ash39

Hi Alan, Any mention of the Farish HKA in there? Think they are due next month but strange we haven't seen any samples.

I paid my deposit for a 321 four years ago. Sadly neither my first or second choice liveries have made it to the final cut, but I'll still take an alternative livery as the production samples look great. I understand the reason for the long gestation period of this model. I have no complaints about that, but having waited four years it would not sit well with me if the production was delayed to try and get other liveries over the line. The current uncertainty is not a reason to do this - people have had years to decide if they want one or not. Also there's a very good chance if you took one and then found yourself in financial trouble, you could move it fairly easily without losing any money. EDIT - oh and count me in for a 313 too. Way out of my region of interest but it'd be great fun trying to make one look like this... https://flic.kr/p/2fW9BuT

I considered that but won't it just lock the bogie in a fixed position?

No I didn't. Just got them out again to try and get them running. I'm pretty fed up to be honest. I actually bought another GBRf 66 to use as a donor I was so keen to get one of them running, but not only did this also run poorly, but the lighting design is entirely different so even if it did, I couldn't use my 66720 bodyshell on it. I find it hard to believe that everyone that buys a Dapol 66 puts up with the poor running, but I find it equally hard to believe that all three I've bought have been terrible out of the box. Am I expecting too much? Do they just not do low speed running without stalling? My HSTs, 67s, 68s, 86s and 156s are faultless, is it just the extra inertia of the co-co arrangement?

I've just umboxed my two pocket wagons for the first time. One of them is perfect, but on the second one the bogie falls out. The plastic retaining lug doesn't sit tight in the pivot hole. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a simple fix that I can perform at home? I'm reluctant to post it back in the current situation, feels like an unnecessary visit to the post office. Thanks

Thanks Nigel - I will get in touch!

Before I go any further I should say this is totally my fault and I'm a bit of an idiot. I was setting up a test loop in a hurry and accidentally wired the program and main feeds into each other, resulting in smoke pouring from the base station. I left it for half an hour to cool down, and then connected it up correctly. It worked correctly, I could drive and control a loco, but after 30 seconds or so the smoke began to emit from the base station again. I suppose my question is am I better off trying to get the Express repaired (it works fine for my needs) or should I write it off as a mistake and use it as an opportunity to upgrade? Being fairly inexperienced with electrics, I'm not sure what the scale of the damage I've caused will be and whether it's a cheap or easy repair. Thanks

Apologies, must have missed that post. Good to know!

Am I correct in assuming that the omission of the Class 92 from the latest newsletter means these are still in production with no ETA?

Are we likely to see the same range of liveries on the 2mm version further down the line? The 3D print looks fantastic. Impressed. This is going to be expensive

Though I don't have a personal interest in this particular decision, I would tend to veer towards the opposite view. Purely based on the fact that it is simpler to spend 5 minutes with some T-cut removing the logos than it would be to source the transfers for something (in this instance at least) that is very obscure and unlikely to be readily available.

Stop releasing stuff I want! A carmine & cream and spotty ScotRail 6-car mixed set would be hard to resist.

91108 is withdrawn. It was handed back to the leasing company by LNER on 31st July. It's currently sat in Doncaster West Yard - pantograph down. Most likely forever...

A TPE one would be very popular given they will appear alongside 68's & Mk5's in the near future. I'd actually go for a plain white 800001 - can just about justify it under my 2015-16 era!

Appreciate it's still very early days, and price etc will have to wait until you get quotes for the design, but has any further thought been given to how to how the locos/coaches/DVTs will be split up for ordering? I think the way it's executed could have a big bearing on the success of the project. For example, I don't expect this would be the case, but if the only option was to buy a full 9 coach set in a chosen livery, I'd personally probably order 2x Virgin/LNER and that'd be all. If there was the option to buy separate locos/DVTs, I'd probably end up with 4/5 Class 91's, 2 sets of stock and 3 DVT's. Any additional locos in one off liveries would no doubt tempt many people too, even as rule 1 purchases. 91110 and 91111 being obvious candidates

If those are a good fit for the Dapol chassis, I'd be very tempted to give it a bash. My only issue with 3D prints is the glazing, I can't think of a way you could make a decent job of it.

Bit of a crude unfinished shot from the workbench but adding a 'false' tumblehome with an airbrush, to my eyes at least, improves the model massively. I expected the sides to look less slab sided but I'm actually more pleased with how it's improved the face.

Great watch, really exciting to see this moving forward. Flying Scotsman DVT and loco would make a nice twin pack... though I was always more of a fan of the purple version.

Great watch, really exciting to see this moving forward. Flying Scotsman DVT and loco would make a nice twin pack... though I was always more of a fan of the purple version.

For all their naysayers, Dapol found the best solution for coridoors on their N gauge 156. It works perfectly.

It's a tricky call. I'd usually say to satisfy the most potential buyers, go with the variant which had the longest lifespan, but in the case of the coach doors I think it's pretty even. Circa' 96-01 for the blue doors and 01-07 for the red doors. The branding is a bit of a non-issue. The GNER lettering was gold from pretty early on, and if someone really wanted the silver/white variant they could use transfers. Still think East Coast should be added to the list... even though I seem to be the only one championing it at the moment! It's not a particularly exciting livery, but it gives the scope to run the transitions between GNER-EC & EC-Virgin.

I would split the packs up like thus... 91 - singular pack. People may want more locos than rakes of mk4's (I would) Coach pack 1 - allows a 4-coach + DVT formation DVT Coach M - PO Coach H - SV Coach C - TO Coach B - TOE Coach pack 2 - forms complete 9 car set Coach L - POD Coach K - PO Coach F - TOD Coach E - TO Coach D - TO That would work for National Express, East Coast, Virgin and LNER era... earlier times may be more complex with the different formations available

Wow, potentially a very expensive announcement for me I would consider adding GNER & East Coast to the liveries produced. I understand the need to keep things simple with crowdfunding, but 4 liveries in total wouldn't be anywhere near as complex as the myraid of liveries proposed for the Revolution 321. For me personally I'd like to model the 2015-2016 era where the changeover from East Coast to Virgin took place, so I'd be looking at ordering a full rake in East Coast, a full rake in VTEC/LNER, then a mix of locos to haul both sets. I also think you'll get a lot of requests for the special liveries on 91110 and 91111, I'd probably be tempted by 110.

Playing devils advocate here... on what grounds is the TPE mk5 set more mainstream than, for example, a Pendolino? I think they will sell more mk5 sets than Pendolinos, as they are smaller, likely to be considerably cheaper and loco hauled trains will always be more popular than units, but they are objectively a lot less mainstream than a Pendolino. Wider scope of operation and 50+ units versus 13 sets of mk5s....

Northern livery does look spot on to be fair. I wonder if that means it won't match their 153 from a few years ago though? They ought to re-run the 153 and 156 in Northern liveries - take advantage of sales off the back of the pacers. Anyone know how long it'll be for the DCC fitted versions?