N Scale Bachmann Thomas

[Angelob6660]

I had a good laugh. It was very funny, good job.

[Chaz]

After looking at this image, I think that making the new Bachmann line in scale with the standard 1:148 British N Scale (smaller than Tomix) would be the smarter move as there is currently much more that is offered through that than there is in the Tomix range. Moreover, this would make sense since Bachmann is now offering their entire Thomas range in the UK, so UK modelers will want to have Thomas models that are in scale with their other British products. What are your thoughts? And for those who have already stated their preference, does this image change it?

My two cents on the scaling:

Personally, I don’t think that Bachmann Trains will have the new N scale models be the same size as US and UK standard N scale. I don’t even think that they will be matching Tomix either. If anything, I expect Bachmann to go down the same road as they did with large scale and create a generic “Thomas and friends scale” like they did with large scale.  They did this with large scale because most of their large scale equipment (non-Thomas) that Bachmann Trains offers are mostly narrow gauge and they wanted to go with something that would not only be larger and more kid-friendly but they wanted to make it stand out more compared to their American large scale offerings.

With N scale, I think the reason that they will likely go with a different scale is, again, size.  They want to introduce people into the hobby of model trains, and the Thomas ranges have done an amazing job at being a stepping stone for getting people in the hobby, including the Skarloey range.  Because Thomas has proven to be great at doing this, (especially for children), they want to offer models that are sturdy as well as something that will be larger than standard N scale products to allow smaller hands to handle them, all while giving them a more toy like feel like the HO and large scale models do.  Tomix clearly did the same thing hence their larger size.  I can’t imagine Bachmann will match Tomix size perfectly, but I imagine it would roughly come fairly close to the large size that those models are.

I agree that it may be a turn off for some, but at the same time Tomix took the exact same gamble and that clearly paid off in its own way without matching UK or even Japanese N scale products.  I’m thinking this will be no different in the case of Bachmann’s new range.  Sadly we won’t have an actual answer for a year from now once the models are released but as long as these models are basically the large scale models scaled down to N like I have been hoping, then I don’t see why the sales for these wouldn’t take off.

[plas man]

are Tomix Thomas still being manufactured or has Bachmann bought them out ?
and are going to re-introduce the range in big N scale ?

[STL]

Not much is known other than at least the toolings will be unveiled sometime in 2020 with the range launching no sooner than 2020. it seems unlikely at this point that it'll be the Tomix range re-packaged, though it is a possibility it seems very slim at this point. As such, the scale is unknown, whether it'll follow the the UK's N scale or continue with the larger Tomix scale. Hopefully, and if they're smart, they'll be making them to the UK N scale scale. Bachmann haven't "bought out" Tomix, and in the seemingly high unlikely chance it is just the Tomix models, it'll more than likely be a deal between the 2 companies, a deal which hasn't been announced and coupled with what info Bachmann has given thus far, it seems almost certain that the Bachmann N range will be newly tooled at the least.

[Chaz]

If it was the Tomix engines/stock re-packaged, we would have seen pictures of them already in the catalog and the models would already have prices listed and would be coming out a lot sooner.

Also because Bachmann announced a new N scale range for Thomas they would have had to acquire a license to produce these models and sell them in specific countries where there are no other manufactures producing the models in said scale for that market.  Tomix hasn’t added anything with their new range since 2017, so I would assume that Bachmann bought the license to sell N scale models since Tomix hasn’t done anything since then.  It’s also entirely possible that Bachmann has the license to sell them in most locations except Japan since that seems to be the only location where the new Tomix range was launched, not making it out to the UK or US.

[STL]

Basically, exactly the above.

[JLK2707]

Yeah.

[TerencetheTractor525]

Wanted to share my thoughts on the (almost) finished N Scale Thomas & Percy models. Overall, they look wonderful. The models seem to consist of the proportions from the large scale models, and seem to be scaled to British N Scale, which I personally love. As for things that could be improved, other than confusion between Thomas and Percy's faces, I would have liked to see a separately fitted whistle for Thomas. In fact, I am curious to know why Thomas' whistle is part of the cab mold, while Percy's whistle is separately fitted. Additionally, Thomas' side rods look too thick. Not sure if this could be changed, but given that these are prototype models, I wonder if the final model would be able to have thinner side rods. If not, I wonder if engines like Gordon and Henry would even be possible for the future. Curious to know what everyone else's thoughts are as well.

