Thank you for sharing this video. Incredible qualitiy issues and low details, but wihout competition the only model to have on the market at the moment.
Great review. I can't believe Trix/Märklin are dropping the ball like this. Just a little more effort and it could've been an amazing model. Last year Märklin released at Re 450 driving trailer by taking a German driving trailer and painting it SBB colours. To me that is absolutely unacceptable. They also marketed it to fit with an SBB Re 420 push pull train, which is completely incompatible in real life. It's as if they would believe their customers aren't clever enough to notice. If I would've received the locomotive you reviewed, I would've taken it back and tried my luck with another one. I assume part of the problem is the painting that is done by hand, as seen on Märklin TV videos. The only time I appreciate hand painting is for weathering. I have 4 of the same sets of a particular wagon from märklin and each one is uniquely weathered.
Peter S. I have never seen anything as bad as that windscreen from Märklin before. Here in switzerland you can take a model back for the smallest reason and it will be sent to a representative in the country who will get it repaired. They always want you to be satisfied, which is understandable at that price point. I have taken advantage of this a number of times. I have a few models from Märklin that I am very happy with, namely the Re 4/4 II, Ae 8/16 & Re 460. They are just behind the industry as far as sound is concerned, but I appreciate having the metal body.
It looks like the paint was too thick for the masking block technique used. The other samples on youtube are also somewhat imperfect. There is always going to be more hand finishing of die-cast zinc alloy bodies over injection-molded plastic, so more variability in the finish. I have Piko, Roco and Trix locomotives and prefer Trix metal drive trains and bodies and European made Roco over Chinese made Piko. My Piko V221 cuts corners like having the axles run directly in plastic bogie frames. The paint is good though. Roco factory tour shows quality work ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gOL2aHJbBAM.html
Very good review, really disappointing that the qualities of marklin/trix for modern locomotives are subpar, really hate that they don’t put detailing on the buffer beam and most are molded in hence I’m just buying mainly ESU locomotives although bit pricey but their engineering editions are amazing.
Im sure from my experience with Trix models. Iside you can find only coreless motors or 3-pole motors. I never seen any 5-pole motor in Trix model. And in this model i can place my hand in fire, there is only 3-pole.
Nice review Peter! I was thinking to buy one but the windshield so dissapointing. Maybe in a later series it will be fixed. The (missing) air hose is also a week point (or a great opportunity to upgrade the model :) ) However, I like this screw type chassis / body connection (much better than plasitc claw connection like Roco uses). Anyway, I prefer diesel and steam locomotives :)
.... so let's hope there will be a roco model in a few years. Peter, another fantastic review, thank you very much! I've made a pre-order in early 2018 but crumbled it as the model appeared. What you not mentioned are the Trix/Märklin pantographs. Very clunky and not really good looking I think. I think the model is ovepriced for nearly 270 Euros. At Modellbahnshop-Lippe you find it for 230 Euros, but it's still too much for something like this. Very sad!
Thank you very much for your comment... price point... i think they are all overpriced now days :) there is couple of old ROCO links suggesting that this model was released in 2014 as ROCO73675. Do you know anything about it ?
@@peters.5669 Roco 73675 was never produced due to low demand (a decision they made before the locomotive even was put into revenue service as BR 102 in Germany…). But it is still on the Roco website listed as not available: www.roco.cc/en/product/227482-0-0-0-4-0-0-002002/products.html Maybe there's hope. Or PIKO.
Yes Roco terminated the model development cause of not enough pre-orders. And nowadays Märklin/Trix has exclusive rights for this model for the next few years. So there will be no Piko or Roco Loco anytime soon. But lets hope the make it later. For a wonderful loco with top sound 250 to 280 Euros are okay I think. But look at the pantographs and as you mentioned the chromatic printing. And that kind of sound - omg. But do you know LeoSoundLab? They have their own sound for the skoda 380! its absolutely fantastic, the best sound for any locos you've ever heard on a model railway! I have LeoSound installed on the ÖBB Cityjet, the ÖBB 4020 commuter train and on my ÖBB 1064. You'll find nothing better ;) www.leosoundlab.at/article/sound-der-%C4%8Dd-380-db-102 (sorry, there is no sound example....)
