Roddy Angus

Dapol were obviously being cautious, just got notification from DPD that they have a Dapol parcel for me. Roddy

Would a Bachmann coupling fit? Roddy

I got a call from a very nice lady at Dapol yesterday asking for payment details for my pre-ordered sound versions. From what she said, my sound versions will be with me before Christmas, barring any unexpected problems like delivery delays. Roddy

I didn't notice Hornby 'gazumping' the Deltic, class 31, class 92, class 37, to name a few. Roddy

Then they risk someone else producing the same model before them, their choice. Hornby, for example, could keep quiet and simply bring their version out before the competition's, is that fairer? Roddy

Or looking at it another way, Hornby is just alerting the other manufacturer that they are already working on a model so that the other manufacturer can decide whether or not they still want to spend their money going head to head against each other. Similar to Accurascale and Revolution who are both doing the FNA-D but at least both know they have competition. To be honest, I prefer Hornby's approach to other manufacturers who don't announce until the models are about to ship, thereby possibly leading to a smaller company committing expenditure on a model which suddenly has unexpected competition. I've nothing against competition but, the way I see it, I simply prefer Hornby's openess in alerting other companies to their plans. Roddy

Agreed. The reality is that if someone is looking for a train set for a youngster, it is likely to be a Hornby set. The only other manufacturer who produces train sets, in 00, is Bachmann, and they do not have much market penetration outside specialist model shops. Whilst some people may not like it, without Hornby there would be a lot fewer kids getting an interest in trains, unless they know someone who can enthuse them. Unless another manufacturer steps up and produces cheap train sets, which will sell in Argos, Asda etc., then our Hobby will be a lot smaller without Hornby encouraging new blood into the rail modelling scene. Although some people may not like Hornby's modern locomotives, they are difficult to beat when it comes to steam trains and they are second to none for starter sets. Roddy

The emails were from Dapol to people who had pre-ordered the class 59 from them. Roddy

Because it wasn't invented by Ferrari? Roddy

Track3D railway parts do an alternative air dam which might be what you are after. Search "Track3D railway parts" to find their website. Sorry couldn't post a link unfortunately. Best wishes Roddy

Can anyone tell me how easy it is to remove the printed details on the Dapol model? Thanks in advance Roddy

Oh the delights of DHL deliveries. I picked my parcel up from a Service Point yesterday, only to find that it was full of food, the address label said it was from Accurascale but there was an invoice from a food company inside. Went back to the ServicePoint to find a second and correctly labelled parcel from Accurascale. Obviously DHL had printed 2 labels and then stuck one on the wrong parcel. Informed the elderly couple who live up the road from me that their food parcel was at the ServicePoint for collection but it had my name on it. I just hope they are able to claim it, as it isn't actually addressed to them. Just to be clear, this was no fault of Accurascales as my complete order was in the second parcel. I would have offered to deliver the food parcel to my neighbours but the ServicePoint couldn't release it to me as it was not for me. All ended well for me at least. Best wishes Roddy

Don't know if anyone else has suggested this but why not reduce the next year's cap by a multiple of the overspend? Twice for the first offence, four times for the second etc. Roddy Sorry, perhaps that is a bit too logical.

Another suggestion, instead of cutting the part straight out of the frame, first of all cut the frame either side of the attachment point. This releases the pressure on the part and reduces the risk of distortion. This also works well with plastic parts and reduces the tenancy for parts to spring off in any direction. Roddy

Would a lot of retailers be reluctant to stock "new" scale products without it first being proven that there is an actual market? They might be concerned that they would be left with a lot of unsold stock which they have paid for and can't sell. Roddy

Why would they make a new mould for the Intercity TSOE, with the buffers at the wrong end, when they have already used the correct mould for the GNER and LNER versions? Is it not more likely that the picture showing the livery is wrong? Roddy

Just an update for anyone who may be interested, I now have the chaldrons and PFAs in my hands and beautiful little models they are. It appears that I was right and the parcel was eventually delivered to my office rather than the ServicePoint, which was selected from the list provided by DHL. As mentioned above, I wrote to DHL asking them to deliver to the original address, which they did, but I got absolutely no response from them. My first inkling that they had arrived was when I got a notification from the mail room that there was a parcel for me. I think the answer for me is to not ask DHL to deliver to their ServicePoints as they do not keep the list up to date. Still, all ends well that ends well. Best wishes Roddy

It might be a Trumpeter Mk VIIc U-Boot, at 1/48 scale (O gauge?) it is a big model. Roddy

For clarity, I should say that I have no problem with Accurascale's service. My problems all relate to DHL and their delivery system which has not worked well for me since they swapped, in Edinburgh at least, from using the likes of WH Smith as ServicePoints to using small local shops. The local shops seem to drop DHL regularly but DHL don't remove them from their list of available ServicePoints, so if you select one that is no longer providing the service the parcel gets "frozen" in DHL's system until you can get them to deliver it to another address. They do not take any proactive action to contact the customer, it is up to the customer to notice that the parcel is sitting at the delivery depot, not moving, and for the customer to then get in touch with DHL to try and sort out the problem. Why can't DHL simply send an email asking the customer to choose an alternative delivery location? Personally, I will be delighted when Accurascale have Royal Mail as a delivery option. Roddy

Now Wednesday afternoon and the parcel is still showing as being at the delivery depot, despite it also saying it will be delivered yesterday! I've emailed DHL and will see what they say. I suspect that the ServicePoint that I asked for the parcel to be delivered is no longer taking DHL parcels. I've had this before with other ServicePoints. Why do DHL not contact the recipient when this happens? Parcels just seem to sit at the depot until the customer compliant. DHL's customer communications are rubbish. The delivery drivers are fine but the logistics are not fit for purpose in Edinburgh. Roddyl

I find DHL a complete pain. My parcel was placed on their delivery van yesterday morning, to be delivered to one of their service points, and I have still not received notification that it has been delivered. Not the first time this has happened with them. Update 17 hours later, the parcel is now back at the delivery depot. On past experience it will now sit there for a few days, Roddy

Whilst splitting any orders into individual components is Hornby's solution, other manufacturers warn that if you have more than one type of model in a pre-order then the whole order will be delayed until the latest model is available. They normally recommend doing a separate pre-order for each model type being ordered. I am currently waiting for some models from a manufacturer where although the models are all of the same basic "type" 2 sub-types have already been delivered but the third is still awaited. The manufacturer does say that they will split the order, if requested, but I am happy to wait. It would appear that Hornby are trying to address the same issue but are doing it automatically on behalf of the customer. I have also received multiple packages from the same manufacturer, on the same day, for models ordered together. Probably easier for packer to simply deal with one size of parcel. With delivery deals, the postage is probably not that much extra over a single large parcel. I think at least one delivery organisation allows multiple parcels to be charged as though they were one parcel of the overall weight. However charging multiple postage should be looked at. Regards Roddy

Snap. Roddy

How would we know? Ask Hatton's or check what your "open" order is for. Regards Roddy

For the third time, sound versions are available directly from Dapol. The Guagemaster versions are available from guess who Roddy