When your 21 year old daughter says ‘that looks nice, what is it?’ it’s an indication that the box, at the very least is ‘on message’. Not only that but SWMBO, or ‘the wife’ as I know her, mentions it looks elegant, you do wonder if the contents will live up to the packaging.
ACC1000-HUO-A ACC1001-HUO-B
ACC1000-HUO-C ACC1003-HUO-D
ACC1000-HUO-E ACC1000-HUO-F
Today I received two boxes of Accurascale’s HUO 24.5T hopper wagons. It’s not often you go ‘ooh that’s nice’ before even opening the box. Packed in threes, neither set showed any damage or loose components and the packaging is neat tidy and functional. Also included is a one page fact sheet and parts breakdown list.
ACC1000-HUO-A ACC1001-HUO-B
ACC1000-HUO-C ACC1003-HUO-D
ACC1000-HUO-E ACC1000-HUO-F
Immediately the models just leap out as being ‘quality’, OMG, there’s no rulers on this quick look over! Paint finish is excellent, and these are just crying out for weathering, the patches around the stencils are prototypically uneven, so look odd on a clean wagon. These’ll be in the man cave for filth within the week!
The handrails are very delicate as are other details like handles and steps, definitely not a wagon for those of you that like to handle your trains wearing boxing gloves. Sprung buffers are fitted and are compressed with very little force, and the wagons run very freely. The tension locks are fitted into NEM sockets which align with other similar fitted stock I have.
Sold in packs of three these wagons are essentially £20 each. For this quality of engineering and overall finish, compared to what else is on the market, I think Accurascale have produced possibly the best ready to run wagon for the UK market ever.
It’s quite a claim to make I realise, but unless they’ve made a Liverpool goalkeeper of an error somewhere, that’s not blindingly obvious at the moment, the claim might just stand up to scrutiny.
Transformation Tuesday?, oh yes. These models show how the UK market can be broken into by determined players, and instead of claiming to set higher standards, actually just crack on and do it. In itself these perhaps set a benchmark both in the model itself, and the company ethos. Rapido arguably did the same thing when they entered the UK market, people looked down at them, but their quality and value for money for the quality, shone through. I think Accurascale may take a similar journey. I’ll have no hesitation getting other products from them, their sprung buffers?, first in the trolley.
And I’ve no doubt whatsoever that the other players out there, will sit up and notice! And as I sit here and look at them, the more I look, the more I see.
Albion Yard 
Got home from Railex to find mine sat on the table… Having taken the lid off and got very excited by the quality of the packaging I’ve not yet had the courage to ruin the presentation and actually remove them from the box!
Keep them like that, they’ll be a collectable before you know it. I can’t wait till my sixteen year old sees them, then we’ll know if they’re down wiv da kidz
…But it would be a crime not to unleash the pallet of rust coloured paint onto them, and bring out their best!
#huofilth !
They’re toy trains. They’re meant to be played with, not kept in boxes. By all means keep the box in immaculate condition but get the wagons weathered and on the layout where they belong.
Don’t panic Bob, there’s not much chance of anything round here remaining anything other than filthy for too long!
Reblogged this on sed30's Blog.
They do look awesome, I just wish I had the room to run a trainload of them
At last something that is comparable with the Exactrail, American Railroad Co and Athearn Genesis USA HO products – also made in China they have been beating Daphornmann for years
I agree Vaughan, one thing to note perhaps is those companies products you mention also cost more than the ‘regular’ brands reflecting the higher quality. The UK market doesn’t have the clearer differentiation between sections that the US/Canadian market has. It’ll be interesting to see how these are received selling only in threes at £60. Nowadays that’s the cost of some of the better single coaches, I’m betting a few will miss that though. 🙂
They look great. Have followed their progress via the DEMU forum with interest. They’re not of use for my modelling projects sadly, however they’ve announced now what follows these and they quite possibly are if interest!