It's a depressing time of year. It's cold, it's damp, Cl*ff R*ch*rd has got another bl**dy awful Christmas single out and you've only a one in ten chance of getting through the month without seeing either the Sound of Music or The Great Escape. So the last thing you want is to find that the new toy you've been waiting all year for Santa to deliver isn't all that you'd hoped.
At the recent Warley consumer-fest, Bachmann unveiled their revised version of the Peak, showing off all three classes. This is the biggest remaining hole in my 1970s plan, so I was not best pleased when the first photographs showed that the loco's distinctive nose was fairly obviously the wrong shape. Although it's been difficult to sift hard facts from the background static of "it's nice" and "I can't see anything wrong with it" comments over the last few days, a few concerned souls have spent some time examining the model and a number of suprisingly basic errors have emerged.
There's a fair slice of the nose missing, which gives a flattened, run-into-a-wall look. This is highlighted by the fact that the yellow end is only about half the depth that it should be - half of the bit that should be painted yellow simply isn't there to paint. From side or three-quarter viewpoints that famous snub-nose of the Peak is missing. Not only is the nose too short, but it's also a little too low and the cab roof slopes a little too steeply. If you're going to make a mess of something, the last thing you want to choose is one of the loco's most distinguishing features.
There really is no excuse for this kind of fundamental error in the basic shape of a product. A number of us spent some time yesterday overlaying photos of the model and the real thing, using nothing more advanced than a computer and a copy of Photoshop. The error was clearly visible in every case, so a manufacturer with vastly superior resources should easily be able to spot it and deal with it long before the sub-standard product is delivered to market.
The problem is equally visible from the front, where the combination of the shortened nose, turning in too soon, and the rather diminished yellow end give you a pronounced blue area at either side. This should either be entirely absent or just barely visible, depending on how far away from the loco you're standing. Another error that's difficult to overlook from the front is the absence of the prominent seam across the nose that's present on all Peaks. How on earth did they forget that?
From the detailing point of view, one of my least favourite features is the continuation of the crudely moulded fan-grille style from the Class 25. This poorly fitting component is seen here with it's trademark gap around the edge. Another couple of biggies are the rather flat detailing on the bogie sideframes and the already infamous absence of an exhaust port. How would you feel if you hadn't got an exhaust port?
On a more positive note, the loco is DCC-Ready, with an NMRA 8 pin plug present on the circuit board - a welcome change after it's absence on both the Voyager and the Super Voyager. Unfortunately there is no lighting whatsover on this model, a retrograde step after Bachmann managed to get at least half of the way there with the Class 37 this time last year..
All-in-all not a very impressive release. I'd rank this model alongside Bachmann's Class 37 in that as well as having a good number of careless and obvious errors, it has a major flaw in it's basic shape. Detail errors are relatively easy to correct, but few modellers will have the time or the skill to put right fundamental faults in shape. That's the job of the manufacture, if they're up to it.