N gauge Class 50

[John M Upton]

It looks good but there is still something I can't quite put my finger on that is making me hesitate in ordering one...

[scruff]

The only thing I can see that is wrong with these is the receiver socket for the multiple working jumpers..

 

Other than that they look superb!

 

Cheers

Mark

[steve1023]

Like those. I know they are initial paint samples but the NSE blue appears to be the later darker blue rather than the lighter blue.

[Davexoc]

The unrefurbished version appears to have the jumper starting at the right height, whereas the others are a little low. The recepticle looks like it came from the 56.

50037 has the cant rail stripe across the front in the right place, but somehow cramps the marker lights/horns. Would look better along the gutter strip which was probably more common.

Apart from that, I think the covers around the jacking points are a bit overdone, but a great improvement on the old Farish version.

 

Just the five required as replacements.......

[Padishar Creel]

To the question of the position of the jumper cables of the refurbished version here a screen shot of the real thing and Dapol's version

es grüßt

pc

[Steven B]

There are problems with the headcode panel too; On the refurbished examples the marker lights are lower than they should be - as seen on the image above (although not helped by the cant-rail stripe running over the panel rather than under it). On the non-refurbished machines the heacode letters look significantly smaller than they should be.

 

 

Steven B.

[bigP]

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Edited January 31, 2021 by bigP
Deleted

[bigP]

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Edited January 31, 2021 by bigP
Deleted

[Chris M]

I think it's a shame that people seem to want to spend their time picking nits. It's a very nice model and I will be very happy to run one on my layout. I say thanks to Dapol for going ahead with this. The samples I have seen today certainly capture the character of the loco very well.

[Zunnan]

From the image above, even given the differing zoom/angle/lighting/perspective, something does seem rather off with the headcode panel. Whether its the angle of the wings which to me looks too steep making the horn placement (and therefore the marker light position) too low, or the whole thing being too low in height which again cramps the horns and markers; there seems to be far too much roof dome showing at the rear of the cab, I know it should be there but I really don't remember it being quite so obvious. I think its a combination of too low and wrong angled to be honest. But something else seems off with the rest of the model which can't be put down to the rushed finishes, much like the class 56 which took a while for me to figure out exactly what was bugging me about it. Yes they're leaps and bounds better than what Farish did before, but something about them is nagging away at me, as a whimsical buy (which it would be in my case) its overall appearance doesn't hit the nail on the head enough.

 

edit ~

 

I think I've found part of where I believe things are awry, it can be seen in the CAD posted on Dapol Digest as far back as 19th May 2016. Given the viewing elevation of one of the CADs you can't see the top of the leading headcode panel, yet on the rearmost headcode panel you can clearly see the top of it. What this suggests (to me) is that the headcode panels are raked back by a few degrees, causing the rear of the cowling to meet with the roof dome in the wrong place and resulting in the dome being too prominent. Now I realise this is an old CAD image, but if any part of this has carried over to the models we are now seeing, it would explain quite a lot. I still feel that the front of the headcode panel is poorly proportioned as well, its wide enough but there is far too much meat above the horns and marker lights and not enough below which distorts the angle of the sides as well, which coupled with the rake back makes the roof dome stand out further yet.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Zunnan

[grahame]

I think it's a shame that people seem to want to spend their time picking nits.

I don't think many of the issues reported on this thread are nit-picking. They may be about small components but it is often their positioning and size that is very relevant with regards to relationships as a whole and capturing the look of the real object. Just look at all the comments about the DJM King loco in getting the details correct. They weren't considered nit-picking but feedback to help improve the finished CAD and model

 

Get the simple things and their relationships correct and you'll go a long way to making a great model. Accepting unnecessary compromises and errors will always grate and be apparent in the finished product.

 

G

Edited October 5, 2018 by grahame

[The Pilotman]

That NSE sample isn't helped by the fact that the cantrail stipe is too high up on the roof - it should be on the gutter line not above it.

That was probably the intention on the real thing and the majority of the NSE examples were like that. However, on 50037 (the subject of this model) as Davexoc pointed out yesterday, the orange stripe was indeed on the plated-over headcode box and so the model is correct, albeit non-standard. A more extreme example was 50048 which had the orange stripe even higher and had some white on the bottom of the plated-over headcode box too.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Western Aviator

[Chris M]

As the production models are due into the UK by the end of this year and these are decorated samples it is unlikely that anything can be changed now. This being the case I would rather concentrate on how good these are rather than what faults they have. I saw the decorated samples today at Kidderminster and was very impressed. To me they certainly looked the part and I will be very happy to purchase one. People running down the model at this point may potentially damage sales which in turn will reduce the chances of further new models from Dapol. That can’t be a good or clever thing to be doing.

 

So far as I am concerned this is a great model which captures the real thing very well.

[NSE DAZ]

I must say I am very impressed with this model and I think this has now got me in the mood to create a small N gauge layout. Well done Dapol..........

[grahame]

As the production models are due into the UK by the end of this year and these are decorated samples it is unlikely that anything can be changed now. This being the case I would rather concentrate on how good these are rather than what faults they have. I saw the decorated samples today at Kidderminster and was very impressed. To me they certainly looked the part and I will be very happy to purchase one. People running down the model at this point may potentially damage sales which in turn will reduce the chances of further new models from Dapol. That can’t be a good or clever thing to be doing.

 

People aren't running down the model they are simply pointing out potential issues. And, although things may not be able to be changed now, it does help educate purchasers and, as suggested, show where future after-sales detailing/correcting products can be produced and used.

 

G.

