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Interesting model vs prototype picture there - I'm looking specifically at the distance between the bottom of the windscreens and the top of the warning panel/handrail - anyone else see it??? Jon

Ah, not just me then...I love the lengths that manufacturers are going to now with dmu underframes - you could say they’re actually more interesting exercises in modelling than loco underframes - as there’s engines, driveshafts, gearboxes, fuel tanks, batteries exhaust pipes and lots of other gubbins going on under there - but it’s a bit of shame the effect is spoilt by these new power conducting couplings. I know the logic behind them and they have to be robust , but there’s no denying they look pretty hideous. The 158 looks stunning and I can’t wait to get my hands on one - but those couplings will have to go! Hopefully the next development in models will be a smarter more discreet way of having conductive couplings - through the corridor connectors perhaps?Jon

Thanks for that! Jon

That's lovely - and annoyingly I must have completely missed it when i was there on sunday - anyone know what it was called? Jon

Hmm - now which bit of the class 50 could that be ?

Hope you don't mind be drawing on and reposting your photo Tom But something else to note - on a real 50 the cantrail curve starts well below the level of the rainstrips and its visible on the windscreen pillars - as highlighted in red - luckily on that prototype photo the cab door is open which helps highlight this - what i think is going on here is the cantrail curve is too tight and starts too high up the bodyside - as a result i think the flat portion of the bodyside is too tall , which in turn makes all the bodyside features look as though they're misplaced (the big louvres for example). I can perhaps understand a need to not make the lower tumblehome as pronounced in order to fit the bodyshell over the chassis maybe , but combined with the cantrail curve being off it makes the whole model look a bit weird. Its not easy being a class 50 fan

The windscreens are too wide - or the pillars are too narrow - ? the headcode box weirdly doesn't look tall enough - that may be more down to the size/position of the horn grilles and lights - and the cab roof doesn't seem bulbous enough , almost like the whole roof profile is too flat ,and therefore the transition between the cab roof and the bodysides/cantrail is too sharp - its a right old mess Jon

Better but still not quite there - if you look at the prototype photo above it - concerntrate on the lower corners of the headcode box , and how they relate to the rainstrip below them; there's a much smaller gap than there should be betwen the two on the model. - somethings amiss there and its compounding other faults - I'd be interested to see the model (more specifically the cab) from above - anyone have a shot? Jon

its a bit of coincidence that both the Heljan and the Hornby 50 incorrectly have the compressors balancing implausably on one mounting cradle - rather than sitting on cross members between two mounting cradles Jon

Still no close coupling mechanism then - nothing really gained by this ‘upgrade’ IMO Jon

Maserati Ghibli Cup - bella! love those wheel arches (and the best boot lid ever) jon

The vw Karmaan Ghia - seriously cool and absolutely lovely to drive - I think I'd have one of these over an old Porsche 356 any day Jon

Intercepting the south coast it dug a nice big hole in the shingle trying to reverse it out!

Well I never thought I’d ever see a RTR PRA wagon - and they’re only little so it would be rude not to get a couple I like where this going - hopefully if Kernow carry on working their way through the China clay wagons we might get a CDA that’s actually the right shape one day! Jon

If it’s any consolation, i think I’ve suffered debonding paint with that upper grey (flint grey) more than any other color. Not sure why that is though? You can reduce the grab on your tape even more by sticking it onto a nice clean sheet of glass , then onto the model. I use a bit of glass that was originally a shelf in a model display cabinet so it’s just about the right length .. Jon

Notice the latest ones are shown with the faces of the wheels painted too - another nice little improvement. Jon

They do look a little different dont they? - I'd be interested to see a closer view of the cab front . The blue with small yellow panels looks lovely

Sort of , yes , it’s no more accurate than Heljans. Unfortunately the JLTRT 50 also has some seriously misproportioned bogie sideframes that have somehow been squashed down in the vertical plane.Jon

Its not easy being a class 50 fan is it ! Likewise - Id love an accurate 50 , I don't care what scale to be honest , I'd just be happy to support and buy a new model as long as its the right shape!

Engine bay of my 1978 Alfa Romeo Spider - this view is only possible as I’ve taken off the bonnet! Jon

“Nelson” the interceptor visits deepest darkest Kent

Jaguar XJ12C. In its natural habitat - the petrol station! Jon

as ive posted on the Heljan 50 Thread - this thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/112640-trethosa/page-2 is a very good guide to getting a 50 looking like a 50 - its based around the Hornby model , but it does seem that Dapol have made the same misinterpretation of the cabs to Hornby - so the thread is still a usefull one to read to understand the shape of the cabs. Jon