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Static 00 Kit of the A-4 Class?


Mike

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I took da boy to see the A-4 engine Union of South Africa as it passed through a local station the other week, and he loved it to bits - not at all scared of the steam & whistle noises, even though we were stood right next to it as it left.

I've been scouting around to find a static model of the class that I could build as a memento for him, but not found anything yet that isn't designed to be used on a proper layout, so the cost is prohibitive. Does anyone do a plastic kit of the thing along the lines of the Dapol (ex-Airfix) kits? It seems an important class of engine to be un-kitted, but I just can't find anything in between the Hornby & Graham Farish gubbins :(

Can any kind soul help out?

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i know its not a kit but that class of loco is the one thats cast in coal. Don,t laugh its very well detailed and i dont think its expensive , of course its varnished and finished but could be a idea if you cant find a kit . Wish id seen the union of south africa in steam

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Hi Mike, the previous posts are correct, it has never been kitted, although I do believe there may have been a white metal kit years ago, that probably goes for silly money....What I would suggest is to go to your local Toy & Train Fair and see if you can get hold of a non running Hornby/Bachmann model and go from there.......Smudge

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Mike

As far as A4 kits go in 4mm scale (OO) Wills Finecast produced a white metal kit,while Proscale (now sold by Springside) produced one in etched brass. Both of these kits are getting long in the tooth and have issues. The best 4mm kit is produced by Martin Finney which is in etched brass,if my memory is correct it has a resin boiler. The Finney kit has all the bells and whistles (pun intended),but all these kits are complex particularly the Finney one and are not for a beginner to model locomotive building.

The Hornby A4 is considered after the Finney kit to be about the most accurate and detailed A4 in 4mm scale it would take a very skilled model locomotive builder to better the Hornby model. Hornby produce two versions of the A4 one a basic robust version which is part of the Railroad range,the other being a detailed collectors model which would be the one your interested in. Each A4 was unique changing throughout it's life, Hornby have reflected this by down the years releasing various versions each release reflecting these differences. They have released Union of South Africa in BR ownership but it's no longer available therefore to model her you would need to find the Hornby A4 thats available and nearest to her and then modify it to match. The main differences between the members of the class relate to tender,chimney and side skirts.

Malcolm

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  • 1 month later...

I just want to say thanks for the pointers, I was rather floundering when it came to finding a source of good quality kits. Union of South Africa came though one of our local stations recently too and has generated an itch which needs to be scratched. Although it may take some time to save up! We are lucky here that during the summer, we get "live" steam working the main line twice a day, 4 days a week on the Scarborough Spa Express, with the Scarborough Flyer once a week. The last run of the year was a real treat when it turned out to an A4 streamliner, freshly out of its recent refurb!

It may be of interest to know that all 6 surviving A4s will be re-united at York next year, they are bringing Dominion of Canada and Dwight D Eisenhower over the Atlantic for a 1-off re-union. That should prove a heck of a sight! A bit of a challenge for a (rich) modeller.

I'm afraid this photo is of a 1:1 scale. Sight lines were rather limited by a commuter train and a hefty crowd on the platform.

7951325716_5f1c753636_z.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Streak!! !!! Takes me back to my train-spotting days at Finsbury Park in the early 60's! (Though by that time Deltic's had also appeared - so steam was on the decline).

You could probably pick up a cheap Hornby (the Railroad version is excellent value and ideal for detailling) or Bachmann model as suggested Mike, and re-paint/re-name the loco of your choice. Fox transfers will do decals, but if you do a search on Ebay you should find cheap brass nameplates of all 34(?) A4's.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It may be of interest to know that all 6 surviving A4s will be re-united at York next year, they are bringing Dominion of Canada and Dwight D Eisenhower over the Atlantic for a 1-off re-union. That should prove a heck of a sight! A bit of a challenge for a (rich) modeller. A few years ago I'm sure I saw a display of A4 models at somewhere like warley, they had every one of the class first in original livery, then in war time black and then in post war livery. There was a lot of them!

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  • 1 month later...
  • 7 months later...

Get yourself a spare hornby railroad mallard body. then get yourself some modelmaster etched brass nameplates which have the numbers as decals with br green obliteration patches to hide the original number.

Then get yourself and etch brass frame kit or drawings and scratch the frames from plasticard.

then get yourself some alan gibson wheels or romfords and get a spare set of hornby valve gear as yours is static just glue it in place and then you should be able to paint up the chassis and it would looks something like it.

But if you want a basic model get an old hornby tender drive mallard in br green from the 80s and modelmaster nameplates decals etc.

I am a huge fan of A4s and collector of them. there is the southern finecast kit which is not too bad and made mostly from whitemetal I imagine a very fun build with the soldering iron and a satisfying heavy model will result.

Shame airfix never kitted this class of loco.

Cheers Rob

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This and the railroad mallard are your best and cheapest option by far http://www.modelmasterdecals.com/LNER_A4_G.php

all you need to do to add to the railroad a4 to finish her off a bit is glaze the cab windows and add the gold trim around the front cab window spectacle plates.

If you wanted to add orther details such as replace the moulded cab handrails with wire ones to match the tender and add lamp brackets and jewelled lamps

check out these web sites all great for kits and parts white metal, brass, fittings, turned items like buffers lovely stuff.

http://www.mainlytrains.co.uk/

http://247developments.co.uk/

http://www.markits.com/

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Good info guys, thanks. :thumbsup: I think we're going to wait until the little lad can be trusted with Hornby style 00 stuff now. He's already got a couple of 0-4-0 engines - a saddle tank and a tank engine, which he seems to be getting quite good at handling without being rough, so maybe his first layout won't be that far away? :)

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Hornby are releasing this month in their great gathering series union of south africa as preserved. They released one last year as in service in the commonwealth series. they also did and earlier super detailed version on the old tender drive version which is not as good looking but still good.

Bachmann have also done models of union of south africa.

so have graham farish in N gauge.

Your best option though is still the railroad mallard in br green which has not much in the way of too fragile items on and is an excellent model., The etched brass plates from modelmaster and the decals slid on plus the front number and job done. probably will take you 5 mins to do mike with your expert hands.

Cheers Rob

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http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22987&start=30

mike this guy has done what I was on about with the hornby railroad mallard.

I might well do it myself actually.

I was going to suggest the corgi model but £30 is a bit steep for a model that cant even turn its wheels. not much fun.

cheers Rob

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eye they did the wrenn A4 is beautiful I have one myself but there not a cheap option if you want a good one your looking at 195 quid sort of mark. I was lucky I got mine for 70 mint. but that was a long time ago. The old dublo version is the original of this but with a tinplate tender I suppose you could paint one up if you got a working one that was cheap and battered. but its not the most accurate model.

Small wheels etc. that said still one of my faves and seems more real being metal and chunky its got charm and longevity. my dublo A4 is all original from the 50s and it still works beautifully

there is also the old trix model which is the original bachmann one but on a tender drive chassis.

There is also the minitrix model and the dapol model in n gauge. though I would not recomend the dapol one to a child as the motion are made out of such think metal its like foil.

apart from that I dont think there are any other a4 models. I heard rumours of a tt gauge version.

there is the old toys from dinky and lone star. but thats about it i think.

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