[Davexoc]

As the production models are due into the UK by the end of this year and these are decorated samples it is unlikely that anything can be changed now. This being the case I would rather concentrate on how good these are rather than what faults they have. I saw the decorated samples today at Kidderminster and was very impressed. To me they certainly looked the part and I will be very happy to purchase one. People running down the model at this point may potentially damage sales which in turn will reduce the chances of further new models from Dapol. That can’t be a good or clever thing to be doing.

 

So far as I am concerned this is a great model which captures the real thing very well.

But if there are too many niggly faults, people will stick with their Farish models. The face of the model is most important, so wrong headcode panels and jumpers stand out.

There are other faults, like the size of that NRN pod, the fit of the roof hatches, which I take it give access to the electronics, and the rendition of some of the grilles. The one livery I was really looking for was the early NSE, but at the moment it just looks wrong, so I will wait to see the finished article before ordering one.

 

As I said before, it is an improvement on the Farish product, but could have been even better....

[Chris M]

It's in a completely different league to the old Farish one. This one does capture the look of the real thing so I say well done Dapol. I still say we should concentrate on the positives rather than the negatives. After all the work they have done I can imagine those in charge at Dapol reading this and deciding not to bother with any more N gauge developments.

[woodenhead]

It's in a completely different league to the old Farish one. This one does capture the look of the real thing so I say well done Dapol. I still say we should concentrate on the positives rather than the negatives. After all the work they have done I can imagine those in charge at Dapol reading this and deciding not to bother with any more N gauge developments.

Business doesn't quite work like that, sales will drive more development and whilst some people here have valid opinions on the model it will not stop it selling as it is better than the old Farish model

[jamespetts]

The only thing I can see that is wrong with these is the receiver socket for the multiple working jumpers..

 

Other than that they look superb!

 

Cheers

Mark

 

Pun intended?

[TomE]

Having looked at the photos of the model vs the real thing, there are a few areas where I think my impression of something not quite being right emanate from:

 

 

The top of the nose on the model appears too flat and there should be a gentle curve across the top below the windows. This has led to a strange triangular area between the nose top and the bottom of the windows as highlighted in red on the centre image. The windows may also be too flat, looking at the top of the centre pillar which seems to be set back too far in relation to the cantrail, as shown in the photo below:

 

 

The cantrail above the side windows is perfectly horizontal on the model, whereas on the prototype it slopes down slightly towards the front. I think this has resulted in the headcode box being slightly too shallow as it pushes the bottom edge upward slightly. You can see from the photo of the real thing there should be more space below the horn grills than there is on the model, although the grills themselves may also be be a tad on the large side which contributes to the effect.

 

The nose step is also a bit weedy, which sort of gives a pouting look to the front rather than the slightly aghast look of the real thing.

 

The right hand (as you look at it) socket bares zero resemblance to that of the real thing.

 

The front window corners look too square on the model, and the glazing isn't the best I've seen although I'm not sure if that is down to these just being samples so will reserve final judgement on that until the production models are seen.

 

These are the main issues I personally can see with the nose. Is it enough to put me off ordering one? No, but mainly because it's now the only Class 50 in town and is still a million miles away from the old Farish model. The running standards appear to be equal to the 68 from the working sample seen at TINGS.

 

I just need to pluck up the courage to re-paint mine into revised NSE when it arrives.

 

Tom.

Edited October 6, 2018 by TomE

[The Pilotman]

After all the work they have done I can imagine those in charge at Dapol reading this and deciding not to bother with any more N gauge developments.

Since these pictures appeared, a number of people have posted comments relating to issues raised in this thread on the Dapol Digest part of their website. Some of these have already been gratefully acknowledged by Dapol. Overall I think this is an excellent model; I have eight on order, but if it can be further improved by passing on some constructive criticism, then that's good, isn’t it?

Edited October 6, 2018 by Western Aviator

[Chris Higgs]

It's in a completely different league to the old Farish one. This one does capture the look of the real thing so I say well done Dapol. I still say we should concentrate on the positives rather than the negatives. After all the work they have done I can imagine those in charge at Dapol reading this and deciding not to bother with any more N gauge developments.

 

Ah, how many times have we heard this one. I remember this one being said about the Farish V2 all those years ago, we should never criticise in case they get the hump and leave.

 

The bottom line is, if it sells and makes a good margin Dapol will be encouraged to continue, if not then not. And a better model is more likely to sell well. I'll be buying one, but I can see its shortcomings. It'll be the blue one without multiple jumpers I remember from my youth. Let's hope it runs well - it looks like it will, I have some Dapol (from former years) where the mechanics were a joke.

 

We already know Dapol know they make more from 7mm models, and there is nothing we can do in terms of comments (positive or negative) to influence that overriding economic reality.

 

Chris

[jamespetts]

Since these pictures appeared, a number of people have posted comments relating to issues raised in this thread on the Dapol Digest part of their website. Some of these have already been gratefully acknowledged by Dapol. Overall I think this is an excellent model; I have eight on order, but if it can be further improved by passing on some constructive criticism, then that's good, isn’t it?

 

Eight? Goodness me - I thought that I was planning to buy quite a few at 5. I am intrigued as to what layout that might accommodate such a collection.

[The Pilotman]

Eight? Goodness me - I thought that I was planning to buy quite a few at 5. I am intrigued as to what layout that might accommodate such a collection.

A big one, 1980s, Western Region. So a few 50s are rather essential.

[jamespetts]

A big one, 1980s, Western Region. So a few 50s are rather essential.

 

How splendid! I shall look forward to seeing pictures of this.