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Sentinel Y1/Y3 in 7mm scale


NeilHB
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Spotted on the Dapol stand at Warley yesterday - announcement of a Sentinel Y1/Y3 in 7mm scale! The CADs look rather good, and plenty of liveries to choose from:

 

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At £175 for plain DC I think this has to be one of the cheapest 0 gauge locos produced RTR?

 

Looking forward to them arriving (expected end Q3/early Q4 2018) - will certainly be getting one.

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Interesting announcement, it's a prototype which is already well covered by kits, also Skytrex did a resin moulding, still available if a bit pimply with over scale rivets. But it will be a welcome addition when it eventually arrives. You can't have too many Sentinels [i have two].

 

Dava

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The Walsworth Sentinel kit is fine [there is now a CE type as well as Y1/Y3] and quite easy to build. It's the one I recommend. But building etched kits is not for everyone and RTR opens up a wider market.

 

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Dava

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The Walsworth Sentinel kit is fine [there is now a CE type as well as Y1/Y3] and quite easy to build. It's the one I recommend. But building etched kits is not for everyone and RTR opens up a wider market.

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Dava

Totally agree, I was just pointing out that the original poster’s contention that £175 makes the Dapol offering among the cheapest RTR is questionable when Walsworth already offer RTR (all metal) for significantly less.

Wish I could justify a Y1/3 on my layout.

Bob

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The Y1/3 is an attractive loco and for that price RTR I'm sure it will sell well.  Personally I'd have preferred the post-war 100hp industrial one because, as Dava points out, there are already at least 3 kits and an RTR out there and, apart from the indifferent ex Meteor kit and the long unobtainable Impetus ones, there are no industrial Sentinels in 7mm scale. Robert Thompson does a beautiful 4mm version of the post war 100hp loco and IIRC from contacting him a couple of years ago his intention was to also do it in 7mm but was having difficulty getting the castings. 

Ray.

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Have to agree with others here. My first thought of 'that'd be nice' has been replaced by thinking it's a shame they've repeated the alternatively available versions. Either an earlier version like the one the Criggion Quarry had, or the post war 'streamlined' one would've tempted me. However, as I've previously resisted the Skytrex and Walsworth ones, suspect that Dapol will have to produce an exceptional model to tempt me.

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i'll throw my hat into the ring on the 'one for me please' side. Sure I can find it a home shunting a few vans around.

 

Whilst it does feel a shame to replicate kits there are some of us who would never end up managing to finish one - and it also hopefully means that Dapol will continue in O gauge.

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Hornby have done well with their 00 0-4-0DH model of the Sentinel diesel shunter which shared some common undergear with the earlier 0-4-0VB shunter, so maybe that's a possibility for the future? Though the diesel wheelbase is 6" shorter.

 

I've seen the Skytrex resin body on sale at G0G shows recently so it's been available, but you have to find your own chassis. The ETS bogie Skytrex used is over $100, so the Dapol model will be attractive. No doubt their 00 model for Model Rail magazine informed the design.

 

Dava

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Hornby have done well with their 00 0-4-0DH model of the Sentinel diesel shunter which shared some common undergear with the earlier 0-4-0VB shunter, so maybe that's a possibility for the future? Though the diesel wheelbase is 6" shorter.

 

I've seen the Skytrex resin body on sale at G0G shows recently so it's been available, but you have to find your own chassis. The ETS bogie Skytrex used is over $100, so the Dapol model will be attractive. No doubt their 00 model for Model Rail magazine informed the design.

 

Dava

 

I'm advised that it's NOT based on the research supplied for the Model Rail 'OO' models. (Edited to correct incorrect original assertion). Apologies for jumping to an incorrect conclusion. (CJL)

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Guest Q663389

Interesting. Both 68163 and 68164 got around but not into the North Eastern region except for repairs at Darlington works. I wonder if 68164 will get the BR cast iron number plate ?. For once I hope not as I would like to renumber it to 68182. I pre-ordered one from Hattons.

 

And now BR Mk 1 coaches too !.

 

Alan

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The graphics on the Tower Models website show this is a very detailed model, with interior cab detail [which you wont be able to see with the roof on, I've built two] and underneath. The basic price of £148.75 is very good value. Two for less than a Heljan 05! It will be difficult to resist ordering one. Probably in BR livery this time.

 

Dava

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It's clear that Dapol have worked very hard on this. The detail far surpasses all the various kit and RTR offerings produced to date.

 

The interior detail of the Dapol model is not present on any of the past offerings (I have built the Walsworth Models kit and it only included a basic boiler which was poorly cast iirc) and none include any hint of the vertical engine itself which is most noticeable as it's mounted between the cab doors. Interior detail isn't easy to fit on the previous offerings as they are all designed to have the motor intruding into the cab to some degree. Dapol need to be commended for seemingly managing to squeeze everything into the bunker or under the floor, allowing them to go to town on the detail. This is particularly amazing as the information sheet mentions they are using "Dapol's proven motor and gearbox" rather than taking an easy option of fitting an unproven smaller motor (something which other manufacturers have been caught out by in the past).

