DapolDave

Hi Geoff, Great question, it's because i wanted to expand the number range of available models and not just keep producing the same number range in different liveries. cheers Dave

Hi Taz, good call, and i agree in retrospect. cheers Dave

Hi chaps, formulating my plans for the disc front class 22 and wanted to throw this past you. Would not having 'eyebrows' above the cab front windows be a deal breaker for you? I ask because if possible (and i'm still checking) i'd like to do D6311 Green SYWP (and this has the brows), D6332 Green with SYWP (not rectangular but peaked panel), D6322 Green SYWP with larger (wider) SYWP, and lastly D6325 Green no yellow warning panel. Thoughts and opinions please, and please take into account that these numbers arent locked down or publicised so feel free to suggest alternatives if you want. cheers Dave

Hi Neal, Can you send it directly to me please and I'll sort it immediately for you? Cheers Dave

Dont forget we are announcing some new items at Ally Pally, so maybe the wishlist might come true (partly) ;-) cheers Dave

Hi Mr D, Dont worry as we aim to make the signal range a permanent stock feature. The only thing is that at the start it might take a little while for stock levels to even out and allow us to get a 'handle' on production runs. Cheers Dave

Bracket signals are currently being designed in both gauges, but as you can imagine its slightly more complex than normal posts. I have also started to design southern signal posts "ladder type" as well, and I have figured out how to mould them as that would have been problematic. LNER ones will come, probably right after Southern. Cheers Dave

Hi Martin, Have no fear. We have just doubled the order from China so there should be enough for everyone. However if I hear that they cannot produce the extra immediately because of established production schedules I'll let you know here. Cheers Dave

Hi chaps, i can confirm 2 things, 1) That the GWR and LMS posts will be for sale fom Dapol stockists who have orderd them a few days before Ally Pally show in 2 weeks time. 2) That we are finalising the design for round post signals as well. Cheers Dave

Hi Jon, The conversion kit is having metal cut as i type this, and we are just about to start cutting metal on the short and long arm magnetic couplers. I think they will be available about late May. cheers Dave

Hi guys, The wait is over. The cad/cam has been altered to include the windscreen wipers, the roof panel having the detail on the wrong side, and the panel on the batterybox being non hinged with screw holding it in place. I have authorised metal cutting on this beast.........not sure about a debut at DEMU, but we'll try. Cheers and thanks to everyone concerned for your invaluable help. Dave

Hi Charlie, the body unclips, and the DCC board is right on top f the chassis one end of the motor. cheers Dave

Hi Mark, Spot on regarding limitations of moulding, undercuts etc. Shame but I hope not too detrimental to the overall model. Cheers Dave

Hi Mark & Nidge, Thanks for the comments..............now for something completely different.............I'm still tempted by DP2 to this standard, or even a class 43. Might be nice to have these run concurrently with the 29 methinks! But wait! What's that? New OO announcements in the 2012 catalogue? Hmmmmmmmmmm ;-) Cheers Dave

Hi Tromans, Just as you were typing the mail above i received the cad/cam from China. And here it is. However please note that i have only shown the original battery box clip version here, although both it, and the NEM coupler and removable valance are on the other. So chaps, final thoughts please? cheers Dave

Hi Pete, Totally agree.........it's picking up these comments and repeating them that can hurt a models rep even before it's been produced. Nothing I have said or I think that Dapol have done have indicated that they will be "as rare as hen's teeth", so I'm not sure where this has been picked up. Sorry Woodenhead, you've been led up a proverbial on this. Cheers Dave

Hi D1032, Great load of questions, i'll try and answer them all for you. There are no plans to produce a dummy Class 52 in OO or N gauge or even larger ;-) The Motor will be the tried and tested new Dapol motor, which i personally designed for the B gauge range (named 'super creep' due to its silly slow speed). This is the same motor as used in the Dapol class 22, and the Hattons 10000/10001 models. Will it outperform a Heljan? Well its too early to say, but apart from a little extra noise on the 22 (which i'm working on) it should be on a par. Having said that i do like the Heljan models with their running ability. Now, i'm biased, but replacing 50+ Heljan models? all i can say here is vote with your thoughts on looks. I suppose if you want an accurate looking one........................ I better stop now as i'm entering dangerous territory i'd rather others on here entered rather than me. cheers Dave

Hi Douglas, there are no spare bogie frames i'm afraid, but i can do you a clean on. If its any use please PM me here and i'll post one out on Monday. cheers Dave

Hi Neal, I couldnt possible say............. Yet ;-) Cheers Dave

Hi Stu, These were specified to be exactly the same with regards to livery and details as per the powered FL green and triple grey class 86's and they came and went without me getting a chance to look at them. Ironically I didn't specify directional lighting! I will look into this and see if I can get bottles made, painted and shipped over. The ails been sent to HK ( I'm in transit through Paris on the away back at the minute), and I'll report back when I have an answer. Cheers Dave

Ah, the best laid plans and all that, sorry guys. The cad/cam file was 18mb and HK restrictions limited me to 8mb for some reason. Am UK bound now and will post picks after I land before I drag my jet lagged old frame to bed on Monday. Sorry for getting your hopes up. Cheers Dave

Hi Matt, Dapols NEM coupling conversion kit is for a pivoting socket. It's worth noting however that ALL NEM coupler pockets, by dint of the standard, have a form of pivot in them, caused by the 2 pivot 'nodes', above and below that are the pivot points for pocket swing. Only some of Dapol's couplers pivot on arms, others that use the pocket to pivot, such as loco's do not and I presume will be like the NGS pockets, and as such will have no problem working the magnetic couplers. Hope this ramble helps Cheers Dave

Hi everyone, I have finished the cad/cam with the engineer today, and all I now need to do is put it on my laptop , save the bitmap pics, convert to Jpeg and upload here. So, as I'm off for a pint and noodles out here in about 20 mins, I'll post the latest and hopefully last pics here tomorrow morning, that's about 01.00 Saturday morning UK time. Please take a few minutes to take a look and let me know if you think this is "it" and I can authorise metal cutting on Monday? Cheers Dave

Hi everyone, more single pair packs of couplers in at Dapol HQ today and these include spare springs as well. Talking of which we will have spare springs available in a few weeks for those that need them. cheers Dave

Hi chaps, just a quick update from out here. the main meeting was yesterday and we pored over the cad/cam designs and made a discovery and also agreed the changes still needed. The engineer has confirmed his understanding to all points raised and will have a revised cad design with me tomorrow. Interestingly, the gap at the top of the grilles pointed out by Mark were in fact there, however the cad picture shown on here didnt show this correctly, but...............the gap wasnt big enough, plus i noticed that the vanes of the grills were just a little too far up the grill aperture (i hope your still with me) and by lowering them all in the aperture by about 0.05mm brings then down correctly to a height i can live with visually while opening the gap slightly at the top to more of a look akin to the pictures Mark posted (thanks by ther way :-)). All the pipes will be added as well I'll post again tomorrow when i can the new designs. cheers Dave