Quote from: Guilford Guy on April 25, 2009, 08:00:02 PM

Quote from: ThomasFan247 on April 24, 2009, 10:11:50 PM
As James from MOAB T&F series would say, "Shut my mouth!" Those models are absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!!! The detail is perfect. When I first saw them I thuoght they were the actual TV models stripped from their paint. You could probably pass them for the real models. Like Santa Fe Bluff said since the models are larger, much larger then the HO, you can add more details. I can't wait to see what Thomas and Percy will look like. I'm hoping they'll have extremely accurate faces, and I'm sure they will. I know they will deffinately have better detail than the HO. My God I'm gonna pee my pants I'm so excited!!! It's a good thing my mom and I are making a garden railroad this year (well we're not entirely sure yet). Again  FANTASTIC models!!!!!!! 

-Chris 

1. You sound way too excited, which makes you look like a watchamacallitcuzicantsayit.
2. You can't leave Bachmann Large Scale track outdoors.
3. You look like a watchamacallitcuzicantsayit.

I was right!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Sorry for gloating....

Quote from: Bucksco on July 19, 2009, 09:49:11 PM
Large Scale Thomas had his first "official" run during the NMRA convention. Here are a couple of pics....

Do the eyes move?

Quote from: Bucksco on July 19, 2009, 09:49:11 PM
Large Scale Thomas had his first "official" run during the NMRA convention. Here are a couple of pics....

It looks like it has a season 12 face!

Sure. I'll have to find some more and/or take a few.

Here are the pics I promised. I'm hoping to have more uploaded soon. BTW, the link to my new website is http://www.sodorrailwayadventures.webs.com. The link to the forum is http://sodrwyadv.proboards.com


Thomas at Sunnyvale


Percy and Toby


Edward and James at the Junction


Gordon at the Station


Okay, I basically turned Tidmouth into a stone quarry/plant (more of a plant).


Spencer and Mavis at Tidmouth


Monty and Ned at Tidmouth

Quote from: Sparks on July 10, 2009, 09:09:44 PM

Quote from: ZeldaTheSwordsman on July 10, 2009, 08:17:10 PM
You don't want to go there. All the Thomas items have lower coupling mounts. My advice is to attach tiny-yet-functional hooks to the rolling stock and to your American locos. Use miniature chain to couple them.

What are you talking about?

He's making complete sense. The coupler mounts on the Thomas line locos and rolling stock are lower than the E-Z mate couplers mounts on American locos and rolling stock. You could add hooks that are"tiny-yet-functional" onto American locos and rolling stock. And to connect the Thomas locos and rolling stock to the Americans, just use chain (Walthers carries HO-Scale chain).

Thomas 

I would really like to see some old characters from the Bachmann. I think that Duck and Diesel will be the next two engines.  Then probably Stanley and Molly. I say these two because

1. Like Chaz pointed out with Molly, her color, and because she is quit popular.
2. Stanley is very popular. Making his first appearence in TGD, then 2 or 3 in season 12, I think he is going to become a common character.

My first Percy out of 2 overheated, but I did have it for about 6-7 years. 

Quote from: jettrainfan on May 16, 2009, 11:08:07 AM

Quote from: Guilford Guy on April 25, 2009, 08:00:02 PM

Quote from: ThomasFan247 on April 24, 2009, 10:11:50 PM
As James from MOAB T&F series would say, "Shut my mouth!" Those models are absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!!! The detail is perfect. When I first saw them I thought they were the actual TV models stripped from their paint. You could probably pass them for the real models. Like Santa Fe Bluff said since the models are larger, much larger then the HO, you can add more details. I can't wait to see what Thomas and Percy will look like. I'm hoping they'll have extremely accurate faces, and I'm sure they will. I know they will definitely have better detail than the HO. My God I'm gonna pee my pants I'm so excited!!! It's a good thing my mom and I are making a garden railroad this year (well we're not entirely sure yet). Again  FANTASTIC models!!!!!!! 

