HORNBY’S LNER Azuma models are sharp and well constructed, creating a very positive impression from unboxing to placing on the layout for testing.
The attractive pale grey and bright red livery scheme sits well on the model which has a strange combination of an aerodynamic front of a high-speed train, combined with the bolted-on appearance of equipment normally associated with suburban trains – neatly encapsulated in plastic.
That sums up the Hitachi Class 800 series of trains. Unlike the APT, which is sleek and almost minimalist in appearance, the Class 800/1 (together with its sisters) has equipment attached to the exterior of the vehicle bodyshells including roof modules; tanks hung under the end vestibules and various electrical boxes attached to either side of the inner gangways.
All of the features of the Class 800 are present and neatly applied, from the detachable nose cone to the roof and inner end fittings which are far from profiled for the slipstream of a high-speed train. Yet, the Class 800-series trains perform well on
