All 139 models safely arrived in the hold of a Korean Airlines B777 aircraft at London Heathrow Airport. We presented No. 140 to Mr Song, our builder, in gratitude for all his hard work on this project, especially recovering from the factory fire in 2019. The engines were quickly cleared by HM Customs and the models have now been received in our warehouse.

Ros and I have spent the last 10 days carrying out detailed visual checks on all the models and we are extremely pleased with the appearance of the locomotives. The placing of the models by the builders in the eight large packaging boxes proved to be far from sequential. This has meant a lot of sorting out at this end to ensure that all the specifications for each model are correct. The variety of the models, with livery and configuration differences means that there are quite a large number of variations to be examined and checked. Bryan, Adrian, Ros and I have had a good look at a selection of engines and we all feel that the appearance is outstanding and probably the Western is best locomotive ever offered under the Masterpiece Models brand.

Due to software upgrades by the decoder manufacturers ESU (circumstances beyond our control), every engine will have to have the decoders reprogrammed and the wiring circuitry checked before they can be delivered to customers. Bryan Robertson is carrying out this Herculean task (with a little help from me). We are concentrating on upgrading the ordered locomotives first and then the plan is to work through the others. We think it will take around eight weeks to complete all 139 engines.

Much of this work could have been carried out in Korea had we been able to travel out there to perform the normal checks. As you all know, the COVID-19 travel restriction have made it impossible to visit Korea – our last visit was in December 2019.

We are now so close to being able to deliver your ordered models and we thank all customers for their considerable patience. We will now press on with the final checks as fast as we can so that you receive your model in the shortest possible time.

MORE PHOTOS COMING VERY SOON!

GWR / BR(W) Prairie tanks
We have one 4575 sloping tank prairie in BR lined green with the earlier Lion-over-Wheel emblem fitted with Scale7 wheels. All the other engines have been sold. We have three engines which have been sold and not yet delivered due to wheel reconfiguration or delayed due the COVID 19 Pandemic. We expect to be able to supply these engines fairly shortly.

We are taking enquires /reservations for second hand engines as many of you are still requesting these models.

Collett Halls, Modified Halls and 28XX 2-8-0 Freight Locomotives
The builders are still assembling these models after painting. It is a slow process with reduced labour force. As I explained before, the COVID-19 regulations are very strict in Korea, so the factories have to work very carefully to comply with the law. We don’t want to rush the production, as that could result in us having to make large numbers of corrections here in the UK.

John Borkowski / 16 July 2021

Our Class 52 'Western' diesel hydraulics have finally been completed and were shipped from the factory this morning! They are seen here being loaded into a van which will take them to the air freight terminal.

When they have arrived in the UK and cleared all the import and customs checks, we will commence deliveries. If you are interested in a 'Western' but have not reserved one yet, now is the time to pick the one you want from the availability list HERE.

Wednesday 1 July 2021

We are all getting very excited here as we see the Western programme heading towards completion. It has been a long, long journey and we can’t wait to receive the locomotives when they are finished. Here are the latest pictures that we received earlier today of the chassis being tested on a rig and some final fitting out work on the bodies and cab interiors.

On the chassis you can see the huge Maxon aerospace grade coreless motor driving the two tower gear trains mounted on the end of each bogie from which the drive is taken to all six axles. The chassis is mounted on a rolling road and the motor is definitely drawing some electricity. Also the two loudspeakers are shown – one on each end – that provide individual sound for the for the first and second diesel engine start-ups.

On the bodies you can see the revised windscreen wipers that look superb. These are now metallic finished as they are on the original real locomotives. The rubber surrounds on the head-code boxes are also now coloured black. D1000 Western Enterprise in the original desert sand livery really does stand out from the pack!

The problem with the Western is that it looks good in all colours. I am very sorry that we made so few engines in Golden Ochre – all now reserved.

We look forward to receiving all the engines before too long.

John Borkowski / 03 June 2021

49XX/59XX/69XX Collett Halls and 6969/79XX Modified Halls
28XX/2884(38XX) 2-8-0 Freight Locomotives

We recently received this picture of the 28XX/2884(38XX) chassis under assembly at the factory in Incheon, South Korea. The factory owner’s brother Mr Kwon is shown in the photograph assembling the aerospace grade coreless electric motors that we use in larger locomotives on to our helical gearboxes. The locomotive wiring is attached to our patented magnetic couplings that link the locomotives to the decoders. The decoders are fitted in the tender tank spaces together with an additional loudspeaker. In the locomotive there is also a loudspeaker fitted behind the tubeplate at the back of the smokebox.

In the picture the magnetic switch is shown by the orange arrow, the helical fully enclosed gearbox by the red arrow and the aerospace grade coreless motor is indicated by the purple arrow.

Similar fitting work is also being carried out on the Collett Hall and the Hawksworth Modified Hall chassis.

John Borkowski
18 May 2021