Dapol Announce N gauge Mk.3 Sleepers

[The Pilotman]

The picture by @John M Upton of the apparent height discrepancy between these new sleepers and Dapol’s earlier MK3 is hardly encouraging. I’m not going to be coupling mine to other Mk3s, but I would be interested to know how they compare height-wise relative to a Farish BG or Mk2F.

[John M Upton]

1 hour ago, The Pilotman said:

But I would be interested to know how they compare height-wise relative to a Farish BG or Mk2F.

Here you go:

 

[The Pilotman]

That’s great, thanks for doing that. They don’t look too bad height wise. 

[John M Upton]

The Mk1 BG seems to be about on par, the Mk2f slightly low but not significantly so.

 

I like the shade of blue that Dapol have used on this release, it is a pity the rest of it is a utter dogs dinner.

[Calnefoxile]

On 17/12/2021 at 14:06, John M Upton said:

Blue/Grey sleeper buffered up to earlier Dapol loco hauled SO supposedly in the same livery.

 

Yeah...

 

And that is why I've cancelled the 5 I'd ordered!!! The later Farish ones I bought a few years ago are much better!!!!

 

It's almost as if the body shell was put too low in the cradle when it was painted/tampo printed, whichever process is used. 

 

Regards

 

Neal.

[Calnefoxile]

On 17/12/2021 at 14:38, Steven B said:

I wonder if Steve at Rail Tec Models and Adam and Electra Graphic eye's light up every time a new Dapol model hits the shops?

 

 

The font's right, but the text is missing a "-". Most of the Mk3 sleepers I've seen photos of are labelled "Inter-City Sleeper".

This is the only image I've found of blue/grey and "InterCity".

10713 Mk3 Sleeper at Kidderminste (28-10-2017) by blackwatch55013, on Flickr

 

The good news is that sleeper's ran mostly at night so the mistakes won't show in the dark.

 

Steven B.

 

Steve,

 

Hasn't that coach been painted in Preservation??

 

I've not been able to find any photos taken in the 80's of Sleepers in service without the "-" in it.

 

Cheers

 

Neal.

[njee20]

They appeared to make a similar howler with Swallow; using a decrepit preserved coach as the basis for the artwork. Given the sheer volume of reference material it’s a total joke. 

[Scott B]

27 minutes ago, Calnefoxile said:

 

And that is why I've cancelled the 5 I'd ordered!!! The later Farish ones I bought a few years ago are much better!!!!

 

It's almost as if the body shell was put too low in the cradle when it was painted/tampo printed, whichever process is used. 

 

Regards

 

Neal.

 

 

If that were the case the level of grey at the bottom would be out as well, which in fact looks about right to me.

I just think it has been made too wide and is simply wrong and wasn't picked up.

[Adam1701D]

It is a pity that Dapol didn't use E10731 based at Overton on the Nene Valley Railway - a spot-on rendition of Blue/Grey.

[Calnefoxile]

13 minutes ago, Scott B said:

 

 

If that were the case the level of grey at the bottom would be out as well, which in fact looks about right to me.

I just think it has been made too wide and is simply wrong and wasn't picked up.

Scott,

 

Sorry mate but I have to slightly disagree there.

 

The bottom of the Grey band is too high by about the width of the white band, if you look at the photo that Adam's just posted, you can see the top of the door handle just breaks into the bottom grey and splits the white band, which if the grey was dropped by that dimension, which may be only miniscule. I do agree that the width of the grey is too big and this gets rid of the Blue portion above it to the roofline.

 

But it's enough to require a repaint if bought....

 

Cheers

 

Neal.

[Scott B]

On closer inspection, yep you are right Neal.

When I first posted on this earlier in the month I said it looked "about right" when lined up against the fold/drease in the door.

It is actually better illustrated by the handrail that actually runs through the white band into the grey, not stopping at the white band as on the model.

 

Scott

[John M Upton]

Unfortunately I had preordered two. One will be subject to some work but I am going to offload the other one unopened I think.

[njee20]

Why lose money on it? Just reject it. 

[John M Upton]

Had a cup of tea, thought about it, sending them back and considering complaining to Dapol too.

[Steven B]

4 hours ago, Calnefoxile said:

Hasn't that coach been painted in Preservation??

 

I'd be very surprised if the Sleeper at Kidderminster hadn't been repainted in preservation. As I said, it's the only one I've found with no hyphen in Inter-City.

 

If you've bought these and you're not happy, then send them back to the shop for a refund. Shops getting hit with refunds and re-stocking will have a bigger impact than simply not buying them.

 

I'm planing on taking side-by-side images with my previous Dapol Mk3s in both Intercity and Blue/Grey liveries. It'll be interesting to see what their response is.

 

When comparing vehicles side by side, as per the above pictures, they need to be on track otherwise the flange height becomes an issue.

 

 

Steven B.

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Steven B

[Steadfast]

Looking at many photos of sleepers in blue grey, I think there should also be a thin strip of black along the top of the body. The black on the real ones comes down to the top of the rain strip over the door, a matter confused by the roof join on the model not being where the black meets blue on the real thing. Not sure if it is caused by the roof and ends being the wrong shape, or just a knock on from the join line.

 

Jo

[Steadfast]

1 hour ago, Steven B said:

 

 

I'm planing on taking side-by-side images with my previous Dapol Mk3s in both Intercity and Blue/Grey liveries. It'll be interesting to see what their response is.

Radio silence?

 

Or a stubborn belief they're not wrong?

 

Jo

[John M Upton]

Probably the latter.  They tried to defend the appalling bad Intercity Swallow or Executive version by referring everyone to their source photo of a badly faded and weathered example that had been in open storage and not turned a wheel for donkeys years, and they STILL got it wrong!!!

 

[woodenhead]

See comments on the Dapol Manor, at least the Mk3 is the right shape, perhaps the Manor will be too, but until the production models land in the UK and are in people's hands we won't know.

[John M Upton]

As the chances of Dapol releasing a new batch this decade are slim and getting it right next time practically impossible, I decided to knuckle down and try to tame the sows ear.

 

A strip of well matched blue has been applied across the top and already it has made a difference:

 

The InterCity Sleeper lettering is actually in the right place on this side (dash between Inter and City being absent not withstanding) but those tiny numbers are very wrong.

 

More to do...

 

[Crepello]

Looking good John. I assume you're modelling the period 1981 and immediately after. I'm pretty sure the yellow step edges didn't feature then, or even in the early INTERCITY era.

[John M Upton]

Ah yes, good call.  The steps are now black!

[Crepello]

The steps were painted rail blue before they weathered down, so black will do!

[John M Upton]

Lettering now replaced with correct size and in the right place!!

 

I haven't bothered reinstating the top white stripe, too much of a faff for something barely visible and the ends of the grey are as is for pretty much the same reason.

 

It looks a lot better now but really should not have been necessary!!!!

[The Pilotman]

On 01/01/2022 at 10:42, John M Upton said:

Lettering now replaced with correct size and in the right place!!

 

I haven't bothered reinstating the top white stripe, too much of a faff for something barely visible and the ends of the grey are as is for pretty much the same reason.

 

It looks a lot better now but really should not have been necessary!!!!

Those look really good now, John. I hope I’ll be able to do a similarly good job when I get hold of mine. But you’re absolutely right, it should not have been necessary.