Warbonnet

Absolutely! Thankfully the issues are minor!

Hi everyone, I'm delighted to report that we have now received the first production samples of our HUO from the factory in China. Here are some pics, but before you have a good look, please remember the following caveats: 1. I'm terrible, I mean truly terrible at photography! 2. There are revisions that are needed to tooling. Now, despite previous reports you may have seen elsewhere, this does not cost the earth at this stage, and is easily done. The brake gear does indeed need amending, with the shoes slightly too small and the assembly itself being slightly too large. This revision has already been sent to our factory to sort out. The self-contained buffers are receiving further refinement too. 3. The bling wheels will of course, be toned down for production 4. It is a hastily hand assembled, made on a Friday afternoon before Chinese New Year, so the fit and finish is not A1, but it will be on the finished model. 5. The slight warping of the chassis parts are down to haste too, these will be rectified on the finished model. 6. The NEM Pockets are well off and are being dropped to correct NEM height for production. Cheers! Fran

And here was me thinking of doing an IRM marketing campaign; "Get a bunch of bubbles for the wagon in your life this Valentines Day" For some reason the lads stopped me...

They’re a lovely wee set I have to say!

Is that based on Bracken's post? This is turning into quite the party!

Thanks men!

Well everyone, you told us that you would like to find out the 2018 IRM range in advance, so make sure you join us on Saturday, March 3rd, 2018 in Ryan's Bar, Store Street where we will announce the models coming in 2018 as well answer your questions and host a social event for Irish railway modellers. Ryan's is a special place for IRM, as it's where we held our very first meeting way back in 2015, so it seems only right we have our launch there. We kick off at 4pm and food will be provided. If you want to come along, it is essential you RSVP by 6pm on Wednesday, Feb 28th to info@irishrailwaymodels.com as we need to know for catering requirements. All are welcome and we hope to see you there on the day! Now, feel free to speculate what we may announce!

They look excellent, think I'll be picking a set up!

A first look at the production sample....

Luckily I've been to Kennedy space centre, have sent the files to ESU. All good!

Well, that's project 4 out of the bag...

Must see if I can get a pack of bubbles on board the next one...

Marketing.

Just a heads up everyone, this is on this Sunday and we'll have the probably the last of the ballasts on sale as we're down to the last nine packs. Could be your last chance to grab some! We'll have both ivory and orange bubbles too of course. With 76% of all bubbles sold out so far they may sell out even quicker than the ballasts! We will also have a sample of our first Accurascale wagon, the HUO hopper there too and will be taking preorders, if you're into British outline. Stop by and say hi!

Thanks everyone, here's a look at the chassis and some of the details going on the wagon. There are 74 separate components going into each wagon! We will have some factory samples in the coming days and will have at least the 3D print on show at the Stillorgan fair this Sunday.

Thanks to you all for taking part in the vote. As you can guess, the winner is an annual announcement. We are working on a small event for this which will take place on Saturday, March 3rd. Keep the day free in the diary and an eye on the forum in the coming days for further details!

Just a reminder everyone about this, voting closes tonight at 8pm! If the result carries for an announcement of the 2018 programme in advance then we are thinking of putting together a little social gathering to mark the occasion. More details will be revealed next week.

Would have certainly thought HO couplings first?

We thought Irish outline was a minefield, but it's a stroll compared to BR!

