So a taboo was clearly expunged by RAPIDO Trains by introducing the Metro-Vic Class 28 locomotive

Who will now bite the bullet and produce the Class 21/29 with tablet catchers in N Gauge?

Yes I know Revolution tried to generate interest.

As Revolution showed these locos were not exclusively Scottish but did cover rails elsewhere.

I do hope some manufacturer will pick up this gauntlet in coming months.

GE

Thankfully plenty of taboos have been expunged in the past 20 years :

- they said no one would ever do British outline steam locos with see-through wheels
- they said no one would ever do a BR 08 shunter with the frames on the correct side of the connecting rods
- they said no one would ever do an RTR blue pullman
- they said the N Gauge Society would never do a coach kit

Thank you to all our manufacturers who ignore N gauge taboos !

The difference between all those examples and the 21/29 is that someone tried and failed within very recent memory - that inevitably makes all other manufacturers ultra cautious...
If Revolution couldn't make it work with their low margin business model, it's highly unlikely one of the big commercial manufacturers with shareholder return on investment margins to satisfy would consider it unless a significant change in the market could be demonstrated...

I hope a manufacturer does pick up the class 21/29. I only got into British N Gauge in late 2017/ early 2018. I was too late for the RevolutioN announcement - not that it would have made any difference. Hopefully RevolutioN or Rapido or someone else will give them a go. Or some MK1 coaches ..

yeh it would be nice...

class 41 warship as well

and class 71/74

and class 23

there are more useful, widespread and longer lived locos that would sell better though

or some locos that need a modern tooling

but anyway maybe rapido will go for something niche again in the future

tim

It's not really a matter of giving them 'a go'. A prospective manufacturer needs to be sure that there will be sufficient volume of sales to provide enough revenue to cover fixed and variable costs and a suitable margin/return on investment.

Certainly some serious research needs to be undertaken to ascertain demand and potential market size. Presumably that could be undertaken when the economic and market conditions are more favourable but the relatively recent proposal didn't attract sufficient interest. Something for the future maybe.

Quote from: Bazza on March 02, 2023, 06:20:25 PM
It's not really a matter of giving them 'a go'. A prospective manufacturer needs to be sure that there will be sufficient volume of sales to provide enough revenue to cover fixed and variable costs and a suitable margin/return on investment.

Certainly some serious research needs to be undertaken to ascertain demand and potential market size. Presumably that could be undertaken when the economic and market conditions are more favourable but the relatively recent proposal didn't attract sufficient interest. Something for the future maybe.

You seem to be reading a lot into my post, I am fully aware of the above. I am also sure the manufacturers are also.

Even though I can legitimately run diseasels from 4 regions it's getting harder to find excuses for some. Even the hoary old 'footie special' gets a bit thin at times I am resigned to not seeing specials such as 'Lion', 'Falcon' or 'Kestrel' in RTR but I think I could justify a class 41 if it came along from someone

Quote from: Newportnobby on March 03, 2023, 09:44:29 AM
Even though I can legitimately run diseasels from 4 regions it's getting harder to find excuses for some. Even the hoary old 'footie special' gets a bit thin at times I am resigned to not seeing specials such as 'Lion', 'Falcon' or 'Kestrel' in RTR but I think I could justify a class 41 if it came along from someone

I would happily donate my ex-wide's kidneys for a RTR D600, I must admit.

It would be great if Kernow persuaded someone to do one in N

yes good idea!

let's all lobby kernow to link up with one of the manufacturers to make a class 41 warship...

much better than lms twins!!


tim

Quote from: bluedepot on March 02, 2023, 06:13:59 PM
yeh it would be nice...

class 41 warship as well

and class 71/74

and class 23

there are more useful, widespread and longer lived locos that would sell better though

or some locos that need a modern tooling

but anyway maybe rapido will go for something niche again in the future

tim

I couldn't wait for these to  happen, so I built.....

Class 41 Warship



Class 23 Baby Deltic



Class 15



I have also built a pair of Co Bo's and 18000 aka GT1, but of all these the Co Bo becoming a RTR model was a bit of a surprise - hats off to Rapido for making it and the Conflat P's

Regards,

Alex

Quote from: Newportnobby on March 03, 2023, 09:44:29 AM
Even though I can legitimately run diseasels from 4 regions it's getting harder to find excuses for some. Even the hoary old 'footie special' gets a bit thin at times I am resigned to not seeing specials such as 'Lion', 'Falcon' or 'Kestrel' in RTR but I think I could justify a class 41 if it came along from someone

Not sure you should write any of those off...  after all, Grafar did Deltic,  there is talk of 89001 being done,  likewise APT, all of these were one-offs.  As we go forward, new subjects will be harder to find and so manufacturers will start to look at the more esoteric models.

The alternative is modelling with resin bodyshells..  as 3d printing moves up a notch (and it's improving weekly)  it won't be long before the next phase becomes affordable which is full 3d colour 3d printing, at which point fully 3d coloured replacement bodyshells could start to become available.  I've already seen some truly amazing ready colored prints coming off these machines.

For me, in the shorter term, I'm watching with interest the changes to Leader being done by Newman miniatures and would also happily buy all you list above and the twins, the brown boveri and the southern experimental locos,  when the resin or 3d shells reach certain standards

Regards

Graham

@Moria

The Twins are already available as a 3D print; whether it meets your 'standards' you mention is your choice.

I've built one, and also 15, 16, and toffee apple, plus others, from resin bodies. I'm not convinced of long term stability of resin, as some of these have bowed outward along their length since building. A 4mm version of a cl40 I built many years ago even had steel strips embedded in the resin to counter such warping. However, this warping has only affected a couple of bodies, which are probably now around 20 years old.

Martyn

@martyn My body is 70 years old this year and has definitely warped!