These fairly curious relatively new customs came to my attention yesterday. They're made/owned by an Italian Instagrammer known as trackmaster_thomas_customize (display name: loziochecreanr). In addition to characters that never got made (as well as OCs), they did various provisional versions of those that already exist in Plarail, TrackMaster or Motorized. Little info seems to be available about the ones with entirely new shapes, but the others are fairly easy to recognise in terms of components. Unusually, almost all tender engines are made from early versions of Gordon, James, Henry or Edward with the C battery tenders. I'll only review my personal favourites here (in no particular order).
Glynn: Now this is one of their more genius ideas; the only good way to have him be self contained and actually look like Glynn was to build him backwards, with the drive unit becoming his front. This is only possible with a Thomas type drive unit (the Flat type is level with the battery and goes up to the front wheels). The vertical boiler and handrails come off to reveal the battery, which feels like something TOMY or FP could've done had it not been for the redesign. My only gripe is the coupling rods move backwards like on Oliver, and the face from the TM2 version would've looked nicer. I can't help but love the execution.
Hurricane: Made from a TM1 Hiro (who just happens to have the right colour and number of wheels). I initially thought only the chassis was used until I saw the dome, which should've been corrected. Except for the dome, wheels and funnel, he looks just as good as he does in Plarail.
Lexi: She looks like a cross between her TM2 and Tekoro versions. The rear (normally front) wheels could've been replaced with Harvey's to hold coupling rods and the front ones covered with cylinders and a fake bogie, but the rest of her turned out really good. The cowcatcher seems to be corrugated fiberboard, which reminds me of what I did for my Toby mod if it is. Wonder what Supes would think of it compared to the TM2 version.
Hugo: One of the ones I liked as soon as I saw it. They captured his shape fairly smoothly and he even seems to be 2 speed, which is a neat bonus. I looked at his colour in Season 20 to refresh my memory, and the silver looks closer to his than TM2. It would've been great if there were some way to have his propeller spin while in motion as well.
Ashima: The shape and detail are better than both Plarail and TM2, though she does look more "papery" compared to the others. While I still think decals are the best way to get her intricate detail, it feels more like a paper cut out model on a TOMY chassis. Having a front coupling is also a bit odd, unless she was meant to be coupled behind coaches like real mountain engines.
Winston: Oddly enough, this actually uses a road system chassis (and is the only one to do so), even though he should run on rails. Maybe it was to make him in scale despite being motorised, or to recreate how Sir Topham Hatt struggles to drive him. Either way, this makes me wonder what other new vehicles could be made for the system, or if the chassis might work for in scale narrow gauge too. The wheels should've been black, there's only one seat due to the battery and the hood is too steep, but he's otherwise well done.
Kevin: Essentially the opposite of the above. I found this one funny since he's made from a Stephen with his boiler covered and cylinders removed. Only the wheels could've been disguised a bit better, his front window is missing and his hook is too small.
Iron Duke: I find this more faithful than Custom TrackMasters' version minus the tender and smokebox. The original is broad gauge, so having all the wheels be decorative makes more sense to me here. They're wider than the operational ones, giving the impression he is wider as well.
Sonny: So far, this might be the best version I've seen of him. Sir Handel's face with the eyebrows corrected is a whole lot closer to his than Neville's. He would've looked even more excellent with an updated back and a bigger dome.
Duchess: Very similar to CT's, albeit with the right face and a reshaped Gordon tender instead of Spencer's (the latter of which looks more suitable).
Caitlin (and her coach): Believe it or not, this is a near perfect replica of the TrackMaster version (complete with banners) made from a C tender James. Even the coach is based on the cheap van with stickers instead of being made from a coach. Only the coal load is a little too high and the pupils would look better without the white dots.
Honourable mentions: Reg, Rajiv, Sidney, Fernando, Mallard, Splatter, Bert, Mavis, Ulli, Red Rosie, Norman, Axel, LBSC Thomas, Hong-Mei, Raul and Kwaku.
