Dapol 142

[Vonzack]

My Northern 142 runs very well and has already had it's first Exhibition outing for the Lincoln & District MRE.

[Shiney Sheff]

Anyone else had trouble with the gears wearing out?  I had run my Northern rail for about 30minutes at slow speed when I noticed it was struggling to get up my slight incline, upon inspection one of the gears that are visible from the underside had hardly any teeth left on it, I did get an exchange and so far so good, I hope it was a one off.

 

Bob

[Bumpkin]

Has anyone noticed the NEM Scharfenberg couplers? I hope Dapol release these as spares to convert units like the GraFar 150 etc 

[D9020 Nimbus]

2 minutes ago, Bumpkin said:

Has anyone noticed the NEM Scharfenberg couplers? I hope Dapol release these as spares to convert units like the GraFar 150 etc 

Aren't these actually from Tomix?

[JR_P]

3 hours ago, Bumpkin said:

Has anyone noticed the NEM Scharfenberg couplers? I hope Dapol release these as spares to convert units like the GraFar 150 etc 

The Scharfenberg couplers due to be sold separately as item 2a-000-029.

 

Not sure if the are, in fact, Tomix, but wouldn’t be surprised.

 

Can anyone advise if you get spare NEM Scharfenberg with the 142?

[Steven B]

There was no spare NEM Scharfenberg included with my class 142.

 

Given the length of them, you might need to be an Olympic long jumper if you were to use them on a pair of Farish 150/2s.

[JR_P]

I notice that the 142 (ATW livery) is now in the ‘bargain bin’ with a certain retailer (possibly others too).... for a model that is only six months old (disregarding the decade-long gestation) that kind of speaks for itself....!

 

I will caveat that statement with the fact that the 142 in Northern livery pretty much sold out everywhere.

 

Nevertheless, it seems there are those like myself who decided to skip it - simply not up to modern standards. I’m not even going to bite at the current ‘bargain’ price; perhaps maybe around the £80 mark.

 

Frankly, I’d rather augment my existing fleet of Farish ATW Cl 150 with the announced Farish 150 in newer ATW livery (which isn’t cheap and therefore funded in part by avoiding the 142).

[philiprporter]

3 hours ago, JR_P said:

I notice that the 142 (ATW livery) is now in the ‘bargain bin’ with a certain retailer (possibly others too).... for a model that is only six months old (disregarding the decade-long gestation) that kind of speaks for itself....!

 

I will caveat that statement with the fact that the 142 in Northern livery pretty much sold out everywhere.

 

Nevertheless, it seems there are those like myself who decided to skip it - simply not up to modern standards. I’m not even going to bite at the current ‘bargain’ price; perhaps maybe around the £80 mark.

 

Frankly, I’d rather augment my existing fleet of Farish ATW Cl 150 with the announced Farish 150 in newer ATW livery (which isn’t cheap and therefore funded in part by avoiding the 142).

Have to agree with you here - I was itching to get one of these to use on Standedge Tunnel, but having seen one I also decided to skip it - £80 or less and I may be tempted, but for now the 101s, 150s and 156s rule the roost. 

[jpendle]

I think all this means is that Welsh trains are less popular than Northern ones.

 

I've got one in Northern livery and while it isn't perfect, it's a lot better than anything I could scratch build. I'll buy a second in Northern livery when a second run is done.

 

Regards,

 

John P

[chriswrightmk]

Western  Skipper livery as transferred to Manchester area would be a worthwhile livery. Also I see Dft are proposing Pacers could be used as church halls and community venues. No mention of donating them to preserved lines for off season use -amazing!

[JR_P]

Finally got to see the 142 in person at Kernow in Guildford (great shop BTW).... as suspected, it just doesn’t look quite right - the tumblehome angle is almost non-existent, which I think is where the problems begin. Should’ve been an obvious purchase for me, but I won’t be indulging....

[fezza]

Yes several on sale at Quorn yesterday but I wasn't tempted. In a way I hope they don't sell - it might make manufacturers realise they can't turn out stuff like this these days and expect to shift it. 

 

I love almost everything else Dapol have done but this is very disappointing in the flesh and I don't think you can do much to improve it as the basic shape is wrong. 

[Joseph_Pestell]

1 hour ago, fezza said:

Yes several on sale at Quorn yesterday but I wasn't tempted. In a way I hope they don't sell - it might make manufacturers realise they can't turn out stuff like this these days and expect to shift it. 

 

I love almost everything else Dapol have done but this is very disappointing in the flesh and I don't think you can do much to improve it as the basic shape is wrong. 

 

Presumably the chassis is too wide to envisage using it with a better 3D printed bodyshell? Not that we should have to, of course.

