RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted February 6, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 6, 2019 I’ve had four Dapol Fruit D vans and the quality of some of the parts is poor particularly the roof. All but one of the four has plastic ‘flash’ on the roof and on the chassis too I will therefore be removing the roofs, trimming and sanding the flash back and repainting Okay so it’s not a big problem to solve and I’ll probably get abuse for being picky but it’s not what I’d expect to have to do on new rolling stock While I’m having a moan I’m not too keen on the droopy couplings either but I have a plan for that Dont think I’ll be in a rush to buy Dapol again 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 The tooling must be getting worn out - they seemed OK when I had one c1968. 1 1 11 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 I assume that one is a OO one. Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted February 6, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 6, 2019 7 minutes ago, Les1952 said: I assume that one is a OO one. Les Yes they are OO Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted February 6, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 6, 2019 13 minutes ago, Nearholmer said: The tooling must be getting worn out - they seemed OK when I had one c1968. I didn’t realise they were made using old tooling Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmrspaul Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 Considerably improved underframe compared with the 1964 version - I added extra trussing etc to mine and actually got a commendation in a little local Model rail club exhibition. Paul 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 The body is according to British Model Trains Catalogue the 1960 Hornby Dublo tooling "slightly adapted", while the chassis is Dapols own dating from 2008. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 (edited) I believe they may have retooled the body too, but I don't have a date for that. I agree with Chuffinghell that we should not have to clean off flash on these things, although, to be fair to Dapol, their wagons do tend to be a little less expensive than the other major manufacturers. Edited February 6, 2019 by SRman 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 (edited) Al a good few pages later British Model Trains Catalogue references the HD tooling being sold to Mordvale in 2001 so the body is new albeit a Dapol copy of the HD original which was a scale 6" too wide and Dapol have repeated that error. If you compare Hattons photos of a Wrenn one from the original HD tooling https://www.hattons.co.uk/84744/Wrenn_W5049_GWR_Passenger_Fruit_D_Van_27614_in_GWR_Brown/StockDetail.aspx with those of the Dapol one https://www.hattons.co.uk/426785/Dapol_4F_014_023_GWR_Fruit_D_van_2850_in_GWR_brown/StockDetail.aspx the difference in the treatment of the planking between the doors is quite noticeable with the Dapol one seemingly being incorrect. The Parkside kit seems to be the only accurate representation; for someone shy of kit building a better resolution could be the unpainted Dapol A13 with the excessive grooving between planks filled in - given the relatively simple livery painting should not be that difficult and the available transfers would probably give a better finish than Dapols printing on the finished rtr wagons Edited February 6, 2019 by Butler Henderson 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 I do have a Wrenn Fruit D on NO PLACE - or the two halves of it. The chassis is under an etched coach and the body is now a grounded van. One problem with the Wrenn version is that the wheels have all delaminated with the metal rims coming away from the plastic centres. Replacement wheels of other makes don't seem to like fitting snugly so I've glued the rims back to the centres. The coach runs reasonably well though it has a tiny wobble. Fortunately its travel on the layout is only just over a yard.... Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phatbob Posted February 7, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 7, 2019 I've picked up a few of these recently very cheap, as frankly, IMHO they're not worth the full RRP given the quality. So I agree with the OP. New roof vents, Vac pipes etc. and a repaint and they look the part, if you can live with the extra width (which I can). NEM coupling box has to be glued in place too as it's horribly droopy. Also, a better set of wheels helps the running too. So a bit less effort than building the Parkside kit (which I've also done in the past), but definitely a "project" rather than just plonk it on the layout. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 46444 Posted February 7, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 7, 2019 14 hours ago, Butler Henderson said: ....for someone shy of kit building a better resolution could be the unpainted Dapol A13 with the excessive grooving between planks filled in - given the relatively simple livery painting should not be that difficult and the available transfers would probably give a better finish than Dapols printing on the finished rtr wagons 16 minutes ago, Phatbob said: New roof vents, Vac pipes etc. and a repaint and they look the part, if you can live with the extra width (which I can). NEM coupling box has to be glued in place too as it's horribly droopy. Also, a better set of wheels helps the running too. So a bit less effort than building the Parkside kit (which I've also done in the past), but definitely a "project" rather than just plonk it on the layout. Totally agree with the above two posts. Using the Dapol A13 unpainted version I've painted two into GWR Roundel livery using HMRS Methfix transfers. I also used MJT roof fittings and Gibson wheels. They scrub up well. I think Cambridge Custom Transfers do the BR Crimson painted straw coloured markings making life easy. A nice little project. Cheers, Mark 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted February 7, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 7, 2019 (edited) I've got a BR crimson one, about 5-6 years old, I think. It had the new style NEM coupler pockets so no older. Coupler height was initially OK so I used plug in Kadees but they subsequently drooped so the mounts were cut/filed flat and it now has a pair of "proper" Kadees. Also Bachmann wheels as it came with the sort of Dapol ones that kept derailing. No moulding issues apart from the width, which can be disguised (a bit) by painting the buffer beam body colour. I also replaced the buffers with some cast ones of more prototypical appearance. It will get replaced with a Parkside one when that particular kit gets to the top of the to-do pile, though. I'm currently in the middle of replacing my Bachmann Minks and Mogos (which have similar width issues) with kit-built (Ratio). The Bachmann underframes thus liberated are going under Hornby Meat van and Dapol Banana