Dapol OO 'Air Ministry' 14T tank wagons

[gwrrob]

This month's issue of BRM has @AY Mod reviewing the O gauge 14ton anchor mounted versions that might be of interest. His photos shewing the detail on the 'Oldbury' tar wagon are delicious.

[AY Mod]

Dapol reveals EP samples of a new announcement for 4mm:1ft scale / OO gauge – a two-axle 'tank' wagon.

 

 

Dapol has made public its plans to create RTR models of the Class A and Class B conversions of the 14T Air Ministry tank wagons for OO gauge / 4mm:1ft scale.

 

World of Railways was given early access to assess plans for the models during a recent factory visit, and we were impressed by the profiled wheel faces, and its sprung suspension – the latter, a first for a mass-produced ready-to-run item of rolling stock in the scale.

 

The majority of these tank wagons were built between 1939 and 1944 as Class A wagons for aviation fuel, being 17ft-6inch long on a 10ft wheelbase fitted with RCH either side braking and split oil axle boxes. The tank had a 7ft 2in diameter containing 4275 gallons, and was saddle-mounted with two small platforms on the top.

 

Post-war, around 1947, surplus tank wagons were converted to Class B fitted with heating coils to help discharge of viscous fuel and bottom discharge. All Class A tanks had gone out of service by 1971 with the last B Class tank following in 1973.

 

 

Features of its new models are as follows:

Class A & Class B wagons to be produced

Detailed body shell and chassis

Many separately added fine details, including separate platforms and ladders where appropriate

NEM coupling

Finely profiled wheels (front and back)

Full sprung chassis – a first for OO gauge RTR models

Proposed models are as follows:

(4F-058-001) 14T Tank Wagon Class A Esso Silver 298

(4F-058-002) 14T Tank Wagon Class A Shell BP Silver A7498

(4F-058-003) 14T Tank Wagon Class A Regent (Red Letters) Silver 101

(4F-058-004) 14T Tank Wagon Class A Shell Motor Spirit Silver 7522

(4F-058-005) 14T Tank Class A Lobitos (Blue/ Red shade) Stone 107

(4F-059-001) 14T Tank Wagon Class B Shell - BP Black 5172

(4F-059-002) 14T Tank Wagon Class B Esso Black 1869

(4F-059-003) 14T Tank Wagon Class B Shell - BP Black 5133

(4F-059-004) 14T Tank Wagon Class B Shell Esso Black 1914

(4F-059-005) 14T Tank Wagon Class B Berry Wiggins Black 101

[Cwmtwrch]

I presume from the number on 4F-059-004 that it is Esso rather than Shell-BP?

[Pre Grouping fan]

3 hours ago, Cwmtwrch said:

I presume from the number on 4F-059-004 that it is Esso rather than Shell-BP?

 

I would assume so given the number is in line with this one. https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/wagon/1921.html

 

Liking the look of the wheels and suspension. Definitely going to order one of these to renumber to the above wagon if the livery is right. 

[Wickham Green too]

Has anyone managed to compile a list of appropriate dates for these ? - I know three aren't right for my 1948 layout but .........

[Dunsignalling]

29 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

Has anyone managed to compile a list of appropriate dates for these ? - I know three aren't right for my 1948 layout but .........

The Shell-BP Class A is in a post-1960 livery AIUI. Most of the rest (assuming they match the ones Dapol have done in O gauge) would seem to be a bit earlier, but perhaps not quite early enough for you. 

 

When first sold off by the Ministry, didn't they just have their new ownership indicated in smallish plain lettering initially, with the full corporate regalia being applied as they needed repainting?

 

John 

[Gilbert]

3 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

The Shell-BP Class A is in a post-1960 livery AIUI. Most of the rest (assuming they match the ones Dapol have done in O gauge) would seem to be a bit earlier, but perhaps not quite early enough for you. 

 

When first sold off by the Ministry, didn't they just have their new ownership indicated in smallish plain lettering initially, with the full corporate regalia being applied as they needed repainting?

 

John 

I think the Berry Wiggins tank wagons were around for a while longer but I'm not certain...

[markw]

1 hour ago, Wickham Green too said:

Has anyone managed to compile a list of appropriate dates for these ? - I know three aren't right for my 1948 layout but .........

For 1948 you want prefixes to the numbers, so only the class B Shell/BP is appropriate.

[Wickham Green too]

Ah well, that's a start anyway .......

[gwrrob]

A poor quality photo of a sample was taken at Warley today.

 

[Mark Hamlin]

Does anyone know how these are coming along?

[wainwright1]

On 26/11/2022 at 10:15, AY Mod said:

Dapol reveals EP samples of a new announcement for 4mm:1ft scale / OO gauge – a two-axle 'tank' wagon.

 

 

Dapol has made public its plans to create RTR models of the Class A and Class B conversions of the 14T Air Ministry tank wagons for OO gauge / 4mm:1ft scale.

 

World of Railways was given early access to assess plans for the models during a recent factory visit, and we were impressed by the profiled wheel faces, and its sprung suspension – the latter, a first for a mass-produced ready-to-run item of rolling stock in the scale.

 

The majority of these tank wagons were built between 1939 and 1944 as Class A wagons for aviation fuel, being 17ft-6inch long on a 10ft wheelbase fitted with RCH either side braking and split oil axle boxes. The tank had a 7ft 2in diameter containing 4275 gallons, and was saddle-mounted with two small platforms on the top.

 

Post-war, around 1947, surplus tank wagons were converted to Class B fitted with heating coils to help discharge of viscous fuel and bottom discharge. All Class A tanks had gone out of service by 1971 with the last B Class tank following in 1973.

