Accurascale Class 92 Review

Such is my abiding passion for all the railways of the south of England over their entire history that back around the turn of the century I abandoned the final pretence of my modelling period being the Southern Region Western Division between the early 1960s and mid 1970s and settled on any railway from Cornwall to Kent loosely south of a line of latitude extrapolated west from the Thames Estuary, between the late 1950s and the current day.  Yes, this includes the arch-rival GWR, but strictly only in the West Country!

Having then recently taken the family to Disneyland Paris by train I soon found myself in my local model shop (I still had a local model shop back then) buying Hornby’s toylike inaccurate and incomplete Eurostar model and asking to compare Hornby’s and Lima’s Class 92 models.  If I recall correctly, Lima’s version was superior in fine detail but significantly let down by the cab side windows being a separate moulding inserted into the side with a very noticeable and unrealistic gap around them.  So I bought Hornby’s overall better looking version, it being the Hornby tooling that was used after the acquisition of Lima, and over time I amassed five of them in various liveries.

Some 27 years after Hornby’s model was first released Accurascale’s state of the art versions appeared just before Christmas 2022.  Has the wait been worth it?  Without hesitation or reservation – yes!

Before I go further this is to clarify that my layout is DC operated, so this review does not cover DCC and sound aspects, and as it is of a Southern Region location I am also only concentrating on the DC conductor rail specifics.  The Class 92 is not a locomotive I know as well as earlier Southern “native” locomotives, so I am relying on published information and photographs, principally Modern Locomotives Illustrated number 213, Class 92 (and other Eurotunnel related locomotives).

First try getting the model out of the box!  These large heavy models are supplied in sturdy cardboard boxes that are over four times the volume of the model.  These boxes are wrapped in a clear plastic sleeve which needs careful removal.  Then the lid of the box is a very tight fit, which to avoid damage needs to removed by carefully easing out the longer sides and rocking, usually raising the box from the horizontal surface by a few inches by its lid, to break the suction and allow the tray of the box to use gravity to slip down.  They usually open with a comical raspberry type noise!  Within the box is a foam tray encasing a clear plastic “egg box” cradle, which itself is encased in a clear plastic sleeve.  The cradle supports the model firmly and the model needs careful removal to prevent damage.  Despite this seemingly transit-proof packaging, on other manufacturers’ very finely detailed models with similar packaging it is quite common to find detached small parts rattling around in the plastic cradle.  There then follows the challenge of identifying these parts and fitting them back, if indeed this is possible as exploded diagrams are either not supplied or are too small and busy to be useful.  Consequentially I have a small plastic storage box labelled “unidentified loose parts” which has ever increasing contents.  Others have commented that Accurascale Class 92s are refreshingly free of detached parts.  On two of my four models one of the tension link couplings and one of the pan heads became detached during the unboxing process, but these are very easily identifiable parts and the coupling is readily fixed back. Refitting the pan head needs a little patience!  I also found an etched brass large grille under the foam tray of one of these two models, but the model did not have any grilles missing, so heaven knows how this got there.  At least I have a spare if I ever need one.

My first impression was this is one breathtakingly well detailed model.  Frankly, on direct comparison these models make Hornby’s version look plain and simplified.  Closer and longer inspection confirms first impressions.  The subtle shape and details, when compared to photos, both overview and of specific details, look spot-on.   The quality of construction, decoration and finish is extremely good.  Attention to fine detail in the livery is exacting, as exemplified by the correct short gaps in the orange cantrail lines.  The cab windows are thin with no prismatic effect and the windscreen wipers are wafer thin.  In particular the piping/cables on the bogies is exquisite and compare extremely well to a close up photo of a bogie in MLI213.  One cab end usefully comes fully detailed and there is a bag of parts for the other, plus additional parts.  The rectangular metal sprung buffers are imposing.  Mention needs to be made of the cab interiors, though lacking a driver, as these are much more than just notionally detailed.  I recommend use of a magnifying glass to see and appreciate the interiors.  Etched brass nameplates, BR double-arrows and Crewe electric depot plates (as appropriate to the specific locomotive) are supplied to fit, if desired, over the printed versions.  The tunnel section logos, which appear to be moulded on rather than separate parts, I am not so happy with as they are not as crisp looking as the real thing.  Though from a distance they look OK.

ACC2199-92036 “Bertold Brecht”

ACC2198-92032 “Imeche Railway Division”