebox is questionable. As with all models, it would be in the manufacturers interest to subject pre-production samples to peer review. I just hope that any revision to the J39 and K3 is addressed with greater caution.

[nzpaul]

I'm going to sit on the fence with regards to the firebox, you'd have to point the problem out as it's not obvious to me. Simon's photos tend to back you up about the running plate though, if one looks at the s curve directly behind the cylinders it does appear that the model is overcooked, the valve gear reach rod is also to far from the running plate.
I cancelled my pre order when the price went up to £185, and now it's £195 for the plain Jane version. I know this is what we expect to pay these days, but my collection of RTR won't be getting bigger any time soon, £200 spent on parts for home made locos seems like a much better idea.

Paul

[NZRedBaron]

Horrible as it sounds, our hobby may be overdue for our own "Great Atari Crash of '84", if it wants to survive.

[davidwest]

Review of the BR green version is now on BRM digital. Personally I think he was very generous.

[mick b]

Review of the BR green version is now on BRM digital. Personally I think he was very generous.

Generous !! Not surprising !!

[davidwest]

As reviews Gilbert doesn't go deep enough.

[NZRedBaron]

That actually reminds me though; I've got one of the older Bachmann V2's, Green Arrow in pre-war livery- how does that stack?

[nzpaul]

The shortcomings of the old Bachmann V2 are fairly well documented on here and other forums. Use the forums search engine and I'm sure something will crop up. In short though, it's got a tubby boiler, squat dome, and the smokebox door is weird. The original split frame chassis also had a trailing radial truck, which the real thing doesn't have. Some minor mods to replace the dome and smokebox door help it out quite a lot, the rear truck can be replaced with fixed frames and internal waggly bits and still behave quite happily on train set curves. I'm sure a search will uncover some of the threads covering minor to extensive mods to make improvements to the old model.

Paul

[Atlantic 3279]

You can't put right the wrong shape of the boiler on the old V2 model (continuous mild taper, nothing like the real thing with its slim parallel front section, pronounced middle taper and then opposite taper to the upper half of the firebox) by replacing the smokebox door and the horrible apology for a dome cover, it requires major surgery to graft in a complete new boiler.
Luckliy, having been there, done it, worn the T-shirt so to speak, and now being very satisfied with the only two V2s I can possibly justify, I'm in the happy position of not giving a damn about what sort of errors and needless chunkiness are still present in Bachmann's grossly overdue latest effort.

[nzpaul]

I'd never seek to argue with you over any details of LNER loco's Graeme. For nzredbaron's benefit, I think this V2 upgrade done by Simon might provide the perfect explanation of how to disguise the faults of the old model without resorting to complete rebuilds. https://www.lner.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7586 . It's about as good as you can expect the original model to look.
I knew it was here somewhere, google ended up finding it for me.

Paul

[Danby Wiske]

The boiler is still the wrong shape, though...

[nzpaul]

The boiler is still the wrong shape, though...

Yes, absolutely correct. That's never going to change unless your willing to perform serious transplant surgery on it. The point I was trying to make for nzredbaron was.... " here's how the old V2 stacks up, and what can be done to improve it"..... without resorting to a complete rebuild. I think Simon's effort was a genuine improvement, it was never going to be perfect and is acknowledged as such, but still better than original.

Paul