The arrival of Heljan’s all-new Class 47, along with Model Rail’s exclusive tooling of the experimental Class 48s, reminded me of the many previous iterations of the Brush Type 4, especially those from Hornby and Lima.
As a youngster, I saved my pocket money to buy a few Hornby ‘47s’ in parts form, including unpainted bodyshells, which were enhanced with etched and cast metal parts and my own choice of livery. I guess the thought of assembling locomotives from spare parts today is pretty fanciful.
Landing from Italy in 1987, Lima’s ‘47’ caused a stir, with a higher level of finesse, greater choice of liveries and a much more faithful all-round appearance. Several cottage industries stepped up to provide extra detailing parts and superior glazing, while temperamental motors could be repaired or replaced cheaply if necessary.
They were far from perfect, but I lost count of how many Lima ‘47s’ I detailed and repainted in the 1990s, prior to the arrival of superior products from Heljan, Vi-Trains and Bachmann.
While a large part of me welcomes the ever-increasing sophistication of today’s RTR locomotives, another part misses the challenge of taking the bare bones of a half-decent model and (hopefully) turning it into something special.
Recent conversations with fellow modellers show that I’m not alone, although I have a feeling it’s a generational thing, with younger modellers more interested in other areas of the hobby.
Choice is important in any pastime and, thankfully, folks like me still have plenty of options to indulge in super-detailing, thanks to older Lima models still being freely available, along with some of the necessary detailing parts.