van bodies to replace the 1970s-standard ex-Airfix ones. Next on the list will be the Micas.... John Edited February 7, 2019 by Dunsignalling 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted February 7, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 7, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Phatbob said: NEM coupling box has to be glued in place too as it's horribly droopy Instead of gluing I firstly put a peco fibre washer shim between the NEM pocket and the body where it mounts although this removed the ability for the coupling to move from side to side and may cause an issue on 2nd radius curves entering the fiddle yard. Secondly I simply bent the nem pocket assembly upwards so when in the relaxed position it sits level and retains the self centering function, this seems to work a treat Edited February 7, 2019 by chuffinghell 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted February 7, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 7, 2019 15 hours ago, Les1952 said: Replacement wheels of other makes don't seem to like fitting snugly....... I've tried to replace the Dapol wheels with a Hornby wheel set and they don't seem to fit snugly either and rattle about like a bag of spanners, I'm assuming the dimension over the axle points is slightly longer on the Dapol wheel sets? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 46444 Posted February 7, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 7, 2019 1 hour ago, Dunsignalling said: ....I also replaced the buffers with some cast ones of more prototypical appearance. John's right on this. I also changed mine to Lanarkshire Model Supplies cast GWR Self Containted versions: http://www.lanarkshiremodels.com/lanarkshiremodelsandsupplieswebsite_074.htm 5 minutes ago, chuffinghell said: I've tried to replace the Dapol wheels with a Hornby wheel set and they don't seem to fit snugly either and rattle about like a bag of spanners, I'm assuming the dimension over the axle points is slightly longer on the Dapol wheel sets? Mine run on Alan Gibson 12mm 3 hole disks with no problem. You could also try Romford ones if you can get them. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted February 7, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 7, 2019 4 hours ago, Phatbob said: I've picked up a few of these recently very cheap, as frankly, IMHO they're not worth the full RRP given the quality. So I agree with the OP. New roof vents, Vac pipes etc. and a repaint and they look the part, if you can live with the extra width (which I can). NEM coupling box has to be glued in place too as it's horribly droopy. Also, a better set of wheels helps the running too. So a bit less effort than building the Parkside kit (which I've also done in the past), but definitely a "project" rather than just plonk it on the layout. As far as the 'droopy' coupling are concerned, I'd be taking off the affected part, and fitting 3-links. Keep the best pair, for when you want to run them in a rake. Being in the rake keeps them semi-coupled, with retained compatibility for your remaining stock. Ian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted February 7, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 7, 2019 14 minutes ago, tomparryharry said: As far as the 'droopy' coupling are concerned, I'd be taking off the affected part, and fitting 3-links. Keep the best pair, for when you want to run them in a rake. Being in the rake keeps them semi-coupled, with retained compatibility for your remaining stock. Ian. As these were passenger rated vans they would probably have had screw link couplings. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted February 7, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 7, 2019 2 minutes ago, gwrrob said: As these were passenger rated vans they would probably have had screw link couplings. Quite right too. It does depend on the owner-operator preferences however. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold D9020 Nimbus Posted February 8, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 8, 2019 Dapol also do an 'N' gauge Fruit D. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butler Henderson Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 2 hours ago, D9020 Nimbus said: Dapol also do an 'N' gauge Fruit D. And which repeats the error with the planking between the doors. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted February 8, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 8, 2019 Admittedly not something a novice like myself would notice Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted February 9, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 9, 2019 I have been disappointed with Dapol wagons; the wheels are awful, the handbrakes moulded not separate, and brake blocks are not in line with the wheels. I do not regard this as acceptable in this day and age and have scrapped those that survived from the old days when I took up the hobby again in late 2016. I do have a Fruit D still in service, however, re-wheeled; it's couplings are stiff and do not always work as they should. It is due to be replaced with a Parkside. I won't be buying any more Dapol vehicles until they up their game. This is a pity because they are AFAIK the only people in the business of selling rolling wagon chassis, which would be useful to use beneath some old bodies that I have scrapped inferior chassis from. But the Dapol offerings are no better than the ones I've binned! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasdavetheroad Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 I find the Dapol wagons perfectly acceptable for how I run my layout and I have over 100 of them but very few Bachmann or Hornby. I don't notice the brake levers/blocks at a couple of feet on a moving train and the other main issues can be fixed. Reasonably priced packs of 20 wheelsets allows replacement of wobbly wheels and there are fixes for the floppy couplers and loose coupling hooks. They are reasonably priced at about half the cost of a Bachmann or Hornby model and even cheaper if you buy the unpainted version and paint them yourself. We are lucky that Dapol produce them as there is very little available from Bachmann/Hornby for the 1950's and early 60's. If I wanted to have a 30 x 16 ton coal wagon train tough cos they are not available. My Dapols chassis is too long so the train is 5 inches longer than it should be but I don't notice that. Maybe I find the suspension of disbelief easier than some and that helps in our miniature world full of compromises. 5 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chuffinghell Posted February 16, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 16, 2019 (edited) Before After Flash on the roof removed and repainted couplings levelled by bending up slightly Edited February 16, 2019 by chuffinghell 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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