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Heljan Western


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  • 5 weeks later...
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A subject which many of us may have opinions on I'm sure!

 

For me I find the Lima Western body to be moderately well represented overall as is the Heljan but Lima has the cab end rendered better. In terms of performance however there is surely no contest in that Heljan is far and away superior. With a heavyweight chassis and all-wheel pickup (though the centre wheelsets do not drive) these are the canine's genitals in terms of haulage and reliability. The Lima ones better represent the main-line days of the class in that they stutter, run erratically and sometimes fail yet sometimes turn in star performances.

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Many have faulted the Heljan western but with a little work can be made into a good model.Performance is second to none unless you have the older type wheelsets.As i run dc the only down side is the lights are very dim and needed changing which aint easy.

I have over the years had the lima version but is very dated.

richard.

Edited by D1030western musketeer
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Juts received an email from Hattons advising that the maroon version ref. 5218 D1040 Western Queen is due in stock on or after tomorrow, Saturday 11 February. Presumably the others will arrive at the same time.

 

I need a couple of new ones, but I think I'll wait until Dapol's new version is out and compare them first - DapolDave is suggesting theirs could be out as early as the end of May this year. Hopefully the Heljan ones won't sell out before then - perhaps not if everyone else waits too :yes:

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That's two of us. I am holding off from this batch of Heljan Westerns as I have two Dapol ones on order. Must give the new boys on the block a fair go and it seems we may only have to wait a few more months though May might be a little optimistic even if it is Dave suggesting it!

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I have 2 Heljan westerns and 3 Lima which I am in the slow process of re-motoring and detailing. The Dapol cad looks superb and I'm now torn between continuing with the Lima project, waiting for the Dapol or going for some more Heljan models. What a great position to be in, so much choice so long after these majestic machines were taken away from us.

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Ive stopped rebuilding my Lima western too, its in advanced stages, but I want to see if the Dapol product is any good, the CAD images I must say look promising! The Heljan Western for me is a good model, good performance, slighlty let down by things missing, and the awkward brake rigging to install

 

NL

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If dapols western turns out like the class 22 then its going to be a big hit.

I have 3 heljans and with a little work can be made into better things.I ditched the brake rigging supplied and did my own so as not to restrict them on sharpe curves.I also filed down the roof shape over the cab and gave them fans and see through walkways and fan grilles.I believe the new batch are being released this month but with an uncertain future on the job front the Dapol version maybe a little late for me unless i sell other stock to finance one or 2 as cad cams yes do look very good and a lot of time and effort has been well mentioned to what could be the model of the year.Although the Heljan western is a great performer they got her wrong and hav,nt listened to the responce and cant see them making any more once dapols version comes out.

richard.

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You may be right about the future of Heljan's Western. The CAD drawing of Dapol's Western does look truly stunning and if the class 22 is anything to go by, the Western will be fantastic. However it might all come down to price at the end of the day. The Heljan one isn't cheap, but the Dapol one I fear is going to be quite a bit more expensive, more so than the 22.

 

Having amassed a reasonable sized fleet of Heljan 52's, the big question for me is, do I sell some of them to make way for the Dapol version, or wait until I've seen one, by which time my Heljan fleet could be seriously devalued.

 

I would like to support Dapol in their venture with the 52 and will buy one anyway, but in these times of financial restraint I can't see me buying many without selling some of the Heljan ones. :(

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Re- the posts above, particularly the last three. Think about Heljan's 47, batches of which have continued to be released despite a) its well known inaccuracies and b ) that there have been two subsequent models that are more accurate. Heljan have long recouped their investment on the Western, they can turn out further batches as long as the moulds will stand it and at whatever price they think marketable. Whichever way it goes, I dont foresee too many furrowed brows in Denmark.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Has anyone noticed that the pre-production photo on the Heljan website seems to show the two blue locos having black (or dark grey) cab rooves but blue paint over the central section.

 

Now I won't pretend to be an expert, but I do have a few colour photos of blue Thousands knocking around the place; and plenty show the whole roof stained in an overall layer of "clag"; but none I have seen show a loco with this particular livery "variant".

 

A figment of a Danish imagination, or does someone know better?

 

Kevin

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Has anyone noticed that the pre-production photo on the Heljan website seems to show the two blue locos having black (or dark grey) cab rooves but blue paint over the central section.

 

Now I won't pretend to be an expert, but I do have a few colour photos of blue Thousands knocking around the place; and plenty show the whole roof stained in an overall layer of "clag"; but none I have seen show a loco with this particular livery "variant".

 

A figment of a Danish imagination, or does someone know better?

 

Kevin

 

Noticed that too, my Heljan western lord (BHYP) has an all blue roof.

 

Tom

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Has anyone noticed that the pre-production photo on the Heljan website seems to show the two blue locos having black (or dark grey) cab rooves but blue paint over the central section.

 

Update, I've been to Howes today. They have "display samples" of the next batch (for release in April/May as mentioned above), and the blue models both now have blue cab rooves! However, D1030 with the small yellow panel looked exactly the same shade as D1073. Which raises the old old question once again (also mentioned on the Kernow limited edition website, I see), was it a differnet shade or not? My view is that Heljan's D1030 doesn't look like the colour pics of the prototype which I have seen.

 

Kevin

Edited by apollo 079
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