Dapol N Gauge Schools Class

[rogerfastlane]

I have been looking at Dapol n gauge locos as I am interested in (mainly) SR/GWR big 4 era. They do look the part. However, I have seen a lot for sale s/h with broken valve gear. Seems that the metal used for these is pretty soft, so that when "right" not an issue, but with any minor accident can cause serious problems - even from new. With the closer-to-true-scale valve gear sections now being offered by Dapol & Farish, the strength of the materials becomes pretty critical. What is worse is that no spares seem to be available so if damaged the loco is scrap. 

 

Older models (say from Minitrix) seem to use nickel plated brass and some of the valve gear sections (not the whole valve gear arrangement as I know these were hugely overscale) are around the same as current Dapol - so brass rods have stood the test of time. I can only assume that for cost Dapol have used some form of zinc alloy "pot-metal" that can be cheaply diecast in accurate sections, but unfortunately it does not seem very durable or rigid. Having repaired a few Dapol M7's (burnt out motors) old Farish and Minitrix it does seem that as the definition of the parts has improved, the materials quality has dropped off.  Just look at the footplate warping on a Dapol Terrier or the body parts and plastic handrails on many M7's, GWR PTs and others. Nearly all seem warped and even in new photos they are often not very true/a good fit.

 

I love the improvements in moulding quality and detail representation + painting/printing made in the last few years and have acquired many new Dapol and Farish coaches and wagons, but at the >> £100+ price point for many locos, durability and rigidity of parts does seem pretty poor.

 

Having previously been involved in handheld FMCG design and manufacture for many years, I am well aware of cost implications of certain choices, but think that con rods & valve gear should be made in brass and handrails should also be metal, body materials should be (if plastic) a much more rigid - say PC material and/or loaded to make harder and reduce warping/improve thermal expansion properties (for those hot motors in small bodies).

 

As far eastern manufacture becomes more expensive due to falling £ and increased $ price (including oil price for plastics) + labour costs, this has affected many of the N gauge new product roll-outs, with limited sales in the UK due to austerity etc, and lower volume production runs of more prototypically niche designs, modellers deserve better materials quality. I expect assembly costs are a significant  component of the manufacturing price while materials will represent a much smaller proportion of total cost and should be addressed to provide better overall product quality and durability commensurate with that price.

 

As several comments on this post mention component issues rather than definition or finish, with others challenging this being a "design"  issue, the obvious gap is the materials selection and consistency. I am sure Dapol has many happy customers, but with any product it is necessary to maintain quality throughout the process including (importantly) originally selecting the best materials for the job. Sadly, from anecdotal evidence of the number of broken (mainly) recent Dapol loco models for sale and warped parts in photos it seems the move to ever finer appearance has not been matched by improved materials.

 

I realise that as n gauge has moved from being "toy trains" to accurate scale models that these will become inherently more susceptible to handling and accident damage and a level of extra care will be required from the user, but the manufacturers must take some responsibility in creating models that are "fit for purpose" and maybe spend the extra few pence on materials to make these otherwise fine models durable enough to enjoy for years to come.  

[OliverSR]

Got a second hand Schools for Christmas and I am very pleased with it. It didn’t have any instructions and I would like to know how to get the tender body off. Could someone point me in the right direction for this info?

OliverSR

[TomE]

It just pulls off, but mine takes quite a bit of force. 

 

Tom. 

[schaffner]

anyone know if Dapol will be producing malachite coaching stock to match schools class Wellington in 'n'of course

 

Thanks for any replies

[GNR Dave]

More liveries have been announced for this loco. Hattons has a full list, but it includes olive green, wartime black and BR brunswick green.