Dapol Britannia

[Dr Al]

Yes the Brit does have the promised 'square axles' for the wheels, so quartering should not be a problem.

 

Thanks Dave, sounds good.

 

Cheers,

Alan

[DapolDave]

Hi everyone,

 

As an aside but equally important to those visiting the International N gauge show this weekend, we have had notification from our famous shipping company that a parcel has been destroyed by an accident on the pan at Dubai International airport.

 

Typically its an important parcel or else we wouldnt have shipped it at great cost on a 48 hour shipping schedule.

 

It contains, 10 Britannia's (5 x William Shakespeare, and 5 x Iron Duke) that we were going to have n display this weekend at the show.

 

Unfortunately this wont now happen, but Britannia will be there amongst some other items.

 

Sorry to dissapoint.

 

cheers

Dave

 

Dapol ltd

[Adam1701D]

The joys of the global marketplace....

[Butler Henderson]

As the lubrication required is limited has a different form of factory applied grease been used as oppossed to that previously which could lock up the mechanism when it dires. Also on the subject of the that locking up grease one thing that I have never been clear about is that once a loco has been lubricated is there any of grease left that can then later on lock up the mechanism. As for the lubrication I use Daywat as I cannot get on with the Dapoil which seems to be far too thin to stay on a pin or bend piece of wire.

[woodenhead]

As an aside but equally important to those visiting the International N gauge show this weekend, we have had notification from our famous shipping company that a parcel has been destroyed by an accident on the pan at Dubai International airport.

 

It contains, 10 Britannia's (5 x William Shakespeare, and 5 x Iron Duke) that we were going to have n display this weekend at the show.

 

Or disappointed 2mm scale modellers with Middle Eastern contacts have found a way to get their hands on these most sought after models when the pre-orders ran out.

 

Ships might be slow, but in those big containers they are much better protected than being at the mercy of baggage handlers. Does this loss of 10 models affect those with pre-orders or were they for free sale at the N gauge show?

[DapolDave]

Hi,

 

please dont worry. These were extra models made for press reviews, and not part of the original consignment.

 

Unfortunately these were the first completed models of our locomotives that are solely made in China for us. (the JNA and IOA plus 2mm 8plank already are) and so we were not masters of our own destiny here.

 

the rest of the consignment are on board ship as i type this and should be with Dapol in a couple of weeks.

 

Hope this helps.

cheers

Dave

[Grovenor]

The Britt's had two different shape domes, one was as per the drawing and the other taller, closer to the Dapol loco shown. The flatter dome was on the later locos,

Actually you got that the wrong way round, the drawing with the very low dome is of the first batch as delivered, due to problems with the regulator the larger dome was soon fitted and later batches had it from new.

Regards

Keith

[DapolDave]

Hi everyone,

 

Just heard through from China regarding the package and its even sadder news i'm afraid and puts thingas into perspective.

 

The package was a total write off because it was on board UPS flight 6 that crashed on approach to Dubai last week after declaring an inflight emergency just after take off en-route to Cologne.

 

2 crew members were killed, and our thoughts at Dapol are with their families at this time.

 

link here for details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Airlines_Flight_6

 

Dave

[orcadian]

Dave,

Thank you for keeping us informed!

As you say, it puts things into perspective - we'll still have the chance to go "Oooh, yes - those are VERY nice!" at a later date, but some families will never be able say "Welcome back!" to their lost ones.

 

Modelling at its highest price, indeed. I'm sure all readers here will join Dapol (and all other organisations and individuals who lost parcels on that flight) in extending their sympathies to those who died trying to deliver the goods.

 

Richard

[sse]

Rest assured that, as i tried to explain to a gentleman this weekend at a show i was attending, we will be producing more of the same as the months / years go on, and we already have ideas for further names / variants (thinking smoke deflectros and tenders here) which will appear in due course. This means that if customers miss out on the initial batch they will be able to buy one (if not the same running number and name) a few months further on.

 

Hi Dave

 

Thanks for your replies. Hattons have around 7 names on their website, not sure how accurate/up to date that is based on the above though!

