B10M

Thanks Mark, Did you spray yours on please mate? - I recall that you said it can be sprayed or brushed on. Thanks again

Hi Mark, Many thanks indeed, will look into getting some. I've long used humbrol spray varnish but it's quite often, far too thick. Thanks again Cheers, Johnny

Hi 46444, good work on the Manor sir! Just a quick question in regards to the Johnson's kleer, as to how permanent it is / can it withstand being handled etc? I've never used it myself see but fed up with varnishing loco's. Thanks in advance! B10M

I know mate cheers, I contemplated sending it back - it was the first thing I noticed upon opening

Here are the pics as promised, I've blackened the buffers, wheel tyres and went for polished axles but apart from that it's how it came from Dapol. The slide bar is better on the right side as pictured

Cheers, I have tried jently relocation of the slide bars (there is a little lug & hole) but it's not having any of it unfortunately. My running board is ever so slightly bent from just behind the leading driver forward, the extended frames fore of the smokebox is bent too but in the opposite way! The chunky trailing truck I see has an advantage so will just deepen the axle slots slightly so at least the drivers return to the rail heads. Cheers

Here's a better pic... Also, the slide bars, I've had the body off a d they will not straighten up sadly, I think the only way to straighten these would be to try and remove them from the cylinder blocks and refit them at a better angle. The running plate being bent is a tad disappointing, not even going to attempt a fix.

I wasn't initially trying to show the issue but merely took some photos of it since blackening the wheel tyres. Just glancing through the many pics I noticed that above.

Hi all, Some additional pics to be uploaded in due course but thought I'd share this particular pic first (which I didn't even plan on capturing or demonstrating at the time lol) It shows that the trailing truck bogie being as thick and chunky as it is between the bunker floor and the axle itself is far too much and this causing it to lift the mid and rear wheels as we all know by know is an unfortunate feature to say the least.

I have since found this which is rather helpful if experiencing stall issues, informative description too so I take my hat off to the gent for going into so much detail to assist... https://youtu.be/wJohLL7K-u8

Turns out it's the trailing bogie at fault, lifting the middle and rear drivers off the track just enough to loose pickup. The two springs need removing at the the least to enable the model to sit properly.

I received notice today, that they have arrived at Bachmann and will be sent out in the following week.

Cheers, I'm glad I mentioned it. I suppose it's not only saving them money but also us modellers (and a few headaches lol). I have since thought, if I repaint this one... I'd have to repaint most Hornby loco's that I have here to match as they are all milky and flat alike so.. no I don't think it will be done after all.

Hi all, I have an interesting addition to the saga... I pre-ordered mine with Colletts models and from what I understand, they had 22 of the a2/2's in from Hornby. I alerted them to the warping issues etc etc and so they decided to embark on checking them all out. A staggering 18 out of 22 of them were bad! I'm very pleased to say that an almost perfect example arrived yesterday, the only issue that I can see is the scoop fitted the wrong way round. The running boards are straight and true, no hideous cab / firebox gap or missing / detached parts. What I will say is that it initially run well but soon became very inconsistent. The pick-ups were swimming with oil yet the motor worm and gears were dry as a bone. All greased up now and running properly. I'll live with the milky green for now but sense a full repaint looming in the future. At this stage I'm toying with the idea of removing the smokebox dart for a brass one and removing the numberplate to pop one on the door strap instead... sadly part of the dart is moulded on the door so like the numberplate, it will need careful scribing.

Yes and to be honest I'm pleased to see a manufacturer has taken into account our views and gripes etc but really can't believe that those involved in testing and sampling didn't notice said issues before release. I too bought one from the first batch and I'm happy to report it crawls very well using a Bachmann dc controller so I don't quite feel so short changed. I'm guessing the whole gear set would need swapping for the new ratio which would be a hateful job to strip such a model so soon.

Would be nice to see the revisions made however those of us (myself included) who bought the initial release are bound to have their nose out of joint sadly. I'm just glad to say that using a Bachmann dc controller mine seems to crawl well thank god so I don't feel quite so short changed. On the subject of Accurascale it looks to be the more accurate and finer model of the two as far as the Manor class is concerned, rivet accuracy fine details etc. Would be good to see a mogul afterwards BUT....... my gripe with the Accurascale model is the 3 pole motor which imo isn't the best for dc users. Cheers

Ok so, today... Dapol made an announcement regarding the upcoming Manor model but, interesting reading that they will be making the following improvements to the future prairie and to continuing and additional releases of 43xx.......... "Continual Improvement - In line with Dapol’s philosophy of continual improvement and in conjunction with listening to customer feedback, potential areas of improvement were identified with the Mogul. We have addressed these opportunities in the new OO Gauge Manor tooling and they will also be incorporated into future production runs of the Mogul 2-6-0 and in the soon to be released Prairie 2-6-2. Some of the improvements we are making are listed below: Dapol has adjusted the gearing being in the Manor and the Prairie to a 30-1 ratio, this will provide excellent slow speed running as well as an accurate top speed. The crosshead has an enhanced level of detail, along with the accurately portrayed die-cast motion bracket and slide-bars. A working representation of the vacuum pump is fitted as standard to the Manor Class model. There have also been improvements made to the firebox glow to better showcase this feature of the model. This modification will also appear in future releases of the Mogul and also in the new Prairie."

Further to my previous quote I have a fair few more pics if you'd like them ?

Here's my efforts so far, I can report that using a Bachmann dc controller it can slow crawl! My example had a tight spot but ironing out by the hour. I have blackened the "tyres" on both loco and tender along with all buffers. A slight disappointment that it's missing significant riveted detail on the running frame particularly fore of the smoke box, also missing the lamp irons up by the firebox along with the storm tarp irons on the tender. I can live with the chunky crosshead. Very tempted to get another and respray into ROD khaki, desert sand?