Dapol 56 Dapol Class 56 - Photo Review

[Andy Y]

 

Dapol have forwarded samples of the forthcoming Class 56 in N Gauge.

 

The initial releases are ND203B - Triple Grey Coal Sector and ND203D - EWS liveries and are of the early Romanian built variants numbered as 56 013 and 56 018 respectively.

 

The locos feature the now-standard excellent performance of the super-creep motor, low friction mechanism and flywheels. directional lighting, 6-pin decoder socket and buffer-beam accessory pack with long and short rapido and knuckle couplings plus a set of Easi-shunt automatic couplings. The etched side grilles and roof fan grilles are superb with visibility through to the engine block on each side. The paint finish is excellent although some slight blurring may be seen on the can window ledge in the following close-up shots.

 

At last there's a grid that looks like one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Adam1701D]

Considering how cruelly magnified Andy's images are, it looks like Dave and company have done it again! I wonder if we could prevail on Dapol to release those rather tasty front end MU connectors as separate items - they'd be ideal for my 86!

[RBE]

This is million times better than previous efforts in this scale and to be highly praised I think, however on a critical note the cab roofs which were awful on grafars effort still don't quite seem to be the right shape to me.

 

Maybe in the flesh and under a less cruel close up they look fine.

 

Also buffer beam cowl should be present on the romanian machines not just the lip as per the first british batch built.

 

Cav

Edited June 25, 2012 by RBE

[roundhouse]

just a few years ago this level of detail in OO scale would have been considered superb let alone N scale

[rope runner]

Very nice indeed! I hope it sells well

 

I'll stick with my CJM example however, which cost me the princely sum of £65

 

hehehe

 

Paul A.

[shanks522]

Very impressive indeed, Well done Dapol. Going to be hard to resist a few of these.

 

Graham.

[Roy L S]

What an absolutely stunning looking loco..

 

Not much more I can say than that really, except that I don't model that era and I still want one!!!

 

Roy

[MRDEEDIESEL]

No personal need for a 56 but wow!!!........Might have to have a rethink!!!....Large Logo or EWS now poses a serious question for me! ;oD

[Clay Country]

As a Grid fan I've been eagerly awaiting this one since it was announced, and it looks like it's been well worth the wait. The only (very minor) downside I can see is the lack of cowls, but in all other respects it really captures the essence of a 56, particularly around the front end (which looks more convincing to me than the Hornby Romanian 56), grilles and the bogies. Well done Dapol, can't wait for the Load Haul one!

[7013]

That is absolutely stunning for N gauge

[DapolDave]

Hi Mr.D,

 

Please note that no Romanian class 56's ever made it into LLB (AFAIK), although we are doing a large logo Railfreight grey one at launch.

 

There arent that many liveries we can do in the Romanian versions; Blue, RFG, red stripe RFG, LoadHaul, Triple Grey Transrail, Construction, Fertis, Coal and i think that's about it for now.

 

Certainly when we start on the doncatser versions things improve a lot in this aspect.

 

Cheers

Dave

[kimitrain]

Hi Dapol Dave

Can you let me know when these are due to be released.

Thanks Jaeson

[mikeharvey22]

Is that a plug for the lights which means it can be run on DC with the trailing end lights off in a train?

[Crepello]

What a beaut! Roll on the blue'un!

[Guest Phil]

Excellent work Dapol and I agree that the images can be really cruel.

 

The only comment I'd make as a critique would be the "Loadhaul" cantrail grille mod at the No 2 end. AFAIK Loadhaul introduced a modification where there replaced the as built cantrail grilles at the No 2 end (where the boiler would be on a steam heat fitted loco) with flatter grilles of a different shape. I ma be wrong on this, but I believe other non-Loadhaul locos were fitted with the replacement grilles after EWS took over the fleet.

 

As such, i wonder whether the TTG livery is actually correct for this particular design, and would be very willing to be proved wrong. As I say, not a negative comment on a new model, and perhaps Dapol are planning to release the as built design in it's variants ?

Excellent work from North Wales

[jbqfc]

Excellent work Dapol and I agree that the images can be really cruel.

 

The only comment I'd make as a critique would be the "Loadhaul" cantrail grille mod at the No 2 end. AFAIK Loadhaul introduced a modification where there replaced the as built cantrail grilles at the No 2 end (where the boiler would be on a steam heat fitted loco) with flatter grilles of a different shape. I ma be wrong on this, but I believe other non-Loadhaul locos were fitted with the replacement grilles after EWS took over the fleet.

 

As such, i wonder whether the TTG livery is actually correct for this particular design, and would be very willing to be proved wrong. As I say, not a negative comment on a new model, and perhaps Dapol are planning to release the as built design in it's variants ?

