Accurascale Announce 4mm Scale HUO and Buffer Detailing Kits

[Warbonnet]

Hi folks,

Well, since the cat is out of the bag in one of the magazines, we've decided to bring the first Accurascale announcement forward to, err, now!

Our first model for the British market will be the 24.5-ton coal hopper wagon, which later received the TOPs code ‘HUO’.

A total of 5,263 wagons were built by BR from 1954 for transporting coal and coke throughout Britain until their withdrawal in the 1980s, with many entering private use at collieries upon retirement by British Rail.

The model, which is of the 1/148, lot 2069 pattern, has just finished tooling and an engineering sample is currently en route from our factory in China. The surviving prototypes were surveyed at the Tanfield Railway, near Stanley, County Durham in mid-October 2017. Following the survey, highly detailed CAD was produced locally and reviewed by wagon experts who had first-hand operational and survey experience of the prototypes when in service. We would like to thank the Tanfield Railway for the assistance we received and have made a donation to the railway to help with preservation of railway heritage for future generations.

Flows which utilised HUOs include coke from East London to Wellingborough, Kirkby- Staythorpe, Killingworth to Stella, Kincardine, Stella North / Stella South / Dunston / Blyth, Thorpe Marsh Tunstead Works - Smaledale Works and Hessle Quarry to Hull Wilmington. They were also synonymous with coke flows from South Wales coking plants to Barry Docks.

Our rendition of the HUO will feature the correct offset brake hanger arrangement and the following high level of specification, enjoyed by the customers of sister company IRM, whose Irish outline models are the most highly detailed on the market:

·        Sprung buffers with spindle, self contained and Oleo types all being catered for, depending on prototype

·        NEM coupling housing

·        RP25.110 darkened profile wheel sets

·        Factory-fitted wire handrails

·        Extra fine factory-fitted detail plastic parts

·        Individual lettering and markings from real wagons for authenticity

·        Built to scale tolerances to allow easy conversion to EM and P4 standards

The HUO will go on sale in Q2 2018 in packs of three, with pre-TOPs, TOPs and private owner packs arriving on a staggered release basis throughout 2018 in a variety of liveries, such as BR freight grey and private owner wagons. They will also feature individual markings and detail faithful to research of the real wagons. The first release will see four different packs of three individually numbered wagons in BR grey with pre-TOPs markings so the modeller can build a 12-wagon train without duplication. Prices will be £59.95 for each pack of three wagons.

In addition to the HUO, the various buffers used by the wagons throughout their lives will also be offered as separate detail parts for the detail-minded modeller. This will be sold in packs of eight for £2.95. This will be the first in a series of detail part packs offered by Accurascale for modellers.

Both the HUO and the buffer detail packs are available to buy exclusively on the Accurascale website direct or from the Accurascale stand at various UK exhibitions from the second half of 2018.  Orders will commence on February 1st.

[Noel]

Very impressive.  And a very very keen price.

[GNRi1959]

I don't intend to be negative here but I have just paid £120 for a Set of Three Irish Rail Ballast Wagons from IRM. How is it that three BR wagons are priced at £59.95.

Maybe I missed something but IRM = accurascale

[Warbonnet]

4 minutes ago, GNRi1959 said:

I don't intend to be negative here but I have just paid £120 for a Set of Three Irish Rail Ballast Wagons from IRM. How is it that three BR wagons are priced at £59.95.

Maybe I missed something but IRM = accurascale

Hi Tony,

The difference is price is purely down to volume. Tooling for a new model is a massive outlay (literally, tens of thousands) and we can only spread that over a couple of thousand models produced. 

As the British market is a massive one in comparison, we are able to product more of a particular model and therefore, spread the cost of tooling over a much larger production run. Ireland will always be a small volume interest.

Thanks,

Fran

[Broithe]

4 minutes ago, GNRi1959 said:

I don't intend to be negative here but I have just paid £120 for a Set of Three Irish Rail Ballast Wagons from IRM. How is it that three BR wagons are priced at £59.95.

Maybe I missed something but IRM = accurascale

I know nothing, but I suspect there are quantity issues here. Sales of UK models can spread the tooling costs, etc, over much larger production numbers. Try that with an item for the Irish market and you just get left with unsold stock. There will always be a premium for 'our' stuff.

As the scale of the whole operation increases, maybe there will be scope for cross-subsidies?

[GNRi1959]

Fran, that makes sense and I really do wish you luck with it, it looks great.

[BosKonay]

1 minute ago, Broithe said:

As the scale of the whole operation increases, maybe there will be scope for cross-subsidies?

Our economies of scale are improving all the time broithe, meaning, for example, that a highly detailed bogie wagon like the Tara Mines, will be cheaper per wagon than the bubble or ballasts were. Our goal is to provide the best possible models at the best possible prices.

[Warbonnet]

4 minutes ago, Broithe said:

As the scale of the whole operation increases, maybe there will be scope for cross-subsidies?

Another thing that is bringing down the prices too is that we now have full control over the product to the factory, and no fee for a third party agent like we did with bubbles and ballasts. That's how we can do the Tara, a larger bogie wagon, for €79.95 for a pack of two, cheaper per wagon as the ballast. 

(edit, what bosko said!)