 

 

Features of its new models are as follows:

Class A & Class B wagons to be produced

Detailed body shell and chassis

Many separately added fine details, including separate platforms and ladders where appropriate

NEM coupling

Finely profiled wheels (front and back)

Full sprung chassis – a first for OO gauge RTR models

Proposed models are as follows:

(4F-058-001) 14T Tank Wagon Class A Esso Silver 298

(4F-058-002) 14T Tank Wagon Class A Shell BP Silver A7498

(4F-058-003) 14T Tank Wagon Class A Regent (Red Letters) Silver 101

(4F-058-004) 14T Tank Wagon Class A Shell Motor Spirit Silver 7522

(4F-058-005) 14T Tank Class A Lobitos (Blue/ Red shade) Stone 107

(4F-059-001) 14T Tank Wagon Class B Shell - BP Black 5172

(4F-059-002) 14T Tank Wagon Class B Esso Black 1869

(4F-059-003) 14T Tank Wagon Class B Shell - BP Black 5133

(4F-059-004) 14T Tank Wagon Class B Shell Esso Black 1914

(4F-059-005) 14T Tank Wagon Class B Berry Wiggins Black 101

When first introduced, would these wagons be painted in an RAF or War Department livery for war time use ?

Did any end up at Longmoor ?

Many thanks

Ray

[Cwmtwrch]

53 minutes ago, wainwright1 said:

When first introduced, would these wagons be painted in an RAF or War Department livery for war time use ?

The first batch were delivered before the war and were initially in the then current Class A livery of stone with a red horizontal band on the tank and everything from the solebar downwards in black. Later batches were delivered in grey with red solebars and black running gear, and the earlier ones were repainted to match. Buffer beams could be grey or black. The Petroleum Board operated all petrol tanks during WW2, including those requisitioned from the trade and those added new during the war, which were owned by the Air Ministry. All carried a single traffic star; the colour of this, and the lettering, varied according to the shade of grey. If you can obtain a copy of Modellers' Backtrack Vol.3 No.2  this includes part 1 of an article by Peter Fidczuk which covers these tanks [you can ignore part 2 which deals with their post war use].

[Mark Saunders]

It will be interesting to see if the chassis is used to go under any of the acid tanks produced during the war, see photos  https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/?q=Bishopton

 

The chassis appeared under various internal user wagons after the tanks were withdrawn from mainline use.

[gwrrob]

On 24/06/2023 at 02:45, Mark Hamlin said:

Does anyone know how these are coming along?

 

These completely slipped my mine when I visited their stand last weekend. There's been no updates on their website for these at all.

[Wickham Green too]

On 04/07/2023 at 11:49, Mark Saunders said:

It will be interesting to see if the chassis is used to go under any of the acid tanks produced during the war, ...

The chassis was an absolutely bog-standard RCH design - apart from attachment points - so should be adaptable for all sorts of vehicles .............. including WW2 acid tanks.

[Mark Saunders]

2 hours ago, Wickham Green too said:

The chassis was an absolutely bog-standard RCH design - apart from attachment points - so should be adaptable for all sorts of vehicles .............. including WW2 acid tanks.

 

I hope that it is better than the revised Peco/Parkside kit chassis as the mounts are moulded into the solebar, making it unsuitable for mineral wagons!

[Dunsignalling]

8 hours ago, Mark Saunders said:

 

I hope that it is better than the revised Peco/Parkside kit chassis as the mounts are moulded into the solebar, making it unsuitable for mineral wagons!

 

The Air Ministry tanks were 10' wheelbase, so these won't be suitable for mineral wagon adaptations anyway!

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Dunsignalling

[Mark Saunders]

1 hour ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

The Air Ministry tanks were 10' wheelbase, so these won't be suitable for mineral wagon adaptations anyway!

 

 

Many of them were rebodied as minerals for use by the NCB in South Wales, Kent and also Yorkshire.

[Dunsignalling]

5 minutes ago, Mark Saunders said:

 

Many of them were rebodied as minerals for use by the NCB in South Wales, Kent and also Yorkshire.

So the Mainline, Dapol etc. 16-tonners aren’t entirely fictitious, then! 😀

[Mark Saunders]

35 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

So the Mainline, Dapol etc. 16-tonners aren’t entirely fictitious, then! 😀

 

The only thing wrong is the top flap doors as there was a small batch of Palbricks rebodied on this size chassis!

[hmrspaul]

2 hours ago, Mark Saunders said:

 

The only thing wrong is the top flap doors as there was a small batch of Palbricks rebodied on this size chassis!

https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/mineralmcv10ft

 

And, as Mark is alluding to,  there are plenty of the NCB (and similar) conversions in https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/internaluser 

 

Paul

[The Johnster]

I came over all unesseccary for a moment there, Paul, thinking I'd found another variant to include in my mineral fleet as an easy workup from a Dapol 1/106 after having avoided these as untouchables for years, but these 10'wb minfits didn't appear apparently until the 70s, twenty years too late for my layout!  Be still my beating heart...

 

Ok, not that still; nurse, bring the defibrillators again!

[gwrrob]

On 27/09/2023 at 20:07, gwrrob said:

 

These completely slipped my mine when I visited their stand last weekend. There's been no updates on their website for these at all.

 

It's been very quiet on the progress of these but hopefully I'll remember to ask them at Warley.

[Mark Saunders]

22 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

 

It's been very quiet on the progress of these but hopefully I'll remember to ask them at Warley.

 

I received this reply to an email recently!

 

"Deco samples are under evaluation, photos/news update will be published when we have finished preparing it. The models are likely to be here sometime during Q1 2024."