O scale Flying Scotsman

[John Ashworth]

John, Here's something interesting.

CNA is offering a serialized magazine cum model of the Flying Scotsman. At first I thought it would be a cheap cardboard cut-out; but no, it's a high-end metal and brass genuine working O-gauge model. It has been licensed by your National Museums of Science and Industry (NMSI), is part of the National Railway Museum (NRM) collection, and has been designed and built by DJH (apparently a well-known model manufacturer). I bought the first 2 issues. The magazine itself is a slim 16 page, highly graphic affair with 1) instructions for the assembly of the included part of the loco, and 2) three 2-4 page articles on various aspects of railways and rail history. The part in the first issue is the driver's cab photo-etched on a brass sheet. Number 2 is the footplate cast in ZAMAC, a metal alloy (never heard of this). Issues 3, 4, and 5 will contain the chassis frames and fixer plates, all in brass.

And so on, up to and including the final piece which will accompany issue, ..... wait for it, ..... Number 125. These are weekly things; we're talking two and a half years !!! to build the whole model. And we're also talking ££££'s! Even though it is priced in Rands here in South Africa, it will be damned expensive. At R50 per issue, OK the first couple issues were discounted, that's R6,250! And, tricky bastards, they make you purchase binders for the magazines, also at R50 each (they don't say how many).

The loco can be built as a static model, or can be motorized with an electric motor, gears and transformer, all at extra cost.

From the accompanying documentation it is apparent that you had this offer in the UK about a year ago. Issue 1 was 50p, regular price was £5, total £625. Perhaps we are now receiving the leftover stock, and at about 2/3 of the UK price.

This is undoubtedly a high quality model, but is it value for money? Would you pay £600 for a working O-gauge locomotive in the UK? I wonder how many South Africans will want to spend 2 1/2 years and R6000 on this piece of railway history?!? I'd love to, but I think I'll have to give it a miss.

Tom, GBP 600 is probably not unreasonable for a high-quality O scale loco - prices are very high now for the top of the range stuff even in OO, HO and N scales.

[Steve Appleton]

DJH is a well respected manufacturer of model kits as well as ready to run (RTR) locos. An HO guage SAR GMA/M kit will set you back GBP395.00 excl motor etc, and a completed hand-built RTR GMA/M will cost you GBP 1425.00. I once saw a completed 19D in a local model train shop and it looked very good indeed. Can't remember the price though. See http://www.djhmodelloco.co.uk/ho-gauge. ... of%20World for more. In general the DJH BR O-guage kits are around GBP 495.00 So the price is very steep for a BIY (build it yourself) model. It's in the hand-built RTR price range.

[Derek Walker]

I seriously contemplated building this kit, but did the maths and it looked ugly. Then I remembered (from past experience) how the local distributers have this nasty habit of suddenly skipping volumes and loosing bits. My local CNA only had the first 3 mags anyway and I was really waiting for volume 5 which would let you into the nitty gritty of motorisation etc, and that never even appeared on my shelves locally so I decided to give it a miss. It would be interesting to know how many people did subscribe to it.

[Tom Macrery]

Kobus is the only other person I know who has expressed interest in this. He told me he is still purchasing the weekly numbers at his CNA. One number was missing, but he was able to get it on back order. He says he has not yet tried to start the assembly of the model. I bought 7 numbers just for fun but then stopped. The articles in the accompanying magazine are lightweight but interesting. There are several websites which discuss the pros and cons of the model; you can find them by Googling 'O gauge Flying Scotsman'. Incidentally FOTR is on the first page of that Google.

Also, in number 5 was the info about the motor. You had to collect, I think 9, tokens in the next 9 numbers, and then submit the order card and pay, I think, about R2000 to get the necessary by post.

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Scary amounts! But it is - although very expensive - probably cheaper they buying it built up or in kit form. Brass kits for HO engines often start around 7k!

[Tom Macrery]

For those interested I have included pictures of the first 8 numbers and the parts supplied. I spoke to Kobus again yesterday; he is still buying an issue every week, but still has not started to build. He must be up to number 23 (out of 125!) by now.

[George Wilson]

Hi guys, I'm new to this site, found it by googling for info a photos of the Flying Scotsman. Needless to say, I saw the add from CNA and decided to give it a try. I've been building models since I was a kid, although mostly plastic kits. I can't wait for each week's edition to come out. I've built up to edition 20 so far, leaving some stages out for later, as they will need painting. One thing I must say, you need the correct tools, and glue for this. This week will be edition no. 39 and the model looks good so far.

I realise that this a bit expensive, but its not like you're laying out the money in one go. ( Have a bit of help, the wife gets discount on CNA goodies, so that helps !!) Anyway, if there's anyone else out there that going for the long haul, let us know.

The rest of this board looks very interesting, and I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time reading the artiicles.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks

George Wilson

[Steve Appleton]

Welcome George. Enjoy your time here! If you are in the Johannesburg/Pretoria area it would be nice to see you in person at FOTR one day soon.

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

Welcome George, and keep us posted (with pics) on your progress.....

[Tom Macrery]

Yes, Welcome. Let's see your photos of your build up to number 20. I have not spoken to Kobus for quite some time, so I don't know if he is continuing. There is a website which discusses the many problems with the kit. The UK is about a year ahead of us with the numbers published.

[Hermann Kuhne]

I purchased number 124 this morning. One more to go! I labeled every week's parts and saved them. I decided not to start building for the same reason others mentioned. I know of too many instances when magazines did not pitch and it took ages to get a back order and sometimes never. Decided to wait until I have the complete set before starting on the model. Yes, it's a lot of money, but my wife bought issue No.1 for me in Cape Town and I decided to go through with it. Who am I to argue with her!

[Hermann Kuhne]

Waiting for number 125 next week. But after scanning through the magazines and the actual building process, am I getting cold feet? As I said I saved and preserved every week's part/s and magazines neatly labelled etc. etc. Just looking at all the tools neccessary for the model, means a few bucks out of the pocket, that is if I can purchase it somewhere. Easier way out, advertise on e-bay!