Hornby LMS ‘Princess Coronation’
It’s been over a decade since the last model of a ‘streamliner’ in blue livery. Is this a Hornby hat-trick?
Sometimes, a model will make such an impact that it’s easy to forget how long ago it actually came out. It feels like only yesterday that M woads ehl eraapiilng praise on Hornby’s ground-breaking rebuilt ‘ Merchant Navy’, but that model will celebrate its 20th birthday next year. But when did Hornby last re-tool its LMS streamlined 4- 6-2? OK, 2002 is quite a long time ago but you could have been forgiven for thinking that it was in the 1990s. Or even in the 1980s. The LMS ‘streamliner’ – thanks to its bulbous, Germaninfluenced bathtub shape and its striking blue with silver stripes – is one locomotive that deserves the overused term ‘iconic’. It’s been one of the ‘constants’ in the Hornby range, rarely dropping out of the catalogue. That’s why it became one of the first models Hornby re-tooled to the similar sort of standard that the ‘ Merchant Navy’ heralded. Sadly, unlike the ‘ MN’, it began to show its age rather quickly. For example, it lacked NEM coupler pockets on the front. So, having produced an all-new non-streamlined ‘ Duchess’ (MR257), Hornby has turned its attention to the streamlined version. We received No. 6221 Q inuteheen Elizabeth famous Caledonian blue livery for review. The streamlined ‘Coronation’ perhaps won’t be at the top of many people’s list of prettiest locomotives, but nevertheless it does have impact. Sloping noses such as this are always difficult to get right iqnumeeondel form, but E clliozsaebleyt hmatches published drawings and photographs. ‘Coronation’ aficionados might find fault with some areas but, working on the maxim that if it looks right then it is right, Q louoekesn Elizabeth spot on. There are lots of very fine areas to draw your eye: the shiny, chromeeffect handrails, the sliding cab roof ventilators and the cab windshields. Shiny metal sprung buffers add a touch of class, as does the cab interior with the backplate almost perfectly recreated. It’s a little difficult to find sections to comment on for the streamlined casing covers all those areas normally bristling with detail! Hornby has done its homework: No. 6221 has the right detail combinations for the pre-war period. It has a single chimney, the vertical edges under the cylinders that only Nos. 6220-24 had and a StoneDeuta speed recorder. The good work continues with the tender. It has all the hallmarks of a streamlined tender, complete with rear faring and plated-over holes in the frames. It has the cowl over the coal space that was introduced in 1938. The ‘Coronation’ comes with the usual bag of extra bits. In fact, it comes with two bags. One bag contains a flanged trailing wheelset. This is because the ‘Coronation’ features Hornby’s method of dealing with fixed trailing trucks – making the wheelset flangeless. If your curves allow – or if you want to simply
display your ‘Coronation’ – you can fit the flanged wheelset for greater realism. You also get another bogie, with correct scale diameter wheels. The factory-fitted bogie has smaller diameter wheels to help negotiate train set curves. Contained within the same bag as the bogie are the usual brake pipes, front footstep and, thrillingly, headlamps with wings!
NIGGLING ISSUES
Sadly, there are a couple of little issues with the locomotive. The holes in the nose that take the handrails are very noticeable, although it’s difficult to see how the rails could be affixed otherwise. The other issue concerns the chimney. You can see right through the model, with daylight visible around the valve gear. It shouldn’t be too difficult to block out this light with a piece of card or plastic over the hole, but it feels as though this is a modification the modeller shouldn’t have to make. The small hatch on the tender’s side gave access to the tank fillers. Our only issue with the tender is that there’s no attempt to model the inside edge of the hatch. The finish is to Hornby’s usual high standards, although the Caledonian blue is, arguably, a touch on the dark side. The silver lining is impressive, although the four lines on each side should converge into a single point, whereas on the model there are obvious gaps. Some of the stripes don’t align properly around the nose, but this is probably due to the difficulties of pad printing complex curved shapes. Another small gripe is that the cabside numbers are a tad on the thin side. Overall, this is yet another excellent Hornby product. It’s just a shame that our sample was marred by performance i(scsgu)es.