YesTor

I disagree. Fatalities are part of life, unpleasant and distressing for most of us, absolutely. However, exposure to some of the less appealing aspects of life, ie. by real-life footage (or shock tactics), is often the most effective form of educational video. In other words, "look children, this is exactly what you DON'T do at level crossings!" Shocking? Yes. Harsh? Yes. Valuable lesson learned? Hopefully. Sure, we can follow the alternative option of sugar-coating the facts, but does that approach actually teach us, or our children, anything memorable or of value?

It's hardly the first video of its kind on YouTube. There are hundreds, if not thousands like it.

Agreed, for £83.00 that's a lot of mouded-on 'detail'! For the price I would have expected the detail level to at the very least match that of Bachmann's JJA Autoballaster, for example. "Design Clever", anyone? Or maybe this is the 'Railroad' version... with the full-fat version yet to be announced at a slightly premium price? *cough*

Great, so we are funding the corporate freebies as well!

£83.00 is insane for one wagon. As most modellers are at least going to require a small handful (4 or 5 maybe?), why not simply produce a larger run at a reasonable price?

Agreed, the 'Dutch' yellow definitely appears to be too dark.

Correct me if I'm wrong anyone, but I think that as far as livery application goes that the GBRf variants appear to be the best of the first batch of 73s so far, apart from the yellow warning panels that is...

Hmmm, so the roof on the 'Dutch' liveried version is indeed the wrong colour as per the pre-production sample.

The model itself is truly very nice indeed - very nicely detailed bodywise, grills, bogies, underframe etc. Okay, a few people seem to be experiencing small parts falling off, but this isn't unique to any finely detailed model with lots of small added parts, and is very easily rectified with a few minute drops of superglue. The other issue is buffers glued in at bizarre angles - some pointing inwards, upwards or both! Again not good and disappointing on an otherwise visually pleasing model. As far as running is concerned, and whilst I haven't experienced any specific issues, it doesn't however strike me as the most smooth-running model out there, and also seems a little noisy when compared with say Hornby's 60 or any of Bachmann's standard models. This feels a little disappointing, considering as I seem to recall that Dapol advertised the 73 long ago as having "revolutionary new running characteristics" (or words to that effect). All that said, I have only briefly test run the one model that I now have and it did seem a little 'dry', so maybe some lubrication and additional running will improve things; although I did have in my possession three other 73s, all with similar running characteristics, albeit these have all now been returned to retailers due to the already well-documented livery blunders. So in short... a superb looking model, albeit sporting a laughable number of unforgivable livery errors; whilst running qualities are possibly still open to debate.

Ditto. Well, as nice as the Dapol 73 is visually, there are plenty of other great models out there without ridiculous livery errors. So if Dapol cannot be bothered then I'm afraid neither can I, so I figure I'll spend my hard-earned cash elsewhere. Simple.

I picked up the Olivia's GBRf liveried 73205 and, this is my opinion only of course, this seems to be the best of the bunch so far. However, the warning panel yellow is still clearly the incorrect and very intense lemon shade, which sadly seems to have been used on all versions of the model.

Ahhhh yes, the good old EMD "ying ying ying"... if only we could hear it once more...

Absolutely, there will naturally be those that are happy with the (seemingly inconspicuous) shades used, and of course that's fine, its their choice and good luck to those people. From my own standpoint, if I view the model wearing dark glasses and with eyes closed then it doesn't look too bad... hence the reason my models were returned for a refund.

...sadly anything with Rail Blue is similarly affected it seems.

Hmmmmm, okay, so in the instance of Inter City livery, how does any model manufacturer manage to translate the "Executive Grey" of the prototype to what is quite clearly as-black-as-black-can-possibly-be in model form? Grey is grey and black is black - two totally different colours. Similar scenario with Rail Blue - if Dapol managed to achieve Rail Blue looking to be what seems to be considered, by general consensus, to be 'correct' for their Class 52 'Western', then why-oh-why did they not simply utilise the same colour for any subsequent model produced in Rail Blue? I really cannot see how this can be so difficult? For example, in my own line of work I often have to prepare artwork for printing, and we have standard shades and colours in use, for instance for company logos etc; and the basic rule being, decide upon and approve the standard shade at 'stage one' of the process, and if/when this is approved/deemed 'correct', then be damned certain to keep a record of the "master" shades used for all future reference. From that point onward it is simply a case of referring back to the original documents or/and records, checking and double-checking before the next job goes to print, and so-on and so-forth with each subsequent print/paint job. This applies whether the colours are Pantone based, but is equally applicable to any colour matching process or palette in use. Come on guys, quantum mechanics this is not, instead it really is A, B, C basics that in reality is truly not difficult. All that is required is the most basic process of checking, double-checking and finalizing before committing to print, or in this case, paint.