-Chris 

1. You sound way too excited, which makes you look like a watchamacallitcuzicantsayit.
2. You can't leave Bachmann Large Scale track outdoors.
3. You look like a watchamacallitcuzicantsayit.

Wow this is the first time i looked down here and why are you calling him some kind of........ ...... ....i don't really know but he can be excited!

Thank you.

I got rainz 2006 sooooooo....................I CAN DOWNLOAD THEM! 

Quote from: Santa Fe buff on May 04, 2009, 08:15:52 PM
Way to stick it to the Bach-Man! Seriously though, Bachmann should consider some of these updates and modifications thus adding detail and more realism to the television series it models. Sure, all these are great suggestions, and any one done would be a big step to achieving more realism... I'm not stating anything for sure or anything, but let's the Bach-man tell us his input... Good or bad.

You make good suggestions, Sparks.

Oh, ThomasFan247,
I like your new picture for your studio thing. It looks a bit more "at home" with the Thomas model and the forums general theme of light/regular blue.Joshua

Thanks 

Quote from: Sparks on May 03, 2009, 06:13:25 PM
It's been brought to my attention that the original three engines in the Bachmann Thomas range have a large number of faults. This only includes Thomas, Percy, and James, the most bought, but also most criticized engines in the range. Now, it's time to get down to the facts and show why.

The basic introduction to this is, I love the Bachmann range, and all my newer engines like Edward, Henry, etc. have proved to have decent length lives so far, and run a lot smoother than my Bachmann Thomas, and the James I ran often at the club. It's rather disappointing to have these facts being the downfall of the range. Now how about we go and see what each problem is?

Thomas the Tank Engine
(image from unknown source)
The image above is from Thomas and Gordon, and shows a fine view of Thomas' small drive wheels with plenty of space between them, unlike James'.

(image from unknown shopping site)

Now here's the Bachmann Thomas. Lets point out the errors.
- Not a very smooth runner
- His stripes on his boiler mold out for some reason, rather than perfect lines around it.
- There's a lack of front coupler.
- Bit large drive wheels
- The space between his splasher and tank is absent.
- Thomas also has an unusual face, cheesy grin face that represents nothing in the show.


Now, how can Thomas be improved?
- First off, lets start with his paint job. Thomas oddly of all engines, has paint that wears the easiest. This should be addressed to, as well as his boiler stripe issue.
- A nice addition would giving Thomas an open cab. Not quite necessary, but just a good addition.
- Give Thomas better hauling power, and some weight!
- Front coupler; Tomix, removed part of his front, and put the coupler there. It's highly likely Bachmann would have to do the same here.
Photo reference (lost source):

- The space by his splasher; it could be adding a small bit of space, which I noticed none of the chassis actually occupies the area. Or, for a similar result, a Japanese Thomas modeler got a great result painting the space black (from Adult Thomas):

- Lastly, the face and chassis/wheel appearance. Thomas has some decent faces, but I think the best faces are those put below. They're not "Overly insane" happy, but really just the kind of face Thomas would have on a normal day, especially at a Model Train Convention! The top three images show faces, all from the episode "No Joke For James," while the drive wheels reference is from "Thomas Gets Bumped," and the general Thomas is from "Thomas and the Rumors."



Percy the Small Engine:
(image directly from "Thomas, Percy, and the Post Train")

Here we see Percy, tired from working the Mail Train. Looks like a really useful engine!

(image from Adult Thomas)

Now here's the Bachmann Percy, quick examination and he doesn't look very much like he does on television, now does he? Luckily, Bachmann Percy is the most stand able among the three engines. His chassis could use some more power though. Lets point out his errors.
- Like Thomas, has that boiler stripe problem
- Also like Thomas, he lacks a front coupler. This problem was corrected on the Bachmann Juniors retooling of Percy, but this is sold in the United Kingdom.
- For some odd reason, Percy is clearly marked with a manufacturing mark on the middle of his body on all of the produced models!
- Another face that has no real TV series counterpart.
- The side rods have an unusual addition of half a loop.
- Percy is a bit "out of gauge," as when running him by my platforms, his steps for his crew seem to stick out too much!


