Quote from: JLK2707 on August 01, 2017, 03:15:42 AM
Also, why do you think that Jam filled productions chose to modify the vent vans into inaccurate salt wagons rather than basing them off the proper model salt vans?

I would assume modifying a pre-existing Vent Van render, would cost less money than building an accurate Salt Van render from scratch. I also imagine this modification would take significantly less time than building an entirely new render from scratch.

As much as it's unfortunate about that...I must add that the Thomas franchise isn't new to poorly scaled wagons. Anyone remember the "laughing van" in "A Close Shave"?

~Alex

Duck in large scale would simply not be feasible due to the length of his wheelbase, which (in early seasons) was the same length as Donald and Douglas's. I'm not sure if his wheelbase is the same length now, due to the changes in the scaling of their renders by arc, when compared to the classic models. Regardless, his fixed wheelbase is too long to be viable to negotiate reasonable corners in large scale. The only reason Emily worked in large scale is because of the fact that her leading and trailing wheels aren't fixed and have much more freedom of movement.

TL;DR: With long wheelbases that can only have 6 fixed wheels that can't be hinged to negotiate corners, it makes me quite sad to say that (realistically speaking), Duck, Donald, and Douglas, are not viable candidates for the current large scale range.

Now if there's anything I missed, feel free to let me know, personally I don't own any models from Bachmann's large scale Thomas and Friends range, so I may have missed a few details or poorly explained others. I'll be more than happy to fix any errors or oversights I may have made while writing this.

Regardless of my last point, I hope this post helps,
~Alex

I doubt we'll see Bachmann expand the range into another gauge next year, maybe this topic deserves its own thread. I believe we had one a while ago, maybe it's worth digging back up again, as the subject seems to currently be quite relevant again.

~Alex

So did anyone else see the product description for the Slate Wagons on the homepage?

QuoteNarrow Gauge Thomas & Friends™ products are HO models that run on N scale track. This car features international-style hook and loop couplers and a removable load. Whether you pick a version with or without road numbers, these Slate Wagons are slated for fun on your Sodor quarry line.

I'm surprised no one's commented on how "punny" that description is

~Alex.

One thing I must bring to light is that Rheneas's handrail on top of his boiler isn't moulded, but instead is fitted separately. I must say, I am really impressed by this. Rheneas's model looks amazing, and I am glad they Bachmann took their time so that this model turned out nicely. I'd dare say that maybe, just maybe, they may have outdone themselves again, maybe even edging out Skarloey in terms of detail...maybe.

I know it's unlikely, and I go on about it a lot, but I really hope that Bachmann can release the Blue and White Coaches from the RWS/early TV Series, with a matching Breakevan. I feel like they'd look simply amazing with Skarloey, Rheneas and Rusty.

~Alex.

It was literally in the post at the bottom of the last page, but here it is again:
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/seansstuff?s=0#more-products

I also must agree however, that the faces there are amazing. I'm surprised more people in the fandom don't know about it, in all honesty.

~Alex

Okay, I can't access this site from my home wifi anymore for some reason, so I've got to use my mobile phone's data or wifi at places like my university. So I guess I'm late to giving my thoughts, but oh well. Now, let's begin:
3, 2, 1, Go!
HO Scale:
Paxton:
Well, to be honest considering that Oliver and Rosie have yet to be released, I didn't expect to see an engine announced in HO this year. But Paxton I think was a sensible choice, and I felt he was the most obvious candidate for the next HO engine. Overall, I think this was a safe, but sensible choice. Certainly will appeal to older and newer fans, and whilst the tooling won't be identical to Diesel's, it'll be highly similar - which makes it an economic decision for Bachmann all around I think. As I said, a safe, but sensible choice.

The Great Western, and Sodor Fruit & Vegetable Co. Ventilated Vans:
I didn't expect to see these two make the transition over to the HO range so soon, but I find that they are...good choices. I don't really know what to say about these, other than that I think these were also safe choices, if these are recolours of the Ice Cream Van too - like they were in Large Scale- which I expect they will be. Not sure what else to say in all honesty. A safe choice again, but again, one that makes sense. I imagine they'll be decent sellers - particularly the Great Western variant. I'm hoping we'll see the Explosives Van make the transition next year.

McColl's Cattle Wagon:
I honestly expected a recolour of an existing Cattle Wagon for this one too. So I was pleased to see that it's going to be a new tooling. I think, and hope it'll be a good seller, I like the design and want to see this new tooling succeed.

Narrow Gauge:
Rusty: Well, I'd like to see the smaller styled Season 4 face - but let's be honest, that's not going to happen. I feel Rusty was chosen because he's a more simple tooling than the likes of Sir Handel or Peter Sam. I've heard a few people bring up colour contrast - but given Skarloey is a Crimson-red colour, and Rheneas is fairly orange, I can't really say Rusty provides much contrast with these two characters, in my eyes. More of a conformity actually. As I said, I imagine he was released for his simpler tooling above all else. Whilst I may have expected Sir Handel or Peter Sam, that doesn't mean I think Rusty is a bad choice. Just a surprise, but by no means a disappointment.