...one day they will be consigned to history, and everyone will be drooling with a nostalgic yearning for a mere glimpse of what will then be good old EWS red and Freightliner green...

You're lucky then. I contacted Dapol via their Facebook page regarding the various livery issues and also mentioning this forum topic. The message was read the same morning, however there has been absolutely no acknowledgement or response whatsoever. Maybe if more people actually contacted Dapol directly then we may receive some kind of response regarding the many livery issues? It's only my personal viewpoint, however, at the moment this general deathly silence stinks of Dapol simply saying, "let's bury our heads in the sand and hope it all goes away..." A shame, as the Class 73 is a really nice model, however I won't be buying any further models until they can at least manage to get one example painted in the correct colours.

This isn't damage sustained during transit. The buffer shanks are clearly glued-in-solid at an angle.

This livery fiasco is shifting beyond ridiculous. Words fail.

I returned my Rail Blue example to the retailer for a refund; second Rail Blue example pre-order cancelled and so too the Dutch liveried pre-order. I now have a GBRf liveried 73205 from Olivia's. This appears to be good livery-wise and probably the best of the bunch I would guess. That said, the yellow is still the incorrect lemon shade as used on other versions, but is perhaps more easily overlooked on what is generally quite a vibrant-looking livery anyway.

I'm a previous customer and haven't been invited to buy one at the "loyalty" price. So from that angle it does perhaps feel a bit "elitist"...

Maybe so, although in fairness that's an easy fix with a simple dab of paint. Coming up with non-existent parts that there are no substitute for however is a little more annoying.

The buffers on mine are pointing at weird angles too - as you highlight some are pointing slightly upwards and one on my model is pointing inwards as well. Looking at the model more closely and to my eye it appears as though the buffer shanks have not been glued in straight. I can't imagine being able to remove the shanks without destroying them, so I guess it would mean replacement with turned brass buffers? Again though, not really something we should have to be doing... Agreed, sitting in front of the Rail Blue model here and I have similar mixed feelings. The Rail Blue is just strange, under artificial light there is definitely a purple appearance to it and also appears far too vivid in any light, to my eye at least. Perhaps not fair to compare to another manufacturer's efforts, but when placing the model next to Hornby and Bachmann examples of Rail Blue and it becomes quite apparent that something is far from correct. The yellow too is glaring lemon. Sitting the model next to other Rail Blue examples and there is definitely a feeling that there is a glow-stick in the room! When all is said and done it doesn't capture that familiar drab rail blue look that even Hornby and Bachmann seem to manage with a straight, unweathered out of the box example. Add to this the buffers, which really are beginning to annoy me, and I regrettably feel that this model will be heading back to Hatton's also on Monday. This is truly disappointing, this has been the model I have been looking forward to all year, but alas if the liveries aren't right in this way then there seems little point in holding onto it. I have two other pre-orders which I've now decided to cancel - the second Rail Blue example (as no doubt this will be in the same strange shades as the first); and also the Dutch liveried example, as the roof is clearly the wrong shade of grey, being far too light... In summary, a great model with some lovely detailing, but severely let down by what seems to be an alarming and increasing number of livery errors on most examples produced. Maybe it would have been preferable to concentrate on initially producing a smaller selection of liveries, but with a view to actually getting them right?

I believe the grey used for the roof of the Dutch version is wrong, ie. being far too light?

...and by the look of it the grey band only extended along the bodyside edges, whereas on other examples it appears that the grey band continued around the front ends too. I hadn't realized that the various liveries of the 73s were such a minefield!