[Chaz]

It’s humorous how the faces on Thomas and Percy got swapped during production, I’m sure these will be fixed during the final production stages before they are released, as well as getting the correct eyebrows too.  Though the pupils on the Percy face do look a tad too big for my liking.  Otherwise the only major flaw I see with these are the chunky side rods on them.  I also found it odd how Thomas’ whistle is molded but Percy’s is separately fitted so I’m not sure why they went that route.

Overall while I’ll admit these models didn’t really meet my expectations I think once the faces are swapped to the correct models, I imagine these will sell all right when first released.  The video posted on Twitter shows the Thomas model running very smoothly which is always a plus.  I’m debating on whether or not I will be collecting this range since I’m going to work on a OO9 setup soon.  If they do announce a starter set though that would make collecting this new range much easier.

As far as future engines go, there’s no doubt in my mind that we will see James join the range next.  Possibly Toby sometime after that as well.  With how thick they made the siderods on Thomas and Percy it does make me a little concerned with how they would tackle larger engines like Gordon and Henry (if we even get them that is).  For now though I think the future of this range will really depend on sales of these models before anything else.

[Rodimus Supreme]

It’s humorous how the faces on Thomas and Percy got swapped during production, I’m sure these will be fixed during the final production stages before they are released, as well as getting the correct eyebrows too.  Though the pupils on the Percy face do look a tad too big for my liking.  Otherwise the only major flaw I see with these are the chunky side rods on them.  I also found it odd how Thomas’ whistle is molded but Percy’s is separately fitted so I’m not sure why they went that route.

Overall while I’ll admit these models didn’t really meet my expectations I think once the faces are swapped to the correct models, I imagine these will sell all right when first released.  The video posted on Twitter shows the Thomas model running very smoothly which is always a plus.  I’m debating on whether or not I will be collecting this range since I’m going to work on a OO9 setup soon.  If they do announce a starter set though that would make collecting this new range much easier.

As far as future engines go, there’s no doubt in my mind that we will see James join the range next.  Possibly Toby sometime after that as well.  With how thick they made the siderods on Thomas and Percy it does make me a little concerned with how they would tackle larger engines like Gordon and Henry (if we even get them that is).  For now though I think the future of this range will really depend on sales of these models before anything else.

There's a video of Thomas running? Link?

[Chaz]

https://mobile.twitter.com/sylvaniantab/status/1223043434744885248

Here’s the video I mentioned earlier

[Kemptown Branch]

Hopefully this lightens up the mood after the recent disappointment. I decided to do a mock-up of Dryaw Station (and the surrounding Airfield buildings) in preparation for the new N Scale line. The first thing I did was the station building. The only things I didn't model on the station itself were the advertisement boards, the canopy (only omitted because I can't tell if it's clear or not), chimney pots, and platform. Here are some pictures.




Although it is to scale (except the arch windows; they were hard to cut), it's a little rough, which is fine, since it's not really supposed to be super detailed for it's current purposes (seeing how much space it takes up). I may revisit each building once they're all done to add detail.

I hope this shows some things that can be done with a little modelling. It really is quite fun! I feel like buildings are easier to do than a locomotive. Updates will come as and when I have time to build the other buildings.

[Chaz]

Very nice work so far Trainman2001, can’t wait to see further progress.

Funny that this thread was picked up again, I’m actually going to start some new n scale projects very soon.  As always I’ll post updates.

[Kemptown Branch]

Thanks Chaz! I can't wait to see your projects, too!

[Kemptown Branch]

Today I started on the Air Traffic Control Tower, although I haven't cut anything yet. It's kind of an interesting building, because it's simple enough that I could just put the bordered detailing on it and paint it, but it's still got that complex control box on top, which I haven't started yet because I'm not quite sure how to do angled stuff like that. Here's a pic of the side with the stairs:



And here are a couple of pictures of what I've done so far. I'm not quite sure that I  positioned the window that's circled in red right or not (it's the one by the stairs on the real model, hence the above picture).