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Has anyone fitted dcc to one yet? I'm keen yo see what the lighting looks like. I think I read somewhere that both marker lights are illuminated? Must admit I'm more comfortable with it now I know the 'no gap' coridoor connections are included. Once someone cracks how to fully hide the internal wiring and fit some kind of interior, I think it'll be more than acceptable. The shape issues are minor to my eyes.

So basically Dapol have lied about the spec? Taken from their own forum/digest: All model features remain the same: Pickup from both axles in both cars Low profile motor Dapols unique 'No-Gap' corridor connector The corridor connection is the worst of all. It works fantastically in the 156. No way is a gap like that acceptable. I'm cancelling mine.

Yep it looks to have no interior at all in the Hattons images, a bit disappointing. Looking forward to seeing some higher resolution close up images when they start to filter through. Unfortunately as I've got Northern ones on order and with DCC fitted, I'll still be waiting a while for mine.

I understood they would only require 1 DCC decoder as the couplings are able to transfer power between vehicles? The price uplift for a DCC-fitted model (around £21) suggests only one decoder as well. It says Digital Ready (NEXT-18 socket) on the Hattons website. I'm not well versed on the benefits of next 18 over the older 6 pin decoders? Do they offer additional functionality or reduced size, there must be a reason for the change? Interestingly, the photo of the box on the Hattons website also shows that the model is shown as suitable for use on 1st radius curves. Not that I would ever plan any into a layout, but it's good to know it can do it if it needs to. I thought tight corners might be problematic with fixed axles.

Lets not exaggerate. A third batch based on current timings should be ready by around 2035 In all seriousness, despite all the delays, I think Dapol might be onto a winner with the timing of these arriving. Whilst they are almost universally disliked by everyone that uses them, including enthusiasts, now that they are in their Indian summer there is a heightened interest in them and I expect the Northern livery in particular to fly off the shelves. Strong chance of the second batch featuring the original BR provincial blue & GMPTE grey, based on demand in this thread.

Don't worry, I reckon they'll be a certainty for the second batch. They're due in 2027

Both those models went into production, and have a far more restricted area of operation than the 91/mk4's do?

What's happened to the TPE Class 350 from the '2018' range ??

Just spotted what looks like a Class 50 undecorated sample next to the 68's. It looks to be the same size - were the 68's 'n' gauge or 'OO'? Be interesting if they were, as it appears, 'n' gauge, as the liveries on show haven't been confirmed for 'n' yet.

The finish on the pacers looks to be much improved, these are definitely different to the hand finished samples seen previously. Hope they are production spec, they look great!

I think model manufacturers are cut way too much slack on here. Think of any other industry where it would be acceptable to announce a product in 2011 and not have it available for purchase until 2018? Most cars only have a life cycle of 6 years before they were refreshed. You could still buy a new mk2 Focus in 2011, and now the mk4 is due out any day now. Delays and issues happen along the way, I get that. Anyone saying Dapol have been transparent throughout the process must be on a different planet to me. They have given the bare minimum information and even then only when pushed for it. The real Class 68 wasn't even on the radar in 2011 yet they have delivered an impressive model of that in two scales and in much less time. It's fairly clear that the Pacer and other projects have been pushed down the pecking order by more lucrative models. Good business yes, and we all want to see manufacturers be successful, but a bit unfair for people who are awaiting the announced models in good faith.

Any news on the potential 'spare' units to be sold off, or have they all been required for replacements?

Finally got the weathering/detailing finished on my 390005. Hard to show it in photos due to the size of it, so here's a (fairly poor quality) video...

You do yourself an injustice, my first respray attempts were very crude. I've been learning on and off for around 5 years and I couldn't do a better job than you've done on that 86, looks great! A fair bit of masking there too. Looking forward to hopefully seeing the layout develop in due course. Sounds an interesting idea.

Strange indeed. They asked on their digest what people wanted to see and Swallow came up time and time again, as they flew off the shelves on the first run and now fetch silly money on ebay. For some reason they opted not to run with it! The timing and co-ordination of their releases is frustrating. This is a prime example, there is currently plenty of stock of Swallow liveried mk3's that could run with a Swallow 86. Yet they've just released a new batch of FGW, Grand Central & EMT mk3's, but you can't get the power cars to go with them...

You're 100% right, but I still wish I'd ordered one !!

Love your work Jeremy but please stop posting photos of your 390104 - I umm'd & ahh'd for ages about whether I could justify two or not, and in the end just got a plain one. I've now got serious non-buyers regret!! Looks great.