 

As regards the business plan for limited release, yes it's frustrating but if that is the price to be paid for such improvements in quality then I think it's worth it. My only suggestion would be to reissue batches with the same numbers on occasion for very popular models, otherwise the profit is made by eBay speculators not yourselves.

 

SSE

[Nile]

I saw one of these running on a layout at TINGS today.It looked smooth and ran silent,very impressive.

[romley midland]

I see on the Dapol website they have just despatched the latest new releases, but no sign of the Brit's on that list, any idea when we will see them in the shops?

 

Cheers, Richard

[grahame]

I see on the Dapol website they have just despatched the latest new releases, but no sign of the Brit's on that list, any idea when we will see them in the shops?

 

I understand that the specially commissioned 'Golden Arrow' version ones from Osborns will be the first. Probably best to keep your eye on them.

 

G.

[Roy L S]

At TINGS Dapol said they were a month away, so that would make it sometime around mid-October.

 

Just read the Model Rail review of it, it seems good marks for performance and innovation but let down by too many small "niggles" to usurp the Farish "Black Five" as best British RTR steam to date.

 

Hopefully some of the said niggles can be corrected - to me the horribly thick driving wheel treads need turning down not just blackening (apparently the castings on the test model were rough so maybe that is the intention) and this would improve it in two ways, firstly finer looking wheels more akin to Farish (and less to prewar tinplate!) and second reducing diameter slightly to bring that cab-tender-roof alignment a little closer (Accepting Dapol's reasons as to why they cannot line up completely).

 

Model-Rail's observation about the cross-headed screws holding the rods on is also a fair point - it does look very toylike and to me could so easily be resolved by replacing them with tiny hexagonal bolts and including a little box-spanner with the loco (That would be so cool!).

 

I guess we have to just wait and see how many they can (have?) sort(ed?) out pre-delivery. Seems such a shame to spoil it for a hapenneth of tar so to speak, and as it stands in my humble opinion next to Farish's most recent offerings (BR2 Tendered 4MT Mogul is exquisite) it just isn't a £120 loco.

 

Hopefully enough people disagree with me to make it a big success, but sort out those small points and I would be in - as it is there are just too many to ignore.

 

Roy

[46444]

Evening,

 

I do think this is a superb looking loco and Dapol have captured the lines well on this gracefull machine.

 

As others have pointed however there are a few niggles that standout-namely the driving wheels needing blackening. My personal bug bare that was also picked up in the MR review is the typeface on the nameplates. If Ixion can get the GWR Manor name/numberplate typeface spot on, I'm not sure why Dapol couldn't have achieved this on the Britannia.

 

I'm not sure if Dave can answer this but will this problem be addressed on the initial production run or on later versions?

 

I do like this model and I think Dapol are continuing to push the boundaries of N gauge steam with this release.

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

[Roy L S]

Hi Mark

 

In terms of innovations around the mechanism it cannot be denied that the loco breaks new ground in a number of ways for a British model and fair play to Dapol for that.

 

However although the straight tender-drive is maybe less ground-breaking, in terms of overall finesse I think the latest Farish steam releases are in a different league entirely at the moment. And in that lovely 3MT Tank at last we have a larger tank loco mechanism where running qualities match the looks. Mine runs so quietly and smoothly all you can hear is the "singing" of wheels on rails(With due deference to the excellent running and haulage qualities of the Dapol Terrier in the small tank loco arena).

 

It is great though that there are these two manufacturers in the market, each forcing the other to "raise the bar" and who is to say that the next Dapol release wont force me to eat my above words!

 

Regards

 

Roy

[46444]

Hi Roy,

 

I would probably agree with you on the Farish Standard 3 82xxx-it's a beautiful and well finished loco with that attention to detail that can't be faulted. I'm tempted with one of these though I'm waiting for the Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 to come out myself.

 

Perhaps though if Dapol hadn't raised the bar in N gauge Farish wouldn't have responded with such new products. I personally believe both these manufactures deserve praise for giving the buyer models that could only be dreamt of a few years ago.

