A First Look At Our Class 37!
Today is another significant milestone here at Accurascale. We get to reveal to you the very first tooling prototype sample of our forthcoming Class 37!
We received a substantial parcel containing a myriad of Class 37 bodies and various tooling parts which allowed us to cobble together this first model of D6700. In the weeks ahead we will have fully operating samples of our other variants, including highly-anticipated WIPAC-equipped Class 37/6, Scottish car headlight Class 37/0s, our modern Class 37/4s and of course Accurascale Exclusive 97301 with its *unique roof, distinctive flush noses and underbody-mounted radar equipment.
Unfortunately we were missing some parts such as enough etches for the cab footsteps, cab door hand rails, footsteps and some other etches. However, we persevered and assembled this sample to give you a flavour of what's to come!
Check out that frost grill!
Of course, the devil is in the detail and our Type 3 is no different. We teased out some of these on our Facebook page, Twitter feed and on RMWeb late last week, but it's only when you see all those parts together on the model that you then appreciate the sheer complexity and research as well as tooling and development that has gone into our model of these icons.
We announced the Class 37 at the Warley show last year and it went down a storm with modellers, showing a big appetite for a new generation of Syphons! It seemed apt for us to assemble D6700 as our first prototype model as it recently celebrated its 60th birthday and is the subject of a special edition model with Locomotion Models, due for release next year.
As we stated when we first announced our Tractors, we are looking to fill those gaps previously missed by other RTR models. Our model above represents the first five locomotives of the class constructed, delivered from English Electric’s famous Vulcan Foundry at Newton-le-Willows between December 1960 and January 1961. Distinctive compared to the other 114 split head code machines due to their characteristic riveted multi-part cantrail grilles, our model perfectly represents this and a range of other as built features. Once again, these have not been previously done in this condition in OO gauge, so they offer a nice detail alternative to your fleet for your 1960s and 70s BR era layouts.
These include four-character headcode display, frost grille, double-riveted roof, buffer beam cowling with large round Oleo buffers, bodyside water filler access door and steps, accurate early buffer beam configuration with vacuum/steam/control piping only.
Of course, like with any newly tooled model, there are tweaks. We will be refining some of the fit and finish of the loco, particularly in the roof area, tooling marks to be smoothed out along with unevenness with some of the grilles.
There are also rivets to be added which takes place when the decorated samples are delivered, which we will receive in the spring of 2021. Overall though we are very happy with how our Class 37s are coming together, and we will be sharing more previews of the various sub classes which form part of our first release programme in the coming weeks!
We can however show off some more detail bits in the meantime not exclusive to D6700, like the three types of cab interior above, or the four (!) different bogie side frames below:
From top to bottom;
- Cast ex-Deltic
- Cast Class 37
- Cast ex-Class 50
- Fabricated
If you wish to pre-order one of our Class 37s, you can do so by clicking here or visiting your local 'Accurascale Approved' stockists! Delivery is Q3 2021.
Look out for more Class 37 updates and previews in the coming weeks by checking back here to our blog, subscribing to our email newsletter, following us on Twitter, Facebook or RMWeb and of course in the news pages of your favourite railway modelling magazines.