Large Scale:
Diesel:
I would've preferred to have seen Edward or Duck, but I don't think Diesel is a bad choice, I'm surprised at the generally lukewarm reception to Diesel from fans, but then again, it's been several years since the LS range got a new engine, and I don't collect LS, so I probably don't completely understand the frustrations of those that do. I find the idea of Gordon or Henry being released in LS at some point in the future to be extremely unlikely. But I think Diesel was a sensible choice, and definitely an economic one, as there are so many Class 08's in the series that recolours become rather easy. I also quite like the illustration used, and hope it's indicative that the Diesel model (when made) will be included with a sinister looking face - considering that's what the illustration has. It may be questionable if he will have a sinister face or not, but hey, a guy can dream, right?

Spiteful Brake Van:
This was...probably the biggest surprise of this year for me. But I don't think it's a bad idea by any means. I'm quite glad it's being released, to be honest. I like the design from the illustration shown, especially considering it appears to be in more of an RWS style - I really like that. I hope this turns out to be a good seller, and I hope it transfers over to HO next year, but for the meantime...

Overall thoughts:
I like both Large Scale announcements, and whilst I understand that some people may be disappointed in them - I do quite like both announcements, and hope they succeed.

I was hoping for (at least) a brown brakevan in the Narrow Gauge range, but oh well, Rheneas still isn't out yet, and Rusty is a good announcement, one that I do enjoy - I hope for a brakevan next year, along with Peter Sam - then after this, I'd like to see some coaches in the range, but this may be a little while in the future. Whilst I'm slightly disappointed there's no piece of new rolling stock, it doesn't overly bother me - I hope next year brings more to the table for the Narrow Gauge, but for now, I think it's fine.

The HO announcements all seemed...predictable...and even if I didn't expect a new engine this year, Paxton seemed like the most likely candidate for quite some time, so I'm not too surprised by this happening. Both vans seem like sensible options, and I don't feel there's too much to say there.

I agree with most people's consensus thus far that this year's range is definitely quality over quantity, but I would like to make an addition to that argument. This year's range feels very much like Bachmann wanted to play it safe. I feel like all the announcements in each range (in one way or another) are very safe ones - sensible yes, but also very safe. Granted, there's nothing wrong with that, and even the items in announcement that surprised me the most (Rusty, Paxton and the Spiteful Brakevan), all felt like safe choices. Sensible, yes - but definitely safe...and even the surprises aren't too...surprising I guess.

Overall, I think this year's range is a good one. I look forward to next year's, and think that this is certainly an improvement over last year's range - but that's just my opinion. I look forward to seeing all the finished products.

~Alex

Quote from: ClrwtrMK2 on January 23, 2017, 11:00:27 AM
Am I the only person that prefers her lavender livery over her new red paint?

Even if somehow you were the only person in the world with that opinion, it really shouldn't matter. No matter how unpopular an opinion is, it's still just an opinion. In my personal life I have many opinions about many things, but I understand that even if they're not the most popular opinions, that doesn't bother me. A differing opinion is nothing to get angry about, just stay calm.

Besides, even if the model of Rosie does carry the red livery, you could always have your model professionally repainted into her old lavender colour, or you could try to repainted her yourself, if you're good with that sort of thing.

It's a minor recolour, it's not a huge deal.

~Alex

Quote from: Chaz on December 16, 2016, 12:57:57 PM

Quote from: Plow Bender on December 16, 2016, 12:20:45 AM

Quote from: WilsonProductions2 on December 15, 2016, 04:34:51 PM
Where is the evidence that it could get discontinued next year?

That's a very good question, but what I'd like to know is where is the evidence that you were permitted back onto the forum?  I thought when a person's IP address is banned, that means they were behaving in a manner not contributing to the forum.

I agree with Plow Bender, I can promise you that you will get nothing out of sneaking back on here with a different username and IP address while expecting no one to notice.

Also, I seem to recall you saying you'd only come back to send messages to myself and Steve, as (in your own words, Jacob):

QuoteI am no longer posting in the forum, as no one liked me doing it.

And given the fact that you also mentioned if I spread news that you were back, you worried you could be banned. I think sooner or later, the moderators will catch up with you. It's happened to a few members here in previous times who have came back on the forums without permission from moderators first. To my knowledge, that doesn't occur much.

I assume plenty of members could name at least one user this happened to. So, if I must be completely honest, it may just be time to "quit while you're ahead", so to speak. Unless you want to get banned again, because that just seems to be what happens to people who come back on without moderator's permission first. It seems that you weren't going to post out of fear of being banned as well, which made sense, but unfortunately for you, it seems you've been unable to keep out of discussions. Potentially dooming your fledgling account. Be very careful...

