Hello,

As has been noted, the new Hall from Dapol leaves a certain amount of room for improvement. Whilst it is a huge improvement on the old Farish model, it is let down by an annoying number of small detail errors. Over the course of the autumn, I plan to try and rectify some of these. So far I have identified the following problems with Gossington Hall (lined black, early crest) that I think I can fix.

1. Wheels too shiny

2. Missing fire iron tunnel

3. Blue spot for weight, should be red.

4. Crest is too small

5. Firebox is lined

6. Smokebox number in wrong font

I don't know if I will address them all but i plan to make a start and see how I get on. I plan to try and update this blog as I go so hopefully you will get to see progress.

First up I have taken a black CD marker to the wheels to blacken them (similar to an OHP marker). This has made a decent improvement although the photo does not show this too well as the ink is slightly glossier. I have done the front bogie wheel and the rear driver wheel in this photo to allow for comparison.

Here are 2 photos, the first shows the left hand side with all wheels now fully blackened. The second shows the rhs with original shiny wheels. Just a simple wipe with a marker pen has made a great improvement to the appearance of the wheels.