All in all, they are quite talented and I was happy to find out about them. Shame they tend not to reply to comments and there are no BTS/progress photos. It would've been nice to know what materials they used for the scratch built bodies.
Glynn: Now this is one of their more genius ideas; the only good way to have him be self contained and actually look like Glynn was to build him backwards, with the drive unit becoming his front. This is only possible with a Thomas type drive unit (the Flat type is level with the battery and goes up to the front wheels). The vertical boiler and handrails come off to reveal the battery, which feels like something TOMY or FP could've done had it not been for the redesign. My only gripe is the coupling rods move backwards like on Oliver, and the face from the TM2 version would've looked nicer. I can't help but love the execution.
Hurricane: Made from a TM1 Hiro (who just happens to have the right colour and number of wheels). I initially thought only the chassis was used until I saw the dome, which should've been corrected. Except for the dome, wheels and funnel, he looks just as good as he does in Plarail.
Lexi: She looks like a cross between her TM2 and Tekoro versions. The rear (normally front) wheels could've been replaced with Harvey's to hold coupling rods and the front ones covered with cylinders and a fake bogie, but the rest of her turned out really good. The cowcatcher seems to be corrugated fiberboard, which reminds me of what I did for my Toby mod if it is. Wonder what Supes would think of it compared to the TM2 version.
Hugo: One of the ones I liked as soon as I saw it. They captured his shape fairly smoothly and he even seems to be 2 speed, which is a neat bonus. I looked at his colour in Season 20 to refresh my memory, and the silver looks closer to his than TM2. It would've been great if there were some way to have his propeller spin while in motion as well.
Ashima: The shape and detail are better than both Plarail and TM2, though she does look more "papery" compared to the others. While I still think decals are the best way to get her intricate detail, it feels more like a paper cut out model on a TOMY chassis. Having a front coupling is also a bit odd, unless she was meant to be coupled behind coaches like real mountain engines.
Winston: Oddly enough, this actually uses a road system chassis (and is the only one to do so), even though he should run on rails. Maybe it was to make him in scale despite being motorised, or to recreate how Sir Topham Hatt struggles to drive him. Either way, this makes me wonder what other new vehicles could be made for the system, or if the chassis might work for in scale narrow gauge too. The wheels should've been black, there's only one seat due to the battery and the hood is too steep, but he's otherwise well done.
Kevin: Essentially the opposite of the above. I found this one funny since he's made from a Stephen with his boiler covered and cylinders removed. Only the wheels could've been disguised a bit better, his front window is missing and his hook is too small.
Iron Duke: I find this more faithful than Custom TrackMasters' version minus the tender and smokebox. The original is broad gauge, so having all the wheels be decorative makes more sense to me here. They're wider than the operational ones, giving the impression he is wider as well.
Sonny: So far, this might be the best version I've seen of him. Sir Handel's face with the eyebrows corrected is a whole lot closer to his than Neville's. He would've looked even more excellent with an updated back and a bigger dome.
Duchess: Very similar to CT's, albeit with the right face and a reshaped Gordon tender instead of Spencer's (the latter of which looks more suitable).
Caitlin (and her coach): Believe it or not, this is a near perfect replica of the TrackMaster version (complete with banners) made from a C tender James. Even the coach is based on the cheap van with stickers instead of being made from a coach. Only the coal load is a little too high and the pupils would look better without the white dots.
Honourable mentions: Reg, Rajiv, Sidney, Fernando, Mallard, Splatter, Bert, Mavis, Ulli, Red Rosie, Norman, Axel, LBSC Thomas, Hong-Mei, Raul and Kwaku.
All in all, they are quite talented and I was happy to find out about them. Shame they tend not to reply to comments and there are no BTS/progress photos. It would've been nice to know what materials they used for the scratch built bodies.
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