 

The underframe detail shown in the first image is also superb as it clearly shows boiler bottom and ashpan, engine crank case end, drive chain, brake blocks with proper relief (not flat etchings) and brake rigging. All these things are absent from previous offerings.

 

The only slight niggle some people may have is the moulded coal which is a step change compared to the Terrier and Jinty which have empty bunkers allowing you to add your own "real" coal. On the OO gauge RTR sentinels, flat moulded coal next to the black body does tend to look as if the whole bunker top is one flat sheet with no coal space at all. The flat bunker top arrangement is a necessary evil given the amount of gubbins hidden below and I'm sure it would be quite easy to modify it if you wished to add your own coal.

 

It's a pity these locos were not used more widely in industry as they had many advantages over a conventional small tank engine. Their small, efficient boilers can raise steam in a fraction of the time it takes a conventional horizontal boiler and they use less coal in the process. For companies that used Sentinel road waggons (such as Fry's chocolate) there was also the advantage that maintenance practices and many parts were interchangeable. I'm sure given time Dapol will produce unlettered versions of the model as they are doing with the others which will make it easier to produce fictitious industrial liveries.

 

I have been badgering Mr Chetter for a Sentinel sound file for a couple of years for my Y10, this may produce enough demand for a chain driven project, hint hint.........

I assume the sound file for the factory fitted versions will be produced for Dapol by Mr Soundguy as has done their Terrier and Class 08. The Terrier sound file is not listed on his website (although there is a demonstration on his Youtube channel) so I assume there is an exclusivity agreement with Dapol on the projects so they are only available by buying a factory fitted loco.

 

I too would like an authentic chain drive Sentinel sound project. If Paul Chetter can find time to do it, obtaining recordings should be fairly easy in 2018 as Y1 '68153' is apparently due to return to service imminently on the Middleton Railway after a long period out of use and major overhaul. :locomotive:   The other preserved Y1, 'Isebrook', is currently undergoing overhaul at Quainton.

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Good news indeed,

 

I have been badgering Mr Chetter for a Sentinel sound file for a couple of years for my Y10, this may produce enough demand for a chain driven project, hint hint.........

 

Peter

 

Howes have a sentinel sound project which was developed for the Model Rail OO version, but they will install it on a more robust decoder if you ask. I did and have one in my Skytrex Sentinel, although that may be retired, having seen the proposed Dapol ones,

 

Vaughan

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  • 3 weeks later...
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The advert claims they were used by all the big four. When did the southern use one? That would be a handy justification :)

There is no record of the Southern using or trying a Sentinel shunter. They probably had no need for one. They did have the last unique Sentinel railcar of 1933 used on the Devil's Dyke branch. That may have deterred any other experiments.

 

Dava

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  • 2 weeks later...

The level of detail looks remarkable and I will certainly be ordering at least one. It is surely based on Sentinel 6515 at Quainton as the cab interior CAD matches the layout of components exactly, even down to the two pressure gauges on the wooden board mounted on the left cab panel. If it is based on 6515 it is worth noting that this locomotive was unique in the positioning of the boiler. The original fitted in 1926 was the same as in the other GWR Sentinel No 13, but was too small for the passenger train trials 6515 was to undertake. A larger boiler was fitted in early 1927, but the alterations to the frames to accommodate this resulted in the boiler sitting right up against the front of the cab. Thus the chimney is about a scale 4mm in 4mm scale, or 7mm in 7mm scale, too far forward for the later LNER and LMS examples, although I don't suppose it will be that noticeable on the finished product. 

 

When we acquired 6515 for preservation in 1972 the cab roof was more holes than metal and had to be completely renewed, apart from the rear ventilator that was re-used with some patching. The original angle iron for the guttering was quite shallow, with the corners turned in at the ends and rain water drained away by four internal pipes, one at each corner of the cab. These pipes were also badly corroded and Alan Bolton (who was responsible for the 1970's rebuild) did away with them and fitted guttering that was more angled than the original and draining externally off the ends The CAD's for the Dapol model reflect this alteration. 

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If you have ever seen the plumbing on a Sentinel you'd be amazed as most pipes have about 6 bends in each run. Someone was going to fit one with a straight run until it was pointed out that needed to avoid some control or other pipe so needed to add an ohmega type bend.

The Middleton one the boiler and engine are in, just got some more piping to finish!

We had the engine connected to the air line and it was running on 100 PSI rather than the much higher as supplied by the boiler.

When back in traffic Paul can get some sounds.

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