bluex5

It's an excellent "first" detailing project. You've pretty much covered all the bases with your plans, I'd also probably do the roof fan as well. I've done three Lima 40's but never did the window surrounds or fan, although I plan to do a Lima / Bachmann hybrid at some point in the future which will get "the works".

Excellent service. It's not the first time Dave has intervened personally to solve an issue either.

I need lots of B1's. The Bachamnn one is "good enough", it's a B1, an anonymous mixed traffic loco - I want something that reflects the prototype visually (which the Bachmann one does pretty well, see Coachmann's post above), It's a loco I need to create part of the scene I model rather than a loco I have any great affection for to the point where it has to be 100% accurate, so I'll keep the extra £30 tucked away, thanks.

Fair point. Just that I always associate the Maunsell sets with the Swanage and Lymington branches which are pretty iconic locations.

This announcement is commonly know as "giving the people what they want". There has been a requirement for a nice push pull set ever since the SR invasion started, especially with models like the M7 needing something prototypical to pull. Personally I'd of liked a Maunsell set, but the LSWR one is just as usefull and should make for one hell of a model if Dapol / Kernow do their homework.

Yes. They were all sent back to Vulcan's in original condition and all emerged with the TTG / SYP / 4 character headcode panel configuration.

Well Coach's pics sum it up pretty well. Amazing models.

Heljan aren't making a Class 16 just to troll RMwebbers! Funnily enough they are making models in order to turn a profit, and they have enough experience by now (15/17/23/28) to know that pilot scheme stuff sells. Out of the list you gave the only one I can see happening is the 55 if Heljan do the usual and recycle the underpinnings developed for DP2 under something simillar.

D8233 has a proper Paxman engine sourced from a stationary generator set, so it should make all the right noses when done.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blue-diesels/2437610744/

It would appear that the popularity of the Class 23 and the fact that the first batch of Dapol 22's will probably be endangered species after this weekend leads me to one conclusion. Sir, you are wrong. DMU's leave me cold but each to their own, I certainly wouldn't complain that Bachmann's Derby Lightweight is a waste of time, yet it fulfills all the criteria you use to criticise the decision to make models of most of the pilot scheme diesels, being geographically limited and having quite a short working life. To me your post smacks of sour grapes, sorry.

The lower bodyside is a a pretty good match for Sherwood green, rather than the "Yellow Green" used on the Type 5's and Hymeks.

From what's been written in this thread I'm surprised you were able to recognise what class the models in the blue box were supposed to represent Joking aside, I don't need any more but I would be tempted if they ever did decide to do an "unrebuilt" one.

If something is dimesionally wrong, then let's quanitify it in numbers or with side by side shots of the model and prototype. Anything else is purely subjective and proves nothing.

I have mine now and I still think it's just the font at fault. Other than that it's perfect. Runs beautifully too.

Just had an email from a certain retailer telling me mine is on the way.

From what I've read the real thing were a mixed bunch, possibly down to the mood NBL was in on the day a particular loco was built. Some examples had availability almost on a par with any other type 2, others were lucky to get off shed without a galaxy of fault lights appearing. The UK manufactured transmissions and prime movers certainly didn't help matters, although the same can be said of all the Hydraulics.

I think it is right but i stand by my analysis of the transition to get there. On the prototype (and the Alexander kit) the transition is on a flat horizontal plane whereas Heljan seem to of interpreted it as a sloping slightly away from the cab window towards the nose. Might be mileage in the theory about the size of the glazed area on the headcode blind being underscale though.

I'm not convinced there is anything wrong with the dimensions of the headcode box. I think it's a combination of the aneamic font used on the blinds and the fact that full yellow ends look so awful on this loco. I am certain that the transitional radius between the body side and bonnet top is too shallow though, but it's not a major howler compared to some of the errors perpetuated in so called "state of the art" diesel models.

I think the font doesn't help, however there does appear to be an issue with the radius of the transition between the top of the nose and the vertical bodyside. It looks much sharper on the prototype than Heljan's interpretation, and on the model it appears to slope slightly, although I'll reserve judgement untill I get my hands on one.

Probably not. Just that some of the solutions are easier on the eye than others.

Received mine today. Good points - looks like a Cobo, brief test run on straight DC shows a silky smooth if slightly rumbly sounding chassis. There is a hell of a lot of underframe detail present. On mine there were a couple of issues - a lamp iron MIA which luckily turned up in the plastic tray the loco comes in, and some damage to the sand pipes (one broken, one at a very jaunty angle). There are paint flaws / wear marks on the edge of the bottom middle disc bracket on both ends, possibly caused by rubbing against the plastic in transit, the GFYE example above is showing signs of this too. The lighting is crap, only the centre lights (on the end door) have any brightness and there is light bleed all over the place, things might improve with the various discs installed. Despite these flaws, I like it alot, the shape seems spot on and it's got bags of character. Roll on the D5900's.

You speak like it's not a million miles away from prototype fidelity, rather than being a rough approximation of an EE Type 5. While I'm ranting - the headcode panel is too small as well....

Because that's what they do. The cab "peak" on the D1000 and now the boiler exhaust on DP2 were all spotted immediatley on the first pics, and we all know how that worked out (off topic but I am willing to bet the DP2 issue stays the same on the production model, not that it's quite as serious as an obvious body shape faux pas). By the time they show any mouldings to the press or public they have already cut metal on tooling and hence have no real desire to scrap the tool and start again.

It's not like there isn't plenty of source material to work from either. Thing is people were pointing out some of the errors right from the first shots of the bodyshell being released, and Heljan, as per previous, disregarded the views of people who know what shape a Deltic is and made it to that tooling anyway.