Excellent work from North Wales

 

yes your right 56013 never got fitted with the new grills

picture here at withdrawn at toton

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmc1947/5869929097/

[DapolDave]

Hi Phil,

 

Some of the first 30 had TTG

 

The livery list (courtesy of MLI) for the Romanian's is as follows;

 

BR Blue: 56001-030

Large Logo Blue: 0

Large Logo RF grey: 002,005,006,007,009,016,017,018,024,025

Red Stripe RGG: 011,017,018,019,024

TTG Construction: 001,016

TTG Coal: 002,005,006,007,009,012,013,014,015,016,017,018,021,023,025,027,028,029,030

TTG unbranded: 56003, 011, 015, 022, 029

Loadhaul: 56003, 006, 021, 027

TTG Transrail: 56007, 010, 018, 022, 025

EWS: 56011, 018

Fertis: 56007, 018

BAR: (Artemis):56003

Light Power Blue: 56009/56201

 

Hope this helps.

cheers

Dave

[Steven B]

I'm looking forward to the red-stripe version!

 

One minor point, the Coal sector one has a wonky buffer (first and third pictures). Is this a production problem or damaged caused my miss-handling?

 

Happy modelling.

 

Steven B.

[bcnPete]

Excellent - Glad I pre-ordered a Redstripe RFG version from Hattons having seen that.

 

Guess there will be an abundance of Farish Grids on eBay soon...

[DapolDave]

Red stripe RFG?

 

Really?

 

Not sure thats correct.

 

cheers

Dave

[bcnPete]

Red stripe RFG?

Really?

Not sure thats correct.

 

As per this Dave...

 

http://www.ehattons.com/36537/Dapol_Model_Railways_ND203A_Class_56_56019_Red_Stripe_Railfreight_Grey/StockDetail.aspx

 

Now you got me worried

[DapolDave]

ND203A is in fact an RFG class 56 #56005

 

Sorry

Cheers

Dave

[Guest Phil]

Hi Phil,

 

Some of the first 30 had TTG

 

Hope this helps.

cheers

Dave

 

Hi Dave

Apologies if I didn't make myself clear. I believe that the fitment of new cantrail grilles to the No2 end of some class 56s, was initiated by Loadhaul, and taken on by EWS using both Loadhaul and Transrail locos. Therefore I am doubting there were many, if any at all, that carried TTG livery whilst fitted with the new grilles.

 

To illustrate what I mean here is a link to a piccy of 56013 in TTG with as built No2 end grilles ;

 

http://www.flickr.co...els/6707322415/

 

Here is a piccy of 56003 when it was preserved, carrying the new grilles at the No 2 end

 

http://www.flickr.co...109/4947426803/

 

Here is a piccie of preserved 56097 with original grilles

 

http://www.flickr.co...7_1/5719670651/

 

Here is a piccie of 56118 in service with Loadhaul colours abd new grilles.

 

 

Hope this clarifies what I said initially, but I would be happy to see evidence of TTG 56s in service with the Loadhaul style cantrail grilles.

Edited June 26, 2012 by Phil

[lyneux]

A quick search on Flickr suggests that 56013 was scrapped around 1995/96 whilst still in Trainload Triple Grey (Coal). At least I couldn't find any pictures later than 1995 of it. This suggests that it never gained the later style grilles.

 

For me, this highlights the difficulty in producing a model of the 56: there are SO many detail differences that it makes it really difficult (without a lot of different toolings) to produce 100% accurate models with a wide range of liveries from a range of eras. For the record, Hornby haven't managed this very well either: e.g. 56032 also missed off the full buffer beam cowling.

 

Regarding Cav's comments about the shape of the cab, I would have to agree. I can't put my finger on what it is. The principle dimensions of the cab look right (I did some crude calculations in against a prototype photograph), so maybe it is an effect of the glazing being quite deeply recessed in a 2mm model? Perhaps Laserglaze would sort this out? The front windows should have a very slight droop to them (not as pronounced as the 50) and I can't tell from Andy's photos whether Dapol have reproduced this or not.

 

 

Anyway, hats off to Dapol for having a go at the 56. Looks a million times better than the Farish model even if there are a few details to sort out to match your chosen loco (it's called modelling isn't it?).

[Rods_of_Revolution]

Overall a very nice model and miles ahead of the Farish option!

 

Nitpicking - 013 is a loco I have studied a fair bit seeing as it's the only one in BR days to stray into Cornwall (where I model). Firstly it should have the full bufferbeam cowling, the cowling should also be black not yellow. The darker grey on the body side should be level with the black on the windows, and the yellow on the nose should be level with the black too; Perhaps this is haste in the masking, or perhaps the cab shape (as mentioned above, doesn't seem quite right) doesn't fit the paintwork like the prototype. The colour of the grey looks a little green to me, but that could be lighting or the white balance of the camera. Also as mentioned above the shoulder grills are incorrect being a later modification.

 

That said, I'm sure I'll still buy one ;-)

 

Cheers,

 

Jack

Edited June 26, 2012 by Rods_of_Revolution