Hi everyone, Firstly, thank you to everyone for your words of encouragement so far, both on here, Facebook, PMs and email. They have confirmed that entering the British market was the right thing for us to do. Now, let’s have a first look at our HUO ‘in the plastic’. OK, we’ll level with you. Tooling was going quite nicely until we noticed a flaw. We want our model to be as perfect as manufacturing will allow, so we have decided to alter the tooling to correct the issue. This has delayed the sample by about two weeks, but we are confident that the bridge between sample and production is very small, so it should not affect delivery time. Indeed, our factory is now preparing test parts as you can see below. Thankfully, help was at hand and a quick phone call to a leading UK-based 3D printing firm secured this sample. Please bare this in mind when analysing photos, and there are some parts missing which will be on the production model. As soon as the factory production sample arrives, we will share pics with you. However, this print is seriously impressive and was turned around in double-quick time. You can see its limitations in areas like the buffer heads, but overall, wow! The book is now open on pre-orders. As stated previously, it’s £59.95 for a pack of three and we are doing a rake deal of all five packs of pre-TOPS wagons for £275, including free two-day shipping to the UK and Ireland! We will offer similar deals on TOPS variants when we start taking pre-orders. As you have probably read many times at this stage, we believe that the devil is in the detail, and the HUO will be no different. Below is a parts diagram showing just how many separate parts go into one of our wagons. We want to give you the highest possible detail for your buck. Anyone fancy counting? Below are livery details and numbers for the first five packs of HUOs in pre-TOPS condition. Pre-ordering is now open! Our web software only allows for payment up front pre-ordering, so please bare this in mind! Pack A B333635 Self-contained buffers HOP 24 1/2 marking [route info blanked out] B335009 Spindle buffers COAL HOP marking [route info blanked out] B335539N Spindle buffers HOP 24 1/2 marking [route info blanked out] Pack B B333897 Self-contained buffers HOP 24 marking LOAD ONLY TO STELLA NORTH OR SOUTH DUNSTON OR BLYTH POWER STATIONS B334155 Self-contained buffers HOP 24 marking LOAD ONLY TO STELLA NORTH OR SOUTH DUNSTON OR BLYTH POWER STATIONS B334160 Self-contained buffers HOP 24 marking LOAD ONLY TO STELLA NORTH OR SOUTH DUNSTON OR BLYTH POWER STATIONS Pack C B334429 Self-contained buffers 24 1/2T marking LOAD ONLY TO KINCARDINE POWER STATION SC REGION B334438 Self-contained buffers HOP marking [route info blanked out] B334548 Self-contained buffers 24 1/2T marking LOAD ONLY TO KINCARDINE POWER STATION SC REGION Pack D B334949 Spindle buffers HOP marking [route info blanked out] B335039 Spindle buffers HOP marking [route info blanked out] B335703 Self-contained buffers HOP marking [route info blanked out] Pack E B336817 Self-contained buffers 24 1/2T marking LOAD ONLY TO THORPE MARSH POWER STATION (YORKS) N.E.R. B336937 Self-contained buffers 24 1/2T marking LOAD ONLY TO THORPE MARSH POWER STATION (YORKS) N.E.R. B337128N Self-contained buffers HOP marking LOAD ONLY TO THORPE MARSH POWER STATION (YORKS) N.E.R.

I agree that the DD DVT is a minger too. I feel both have been smacked with the ugly stick!

I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder Noel, but famin’ Nora those yokes look like Daffy Duck!

How did you get the car out? Or do you have your dinner sitting in it every day?

Hi Northman, We have no NIR specific models on our radar at this time, but many of our forthcoming models travelled over the border. Hope that helps. Thanks, Fran

Hi everyone, Want to win a pack of IRM wagons? Are you on Facebook? Well, why not enter our competition! We have just hit 900 likes on Facebook! Thank you to everyone who has liked and shared our content so far, and indeed sent us in videos and pictures of IRM wagons in action. However, we're a bit vain and greedy (well, I am. I dont think the other lads mind too much!) and we really want to break the 1,000 likes barrier. So, we're offering you the chance to win a pack of wagons if you can help us get there. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is like our page. If you have already liked it, why not share it to encourage others to like it too? When the 1,000 like barrier is broken, we will chose one lucky person at random to take home the prize! https://www.facebook.com/irishrailwaymodels/ Also, if you want to submit videos and pics of your IRM stock in action, customised or otherwise, please post it below or email us at the usual address. Thanks, and good luck! Fran