Hornby: A Model World

It could be a fascinating look behind the scenes of an important British model supplier (although we don't actually see the overseas manufacturing) but a lot of it just feels staged for the cameras. Development processes seem extremely simplified and it often feels just like a Hornby advertorial with a few other industry/hobby characters thrown in for good measure. Overall the tone seems too simplified for the target audience. There is also a lack of care in the filming, eg in Series 2 episode 1 locos are seen going along without all the wheels going round. Rather a missed opportunity but at least it covers serious models and layouts rather than a certain Channel 5 series...

I still have my Hornby OO train set that I got circa. 1960 so I love this programme. It's nice to see that it's not just old fogies, like me, who love model trains etc. But teenagers also. This programme also covers Airfix, Scalextric and Corgi products and it's fascinating to see the company move from design to full production. The programme is bound to do wonders for their sales.

As a participant in the programme it's an honour to have been asked to contribute to the second series.

Myself and a good friend from Wear Yard will be demonstrating some landscaping techniques in our piece to camera in one of the episodes It's a great family programme aimed at a very wide audience. As well as showcasing new models from concept to production it's to encourage people into the various hobbies that Hornby make the models for.

Granted it may not always be appreciated by certain modellers, who can be over critical commugens, and will never be satisfied with what Hornby are and have achieved .

There have been some bloopers granted, wheels not going round and tenders fitted backwards, and I'm not sure if the narrator helps deliver the best possible voice over, and the music isn't the best choice .

Nevertheless, overall for the time constraints on editing such a programme, the viewing is entertaining as it's aimed at everyone and not just those minorities who live to count rivets and lose sight of the fun aspect of the hobby!

I for one love this tv series, warts and all, and all the creative people that have become involved. Let's hope for a series three as well.

Les Cliff, Notlobia and Beyond Model World .

AFAIK, I never owned a Hornby product. I'm in my 70s, to put that in context. I did have a Tri-ang train set back in the 1950s. I really like this show. It has aspects of old time self-effacing British values, including being a little bit unprofessional and is none the worse for that. I cannot agree with the negative reviews, probably by hard-core modellers who worry about being shown as nerds, or whatever. This is a fun show, very interesting for someone with little engagement with the hobby, but who wishes the company and its customers well. The design process may be simplified for the general audience, but as someone who worked in an unrelated field that also required an involved and very complicated design and production process, I can understand the choices made. Love it.

This would have been a complete gem of a program, with details about a fascinating subject and hobby. However it simply isn't.... The key reason for this is because the scripting and the tone taken by the narrator are so condescending and patronising at times that the programme has become almost cringeworthy.

The Disney style music that runs throughout is supposed to add a sense of play and fun ... which it would do if it was not paired with such appalling scripting and narration tone.

The editing is also notably appalling, with throwaway comments that are left int hat make some staff members appear to be almost simpletons.... Which they are not, very clearly.

That said the program does highlight a lot of information about model making that would otherwise be totally unknown. And that's a very good thing.

The footage is superb and has been shot in order to give views that the publisher would otherwise not get.

I'd love to see this program done with a bit more serious intention form the writers and the narrator.