Large Scale Thomas

[AJW98Productions]

Getting this topic back on track (yes, that terrible pun was intentional).

One thing I would like to say, on the topic of Large Scale Thomas, is how impressed I am that Bachmann had the (quite frankly) brilliant idea to raise the bottom of Thomas's rear and front buffer beams, in order to accommodate couplings. I think I even read somewhere a while ago that (as a result of the aforementioned bufferbeam changes) Thomas's front and rear buffers are now level, something which his TV Series model (and now CGI render) hasn't had since...season 2...I think.

It may mean a little detail accuracy, in the form of the bufferbeam height, is sacrificed, but the operation value is increased a lot. Fans of the HO range have complained about the lack of a front coupling on the HO Thomas, Percy, and James models for years, so I still think his large scale model is quite impressive in that regard. In fact, all the Large Scale models I've seen from Bachmann have been quite impressive, but James, Thomas and Percy are especially so, when compared to their HO models, maybe it's time for an update of them?

~Alex

[Large Scale Champion]

Thankyou AJW98Productions,

for that dose of reality, having had this topic removed in the past by the moderator when it got out of hand I'd dearly like to avoid a repeat.
IF chances of Henrietta have increased yippee but until its confirmed then we are again back to focusing on topic.

It's great to see that images have appeared for all but the explosives van, I think it means the later end of this year may see most of the promised offerings appear and we can once again dream of more engines... Winston is fine, and sound is great but we do need another engine...

My personal 2017 Wishlist:
Loco: Edward or Duck

Coaches: Red Coaches or Henrietta

Wagons: Box Van with Face, Toad (with moving eyes)

Significant others would include: Cattle Wagon, Mail Wagon, Maybe LS accessories and More Figures (Loco crew, Workmen Assorted, Mrs Kindley, Lady Hatt, Jeremiah Jobling, Passengers Assorted. Oh and wagon loads...

[Large Scale Champion]

& My Favourite Box Van finally has an image!

http://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=6475

Can't wait!

[Captain Crutch]

Well everyone recently the Hasty Hannah thing was confirmed. It is also said Hannah resembles Henrietta. If you need proof check the ttte fan wikia and look at season 20. If you need links I can provide them.

[JD417]

Not sure if this is a good sign, but the Bachmann Branchline website has an approximate date for Winston's release. (As well as the Sound Thomas and Percy)

http://i.imgur.com/MHzh7H9.png

The only reason I say it may not be a good sign, is the fact that the US site has a price listed for Winston, and the UK one does not. So that could mean they're still spitballing here.

[Chaz]

I am genuinely surprised on how little information we currently have about Winston.  Even Oliver has more going for him in regards to a release date and preorders.  Not too many shops have Winston listed or even have release dates posted.  Even with the new vans out and the DCC/sound models due next month, I think this is really saying something about the odds of a new engine in the range if it is taking them this long to get Winston out.

[Large Scale Champion]

Hello everyone,

It's been a long time since we've posted and generally wanted to get a feel for rumours or wishes for 2018, it's frustrating to wait so long to get a loco every 2 years! Diesel is a welcome addition and we always hold out hope for Edward or Duck with the Red Coaches but keen to know others thoughts???

Dean

[Chaz]

I'm sure Diesel will be out in 2018, though I'm surprised we still don't have an official photo of the spiteful brake van yet. 

That being said, production has been a lot slower for Bachmann than usual this year and I'm sure this has made an impact for large scale too.  I'm not expecting a lot for large scale in 2018 besides 'Arry and Bert.

[Falcon]

Large Scale fans have been open to the idea of Bill & Ben (myself included) and I personally hope that Mavis can be made as well. I sadly wouldn't see any of them being made too soon, though.  

Nonetheless, I cannot wait to see what Diesel and the Spiteful Brake Van look like. I'm a bit of a Diesel fan and the latter is a very unique choice.

[Large Scale Champion]

The Spiteful Brakevan is a strange choice as technically that is the brakevan we have as in the books he's NW 13 however we may be getting the tv series version that's just grey and has a face. As freight running without a brakevan is difficult we've already repainted a second brakevan so any new brakevan is still more than needed.