 

Dapol was one of the reasons I moved to modern image N gauge from OO modern image and to this day I still marvel at the finish on my Dapol/Kernow Class 153 'St. Ives Bay Belle' and the beauty of the Ixion Manor.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

[Roy L S]

I have to agree with you entirely.

 

But for Dapol entering the Marketplace I very much doubt we would have seen the advances that have taken place.

 

I've got an Ixion Manor too - the plain BR black "Hook Norton Manor" it is another example of just how good things have got in British N these days - it is just superb..

 

Cheers

 

Roy

[grahame]

And in that lovely 3MT Tank at last we have a larger tank loco mechanism where running qualities match the looks.

 

 

I can't agree with that. Although it is a nice model that captures the look well the performance of my 3MT Tank is poor.

 

G.

[Roy L S]

Hi Grahame

 

That is a shame, reviews have been overwhelmingly positive and I cannot praise the running of mine highly enough. I think you must have a "lemon" why not send it back and get a replacement?

 

Cheers

 

Roy

[grahame]

That is a shame, reviews have been overwhelmingly positive and I cannot praise the running of mine highly enough. I think you must have a "lemon" why not send it back and get a replacement?

 

I've read quite a few other reports of poor running with this loco. Some have required the pick-ups to be corrected so it appears to be, at least partially, an assembly issue. I don't think mine is a 'lemon'; it runs better now having fiddled with it, bent things, oiled it and run it in. But it's not perfect and certainly doesn't have peerless performance, as you suggest your one does. It's not as good out the box, or once run-in, as a modern diesel loco - I've learnt to accept that N gauge kettles do not run as well as N gauge D&E locos.

 

G.

[Dr Al]

That is a shame, reviews have been overwhelmingly positive and I cannot praise the running of mine highly enough. I think you must have a "lemon" why not send it back and get a replacement?

 

I agree, my loco is superb. Smooth, excellent slow speed running and excellent haulage capacity:

 

 

Cheers,

Alan

[woodenhead]

I've read quite a few other reports of poor running with this loco. Some have required the pick-ups to be corrected so it appears to be, at least partially, an assembly issue. I don't think mine is a 'lemon'; it runs better now having fiddled with it, bent things, oiled it and run it in. But it's not perfect and certainly doesn't have peerless performance, as you suggest your one does. It's not as good out the box, or once run-in, as a modern diesel loco - I've learnt to accept that N gauge kettles do not run as well as N gauge D&E locos.

 

G.

 

But with the latest tender drives kettles should be as good as d&e models, accepted of course that the 3MT would look a bit odd with a tender drive but mine out of the box is operating better than my tender drive Black 5.

 

Interesting though that such a committed Sarf London d&e modeller owns a 3MT and don't be giving me that steam excursion nonsense.

[Roy L S]

It has occured to me that I have unwittingly contributed to diverting this thread somewhat away from the original topic - the Brit - apologies.

 

As to the 3MT Grahame - yes, it cannot be denied there are a number of reports or assembly problems on some leading to poor pickup which materially affects performance - something to be fed back to Colin Allbright. Having taken the body off mine though, it is very pleasingly engineered and such problems are certainly not in the design itself (It is made to be dismantled - no glue joins etc to break).

 

The general point on D&E running better than steam may also be true overall - there are far fewer technical challenges putting a drivetrain in a "box". That said the latest incarnations of steam from all manufacturers are now very good too and the performance "gap" is closer (Thinking latest Farish models, Dapol B17 and Ixion Manor).

 

Regards

 

Roy

[grahame]

Interesting though that such a committed Sarf London d&e modeller owns a 3MT and don't be giving me that steam excursion nonsense.

 

It's the SR allocated one with white headcode discs.

 

I've got quite a collection of kettles (although none run as well as a modern two bogie D&E loco), some overseas diesels (mainly American and Austrian) and plenty of non-South London BR stock. I'm an N gauge enthusiast and modeller first and foremost so owning decent models is a pleasure. I don't use and offer any of those daft and restricting not my era, region, or favourite colour excuses. If I like it, I buy it, although I'd still like to see more suitable BR/SR stock particularly NSE units become available. B)

 

G.