[GNRi1959]

And maybe someday we'll see some GNRi rolling stock too

[Broithe]

4 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

Our economies of scale are improving all the time broithe, meaning, for example, that a highly detailed bogie wagon like the Tara Mines, will be cheaper per wagon than the bubble or ballasts were. Our goal is to provide the best possible models at the best possible prices.

 I am just off to have a cold shower......

Edited January 26, 2018 by Broithe
Spellings - I blame the shock....

[heirflick]

29 minutes ago, Broithe said:

 I am just off to have a cold shower......

...mind you don't go blind!!!

[heirflick]

Looks fantastic IRM!  I especially love the coupling chain - be brilliant top see that on our Irish stock in the future - it would look the dogs on the end wagon in a rake! Best of luck with it!

[Noel]

44 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

Our economies of scale are improving all the time broithe, meaning, for example, that a highly detailed bogie wagon like the Tara Mines, will be cheaper per wagon than the bubble or ballasts were. Our goal is to provide the best possible models at the best possible prices.

Yes in fairness IRM did indicate a very keen price for a pair of tara wagons before Christmas that was significantly less than the cost per wagon of the Ballasts.    To me welcome evidence of a willingness to reduce prices as more certainties were established in the production process.  I can't find the actual post but I have a screen grab of it somewhere.

[Glenderg]

Costs are one thing, but we're also keen to push the boundaries of what's possible. A certain detail implemented on a UK wagon, which transfers in spirit to the Irish scene, is a no brainer. That said, there'll be some stuff coming to our shores, in terms of tech, that's normally only seen on locos, because it's worth doing. Interesting times ahead, Gents. 

Rich 

[popeye]

Good luck with the English models, i'm sure they will look great.

Can't wait to see what they say about it. 

[Georgeconna]

Doubt these will come in Malachite then

Looks fab, I will look forward to next lot hopefully something for me there

Gonna check RMWEB now to see the fallout. Did BRM to drop the ball on this one then of was it part of the Promo

Edited January 26, 2018 by Georgeconna

[Warbonnet]

47 minutes ago, Georgeconna said:

Doubt these will come in Malachite then

Looks fab, I will look forward to next lot hopefully something for me there

Gonna check RMWEB now to see the fallout. Did BRM to drop the ball on this one then of was it part of the Promo

Their publishing date is Feb 1st, but the digital edition came out today, unbeknownst to us! 

[Irishrailwayman]

12 hours ago, Georgeconna said:

Doubt these will come in Malachite then

Looks fab, I will look forward to next lot hopefully something for me there

Gonna check RMWEB now to see the fallout. Did BRM to drop the ball on this one then of was it part of the Promo

Generally good reaction from RMWebbers: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/130571-accurascale-announce-4mm-scale-huo-and-buffer-detailing-kits/page-1

[Robert Shrives]

Not wishing to blow the good boys fuses but what chance investing in the mythical shrink way and doing N gauge version ! 

Robert 

[Irishrailwayman]

11 minutes ago, Robert Shrives said:

Not wishing to blow the good boys fuses but what chance investing in the mythical shrink way and doing N gauge version ! 

Robert 

Any O Gauge versions on the horizon?

[RedRich]

Great choice for the first model men. The cad looks great, interesting that the sides are a bit higher than the ends and the central brace on the side is at an angle. This will be a definite winner, really happy for you lads.

Rich, 

[Railer]

Countdown over, what happened lads.....

The suspense...........

[Warbonnet]

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.

 

[Railer]

Wow, very impressive.

The amount of research required compared to Irish outline is massive.

I love the added detail of the instantor coupler, I assume we are getting those on the Taras too as they were in the CADs?

Edited February 1, 2018 by Railer

[Warbonnet]

1 hour ago, Railer said:

Wow, very impressive.

The amount of research required compared to Irish outline is massive.

I love the added detail of the instantor coupler, I assume we are getting those on the Taras too as they were in the CADs?

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

[Noel]

40 minutes ago, Warbonnet said:

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

And a market with sixty fold more demanding molecule counters never mind something as large as a rivet.

[Broithe]

50 minutes ago, Warbonnet said:

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

7 minutes ago, Noel said:

And a market with sixty fold more demanding molecule counters never mind something as large as a rivet.

 

Take a deep breath before you try anything with orange paint on.

[John-r]

Lovely looking wagon lads,.  Wish you every success with this .   I hear a few packs calling me .

[PJR]

Well done lads, good luck to you all in this endeavour. 

[popeye]

Beautiful wagon, good luck.

It will be even better with some weathering.

Now we will see what the BR modellers think. 

[Warbonnet]

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. 

 

[Warbonnet]

A first look at the production sample....

[NIRCLASS80]

Nice, thank goodness they didn't run in Ireland or we would need to rob a bank!!!😂😀

[Weshty]

Oh very nice lads.  Cat amongst the pigeons, methinks.    It's a pity you don't release it as a kit, great fun glueing that together!

[RedRich]

 

Looks good lads I am sure it will be a huge success and big seller. It's nice to see the sample with different buffers also. I have no doubt that when a sample arrives at HQ it will be inspected from top to bottom until everyone is happy as with the IRM wagons.

Rich,