RedRich

The criticism is not displaced one bit. Dave is a collector and enthusiast of the hobby and has seen every kind of quality in his time, therefore his opinion is sound. The same can be said for Ed's opinion as he has been involved in the hobby for a long time as a modeller and exhibitor at shows on this island and beyond. The OP himself has stated in another thread that he would not want to go down the kit road of non injection moulded plastic models. When he asked the IRM team if there were any intentions of a bullied corrugated model being produced the lads said there were no plans at this time. It was pointed out to him that another manufacturer has produced a fine kit of the wagon, he said himself he would only be interested in injection moulded plastic models. That then blows the availability theory out of the water. I'll take a bet Junctionmad, that if anyone except Noel had started this thread you would not have gotten involved in it. Rich,

I have seen an IFM Park Royal up close, and for the money it is priced at I think it falls way below that value. It fails in a lot of departments that should be high end quality. If someone is willing to part with that amount of money and is happy with it then good luck to them. I don't buy into the it's Irish or a small market for a second neither. Rich,

Smashing pics gents. It's nice to see the little detail differences in both chassis. It's gonna be a big year for the hobby and a great start to it with the ballast's. A big shout out to Richie for the paint jobs. Rich,

JHB I admire your knowledge of the the history of our railways and enjoy reading your posts, especially steam related threads. There are a lot of lurkers and visitors on the group that are getting into the hobby and aren't all that clued up at the moment on the accuracy and fidelity of model to prototype. We owe it to these people to point these things out so they don't make a mistake they regret later. Once you post a model on ebay or other auction sites with a starting price then be prepared for people to voice their opinion if they think the model is a poor effort with barely a passing resemblance to the prototype. Rich,

Ah lad's please. I can understand people offering praise and encouragement, but just look at pics of the prototype. There is more wrong with that model than there is correct. The chimney, the dome, there aren't any whistles, and that's just the beginning. Things have come such a long way in recent years do we really wan't to go back to that being acceptable. Rich,

That is fantastic work, huge respect to all involved. Rich,

That's all fantastic news Fran. Hope yourself and Pat enjoyed what sounds like a good weekend. Rich,

Always sad to hear news like this. Having made many purchases from Seamus I can only agree that he was a pleasure to deal with and a nice guy. All the best for the future and thanks. Rich,

Some did retain orange roofs until they were withdrawn. An IE set before early 2000 would have had orange roofs, mind you it was hard to see under all the roof dirt. IR Inter City liveried coaches would be all orange. There was a GAA special set in Waterford in 2005 that had a mix of orange and black roofs. So there is a good timeline to run both colors in the post 2001-02 era. Rich,

It's great to see IRM moving forward with what is a very positive move. This fills me with confidence as a customer for all future products. Rich,

Looks smashing Noel. I agree with Fran on the subsector livery. I loved the class 60's in the triple grey re-branded Mainline, EWS, Loadhaul, and Transrail liveries before they were repainted. Rich,

I'm with Pat and Ivan on this, they are staggered in that pic. Rich,

I remember seeing an A class pulling them also on the flying pig tour many years ago. Rich,

201's, 071's, 141-181 classes all pulled them in that livery. Rich,

Just finished looking at some pics of Tara's and I think a graffiti (one or two) and weathered look will be called for. They are a lovely looking wagon and the correct chosen prototype to produce. Fran obviously had a big say in the choice as they are a particular favorite of his, as he has said. The fact that the three different covers are being produced is great for modellers of the different era's since they were first introduced into traffic. Rich,

That's good news Fran, It looks really nice with the load. It will be nice to be able to run them loaded or empty to add that bit more realism to a running session. Rich,

Nice one Jim.

From the examples of the models on show I hope there is time for them to hopefully correct any issues that have been raised here and elsewhere. The end and corridor detail looks tasty as is the roof detail. From the pics both the loco hauled and HST coaches are being produced. The BR Blue and Inter City liveries are being produced first, and I hope they get the liveries right. They will also consider the Chiltern coaches. Rich,

Amazing Bren, hard work, dedication. The work of a great modeller. Rich,

The models, Rich,

Just had a look at these on the BRM facebook page and they look tasty for pre production models. UK modellers have been crying out for years for decent MK111's. Rich,

I'd take a break from the thread for a day or two if I were you Noel. You seem to be showing signs of Stockholm Syndrome. Rich,

I only ever remember ever seeing them heavily weathered it is part of their unique look. They look much heavily weathered than the PCA wagons in the UK. I've seen Mercig's heavy weathering on a Dapol Silver Bullet and believe me it does scale down well while also looking fantastic. I would advise a look on the gallery on their website. Also just completed the survey and I hope it will give IRM some food for thought in relation to future products. Thanks for keeping us in the loop again lads. Rich,

The paint job really brings it to life. You can see the little details such as the builders plate etc more clearly. Superb work men and thanks for giving us top level rolling stock we have been wishing would be produced for ages. Rich,

100% agree Richie. General Arrangement Drawings are what they say they are just a general arrangement of what an item of rolling stock will look like when complete. Going on site, correctly measuring and surveying the wagon is how you will arrive at getting it as close as possible to the correct dimensions. I am confident that the wagon will raise the bar again. The EPP model is really showing that a top class model will be the result and this is a win win situation for everybody. I hope that everyone appreciates the amount of hard work and effort the lads have put into this project, they certainly have it from me. Rich,