Just seen an advert on TV for this:-
http://modelrailwayvillage.com/ (http://modelrailwayvillage.com/)
Now I know it's not our scale, but I had to mention it as I nearly fell on the floor laughing when the voiceover said something to the effect of "week by week you can collect the parts needed to build your own oh-oh gauge model railway"
oh-oh gauge?! :laugh:
Paul
Quote from: Sprintex on August 28, 2013, 08:32:21 PM
Just seen an advert on TV for this:-
http://modelrailwayvillage.com/ (http://modelrailwayvillage.com/)
Now I know it's not our scale, but I had to mention it as I nearly fell on the floor laughing when the voiceover said something to the effect of "week by week you can collect the parts needed to build your own oh-oh gauge model railway"
oh-oh gauge?! :laugh:
Paul
Is that the modeling gauge the fat man in the red suit with the long white beard has? :laugh:
First issue at £3.99 and the other 119 at £8.99. Hmmm a rather expensive little set! However the first issue for £3.99 appears to include a carriage, not a bad way for a OO modeller to add a Coach to their fleet!
Ollie
:NGaugersRule:
With 120 issues @ 1 per week that's 2 years to build. Even mine is growing faster than that.
Quote from: Ollie3440 on August 28, 2013, 08:42:52 PM
First issue at £3.99 and the other 119 at £8.99. Hmmm a rather expensive little set! However the first issue for £3.99 appears to include a carriage, not a bad way for a OO modeller to add a Coach to their fleet!
Ollie
:NGaugersRule:
119 x £8.99 = £1,069.81
119 divided by 52weeks = 2 years 3 months (roughly)
So after nearly 2 and a half years what do you get for your money?
Do you get track, controller, train, rolling stock, paint, glue, modelling tools, cable, ballast, scenery, figures, signals, trees, level-crossings not forgetting baseboards and frames etc etc......
By the looks of the advert you just seem to get a load of cardboard buildings and a 'trackmatt' plan of where to put stuff. Alot of money to pay for just cardboard.
Please correct me if I am wrong!
They tried this in N Gauge a few years back - not sure it ever got beyond the first couple of issues.
Paddy
I think that "oh oh" is what you say when you see (a) your bank statement after you start paying full whack, and (b) the quality of the tat on offer.
As I model in oh oh as well, I may get a few copies of the first issue to get some coaches but I'd be far too impatient to wait two years to complete a layout.
With all of the partworks, I wonder what the drop out rate is and how many people have the patience to complete the whole series.
If this partwork stimulates interest in our hobby albeit in the 'wrong' scale then it can't be all bad.
Quote from: GroupC on August 29, 2013, 12:01:59 PM
I think that "oh oh" is what you say when you see [...] the quality of the tat on offer.
Checked it out then ?
Given the cost of producing the stuff and shipping it to an ever shrinking number of people each issue there can't be much budget for anything.
For that money you could simply descend on the Metcalfe web site every month, or scalescenes or similar.
Especially as you have to provide locos and the electrics yourself !
Might as well buy a couple of decent books, join a Forum or two, ask questions & get dug in ... hmmm, like the majority of us do :D
I suppose if there is a positive to this it is that is exposes the hobby to a wider audience who will quickly understand that there is a better and more cost effective way to building a layout.
Am I weird then? I usually call it "oh-oh", if only because "double-o" sounds too much like "Dublo" and it gets confusing.
Anyway, yes the OO guys are going all wibbly over the first issue. Apparently the Mk1 SK is actually a pretty decent model, and definitely worth the £3.99 asking price. Some of them are snapping them up 5 at a time. Can't blame 'em really.
Shame this wasn't around when that guy was doing his "OO layout for £100"!
Have to admit to having looked for this first issue but not found any where :'(
Was going to use the coach as a cheap xmas pressie for the grandson.
Next you're in town, check out WHS ...
Plenty in my local one (and I reckon my local town is a similar size to yours).
The issues are fortnightly, so four and a half years to build!!!!
Bought the first issue to have a look, as I have a 7year old grandson, and another on the way, but at that price and timescale I'd rather just go buy a starter set and do it myself.
