Kernow Models D6xx Update

[cctransuk]

One small point - all the photos that I have seen of the Kernow D601, and my own model, have the nameplates leaning slightly but noticeably to the right.

 

Be reassured, though; they can be prised off with a new scalpel blade and reattached horizontally with a tiny touch of thick superglue.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[Godfrey Glyn]

My D601 arrived safely this morning, beautifully packed. It is a very impressive model and ran smoothly from the first. As a teenager I remember being taken by my father to London from Taunton behind the real loco so it has some additional sentimental value for me. Congratulations to Chris and his team for getting it to market after what must have been a long sequence of frustrations and disappointments, it was well worth it and deserves to sell well.

 

all the best

 

Godfrey

[Metr0Land]

Just had an email to say mine's in the packing room.  I ordered it relatively late in the process for getting the reduced price, so am guessing they're quite some way through this consignment?

[Tallpaul69]

3 hours ago, Godfrey Glyn said:

My D601 arrived safely this morning, beautifully packed. It is a very impressive model and ran smoothly from the first. As a teenager I remember being taken by my father to London from Taunton behind the real loco so it has some additional sentimental value for me. Congratulations to Chris and his team for getting it to market after what must have been a long sequence of frustrations and disappointments, it was well worth it and deserves to sell well.

 

all the best

 

Godfrey

Yes, the waiting is over!

My D601 arrived this morning.  Looks as good as I expected, well done to Chris and Co for persevering! 

 

Anyone know if there is a sound file around for this? If not, I can wait, modelling so often has to be a patient game!

 

Cheers All,

Paul

[Silver Sidelines]

5 hours ago, cctransuk said:

..- all the photos that I have seen of the Kernow D601, and my own model, have the nameplates leaning slightly but noticeably to the right.

.

That is good to know.  It is not something that I was going to shout about but.....  I would have preferred to have been given the plates to attach myself (with varnish). 

 

I am guessing that Kernow had a good reason for attaching  the plates - it would have been a cost saving to leave them off?  Are the bulk of their customers deemed not competent to fit the plates?

 

Ray

Edited March 14, 2019 by Silver Sidelines

[Gwiwer]

Fitted plates were part of the originally-advertised specification.  Very much a nice-to-have and saving just a few moments of work for the customer.  Many of us are competent, skilled and experienced at fitting etched nameplates but not all of us.  

 

The D6xx are probably a model for the collector and enthusiast rather than the train-set market but still for those without previous experience (or perhaps a bad previous experience) of fitting such things it is easy to damage a very good model with a lack of skill in fixing a nameplate.  In addition to which some of us simply lack the dexterity and / or eyesight to be able to do the job.  

 

Kernow MRC also pre-fitted name and number plates and lifting lugs to its commissioned weathered Dapol class 52 "Westerns" which were otherwise supplied with user-fitted plates and lugs.

['CHARD]

9 minutes ago, Silver Sidelines said:

 

I am guessing that Kernow had a good reason for attaching  the plates

 

Had they not, the models would have been ridiculed for being unfinished, would be my guess.  But I stress that is a wild assumption on my behalf.

[Geoff Endacott]

The option of fitting your own plates would have been useful for renumbering D600 as D601-4 in BFYE which would be needed to depict them in early 1970s guise.*

 

Geoff Endacott

 

*I know they were withdrawn by then, but on my railway they weren't.

[Silver Sidelines]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

..In addition to which some of us simply lack the dexterity and / or eyesight to be able to do the job.  
 

.....and probably wouldn't notice anything amiss?

 

Ray

[MikeParkin65]

On 14/03/2019 at 10:18, cctransuk said:

One small point - all the photos that I have seen of the Kernow D601, and my own model, have the nameplates leaning slightly but noticeably to the right.

 

Be reassured, though; they can be prised off with a new scalpel blade and reattached horizontally with a tiny touch of thick superglue.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

I prefer delux materials ‘Glue and Glaze’ for fixing etched plates. It allows time for adjustments, sets firmly but the plate can be removed and any residue can be easily removed from the model if it all goes pear shaped. Also doesn’t leave a fog in the way superglue can. 

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by MikeParkin65
Typo

[robertcwp]

8 hours ago, MikeParkin65 said:

I prefer delux materials ‘Glue and Glaze’ for fixing etched plates. It allows time for adjustments, sets firmly but the plate can be removed and any residue can be easily removed from the model if it all goes pear shaped. Also does leave a fog in the way superglue can. 

 

Roket glue also doesn't fog. I haven't tried Glue and Glaze but will do so next time.

[truffy]

9 hours ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Also does not leave a fog in the way superglue can. 

 

Fixed!

 

Also, if you can't get Glue and Glaze, Micro Kristal Klear will do the same job. I've used both, and can't really tell the difference.

[Trainshed Terry]

I am a happy person as I have just recived the email that my order has been passed to the packing department.

 

YAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gwiwer]

The final pair are now about to set sail from China meaning they are all on the way.  

Final two models have left the factory, due to be loaded onto HAI BANG DA 318 on 22nd March, expected to dock Southampton around 21st April

[Gwiwer]

And no sooner had I posted the above than there was a knock at the door.  My first two have arrived and it has been worth the wait.  K2601 (D600) features the slightly sloppy nameplate mentioned above but otherwise these look magnificent and a very quick test run up and down a siding has proved that they work though they are not by any means run in.

