Harlequin

It's either weary acceptance, too early for most people to have formed their own opinions or not wanting have a go at a manufacturer that is making a decent effort to upgrade a model and provide new variations. But to get the colour black wrong is a bit of a howler...

I guess some issues are more time-consuming to solve than others. It's also possible that they might be trying to find a permanent fix for problems related to the motion rather than simply sending out replacements that might then develop the same problem again. I think we just have to be patient for a while longer.

The GWR Structure Colours book (1912-1947) says this for loco shed doors, in summary: Typically: Below 5ft (or below half height), either black or chocolate (Standard Tint No. 4) Above 5ft (or above half height), Standard Tint No. 2 for the vertical boarding. Frames and any visible ledges and bracing picked out in Standard Tint No.3. The same scheme applied inside and out. If there were fixed timber panels beside the doors the same scheme applied to them. All ironwork, black But there were local variations and sometimes doors would be painted Standard Tint No. 3 all over.

The black moulding is the valve stem and valve stem guide. It should be exactly horizontal (assuming the bogie is sitting on level track) and in the prototype the stem guide is fixed to the upper crosshead guide. It's interesting that it more frequently seems to be the model of No. 97 that shows these problems. Maybe that's just because that version is more popular than the others. Edit: Nope, You can actually see the part bending up and down in AY Mods' video of No. 61 on a rolling road:

In natural daylight: old mogul at the rear, new mogul at the front:

Well, as per your advice to me, you need to see one "in the flesh", if you can. But I would certainly suggest not judging it standalone - you need to have another loco of similar livery alongside. 🙂

I know BR didn't give its inherited steam locos much love but the GWR had pride in it's creations. It's not so easy to use a grime overcoat to hide painting errors on models from that era. Models are most commonly supplied in ex-works condition. That's why coach roofs are white and the copper and brass in the cab gleams. It's always been up to us to weather it down to the desired extent. So either Dapol have got the ex-works black wrong or they are telling us that black was really grey on this loco. Furthermore, I think we can legitimately expect our models not to violently change colour when we photograph them. Just look at @gwrrob's photos if you want a real shock! I'm not happy about this - not sure I can live with it or find a reasonable way to mitigate it.

No, this: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/isbn/9780907036098/

Yes, it's a comprehensive book (but at first glance it doesn't answer the steam heating question). I got a copy from Abebooks.co.uk and as I write this there are 6 copies available on that platform.

Yes, I agree. I can even see the gap in my first batch mogul 6336, but not quite as obvious. I think my "local" model shop is probably the same as CK's since the one in Exeter closed - but it's still a 45min drive away over Dartmoor!

The "black" is definitely not black there, is it! This is not just a camera or lighting artefact - I'm seeing something similar. Edit: To clarify: The model doesn't look anything like that colour in real life, so the camera is affecting the image but nevertheless you can see the difference in colour with your own eyes when the new mogul is stood alongside other locos.

I meant to post some photos of 5350 here, but I posted them in ANTB instead. Here's the link: I said in that post that my smartphone was doing funny things with the colours but I think I was mistaken. It's Dapol doing funny things! Have a look at this: 5350 new batch top left, 6336 first batch bottom right. This difference in colour of the "black" parts is real - 5350 is very obviously dark blue-grey. That's true of all her "black" parts, wheel centres, tender, etc.

Actually, I meant to post those photos in the Prairie and Moguls thread but, heck, this is close enough! Some of the photos are cruel close-ups but they do show that the general fitment of parts could be better, I think. The body doesn't sit down on the running plate as it should The handrail knobs are too big (not unusual for RTR models) but even so some of them have been damaged by the hand rail wire being roughly pushed through them The coal load doesn't sit down properly (not a big deal, just noting it) The cab glazing is a bit wonky and the porthole glazing seems to sit on top of the cab sheet. Not sure what's going on there - I wonder if some of the transparent plastic should have been painted loco green? Or maybe it is painted but we can see inside, behind the paint, because of refraction?

Here are a few shots of 5350, as received, showing some high points and low points: (Please don't worry about the colours - the smartphone is playing it's own game with them!)

"ZS003MG" is the product code for the sound file, not the decoder, but looking at Digitrains website I think it's safe to assume the decoder is one of the new Zimo MS range. The sound project should already have the mapping from F6 to output Aux1 and that really suggests that there is something wrong with your LED installation. With the LED and resistor disconnected from the decoder apply a 9V battery across it with + connected to what would be the blue common return. It should light up. If not then you've probably got the LED the wrong way round so reverse the battery and try again. If it still doesn't light up then the LED has probably blown. Remember that the blue common wire from the decoder is common positive and AUX1 output is pulled down to 0 when you activate it via the Function input. P.S. Trying to do function mapping by setting CVs is like doing keyhole surgery with a knitting needle. To really get to grips with decoder programming it's much easier to use a program like JMRI.

I hope this isn't going to add to the workload of our Moderators! They need every hour to keep on top of the forum and the pesky "ad-techs" who seem intent on annoying us for no good reason.

Sent mine back last Thursday. They probably received it on Monday. No news yet.

I read that the vertical boilers were a problem to operate too: When you opened the firebox door all the hot air that had built up in the firebox disappeared up the chimney to be replaced by colder air and so the ability to generate steam was reduced for a few minutes until the system warmed up again. Firemen learned to build up the fire at scheduled stops and hope that they wouldn't need to fire again during the journey to the next scheduled stop...

Yes, pickups in the bearings and wires up to the main PCB.

I got 5350 with portholes in "Great Western" livery today. (The pre-order was transferred from Hattons to Kernow. Sad that I had to do it but no problems.) It's wonderful that Dapol have produced these older variations and taken the opportunity to address some of the issues with the first batch. Well done Dapol! The only thing slightly amiss on first inspection is that the coal load won't sit down properly. I'll find out why later. Overall she looks good but more later when I've had time to do a proper inspection. Fitting the decoder is a piece of cake and she runs very smoothly, although still a bit too fast by default (about 60mph at 50% throttle).

Sorry if I've missed the sarcasm again(!) but you guys (and you @chuffinghell) do know that the Dapol Autocoach will come with a sound-fitted option, don't you... Ding Ding!

That is the Airfix version slightly updated (mostly in the chassis, I think) but basically the same tooling - that's how old it is! To see how awful it looks in closeup just look at this:

I remember waiting for the original Airfix 14xx. All the hype suggested it was going to be revolutionary and there must have been production problems because it was about a year late, I think. When it arrived in the model shop we had to buy it even though it was more than we could really afford at the time. Driving home with Dad we both felt guilty and excited in equal measure. I was holding this exquisite Faberge egg wrapped in brown paper and we were going to have the justify it to Mum and my sister. Sadly, I don't think it ever ran very well... So when the DJM/Hattons 14xx came out I obviously had to have one, regardless of the fact that I had no layout or even any track at the time! It got me back into the hobby. I was lucky and got two good ones but they are both recalcitrant runners if they've been sat for a while and one makes a horrible grinding noise sometimes...

Yes, exactly. If the DJM/Hattons tooling can't be resurrected economically then there's very little chance of new tooling because that version has ruined the market for many years to come. But the Airfix one is equally atrocious with all those chunky mouldings, the conical steam dome, the visible seams, etc,...

My guess is that they have 48xx under inspection and they won't say anything until/unless they figure out a way to make it work better. We know that the mechanism is a dog and 0-4-2Ts are always difficult to get to balance nicely. So there's a chance that it might be silently consigned to the bin as being uneconomic to fix (which was more or less its state at Hattons, of course)!