I hope a second sound decoder becomes available with diesel on as our plan is to eventually switch to DCC but at the moment our focus is on earthworks and tunnel construction.

I wish they'd be bold enough to make some buildings for the large scale.

[Large Scale Champion]

Another thing we're keen to see is other members custom builds in large scale. we have a secret project on at the moment and will debut in pics. Has anyone else done a custom? the best we've seen is the red brake coach.

[Falcon]

I'd love to see some Large Scale custom builds made. That red coach sounds like a pretty cool sight to see.

Would Glynn be a possible idea for the Large Scale lineup? I myself wouldn't mind seeing him made, though I won't expect him that soon. He might need more speaking roles to qualify, but then again, Winston was in the lineup and he doesn't have too much speaking roles.

[Large Scale Champion]

Falcon - FYI
we posted the Red Coach custom earlier  on this thread, reply 20 on page two.

[Falcon]

Falcon - FYI
we posted the Red Coach custom earlier  on this thread, reply 20 on page two.

Thanks for reminding me. I tend to forget about previous discussions frequently... 

Still, that red coach looks very cool. I too hope they're made in Large Scale someday.

[Plow_Bender]

Another thing we're keen to see is other members custom builds in large scale. we have a secret project on at the moment and will debut in pics. Has anyone else done a custom? the best we've seen is the red brake coach.

Well, I have 2 projects I did that were from a couple years ago.  The first one is Emily's snowplow which I built back in 2015.  The plow I made for her was built from tin and I used aluminum and styrene for the mounting bracket.  I then painted the front of the plow silver and the sides dark green.  Mounting the plow is simple as it just goes right down over Emily's buffers.  Unlike the Thomas model, I'm able to run Emily's plow on her without having to remove the knuckle coupler on the pony truck.

I modeled Emily's plow after the one she had in Season 8, and I know some will argue that its inaccurate that I'm using a model series plow on a CGI series Emily, but I could honestly care less.  Realistically plows tend to get shined up after excessive use, so having Emily's plow fully painted green doesn't make any sense.  One thing I would like to also add is that although I have tried it and the plow does indeed plow snow, I don't recommend it.  While the plow and it's mounting bracket could more than likely take the abuse, I fear Emily's plastic buffers wouldn't.

The next project I attempted was a custom Season 1 truck made back in 2016.  I started with the open wagon that you would get if you bought the large scale Thomas' Christmas Delivery set.  Now before you ask why I chose to use this wagon over one of the others, it's because of the price.  An online retailer I buy from frequently had the wagon (separate from the set) for only $24 which was cheaper than going out and buying one of the other wagons for about $50-$60+.  I also ended up with the 2 presents in the truck, but threw those in with the Christmas decorations.

It was pretty simple to just sand down the old decals on the wagon, repaint it flat black, add some weathering, and then the custom face.  Overall I thought the model turned out pretty good, and a friend of mine actually thought I used the Tenmile Gauge 1 kit to build it.  The photo shows the truck with a chain link coupler, but I actually run knuckle couplers on my railroad.  The photo was taken prior to me adding knuckle couplers to the model.

Lastly is a current work in progress I started back in October of this year.  I'm currently making a large scale model of Victoria from The Railway Series.  Obviously I've used a Bachmann Annie/Clarabel for the basis, but Victoria isn't a LB&SCR Stroudley coach so quite a few alterations have to be made.  I've seen many of the HO Boys just simply repaint an Annie/Clarabel coach, but that's not going to cut it for this project.  I'm mainly trying to base my build off the Clive Spong illustrations, but have referred to Victoria's actual basis (Furness Railway Passenger Coach) for details as well.  Regardless what I do, this model could very well be a hybrid.

As she sits now, Victoria is mainly in primer gray until I finish adding details to the model and find the proper color blue to paint her.  The coach's frame also needs a few alterations as well, but I'm yet to start on that.  Incase anyone is curious, I don't have plans to build Helena, mainly just because of the fact (considering the fait Victoria suffered) it seems likely she's probably been scrapped.  I've still got quite a bit of work to do, but Victoria is perhaps a build I should revisit on here once she's finished.

Questions and comments welcome.

-Rusty