Downendian

The Raven that refused to Sing- Steven Wilson Not sure yet but will grow on me I'm sure . Sounds that can't be made- Marillion - now I think after hundreds of plays of the M5 its a classic in the vein of "Marbles" and "Brave" Neil

Whilst walking to work the other day A van operated by a local mobile dog grooming company went past. Their chosen name certainly made me smile Neil

DapolDave Many thanks for your post this morning. It took great courage to post that. Neil

Further to Nidge's posts here are my early 1977 final Western sightings, which are from my notes and the list of final workings in Adrian Curtis's excellent cast of Thousands. 4/1/77 Bristol Bath Road D1072 Western Glory (WD) 5/1/77 Bristol Parkway D1022 Western Sentinel 1V76 liverpool-Plymouth 8/1/77 Bristol Parkway D1041 LD 0F74 Gloucester-BR (am) D1023 4V66 Kensington-Danygraig FLT, D1010 1Z17 Padd-Cardiff footex 15/1/77 Bristol Parkway D1022 5A06 Carmarthen- OC ECS. D1048 (working not known- Adrian Curtis says it was at Westbury - was seen at parkway between 10am-4pm). 16/1/77 Bristol Parkway D1022 1B33 Padd-Penzance (berks-hants line must have had engineering) 29/1/77 Bristol Parkway D1023 1Z08 "Western Memorial" rail tour Padd- Newport Hereford Shrewsbury Crewe Chester Newport Padd 2/2/77 Bath Road D1071 WD 6/2/77 Bristol Parkway D1041 6O19 Bristol-Morden 26/2/77 Bristol Parkway D1013/D1023 1Z45 Western Tribute rail tour D1010 and D1048 LD as cover for 1Z45 all 4 locos heading towards South Wales I'd always thought 1977 as virtually no Western activity in Bristol- all was there for me to see. Happy memories. Neil

Unfortunately I didn't see these errors at the CAD/CAM stage- Jim's comparative shots are pretty conclusive. I'll only know the errors for sure with model in hand and the thousands of prototype pics I have. Those that are critical of Geoff's comments clearly don't know his pedigree he's one of the top Western aficionados. It's also difficult to see that Dapol were relying so heavily on our input to correct any anomaly, Dave we would have inputted of course- but something happened between the CAD CAM and the prepro model. The headcode box needs some attention I'm afraid to get the 100% Western. It's a mystery to me how this happened. Neil

Geoff is spot on - as always his comments are 100% accurate, especially regarding Westerns. All the "rivet counting" type comments (and im including myself here) are merely suggestions to improve the model, and are not unnecessary criticism. The model is excellent but certainly can be improved with minor tweaks, The reporting numbers are too small - an easy fix and will improve the model and I'll be doing exactly as he says - Precision labels. Neil

As I hadn't received a call from STEAM for my D1000 order, I phoned this morning. Very prompt and polite service- gave my credit card details and model will be dispatched tomorrow -for delivery Thursday. (Busy sound of parcels being wrapped in the background!) Anyone received theirs yet? Neil

Right. Well put it this way if it wasn't attention to detail by a lot of contributors on RmWeb do you think that you would have got this quality model? I think DapolDave would be the first to agree this. If you're not interested in detail fine - go buy a Lima model they are a lot cheaper, but compromised on detail. Moan about perfection if you like, but look what it achieves. Neil

Brilliant photo stream there Mike. Nothing like a bit of hydraulic photo therapy to cool down this thread, just smashing pics.Neil

This is a common comment which recurs when any criticism is aired about a new model. I'd much rather know about an error so I can make an educated attempt at rectifying it, as personally I'm not happy with "from the box" models- they are normally personalised in some way.Many of us have engaged fully with Dapol throughout this project (Nidge/rugd1022 and Mark Humphrys in particular), but all have provided constructive criticism into the debate. We now have a finished project which has captured the finest BR diesel (biased I know) almost perfectly shape wise, but would benefit from from minor attention albeit new head codes, nameplates, dabs of glue on brake rigging or lots of other minor modelling details which keep us going these long winter evenings. I don't agree that there has been nit picking - just continued dialogue on the model which has been the spirit of the previous Dapol Western thread. Neil

Feeders currently being cleared on a daily basis. Nyger feeders by Gold and Greenfinches Lots of blue and Great tits and occasional coal tit. Flocks of Chaffinches (mainly picking up spoils on the ground), along with Robins and Dunnocks Yesterday a flock of beautiful long tailed tits moved in (see pic) Also lesser spotted woodpecker and believe it or not a Jackdaw on the peanuts Sorry for pic quality only iPad to hand. Neil

Excellent pic Nidge and just underlines that evidence based approaches are critical. Ive obviously spent not enough time looking out of 52 windscreens but into the loco through them. Puts my mind at rest. Neil

Dave can't really tell from the images but there appears to be an "additional" pillar behind the main windscreen pillar- it looks like part of the glazing unit. If so a relatively easy fix. Good new re Warship (43?) - but not for Dapol I guess Neil

Headcodes and windscreen pillars only (minor) issue here Dave. the rest of the face is spot on. i'm certainly not changing my preorders because of this. The first time I'd seen those issues with the model was in this thread and yes would have very certainly have commented if there was anything you can have done about it (CAD/CAM stage discussions). Neil

Thanks Chris 92% or not- I hope with my additional work to windscreen pillars /headcodes and brake rigging it will be 99%. It still will be a better base point to start modelling rather than Heljan. Of course the 22 (and forthcoming NBL Warships and 21/29) are much more challenging as there is nothing left to laser scan. Phil's point on the 22 is that it is a very fine model without having any surviving prototype, underlining what an excellent piece of work it is (well from photos!). Peer review is incredibly important (I'm a scientist that lives with it daily), sometimes you don't hear what you were expecting, and I'm sure the MR review is unbiased and hence valued. Neil

Yep Jim I may be considered a heretic by some, but one of my new Dapol wessies will be getting their headboard clips whipped off for a representation of D1026 ca 1974. Personalised modelling - something of my childhood I want to recreate. Neil

SVR now there's a thought. Last time I was there was in 1987 and a friend of my Grandfathers got me a cab ride in D1062 - the driver didn't spare her on the departure from Kidderminster. It was like the good old days leaving Paddington. Neil

Nidge Still nice to look at - belonging to you or not. I will get a replica D1000 plate one day. The red dragon- something wrong- the dragon errm not red?! Perhaps Shawplan could do these for steam to go with their forthcoming D1000. Neil

If that's your collection of plates Nidge, well envious! Neil

Perfect - a trip to Slapton on a PT and then to the Tower inn for a few pints, One of the best pubs in the South Hams. Lovely evocative pics as always Alan. Neil

Ok sorry mike I'll rephrase, Michael's excellent selection of on line delight!