Thanks Ben. It's not a quick job by any means, but an enjoyable one. When I'm next on the laptop I'll share some of the roof images I've been using as a reference, they were hard to track down and will hopefully help others. How good are the pans on the pendo by the way? They look great. I know they aren't 100% accurate for other applications but I may have a go at popping the spares onto some of my other models, the Farish 350 being a prime candidate.

This video of 390042 leaving Glasgow illustrates the roof dust to good effect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN92KwdhOJQ

I wouldn't - Revolution will contact the customer directly if there is a problem. If there isn't a problem, then I'm sure it'll arrive soon. I've made a start weathering my 390005. I spent a long time looking at photos, particularly of the roof as this the hardest element to get right. I've noticed when observing the real thing, the two end vehicles next to the pantograph get coated in a greeny-brown dust from the OHLE. This is because they generally run with the rearmost pantograph up, so the trailing deposits land on the vehicles behind. If you look at the vehicles between the two pantographs, they are often cleaner, or if they are dirty it is less green in tone. Whilst looking at images, I also noticed some of the insulators around the pantograph are red, and the wires connecting them are black, so I picked those out with a very small brush. I attempted my usual wash to highlight the panel gaps, but it wasn't having much effect. The relief is very fine on the Pendolino and the thinned paint was just wiping off. Eventually, I found that slapping on thick dark grey paint, before rubbing off with a paper towl, gave the desired effect. Once I'd completed the 'wash' on vehicles A-C (it's a big train, so I'm doing it in 3 sections of 3), I got the airbrush out. Pleasingly I found a shade I was happy with quite quickly for the green carbon deposits, basically adding a bit of Humbrol 159 Khaki Matt to a base of Humbrol 29 Dark Earth Matt and it was spot on. I also applied a layer of Humbrol 29 to the underframe & bogies. Still got some other tones to mix in, and the rest of the train to complete, but attached is how it's looking so far.

Difficult to tell, as I have around half a dozen droppers on my test circuit so a power car will never be more than a few cm closer to a supply source than the other. I think tweaking the speed CV's for each power car would be the best way to solve it, but it would involve a lot of trial and error. I will give it a go at some point.

I've managed to solve my jerky running at low speed. I found a website with tips on CV settings to cure lumpy running. One of the tips was the CV54 setting which is described in the Pendolino manual, which didn't seem to offer any change on my model. Another tip was to change CV52 to 127. I did this and it made it ten times worse. Not knowing the default value, I changed it back to zero and then as if by magic, my Pendolino started to crawl silky smooth with no grinding noises or lurching. I now have the problem others have described, a slightly more dominant power car. It's not as straightforward as it seems either, as the performance gap is different depending on the speed. It's something to look into another day, but for now I'm just pleased to have it running properly.

I haven't tried creating a consist, but I did try running both driving cars uncoupled on a loop (both with 1 coach for extra pickup). It didn't take long for the more powerful one to catch the weaker one. The bigger issue for me is the very rough running at low speed. This seems to affect both driving cars (but one is worse than the other). I've ran it for at least 2 hours in each direction and it has improved markedly, but still nowhere near as smooth and quiet as a Dapol 86 which I've been benchmarking it against. I'm at a dead end with it now. I'm inpatient to get the airbrush on it and weather it, but reluctant to do anything to it as I'm not 100% happy with the performance yet.

Mine arrived yesterday. Big thanks again to everyone involved, it's hard to believe that two individuals started from almost nothing to make a product so professional looking. The packaging is superb. It's difficult because I have a lot of respect for the job that's been done, but there are a couple of details which I think would be picked up on if another manufacturer produced them. The chassis block in the driving cars is silver, and through the smoked glass it looks copper! I am going to place some black electrical tape over the inside of the glazing to remedy this. I also thought I'd remembered reading in the original specs that the model would be with etched nameplates? It's possible this decision was reversed and I missed it, it is a long thread! This next one is not a problem with the model as such, but possibly a problem with my particular model. Is anyone else using a Gaugemaster Prodigy Express controller? I'm finding speed setting 2 onwards is very smooth, but at setting 1 the power cars lurch and stutter forward whilst making a noise like a cement mixer. One is worse than the other. Have checked for obvious obstructions in the gears but all looks fine. The power cars almost don't run at all on their own, they need to be coupled as a 5 car set or more. This is on a small oval of clean track. This makes me think it could be a pickup problem? Either way, setting off smoothly is very difficult. I'm sure the Revolution guys will be busy posting out the remaining models, so I would appreciate hearing anyone elses experiences before pinging them an email.

Enjoyed looking at the Pendolino models on the Revolution stand at York today, the first time I've seen the production models and I was very impressed. The 92 is looking excellent as well! Can't wait for my 390005 to arrive now...