50 class on the move.

Weathered 5263 at Ardglen on an empty stock train.

 

 

Sound equipped 50 class together with more non-sound units arrived on Wednesday the 16th of September and distribution commenced the same day.

As usual, every person with a model on order is being contacted to check address and model details before an order is packed and put in the post.

Post out is expected to take about four weeks and anyone wishing to short circuit the process can do so by contacting the Eureka office to confirm their details.   

 



50 Class on the way.

                   MV OOCL Shanghai in Port Phillip Bay

    MV OOCL Shanghai is currently loading in Shanghai before proceeding to Hong Kong where the cargo it will pick up will include Eureka's 50 class. The shipment will include all of the "with sound" models and more non-sound units.
    The OOCL Shanghai is scheduled to depart Hong Kong on the 1st of September and is due in Port Botany on the 12th of September.
    Allowing a couple of days to clear customs the post out of orders should commence around the 15th of September and be completed in about four weeks. As always, those with pre-orders will be contacted before models are posted out. A telephone call to confirm address and order details will ensure prompt despatch.
    The pre-discount price period is now over. The basic price of $680 now applies to all orders new orders and any orders not yet fully paid.

Eureka at Malkara

Eureka will be at the Malkara Exhibition this weekend the1st and 2nd of August.
We will have non-sound 50 class locomotives available for sale and inspection and sound equipped models running on one of the layouts. Sound equipped 50 class are due for delivery last week in August.

   
 The 50s start to arrive and are quickly pressed into service.

         Superheated 5063 drifts into Breeza.

      Weathered 5165 shunting in Breeza yard.

This week saw the arrival of a shipment of 50 class from the production run currently underway at the factory. One of each variation was received including three with sound and several weathered versions.
The past few days have been spent putting the models through their paces and just generally enjoying running them. The sound is excellent and the QSI Titan decoder used is a generation ahead of Eureka Models' last sound equipped engine (the R class). For those who enjoy playing with sound there are a lot of opportunities here but those of us who just enjoy the sound of steam will not be disappointed.

The factory has advised that delivery of the non-sound units will take place on the 28th of July with the sound equipped units being delivered around the 24th of August.

A short video including a sound clip can be found at:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3-yhMq1W_9eNVRuQ25Xd1pqTUk/view?usp=sharing

Epping Model Railway Club - Thornleigh Exhibition:

As usual, Eureka Models will be attending the Thornleigh Exhibition over the June long weekend.
Apart from all the usual goodies the following items might be of interest:

The CG Bogie Open Ore  Wagons:
 A shipment has arrived by air and will be on sale at the exhibition.
CG 3-packs in black and NOEFs in blue and red will be available.

The NCR First Test Shots:
The first test shots of the four NCR set cars have also arrived by air and will be on display at the exhibition.

HUB Set Additional Cars:                                                                           A clean up of the Eureka Models warehouse has produced about 40 FH and BHs additional cars. Just about all are weathered.

The Specials Box:
The "Specials Box" will be particularly well stocked with all the normal items including plenty of 38 tenders, AD60 bits, CTH trailer cars and some 620/720 bodies that should go early.

The Thornleigh Exhibition is always a good one and we here at Eureka Models are looking forward to catching up with everyone and hopefully getting in some personal shopping of our own.  See you there.

NCR Test Shots Arrive.

 

   Nicely detailed bogies from which the twelve wheelers derive their nick name.

    Our new manufacturer who is currently delivering the CG Bogie Ore Wagons is setting a cracking pace with the delivery of the first test shots for the NCR set.

Four car set undergoing testing at the factory.

Nice roof vents and roof profile.

           The test shots are of a very high standard. Apart from two minor injection blemishes early inspection has revealed no concerns. Once the inspection process is complete any necessary modifications to the tooling will be carried out. This will be followed by further test shots and when all involved are satisfied, the tooling will be polished and the project will move to the squirting and painting stage. Final assembly will then take place.
          

The corridor connections are particularly nice.



 

          

           Artwork for the NCR sets has been completed and will be available on our web site shortly.

 

           The factory says that the NCR project is still on schedule for delivery in time for the Liverpool exhibition.

  

CGs Almost on the Water:

As can be seen from the accompanying photos assembly of the CG Bogie Ore Wagons is nearing completion:

The assembly process is quite straight forward.
Once the test shots have proved the tooling then the injection process is carried out to deliver the many bits and pieces that go to make up the model to the assembly line.
Here the injected parts will be combined with other manufactured parts such as wheels, motors, couplers etc, which are often purchased from sub-contractors to make up the final model.
Before final assembly however, the parts will usually have to visit the paint shop.



A spray booth is where the model will receive its basic livery. This may involve only a simple one colour coating or may involve complex multi-colour liveries requiring the use of paint masks.

Once the basic colour scheme is in place, detail lettering and markings are added usually through a pad printer as shown above and below. 

 



When painting is complete and the painted parts are dry (after a week) the parts are ready to enter the assembly line.
 

The assembly line will usually consist of a a dozen or so young women who have the dexterity to handle the often delicate tasks involved in the assembly process. Fundamentally, all models are at their most basic level, a kit. What most of us modellers are now doing is contracting out the assembly of these kits to the young women in the picture above. These days, most of us in the hobby no longer have the skills, the inclination or above all the time to do this work ourselves and so we happily pay to have someone else do it for us.  

With proper checking at each step in the process and care and attention the final result is an accurate, good running model to add to our collection.

Assembly of the CGs will be completed in the week ending the 15th of May. 2015. This will allow shipping to take place in the following week with arrival in Port Botany in time for the June long weekend exhibition.