Now, how can Percy be improved?
- Give Percy more hauling power, and a lot of weight!
- Like Thomas, an open cab would be a nice addition, but not necessarily something we despise as modeler customers.
- Remove that odd loop on the chassis, to give a better appearance.
- Smoothing out and remove the manufacturing mark on his top.
- Give Percy a smaller cab step
- Percy could due with a face we all recognize. He always has a chipper, cute happy smile on his face, and lesser known for a big cheesy grin. Here's some examples from "Thomas, Percy, and the Post Train," "Thomas, Percy, and the Chinese Dragon," and "Woolly Bear."



James The Red Engine:
(thank you Chris of Sodor Island Forum for finding the image)

And lets bring out the worst for last, James. By far the second most popular engine in the entire series, the image above is a great reference for James.

(from unknown shopping site)

Now here's the Bachmann James. Looks like a decent enough model, eh? Not really. This model frustrated me to wits end, and was thus ULTIMATELY DESTROYED in attempt to fix and open it! I was not a happy camper that day.
- James has black wheels, but the model presents both his wheels, and tender and tender wheels with the color grey.
- James is often complained as the worst runner amongst the three engines, and I understand why!
- There is no front coupler on the bogie.
- The face is the usual grin, but shows major error.
- James' smoke box is not painted all the way down. This is right by his face, where a large blank space of red is.
- James' cab is ENTIRELY closed, and nearly impossible to access. All the other Bachmann engines have a cab that's open now, and you can easily put a little HO scale human in it for fun, but James has the hideous cab that hints further of being a toy, not a model.


Now, how can James be improved?
- Lets FIRST of all, paint all his grey wheels and tender into his splendid black shade.
- Next, very importantly, give him a much nicer open cab. I've taken it off before, and even now it'd be partially possible.
- Give him some more weight, and hauling power; he's a mix traffic engine, so I would highly hope he could pull Edwards loads (around 20 wagons) and a bit more.
- Add a front coupler to James' front bogie.
- Repaint the spot on the smoke box
- Fix up his face. Hornby gave him that humongous grin we all recognize him with. Sure it's a nice grin to look at for a moment, but after awhile, we gotta admit that it gets creepy! Below are images from "No Joke for James." All of them are the same face, and show James with a general smile on his face, and looks much more casual. I strongly recommend this face!


I made this topic as a suggestion to Bachmann. Sure this is a lot of talk for such small changes, but talking with a lot of modelers I know has brought up these as rather annoying concerns, and disadvantages even with the competition with Hornby (a lot of people are willing to have items shipped from the US to the UK, and from the UK to the US nowadays with the increase of on line shopping). I think it's also time for them to receive their updates after nearly 10 years into the range.

I understand most plans go through HiT Entertainment first, and I hope they like these plans as much as I do, as will other members who will post in this topic.

All Images, Thomas and Friends, etc. are copyright (c) to HiT Entertainment, and respective photo shooters of the home models.
I own none of the images used, in which they are simply used for references.

One detail I'd like to mention for all of them is (and this counts for Gordon, Henry, and Toby as well) that the British couplers should be black, not gray. Also for Annie and Clarabel I'd like to see a black running board, red buffer beams, and black British couplers. 

Quote from: jettrainfan on April 25, 2009, 10:53:25 PM
I have outgrown Thomas, but I will still watch the original series 1-7.  I chose to do this myself though but in the past my parents were not too happy with me being a Thomas fan.

yeah same thing here... what ever happened to George Carlin? Oh yeah..... He's up their telling jokes and commode shows. "This is Mr. conductor talking!" he says!lol ! i love that quote! and i miss those days with Reco Starr too. Why Britt? Why!?!?!?!?! to let you know the Mr. conductor was from when he was talking about children and he was Mr. Conductor in shinning time statin series.
[/quote]Actually George is dead. He died near the beggining of the year.

3 thumbs up!