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The Reassembler - James May rebuilds old stuff on BBC Four


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Old 29-12-2016, 11:30
Andy2
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I enjoyed this ...........it's good old eccentric British TV at it's best

My only quibble is that he doesn't really explain how things work ..........and he assumes that we all know what a commutator is and does.........I don't have a clue !

still............. it's about the rambling getting there rather than the finished product
I think if he started telling how a commutator switches the field from one pole to the next to keep the motor 'pulling' itself round, his audience might get a bit impatient.
I really enjoyed this - a relaxed presentation with plenty of easy-going chat and no music or effects to irritate.
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Old 29-12-2016, 13:26
Grafenwalder
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Damn, i missed this! I like May's style of presentation too. Will have to set the pvr for the remainder.
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Old 29-12-2016, 20:33
allafix
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I enjoyed this ...........it's good old eccentric British TV at it's best

My only quibble is that he doesn't really explain how things work ..........and he assumes that we all know what a commutator is and does.........I don't have a clue !

still............. it's about the rambling getting there rather than the finished product
There were several things he said he would explain in detail and didn't. I assume he did but it got cut. I didn't think the train set was a particularly good subject though it was still an enjoyable watch.
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Old 29-12-2016, 20:41
Slojo
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Damn, i missed this! I like May's style of presentation too. Will have to set the pvr for the remainder.
On BBC iPlayer now

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...rnby-train-set
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Old 29-12-2016, 21:10
mb@2day
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I watched and enjoyed the Flying Scotsman assemblage as recorded on my back up tv this evening. I didn't understand his explanation about the different versions due to the train set switching owners through the decades until he arrived.

How much more well built was the Hornby Flying Scotsman engine than the one we saw him put together on his show ?
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Old 29-12-2016, 21:27
iamian
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I watched the Flying Scotsman assemblage on my back up tv this evening. I didn't understand his explanation about the different versions as the train set switched owners through the decades until he arrived.

How much more well built was the Hornby Flying Scotsman engine than the one we saw him put together on his show.
The point he was making was that Tri-ang produced a crude plastic product to a cost which eventually put the old Hornby company (who made more detailed die-cast models) out of the market. Tri-ang bought up the Hornby name and this was kept when Tri-ang itself went bust.

With model railways now lacking appeal to the X-Box generation, Hornby and others are now making superior products for an older and more discerning market. The latest models are more accurate, have more detail, have better motors and pick-ups and can run both more slowly and more smoothly. They are also much more expensive. All electric model engines lend themselves to computerised control through the use of retro-fitted 'chips' which is how most home and exhibition layouts are now controlled.

What I hoped James would have shown more of were the pitfalls that befell the average teenager trying to reassemble his own locomotive. Mine ended up shorting out the transformer or running backwards.

Nice programme though. Smiles all round from me.
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Old 29-12-2016, 21:36
mb@2day
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Right thanks for the explanation iamian.


A slight criticism of the show is James May doesnt have any CGI to help us viewers visualize what he is saying. A tiny bit in the show might make it a little easier to comprehend.
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Old 29-12-2016, 23:14
swingaleg
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Just had a google and the Hornby Flying Scotsman set with the locomotive, 3 coaches and some track is £133 at Tesco
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Old 30-12-2016, 00:02
lundavra
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Right thanks for the explanation iamian.


A slight criticism of the show is James May doesnt have any CGI to help us viewers visualize what he is saying. A tiny bit in the show might make it a little easier to comprehend.
James May does not seem to be a "CGI man", good old fashioned blackboard and pencil and paper is more his line.
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Old 30-12-2016, 00:11
mb@2day
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I'd have settled for that, some of those animated views of the motor and the original train would have saved us a few minutes of James Mays talking.
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Old 30-12-2016, 00:17
jonbwfc
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would have saved us a few minutes of James Mays talking.
James May talking is as much part of the show as whatever it is he's putting back together. If it's not James May, they're just broadcasting someone's Youtube DIY video.
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Old 30-12-2016, 07:06
Andrew1954
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For me this was one of the most enjoyable programmes on television this Christmas.
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Old 30-12-2016, 08:04
mossy2103
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I'd have settled for that, some of those animated views of the motor and the original train would have saved us a few minutes of James Mays talking.
James May talking is a bad thing?
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Old 30-12-2016, 10:40
mb@2day
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James May talking is a bad thing?
It can be if he's carrying little fiddly bits which are out of focus and I don't understand their purpose. Blame the camera team well except for the pretty female to his left.

Actually James's little potted history of him and train sets was heart warming in parts. I watched him and then later Diane Morgans view on Christmas and it all sort of made sense by the evenings close.
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Old 30-12-2016, 10:53
iamian
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Perhaps he would not be acceptable as he isn't an academic but James May would make an excellent presenter on the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. It is well worth remembering that the BBC's front man on NASA's space program and the moon landings, James Burke had no science qualifications.
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Old 30-12-2016, 18:23
jonbwfc
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Perhaps he would not be acceptable as he isn't an academic but James May would make an excellent presenter on the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. It is well worth remembering that the BBC's front man on NASA's space program and the moon landings, James Burke had no science qualifications.
Burke was a bit of a polymath though, he may not have been qualified but you can bet he knew a heck of a lot about it. Which you'd have to say would make May a pretty good presenter (or maybe co-presenter) if the RICL in question was on some form of engineering.

He could certainly have done some of the demos they did on it this year - They got Prof. Danielle George in just to stamp on the accelerator of a Tesla Model S, and May could definitely have done that.
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Old 30-12-2016, 18:46
Mike_P
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Just had a google and the Hornby Flying Scotsman set with the locomotive, 3 coaches and some track is £133 at Tesco
Hornby today make two different Flying Scotsman models - one in their "Railroad" range which on its own is a smidge under £100, the other is a super detailed one which is over £185 (both subject to various levels of discount by retailers). Similarly there are "Railroad" and super detailed coaches. You get guess which ones are in the set being sold by Tesco.
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