 

The next pair are now due in a few weeks and the final pair a few more weeks after that meaning that all six should be delivered to customers, including myself, by early May.  And that will mean I can collect some in person and have the first pair (at least) weathered and available for show as planned at Taunton and Hayle in the coming weeks.

 

There might even be some mysterious shennanigans occasionally involving two identically-named and numbered locos in different liveries somehow coupled together  

[cctransuk]

Another point to bear in mind.

 

When first placed on the track, I tested D601 using an H&M Walkabout controller; I was very disappointed that it ran with a loud cogging growl in either direction.

 

So, I changed the controller to a home-made one, based on a variable voltage regulator circuit - and the noise totally disappeared; the model then ran with just the wheel / rail noise and a barely perceptible purr.

 

So, it would seem that the coreless motor in this model does not care for whatever electronic shenanigans takes place in the H&M Walkabout controller.

 

I have noted this effect with several recent and not-so-recent purchases - especially Bachmann mechanisms.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[Ian Hargrave]

My D601arrived this morning.On Gaugemater 12v DC,it runs smoothly and is responsive throughout all ranges.and seems powerful though I have not yet put it under load.No clogging or gear grinding evident.A super model IMHO.

[AY Mod]

16 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

it runs smoothly and is responsive throughout all ranges.and seems powerful though I have not yet put it under load

 

I've had it running with 11 on with no problems. Out of the box it's probably the smoothest and quietest runner I've ever seen.

[Silver Sidelines]

6 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

I've had it running with 11 on with no problems. Out of the box it's probably the smoothest and quietest runner I've ever seen.

Just be careful with your screw driver when you start taking it apart to look inside.

 

Yes the running is very impressive, smooth and very quiet.

 

I do think the engine stops very quickly - so perhaps no flywheel (or is it just that I have been playing with my digital sound engines on analogue for too long).

 

Ray

 

 

[robertcwp]

Four wooden drinks stirrers work better than a screwdriver when prising the body and chassis apart. They come apart pretty easily with some gentle persuasion. Remember the body is still wired to the chassis. My D601 is currently on the workbench having its pipes etc fitted following a trouble-free, hour-long, test run this afternoon.

[AY Mod]

25 minutes ago, Silver Sidelines said:

Just be careful with your screw driver when you start taking it apart to look inside.

 

That has nothing to do with this model and I don't recall you being at the side of me at the time when that battle was underway.

 

The Warship has brass flywheels as shown in the exploded diagram.

[cctransuk]

44 minutes ago, robertcwp said:

Four wooden drinks stirrers work better than a screwdriver when prising the body and chassis apart. They come apart pretty easily with some gentle persuasion. Remember the body is still wired to the chassis. My D601 is currently on the workbench having its pipes etc fitted following a trouble-free, hour-long, test run this afternoon.

 

I used the rounded end of a steel 6" ruler - nice and thin and no sharp corners.

 

The sticking points are not the locating lugs, but rather the bufferbeam valances at the corners, which slightly 'underhang' the corners of the chassis. Careful work is needed to ensure that extracting and replacing the chassis does not damage these vulnerable points.

 

My reading of the instructions conveys that, under analogue control, one marker will be lit at the leading end; with my D601, all four are lit.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[No Decorum]

6 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

I used the rounded end of a steel 6" ruler - nice and thin and no sharp corners.

 

The sticking points are not the locating lugs, but rather the bufferbeam valances at the corners, which slightly 'underhang' the corners of the chassis. Careful work is needed to ensure that extracting and replacing the chassis does not damage these vulnerable points.

 

My reading of the instructions conveys that, under analogue control, one marker will be lit at the leading end; with my D601, all four are lit.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

I used pieces of card and persistence to open it.

 

As regards lights, I think the idea is the long-established one of concealing unwanted lights with headcode discs but in this case, the recommendation is to use Tacky Wax or similar. I should have thought that Blu-Tack would be easier to manipulate. As the loco would carry discs anyhow, the lack of locating holes is going to make it very fiddly. It is a very great shame that the method of attaching discs used on the Bulleid diesels wasn’t repeated. That was a very good idea and it worked brilliantly.

[No Decorum]

1 hour ago, robertcwp said:

Four wooden drinks stirrers work better than a screwdriver when prising the body and chassis apart. They come apart pretty easily with some gentle persuasion. Remember the body is still wired to the chassis. My D601 is currently on the workbench having its pipes etc fitted following a trouble-free, hour-long, test run this afternoon.

I was delighted to discover that the pipes all fit the holes they are meant to – from other manufacturers, that is not as normal as it should be. The thinner ones are extremely delicate; one just came apart between my finger and thumb. Whilst the pegs all fit the holes, the pipes don’t all seem to fit next to each other so comfortably. Perhaps it would have been better to start at the bottom and work up rather than the other way around.

[robertcwp]

The detailing on mine all went on pretty well but I suspect I may need to prune the coupling hooks as they may impede Sprat & Winkle couplings. I shall find out at the weekend. I used blacktack for the headcode discs. This is stickier than blu-tac and less conspicuous. I bought some on eBay a year or two ago and it has come in very handy.