Montafon

Out and about on the internet I saw this; football and railway related so I assume this is the right thread!

http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/electric/1047/010/aranycsapatlok1.jpg

http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/hu/electric/1047/010/aranycsapatlok4.jpg

This might just look like another gaudy golden Euro-toaster, but apparently the faces are the Hungarian "Golden Team" (Aranycsapat) of the 1950s that won the Olympics and then beat England 6-3 and 7-1. If you look closely it seems they've put these scores on the roof, very cheeky. ;-)

Absolutely Multiprinter, I loathe "like" (and "oh my god") scattered at random into every sentence, usually by 14 year old girls who aren't taught any better, but hearing it from twenty-somethings I despair for the future of humanity.

Also "fair enough" as a lazy answer to a carefully considered opinion makes me want to wallop the speaker.

I see there are lots of new Dapol Intercity Swallow Mk3s with buffers in the shops, under the numbers NC-212A and B. Does anyone know if they have the correct darker roof colour?

Perhaps it did this and so everyone else is scared of it...

http://www.bahnbilder.de/name/einzelbild/number/462471/kategorie/deutschland~gueterwagen~teleskopdach--und-schiebeplanenwagen.html

Regards ;-)

No, but the Fleischmann locomotive does cost almost twice the price of the 4-car HST. I'm sure that for £300 Dapol could produce a HST model to the same standards as Fleischmann, but how many people would buy it?

That's not quite fair on Fleischmann. The latest Fleischmann electric (BR 182 Taurus) can be had for £130 new from a UK shop, and there are buy-it-now new BR 146s on a certain online auction website for £90 including postage from Germany. I reckon a Fleischmannesque HST would be around £200, but it certainly wouldn't have cost Dapol anything like that much more to "go European" with the windscreen!

Here are some (fairly dire) photos of my new arrival on the track. It absolutely shouts HST at me! The directional headlights are really neatly done and DCC installation was so simple because the bodyshell comes off easily, during the course of which I noticed that part of the chassis is made from some amazingly flexible plastic which makes it even easier to dis/reassemble. I must confess I didn't actually notice anything wrong with the windscreen on the power car...perhaps I was lucky or perhaps it's just not noticeable when you put the model on a layout.

My verdict: absolutely love all aspects of the model, absolutely hate the colour discrepancy! (Which the camera definitely makes worse though.)

Perhaps Dapol can confirm, but presumably the grey on the next tranche of IC Swallow Mk3s will match the 4-car book set? According to Dapol on Facebook these are on the way in July...

Thanks for the review Jon! Mine is in the post and I can't wait!! It looks like a fantastic model, except the glued in windscreen looks rather rubbish it must be said. I've seen hundreds of Euro N models with accurate glueless clip-in windscreens that never fall out and in far more complicated shapes, perhaps Dapol should buy one and see how they've been doing it for the last thirty years?!

Regarding the grey colour match...unless it looks better to the eye than your camera records it then I've got a rake of five useless ones I've got to flog on ebay...not that anyone else will want them. Presumably when Dapol get round to the Buffet/Restaurant coach that will be an entirely different grey again, or at the very least will sit awkwardly amongst the older lighter grey ones too.

The complete HST will be my first and last Dapol purchase for the next few years I fear until they can get these simple things sorted. The HST should really be Dapol's flagship model given how iconic the prototype is; it's the one train people who aren't into trains can name (excepting Tornado of course!). So it is a shame that they've put all the effort into the details but then painted parts the wrong colour. The smooth drive mechanism and directional lighting are very welcome though!

It all seems to make sense now. Between 9:20 and 9:35 on Saturday at least the first dozen wagons immediately behind the loco have changed, I can't tell if they shunted them on or off or if they ended up in a parallel dimension, but by 10:25 it was on its way. Of course it might not even be the same loco or train at 9:35!

I'm sure there's an incredibly mundane explanation...

As I type its headlights are on so it might be off at last. Probably something wrong with the paperwork or it needed a path with not many free slots!

Thank you Martin for the review and photos. The HST I have on order from Dapol is my first UK model, do you mean that it needs the gears oiling before use (like the class 67 according to Dapol website) when you say...

Bogies excellent attention to detail, no flash at all. Gearing has a smooth feel and a very low rolling resistance. Go easy on the lube but otherwise they are very realistic.

...what oil did you use please? (I know it sounds a stupid question but I have never had to oil one of my European N models out of the box!)