2012 Sandown Show
Auscision Models is excited to finally announce that we have been appointed by Bendigo Rail Models to be their exclusive distributor of current products and future releases. BRM is a new manufacturer of Australian HO Scale model railway products and has been working behind the scene since 2009.

BRM's first model release will be available at this weekend’s Sandown show, we can tell you that it is a HO scale locomotive but cannot tell you which one. :-)

Those that attend the show will be able to purchase the model from our Auscision stand. When we return from Victoria next week we will update our website with further information on BRM along with order forms and product information on the unannounced model. We look forward to seeing all of our customers at the show and wish great success for BRM with their first release.

2012 China Trip
On the 9th of February Jeff and I departed Sydney for Hong Kong for our annual trip to visit Auscision's 5 factories in China to discuss current and future projects. We had a very successful and positive trip with no news of major price rises or factory closures with any of the 5 Auscision factory's. Below I have outlined some of the information received on various models and the latest production dates on most of our outstanding models.

73 Class While in China we viewed the final production samples of the 73 Class Locomotives, they looked very nice and the factory has done a great job. Now that all of the painting issues have been corrected production will now take place in May. We know that this is a few months longer than we planned but the factory has been really busy with other customers and everyone has shared the delays.

422 Class The painted samples of the 422 class locomotive have been approved and production will take place in May. Our factory is trying to pull this date in and I will keep everyone posted if it becomes earlier. We cannot wait for the 422 to be delivered as its now our longest running project ever! A little embarrassing but we are trying our best to get it here as soon as possible and it will be a great model with all of the latest Auscision features.

AHGX We viewed the painted samples of the AHGX Grain Hopper while in China and approved them then and there. The factory had done a great job on the samples. We will post some images once they send us the samples. Production is planned for mid year.

BP Van The Victorian BP Box Van models were being produced while we were at the factory. The finished models should be leaving for Sydney sometime in March.

N Pass Cars We spent several hours with the design engineers trying to fix a few issues we found with the N Passenger Car samples. First problem was the size of the windows. The factory drew the windows 0.8mm larger than they should have been and we overlooked it on the final drawings. It was only picked up on the first tooling samples and had to be corrected (at great cost). The second problem was that the cars wouldn't run around 24 inch curves. We have had to modify some of the details on the bogies and move the coupler box out slightly so that the cars will run around 24 inch radius curves with the standard Auscision metal coupler. We have also designed a longer coupler that will be supplied with each pack that the customer can fit if they require the cars to run around 18 inch curves. With the long coupler fitted it will increases the gap between the cars but that's what you get when you only have room for tight curves. The windows and coupler box positions are currently being re-tooled and new samples will be available around April/May. Due to these issues delivery will not take place until late 2012 which is still within our advertised timeframe.

NGTY The NGTY Grain Hopper painted samples were also approved in China and production will take place mid year.

NHRH When we arrived at the factory the guys had samples of our NHRH Coal Hoppers sitting on the meeting table along with an ice cold Coke. I went for the Coke while Jeff went for the samples. After finishing my Coke I had a quick look at the samples and nearly fell off my chair!. The NHRH is my favourite wagon and when I finally saw a model of it in HO it was like Christmas for a 5 year old. With scale size drawbars and internal details this is going to be one great model. I have a complete 7 car pack running around our test track going through all our testing procedures before we approve the samples. A couple of small items that need fixing but nothing too major. As the artwork is already completed production is planned for very very late 2012.

Grain Silos We talked about the production of the Grain Silos with the factory and production should take place around April. We apologise for the delays we this model. They are due to us making changes to the samples i.e. removing the moulded on track and making enough clearance between the track bed and discharge chute so that our customer can add their own choice of track. Painted samples will be available soon and we will post photos as soon as they come to hand.

Walker Railcar Big modifications were required to our walker samples and we spent half the day discussing them with the factory. A complete new bogie had to be tooled without side frames on it so that the model could negotiate 18 inch curves. As most of the side frame is hidden behind the side of the body you cannot see much of it anyway. Each model will come with this bogie fitted, while the detailed bogie with side frames will be supplied in the box for the customer that keeps the models in their display cabinet or whom has very large curves. The optional bogie can be snap fitted but requires the power pick up wires to be soldered into place. We have also made the model 3 single units for ease of placing on the track, whereas before it was one single piece. Production is now planned for late 2012 with painted samples expected mid year.

XPT Well this has become our biggest project ever! When we started on the XPT several years ago we thought it would be quite a simple project with just one loco and a few passenger cars, but no its a lot more complicated than that! While at the factory we viewed the final drawings and they looked pretty good. We have had to draw the complete XPT twice and this has caused a lot of delays. Due to this the XPT cannot be delivered in 2012 but the factory is promising early 2013 for delivery. We will keep the XPT as our 1st priority and try everything we can to get it here earlier.

AOOX & ABFX As most of you are aware our AOOX & ABFX wagons are now available and all that have ordered them would have received their models by now. Mel & Jamie did a great job of posting out all orders while I was away. Don't forget to order your loads for the AOOX Open Wagons!

AN Class Tooling samples of the AN Class Locomotive should be available in March. We will post images on our Blog once they are received. Production is still planned for 2013.

While we were in China Jeff & I viewed tooling samples of 3 new unannounced loco/wagon projects that will be delivered this year. Keep your eye out for the Auscision stand at future shows as we might just have something new and exciting available at the show. Drawings for the 86 Class Locomotive are now complete along with the design drawings for 22 other new future Auscision loco/wagon releases.

ABFX & AOOX Wagons
Our shipment of ABFX & AOOX wagons will arrive at our warehouse on Friday. We are off to China tomorrow so we have updated our website so that these wagons can be ordered while we are away. We will be unable to update our website while in China. Mel will be at the warehouse next week to pack and dispatch all pre orders on Tuesday. All online orders for these wagons will be sent towards the end of next week.

24 January, 2012

Retail Price & Stock List We now have a complete stock list available for download from our website. This list shows all available Auscision products and lists their stock status. We will try our best to update the list when items are out of stock and ensure that the latest version is on our website. The stock list will be officially added to our Order Page in February so if you are looking for the link you will find it there. Anyone that wishes to use this form for ordering our products may do so by either faxing or posting the form with your payment and delivery details completed at the bottom.

Auscision Models Retail Price List

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19 January, 2012

Western Australian WBAX Box Van
Auscision is slowly getting around to all the Australian states! Late last year we received the drawings for our next wagon project, the WBAX. Tooling will commence early in 2012 and a release date will be announced closer to the model being available. keep your eye on our products page over the next few months as we will update it with details on the liveries and packs that we plan to produce. Both the flat & curved roof vans will be available.

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17 January, 2012

73 Class Locomotive
Final production samples have been received for the 73 Class Locomotive so we are now waiting for a production slot at the factory. As this time of the year is very busy in China due to CNY holidays we wont know an exact release date for the 73 until the factories return to work. We will keep you posted.

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9 January, 2012

BP Box Vans
Over the Christmas break we received production samples of our BP/BMX Box Vans. Once again our factory has done a fantastic job on these wagons with opening doors, superb detailing and 2 new bogies to add to our spare parts range. They advise that shipment will be available around March/April. The 2 new bogies will also be available then.

       

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8 January, 2012

Open Wagon Loads
We have been working on producing loads for our AOOX Open Wagons and have come up with 4 different prototypical loads that the AOOX wagons commonly carried throughout their life. These will be available in February/March when we receive our shipment of AOOX Open Wagons & ABFX Louvered Vans. Details of available packs and colours will be on our website once they are in stock. Online ordering will also be available upon their arrival. Keep your eyes out!