If it had been N gauge, I may have been tempted.
Cheers, Timmo
Just seen the ad on tv too, and you don't get the loco or controller...
Defrost not gonna get the series now :scowl:
Quote from: MikeDunn on August 29, 2013, 06:08:00 PM
Next you're in town, check out WHS ...
Plenty in my local one (and I reckon my local town is a similar size to yours).
Tried WHS in Horsham today. May try Dorking tomorrow.
Quote from: pape_timmo on August 29, 2013, 08:12:27 PM
Just seen the ad on tv too, and you don't get the loco or controller...
Oh, you do ...
Just not free - you buy them as extras ...
Even my layout will be done by the time the last copy has dropped through someones letterbox and I'm a master in putting stuff off till another day.
It doesn't really put our hobby into a light where people want value for money now does it?
People will no doubt just carry on with their gameplaying online rather than model railways which is sad really.
Pete
:Class31: :Class37: :NGaugersRule:
I can just see Ebay in a while snowed under with the models in much tha same way we get Del Prado rubbish all over the N gauge Locos pages, if you do a search excluding Del Prado and them B****y transfers you reduce the page count by nearly half.
Quote from: lionwing on August 29, 2013, 01:29:31 PM
I suppose if there is a positive to this it is that is exposes the hobby to a wider audience who will quickly understand that there is a better and more cost effective way to building a layout.
Or put them off for life. Cheers john.
Quote from: painbrook on August 29, 2013, 08:46:53 PM
Quote from: lionwing on August 29, 2013, 01:29:31 PM
I suppose if there is a positive to this it is that is exposes the hobby to a wider audience who will quickly understand that there is a better and more cost effective way to building a layout.
Or put them off for life. Cheers john.
:bounce:
As others have said, the overall cost represents very poor value (even by the standards of these partwork magazines) and over 4 years seems to be a ridiculously long time to build what amounts to a basic 6x4 trainset oval type layout (albeit one with nice buildings + scenics). A better idea might have been a collaboration with Woodland Scenics who already produce very effective "layout scenery in a box" sets with foam track elevation, hills, etc., which would give a more inspiring end product than a flat baseboard with an oval going around a central village!
However, some of the individual issues might be a worthwhile source of bits for OO modellers. Certainly the starting issue with a Mk1 coach is great value - I picked up a couple of copies as my OO micro-layout (which is stored on a shelf under my N gauge layout when not being run) could do with some Mk1s. Not sure which manufacturer produced the coach (there are no marks on the underside) but it's a pretty decent model, with good moulded detail on the sides and roof, a reasonable representation of flush glazing, and quite fine metal wheels. There are no markings for door markings, stencils etc. but decals for these are easy to get. Pity it's not N gauge or I'd have bought half a dozen!
The next couple of issues (£5.99 each) contain the parts for a plastic kit of a rather GER-looking brick station building which, judging by the photos looks pretty good and could be an excellent model with some weathering and added detail (gutters etc.); not bad for £12 if you're modelling this region. I don't plan to buy it as my layout is LMS/MR and already has a (scratchbuilt) station in any case!
For anyone in the Maidenhead, Berkshire area, WH Smiths has a stack of these issues for sale (near the tills, not with the rest of the magazines)
Just to be clear I got the impression from seeing the advert the other night that it is for an OO scale model railway VILLAGE not an OO scale model railway LAYOUT.
Is that right?
H.
The village is part of the layout ... draw your own conclusions !
They "drag it out" for far too long and the value is highly debatable, but as one poster says it may be a way of introducing new hobbyists and the old saying no publicity is bad... :veryangry:
Quote from: H on August 30, 2013, 02:44:09 PM
Just to be clear I got the impression from seeing the advert the other night that it is for an OO scale model railway VILLAGE not an OO scale model railway LAYOUT.
Is that right?
H.
I believe it's the model railway layout. Did they not show the first issue as having a piece of track and a coach ???
Quote from: newportnobby on August 30, 2013, 09:50:56 PM
I believe it's the model railway layout. Did they not show the first issue as having a piece of track and a coach ???
