At Previews 2010 we were intoduced to the new flagship set from Airfix the 1:24 scale De Havilland Mosquito. As well as being the largest set they have ever done, excluding the 1:1 scale Spitfire that James May constructed of course, it could be decorated in the Banff Strike Wing livery which is right on our doorstep! So as you can appreciate it held an even more special place on our shelves.
During Previews this year, we were sitting down for dinner across from Darrell Burge, Marketing Manager for Airfix, and after a very interesting conversation about their plans for this year obviously the Mosquito came into conversation and you could see the lightbulb illuminate above his head. The next morning we headed to the Hornby factory to pick up so last mintue paperwork to be greeted by Malcolm Edwards, our Hornby/Scalextric Rep, with a proposition. Would we be interested in taking a photo with the Mosquito they had made up in the trade showroom painted in the Banff Strike Wing livery. Naturally we jumped at the chance as you can see below. As well as having the picture for this blog it was also on the Airfix facebook and twitter pages.
We also have twitter at @megamodelshop and also a facebook fan page which you can either locate on our website or clicking this link. If you wish to purchase this kit please click here to buy.
VAT goes up January 4th from 17.5% to 20%
Happy New Year and we hope you take advantage of our Beat the VAT sale. Save 5% OFF ALL STOCK. This is a limited time offer and at these prices we can’t promise this stock will last. Order now to guarantee your discounted price. Offer expires midnight January 4th, 2011.
5% discount will be taken off automatically during checkout
We were shocked to find out that major retailers such as Toys R Us and Tesco have suspended all scottish deliveries!! We here at Mega Model Shop feel that no one should be let down by putting ther trust in a company. We promise to ensure Christmas delivery for our customers if they use our £5.95 or £9.95 delivery options. These orders are sent via DHL and are internet trackable.
The R1139 Hornby Blue Rapier Train Set is the latest train set from Hornby and will make a wonderful Christmas present. The set is a model of the new Southeastern Hitachi Javelin Class 395 operating between London and the East Coast. The train is a three vehicle model in the iconic Blue Livery of the train’s prototype aptley named the “Blue Rapier”. The power and dummy cars have working lights to indicate the direction of travel and with the purchase of additional Blue Rapier Coaches you can have the full 6 car set up.
The Hornby Blue Rapier Train Set includes a Power Car, Dummy Car, Coach, Oval of Track with Track Pack A, Conroller with power supply and a TrackMat. Everything you need to get started and for only £79.99 click here to buy from our website, Mega Model Shop is an Official Hornby Stockist.
The Scalextric Pro GT Digital Race Set is any petrol heads dream! With this digital set gone are the days of two player racing, not being able to over take or even lane change! All of this is possible at the touch of a button. Also you are able to keep track of how many laps are left and who won with the digital lap counter.
The track is an extended figure of 8, raised bridge section and two possible over taking sections, should your opponents allow it.
The main attraction of this set is the 4 cars included. There are the Aston Martin DBR9, Porsche 911 GT3R, Maserati MC12 and Ford GT-R all in full racing livery. All cars have working front and rear lights and the Magnatraction system to enable the car to hold the track better when all 4 are racing at the same time!
The Scalextric Digital Pro GT Set includes everything you need to get started in the box, there are 4 cars, 4 hand controllers, Lap counter, Track and UK power supply. All for £279.99 click here to buy from our website, Mega Model Shop is an Official Scalextric Stockist.
Now that we are entering this time of year our minds turn to what to buy that special person in our lives for Christmas. To help with your decision we have given you a few ideas in our section Christmas Gift Ideas .
In there you will find gifts Under £10, Under £25, Under £50 and Over £50 so something to suit every budget!
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
NMRA compliant or compatible
What is the difference between NMRA Compliant and NMRA Compatible?
NMRA Compliant means that the device meets the NMRA Standard and will work
with other NMRA Compliant devices. This means that you can use devices
from different manufacturers together as long as they have the NMRA
Compliant logo on them.
NMRA Compatible means that the device is compatible with other NMRA
Compliant devices and should work with other NMRA Compliant devices. It
is important to note that 2 or more NMRA Compatible devices are not
guaranteed to work with each other as there could be some incompatability
This month we are going to explain the 2 main DCC decoders that are available from Hornby. The basic chip is R8249 DCC Locomotive Decoder V1.3 NMRA Compliant. This is the standard plug in chip that you would place in a DCC Ready locomotive. Placing this chip in your DCC Ready train requires no soldering as there is a space left underneth the train to plug it in. This chip has an 8-pin configuration that provides you with the basic DCC functions such as independant control of speed, accelaration and deacceleration programes and the chance to operate the lights on the train.
R8249 Basic Decoder
The more advanced chip is R8245 DCC Sapphire Locomotive Decoder. This decoder has a 21-Pin configuration that enables this chip to have a vast amount of functions available. These inculde being able to set the amount of water and coal that is on-board and also the burn rate and perform more complex acceleration and decerlation programs.
R8245 Sapphire Decoder
Click on the pictures to take you to our website
Our next post will be all about the difference between NRMA Compliance and Compatibity.
DCC or Digital is the biggest innovation to hit the model rail world in past years and here at mega model shop couldn’t be more excited! We get a lot of enquiries regarding the difference between Digital and analogue so we have decided to explain it as easy as possible.
DCC means digital command control which puts the modeller in more control. It enables you to run numerous trains on the one layout at the same time as you send the command to the train and not the track.
When it comes to starting out with DCC you have to purchase your train carefully. You will see on train packaging DCC fitted or DCC ready. DCC fitted tells you that the locomotive is already fitted with the decoder needed to run it on a digital layout. DCC Ready means that there is a space left in the loco for the decoder to be placed. DCC Ready locomotives can be used on the traditional analogue layouts.
You will require a digital controller to control your locomotives. Hornby do two different controllers the Select is an excellent entry level controller and is included in digital train sets. The Elite controller is an advanced controller which will give you full access to all the functions on your digital and sound locomotives. We will go into more detail on these controllers in future posts.
Next month we will explain the different types of DCC locomotive chips that are available.
I don’t know about you but I am really excited about the release of Toy Story 3 but even more so about the Micro Scalextric set that accompanies it! When we were at the Hornby previews we had the chance to see the artwork for the set and I was in aw of the detail!
A rough guide to the film is that Andy is now 18 years old and packing up his toys he is now too “grown up” for (how he can be too grown up for them I will never understand! ) and move to college! The toys find themselves in a daycare centre with dribbling children with sticky fingers and they must plan their escape. They also find a few helpers along the way. But what you are all interested in is the Micro Scalextric set!
This set has been designed with fun in mind. Woody and Buzz light-year are on “RC” the remote controlled car to race around a track that has a new surprise in stall at every turn! A main feature of this set is the part that blasts the cars into outer space as it sends Woody and Buzz skywards. All in all this set is a must have for any kid/adult! who loves racing and combined with the Toy Story theme it is irristable. Another bonus to the Micro Scalextric sets they are very robust and will withstand any amount of rough racing and maybe blasting further into space than was intended!!.
Toy Story 3 seems to be the kind of film that all the family can enjoy and Scalextric have catured this perfectly in the race set.
I cannot wait till we get these into stock to have a hands on look at them and I am sure they won’t dissappoint.
