SuperWHIZZO

Thanks for all the suggestions for fitting the fairing , but as the coupling is not an easy nem pull-out and is screwed in can you gain clean access to the part that appears sandwiched in (I'm talking Bachmann class 42 not the new 43 here sorry I didn't make that clear) can prising off the bottom of the bogie "cover" be the answer to access the coupler plate . I know bogie covers on some models do "flip off" if prised , but I dont want to risk this operation without knowing the out-come. can anyone say if this will cause any damage to the bogie /cover.

Want to remove front coupler and install fairing . Nothing on Bachmann instruction sheet to indicate how to do this .

Mr Colin K . , Cheltenham M.C. will send the model away prior to purchase for sound fitting at Howes of Oxford for an addition of 100 notes, a good saving on their usual price plus no extra tooing and froing postal expenses . The Howes sound is superb no doubt in my mind the best rendition so far of a class 52, the horn noises are bang on

Damians got a lovely layout there.The weathered Kernow Dapol jobs really set it off well,,,and yet ....and yet....(stand by for the almost obligatory Dapol 52 moan}, ...the maroon aint right , Dave sent the Chinese gentlemen Heljan models as a basis for the livery matches which to my eyes (I was a printer for 42 years ,mixing most colours under the sun to exacting tolerances )are pretty good, the maroon one being spot on.The Dapol efforts at the blue and green versions are pretty good , but their effort for every 60`s spotters favourite ,the "maroon" collection is a bit off the mark.Maybe the next batch maybe nearer the mark if the Dave "replacement envoy" to Dapol China could suggest "a colour adjustment" to the maroom version. You never know your luck in a raffle!!

Yes , the Dapol 52 is a head turner- and a head scatcher perhaps not the anticipated dream purchase (for some) as it promised to be. Me ? pleased with the two Ive bought ; so much so Ive had one fitted with the delicious Howes sounds......Nice.........But I also retain a Heljan 52 , these are looking increasingly like value for money, If you can forgive it the cab front "cowl" and the very basic buffer-springing there are aspects of it that capture the essence of a "Western" better than the Dapol model . For a kick off the Heljan 52 is a peerless runner taking all sorts of track in its stride on wheels that are bang on spec. to scale, (as many have mentioned the Dapol 52 wheels looked a bit "under-nourished" even straight out of the box !!) I also prefer the side elevation ,cab-side window arrangement which is so prototypical of how 52`s ran a lot of the time with a window open to combat the huge green-house glass area of the cabs heat and ventilation problems.

Sorry !! Probably wasn`t a capital idea !!

LETS HEAR IT FOR DAVE JONES ,,, WHO I UNDERSTAND VIA TWITTER IS LEAVING Dapol . HAND YOUR CLASS 52 FLAK JACKET IN KID. A BIG PITY THE EXEMPLERARY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE Dapol WHIZZO DOES NOT RESULT IN A MODEL THAT ALTHOUGH (TO QUOTE JOHN McCORQINDALE ??} IS A "LOOKER" IS VERY INCONSISTENT IN TERMS OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION DUE TO POOR QUALITY CONTROL IN MANUFACTURE IN THE FAR EAST.I MYSELF HAVE PURCHASED THE "SWINDON" ENTERPRISE MODEL , AND A GREEN LIVERY VERSION ,BOTH WITH NO RUNNING PROBLEMS,(IF A LITTLE NOISY AT THE "TOP-END" !},AND HAD PURCHASED A CLASS 22 EARLIER WHICH LOOKS AND RUNS GORGEOUSLY , SO I HOPE Dapol SOON GET THEIR PROBLEMS SORTED OUT QUICKLY.

AS nobody has posted for a bit (all quiet on the WESTERN front ?!! ) , may I recommend the you tube channel " letzerinstanz". A recent item features steam model "Western Enterprise in some nice shots on his layout . But the "sting in the tail " of this video is towards the end of it , where the poor assembly issues that seem to have affected some of these early models are addressed.I think myself fortunate that my Ltd edition seems A.O.K. !!

What am I doing in a blue 70`s Western wearing a early sixties pink carnaby street crash-helmet ???!!!

Go to d.c.c. supplies web-site ,click on Dapol spares 00 guage ,click the picture of class 52 ,spares list comes up ,,,jobs a good `un.First class service from these guys.

Yoove gone and done it now !! Opened the flood-gates for gratuitous preservation era /railtour shots on this thread !! I see even a warship has crept into the fray !! Whats the Dapol Western Photo Review coming to !!

Thanks for the feed-back on the black builders-plates- for- Green-Western ive recieved from Silver Fox.Im afraid this question is not fully ``sherlocked`` yet !! I too have said Derek Huntriss book , and indeed green wezzie yeoman has red builders plates in the photographs.But yeoman was built by those guys at CREWE...... Perhaps the three green Swindon ones (which included W. Explorer) initially had the builders plates in black !! Perhaps a baptismal picture of `W.Explorer` outside Swindon Works is the only thing to sort this out (or an explanation from Silver Fox nameplates !! ). p.s. Ive since seen pics of `W.Explorer IN GREEN with red nameplates AND red builders plates but this does not of course mean the builders plates on the three green Swindon locos were not painted black to begin with !!

Hello Western Brainstrust !! Just received some Silver Fox name-plates `WESTERN EXPLORER` to christen my fab groovy 60`s green liveried Dapol Western . The name-plates are correctly RED-background , but the builders-plates are BLACK -ground . Havent seen any photos to substantiate the builders plates being in black at this time . Did they emerge from Swindon works as this ?? Perhaps someone has WESTERN INTELLIGENCE on this one!!