Track and a coach is mentioned but somehow I doubt that they are going to include the most basic and fundamental part of a model railway layout - a decent, firm baseboard (the starting point). Nor, I doubt, any locomotives and controllers. It probably gives 'part works' a whole new meaning. But it's got them frothing on other Orribly Oversized enthusiast forums.
H.
Absolutely right regarding baseboard :laugh3: But I think they must include a controller at some stage surely ??? ???
http://modelrailwayvillage.com/index.html (http://modelrailwayvillage.com/index.html)
Their website read terms and conditions to see how often it comes out.
Looks like you need to buy Baseboard, controller and engine. :hmmm:
Personal thoughts are just go and buy a Hornby starter set and a load of the Dapol (old Airfix) plastic kits and save your money. At least you would have a basic controller and a loco.
Big thing is how many modern built houses have room for a layout like this and still have room for the kids,pets and other accumulated bits as well.
It must be a viable business, although I do recall one project was scrapped after a few issues, a lot of irate punters, but live and let live I say :searchingsign:
Quote from: H on August 31, 2013, 06:49:58 AM
Quote from: newportnobby on August 30, 2013, 09:50:56 PM
I believe it's the model railway layout. Did they not show the first issue as having a piece of track and a coach ???
Track and a coach is mentioned but somehow I doubt that they are going to include the most basic and fundamental part of a model railway layout - a decent, firm baseboard (the starting point). Nor, I doubt, any locomotives and controllers. It probably gives 'part works' a whole new meaning. But it's got them frothing on other Orribly Oversized enthusiast forums.
H.
Like to see how they stick that to the front of the Mag :goggleeyes:
The lady of the house was sniffing at the advert...I am sure before she met me she would have still thought it poor value but now, with Filton TMD under our stairs, she can see what a "proper" layout should be like :P
Not to mention when she looks over my shoulder to see what lovely layout I am looking at on this forum....
Skyline2uk
build your own HS2 from a fortnightly magazine in 8 million years should be in WHSmiths from next week
was in the local newsagent this morning and the guy in there said one person bought all their stock of this, just to get the carriages !
I think there is a real danger that the first issue will be snapped up by people (like us :D. ) wanting cheap coaches with no intention of continuing with the rest of the series.
Potential partwork buyers won't get a look in, surely not what the company intended.
Maybe there will be a lot of OO coaches and track for sale at the train fairs if people are buying in bulk from newsagents?
I spent just under £20 buying x5 of the first part to get x5 gleaming coaches in OO and x5 pieces of OO gauge setrack pieces.
Listed the x5 coaches on eBay recently, they sold for just under £60.00!! nearly £35 profit after ebay fees, not bad for a 99p listing.
High five to me :P
Might keep the track for a future HO gauge project ;)
I wouldn't bother, unless it's a small diorama; it's not really compatible with Hornby/Bachmann/Peco track.
Quote from: MikeDunn on October 13, 2013, 09:22:27 PM
I wouldn't bother, unless it's a small diorama; it's not really compatible with Hornby/Bachmann/Peco track.
Exactly that, they will be used for ends of sidings and back scene stuff. As you pointed out they don't follow the same geometry as peco/Hornby tracks and they are cheaper quality in comparison but for the price I got them for it would be a shame not to use them.
My future HO will probably be just a little diorama anyway so this track can be used for odds and ends :thumbsup:
Quote from: OwL on October 13, 2013, 09:20:39 PM
I spent just under £20 buying x5 of the first part to get x5 gleaming coaches in OO and x5 pieces of OO gauge setrack pieces.
Listed the x5 coaches on eBay recently, they sold for just under £60.00!! nearly £35 profit after ebay fees, not bad for a 99p listing.
High five to me :P
Might keep the track for a future HO gauge project ;)
Smart thinking :thumbsup:
Just caught this. Interesting. Like all those other ones with free little bits of minerals or wildlife ones where after 19 issues you end up with a cardboard model of a walrus. ;D
Waiting for a N gauge series!