[Roy Langridge]

3 hours ago, fezza said:

Yes several on sale at Quorn yesterday but I wasn't tempted. In a way I hope they don't sell - it might make manufacturers realise they can't turn out stuff like this these days and expect to shift it. 

 

I love almost everything else Dapol have done but this is very disappointing in the flesh and I don't think you can do much to improve it as the basic shape is wrong. 

 

It is not as if these comments were not made to Dapol prior to the sign-off for manufacture. What a shame.

Roy

[philiprporter]

3 hours ago, fezza said:

Yes several on sale at Quorn yesterday but I wasn't tempted. In a way I hope they don't sell - it might make manufacturers realise they can't turn out stuff like this these days and expect to shift it. 

 

I love almost everything else Dapol have done but this is very disappointing in the flesh and I don't think you can do much to improve it as the basic shape is wrong. 

Likewise I had another look at the several that were on sale at Quorn yesterday at good prices, to see if I could convince myself - but no, they just look too wrong. 

[Vonzack]

Well, I couldn't resist another Northern Rail one at £60 and as far as I can tell, nothing at all wrong with it apart from the outer Dapol card sleeve was missing.

 

I ran one at the Lincoln show and there were allot of people pointing and saying oooh look a 142, I didn't hear anybody complain about the Tumblehome or windows. if it looks and quacks like a duck, well it's a duck.

Edited June 18, 2019 by Vonzack

[Roy Langridge]

3 hours ago, Vonzack said:

Well, I couldn't resist another Northern Rail one at £60 and as far as I can tell, nothing at all wrong with it apart from the outer Dapol card sleeve was missing.

 

I ran one at the Lincoln show and there were allot of people pointing and saying oooh look a 142, I didn't hear anybody complain about the Tumblehome or windows. if it looks and quacks like a duck, well it's a duck.

 

But sometimes people think a big white duck is a goose...

 

Yes it resembles a 142, but to some of us it looks like a bad 142. I think the point is, we had generally gone beyond the point where basic shape errors in models was acceptable.

Roy

[Vonzack]

17 hours ago, Roy Langridge said:

 

But sometimes people think a big white duck is a goose...

 

Yes it resembles a 142, but to some of us it looks like a bad 142. I think the point is, we had generally gone beyond the point where basic shape errors in models was acceptable.

Roy

 

Are they basic shape errors, or are they design/cost limitations. I think what we see with the 142 is the later and maybe Dapol should have been upfront with people about what they were getting. Certainly seeing all the PCB through the windows didn't go down well either, but where else is it going to go in that model?

[Steadfast]

Could anyone who has a 142 be kind enough to take the body off and measure the width over chassis solebars and length of the chassis please. I have a 3D printed 143 body set and a cheap one would provide a good chassis, if it'll fit

Many thanks!

 

Jo

[ash39]

Bit of a crude unfinished shot from the workbench but adding a 'false' tumblehome with an airbrush, to my eyes at least, improves the model massively.

 

I expected the sides to look less slab sided but I'm actually more pleased with how it's improved the face.

[JDW]

That does look so much better, nice work!

[richbrummitt]

On 20/06/2019 at 02:18, Steadfast said:

Could anyone who has a 142 be kind enough to take the body off and measure the width over chassis solebars and length of the chassis please. I have a 3D printed 143 body set and a cheap one would provide a good chassis, if it'll fit

Many thanks!

 

 

 

The body fits onto a small raised lip that measured 16mm wide. The chassis measured 99.2mm over headstocks and 18.4mm over the channel sections.

Hope that helps.

 

Is the 143 body generally available?

[Gareth Collier]

55 minutes ago, richbrummitt said:

 

The body fits onto a small raised lip that measured 16mm wide. The chassis measured 99.2mm over headstocks and 18.4mm over the channel sections.

Hope that helps.

 

Is the 143 body generally available?

This has been on Shapeways for a while: https://www.shapeways.com/product/HDLXHXVA3/n-scale-class-143?optionId=56454288&li=marketplace

[ash39]

If those are a good fit for the Dapol chassis, I'd be very tempted to give it a bash.

 

My only issue with 3D prints is the glazing, I can't think of a way you could make a decent job of it.

[Steadfast]

4 hours ago, richbrummitt said:

 

The body fits onto a small raised lip that measured 16mm wide. The chassis measured 99.2mm over headstocks and 18.4mm over the channel sections.

Hope that helps.

 

Is the 143 body generally available?

That's a great help Rich, thanks very much. Internal dimensions are (very approximately) 98x15mm of the 3D print, but does include headstocks, chassis side frame and suspension, so it may be possible to file the chassis block plastic down to take it. Failing that, back to plan A of a dummy and tow it behind a sprinter. If I ever get round to finishing it, of course!

 

Jo