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MRA wagons


DapolDave
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If it is the 24th that they hit the shops that could not be better timing for my wallet as it's payday! Seems I've been waiting for these for an absolute age but I'm very sure the wait will have been worth it :)

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Just seen these in my local model shop. They look superb. Was tempted to buy them but will be good and wait for my own Hatton's order!

 

Well worth the long wait. Thanks to Dave and Dapol.

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DapolDave, I got my MRA wagons yesterday and just wanted to say that they were well worth the (long) wait !! The details on the wagons are simply amazing. Without Dapol where would us modern image/infrastructure modellers be?!

Continue the good work and I look forward to getting the other versions in due course.

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Mine finally arrived and I couldn't be happier :). I have to say the tooling is out standing and the weight feels sturdy. I too am looking forward the blue and greynetwork rail version, I just hope production in China gets cracking on them :)

 

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The MRA's have had a weekend exhibition running on Blackmill and have performed well. I found it a bit fiddly to couple and uncouple the set for packing, but on any permanent layout, you'll not normally have to do this. I'll have to see how long the little plastic bar couplers last with use, but as Dapol have very thoughtfully provided spares within the pack, I'm not too bothered.

 

As one other poster has remarked, one of the handbrake wheels had broken off and I took the opportunity to correct a small error with the handbrake wheels, as well as moving them slighly inboard. I presume they are mounted a long way off the bogie to cope with sharp curves (1st radius).

As wagons become more detailed, they will become generally become more fragile - it's something I'm prepared to live with in reward for the extra detail. Incidentally, the handbrake wheels on Bachmann JPA's are also mounted waaaaaay off the bogies and break off for fun!

 

The box repeater number, as highlighted in:

http://www.rmweb.co....ns/#entry470034 hasn't been added, but it's one of those things that means I can do a bit of "modelling" to correct it. I'll have a go at producing some transfers for myself, but I can see an opening for an enterprising manufacturer to produce a full rake renumbering set, as the prototype numbers are so prominent and two sets side by side with identical numbers will look odd IMO.

 

As supplied the handbrake wheels are diagonally opposite - this means that only one bogie moulding is required. However, the wheels should only be mounted on one bogie per wagon. The easy way to spot this is the handbrake should be at the opposite end to the "L" or "R" box markings - the handbrake should be on the left bogie when viewing the right side of the wagon and vice versa for the other side. I cut off the offending handwheel and drilled a small hole on the other bogie, opposing the existing handbrake and glued the wheel back into place. EDIT: The handbrake wheel is glued onto the bogie with the operating rod just inside the triangular cutout.

I also cut off the correctly placed handwheel, redrilled the hole and then remounted the wheel inboard, so it doesn't stick out so much. The fiddly job is to make a triangular shaped hole on the the now non-handbrake fitted bogie. Having said that, I accomplished the whole 5 wagon task in about 30 minutes.

 

Then it was a quick visit to a light dusting of brake dust and then talcum powder the morning after to tone down the inside paintwork.

 

All in all, 9.5/10 and congratulations to Dapol for their venture into wagons of this type and for the money, exceedingly good value for the detail fitted. I eagerly await the blue/fawn NR branded set.

 

I've taken a couple of pics of my weathered wagons, but they haven't come out too well in the evening sunlight! There is still abit more "deatiled" weathering to be done.

 

post-408-0-64905400-1346696706_thumb.jpg

 

Cheers,

Mick

Edited by newbryford
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One other thing, don't extend the opening side flaps too far or the "piston" pops out the cylinder and it a fiddly ###### to get back in!

 

 

Typical bloke - doesn't read the instructions "Beware not to over extend the opening........"

 

:nono:

 

Cheers,

Mick

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Eh, what? You got instructions with yours!

 

Great advice, how far do you go before you get into over extended territory, oh yes, when it falls out .

:sarcastichand:

 

Pete

 

The instructions are under the packaging in the box.

 

Cheers,

Mick

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The bogies on the MRA wagons seem to be very diffrent to the ones on the JNA falcons. A big improvement I say can I ask will Dapol be doing them as an up grade for the falcons in time.

 

The MRA bogies have an extra bit of metalwork where the handbrake wheel fits. This covers a triangular shaped hole - this would need opening out to suit JNA's. It takes a few minutes to do, as per my mod a couple of posts back.

 

MRA AM3 bogie

post-408-0-07019500-1346841031.jpg

 

JNA AM3 bogie

post-408-0-83045600-1346841133_thumb.jpg

 

Cheers,

Mick

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