Anyway (!), this thread has been more or less hijacked by this topic, so moving right along:

Quote from: Chaz on December 16, 2016, 12:57:57 PM
I don't see train packs happening since Bachmann is already making enough of a profit off of their train sets.  With the cost of a locomotive and some rolling stock combined, it would already be fairly expensive and probably wouldn't work well with consumers who are new to the hobby.  At that point, they might as well add an oval of track and a power pack so consumers can actually run their trains upon purchase.

I think honestly this is the best summation you can give as to why train packs would be difficult to make commercially viable in the Thomas and Friends range. Overall costs, and lack of appeal to new customers (often the target demographic for these items in other ranges). Sets just seem to do the job better, for a similar price, and often seem more reasonable in regards to value for money. But that's just my opinion.

~Alex

Kudos to Bachmann for producing a classic face on this wagon, and bringing back the Salt Van, which has been in good demand since it was discontinued. I'd love to get a few, and I very much look forward to what else we get to see this year and next year

~Alex

Quote from: HLC Railroad on November 25, 2016, 03:39:46 PM
Actually the original series was done in O scale. However I have seen somewhere somebody take a model series face and put it on a g scale model and it looked close enough to the original.

Actually that's a common misconception due to a mistake during an interview, unfortunately it was a mistake someone who actually worked on the show said, hence it's popularity. It was actually filmed in Gauge 1, which had the same track width as G scale. Effectively the difference between G scale and Gauge 1 is like the difference between HO and OO gauges, for the sake of comparison. That's why Thomas's face from the show almost fits the G scale model. If it was an O scale face and it almost fit a G scale model, the Bachmann G scale Thomas would be woefullly underscaled.

The original Narrow Gauge models were O scale though (the ones used primarily in season 4 and a few scenes in season 5), I believe that's were the misconception comes from. Rusty and the Boulder is a good example of this, they use the same boulder for the O Gauge Narrow Gauge Engines, and the larger ones, which makes it appear at different scales next to the engines. And the size of Rusty's face is also a good indication, it changes throughout the episode. When his face is larger, it is the larger model.

References:
http://lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/family/activities/movie-fun-night/how-thomas-the-tank-engine-works2.htm
http://www.sodor-island.net/behindthescenes.html#fnOscale
^ whilst it does mention O scale in one of the articles on this page, they do point out that it is misleading, due to it being said when season 4 was being filmed, and the narrow Gauge engines were filmed on a track that was the same width as O Gauge, whilst the standard Gauge engines were all filmed in Gauge 1.

Now, to answer the question by "the train kid", I'm not quite sure if you are referring to creating remakes of Season 1 episodes for platforms like YouTube, or if you actually want to modify your Bachmann Thomas into a model that looks closer to his season 1 appearance, so I can't really help much until I understand the post better

~Alex

Quote from: Trains111 on November 07, 2016, 09:25:00 PM
Why doesn't bachmann make the rods on the side of the engines built off of the shell and not on it?

If you're referring to the handrails on the sides of the locomotives, it's a simple answer. Bachmann doesn't like to apply fine details that could easily be broken off, to their Thomas models. This is simply because they are mainly marketed towards children, who could easily break off separately fitted details like handrails. So having their handrails moulded onto the engine's bodyshell prevents that chance.

~Alex

Thank you Sean1994rail, that is precisely what I meant. Also thank you DTST, I can't believe I didn't mention that...it's almost hard to think that it's already been 8 years.

But this topic has drifted off course, what I will say about Oliver's model is the lamp surprises me. I was never a fan of the lamps supplied with Thomas, Percy or James. I may end up buying some spare footplates just for the new lamp. It looks fantastic, and it's a massive improvement over the old one!

~Alex

Quote from: ClrwtrMK2 on November 06, 2016, 08:59:57 PM
Am I the only person that's actually put off by the CGI design?

Does it honestly matter if some people don't mind the CGI design but you do? Just let the excited consumers enjoy their prototype picture of the model, it may be CGI styled but at least it's accurate to a time frame within the TV series continuity. It honestly isn't a big deal, and considering Skarloey was clearly CGI based for his design, and the fact that the early illustrations shown of Oliver matched his CGI design, it should've been rather clear that Bachmann probably weren't going to go for a "model era" look on Oliver.

I honestly think we should just be happy they chose to release Oliver, they probably could've announced him two years from now, and just released a character/characters like Paxton, until Oliver was released, possibly 3 years from now. Also, whilst the CGI design may not be everyone's favourite, I must add that again, it's better than nothing. At least it wasn't an engine like Stanley getting released after all...

~Alex

Overall, kudos to Bachmann. I think the model was well worth the wait. I may have one or two slight issues with his model...but overall I think they did a good job bringing the model to life in a (mainly) CGI form, that still harks back slightly to the model era.

CGI or not, a job well done, I would say.

~Alex