Class 52 Westerns OO gauge
Class 52 Westerns OO gauge
What's people's opinions on Dapol's 21 pin Westerns? They look really nice especially in BR green or maroon. Are they good runners, quality wise are they reliable? Thoughts and comments? Thanks!
Re: Class 52 Westerns OO gauge
Some good inputs on this thread from around the time of first release.
https://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/F ... 47&t=45341
'Metadyneman' is still very active on this site, and you never know, may well comment on his longer term experience.
The observation from the websites I have looked at regularly over the years, is that following some initial derailment troubles reported by various owners; it quickly became apparent that the extra detail around the bogies had to be very carefully tested as it was added, individual piece by piece, by test runs on the tightest sections of the layout it was to operate on. Only that detail which your tightest layout curves and point combinations permit can be fitted, a frequent finding with relatively large locos.
There were some troubles with the circuit board on the first releases, but not seen anything reported on that lately.
Dapol have I feel improved their manufacturing standards over the years since this model came out. The few models of other types I know of owned by friends are all good mechanically, and my own class 21 - my first ever Dapol loco purchase - has been given a very thorough work out on my layout and is a rock solid performer (and looks and measures right, is very neatly detailed and finished, and has the simplest body removal of any diesel model I own). Very good indeed in short, sits among the best of Bachmann, Heljan and Hornby products and fits right in.
https://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/F ... 47&t=45341
'Metadyneman' is still very active on this site, and you never know, may well comment on his longer term experience.
The observation from the websites I have looked at regularly over the years, is that following some initial derailment troubles reported by various owners; it quickly became apparent that the extra detail around the bogies had to be very carefully tested as it was added, individual piece by piece, by test runs on the tightest sections of the layout it was to operate on. Only that detail which your tightest layout curves and point combinations permit can be fitted, a frequent finding with relatively large locos.
There were some troubles with the circuit board on the first releases, but not seen anything reported on that lately.
Dapol have I feel improved their manufacturing standards over the years since this model came out. The few models of other types I know of owned by friends are all good mechanically, and my own class 21 - my first ever Dapol loco purchase - has been given a very thorough work out on my layout and is a rock solid performer (and looks and measures right, is very neatly detailed and finished, and has the simplest body removal of any diesel model I own). Very good indeed in short, sits among the best of Bachmann, Heljan and Hornby products and fits right in.
Re: Class 52 Westerns OO gauge
Thanks for this.
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Hornchurch
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Sun May 22, 2016 8:35 pm
- Location: East Anglia
Re: Class 52 Westerns OO gauge
'centenary wrote:
What's people's opinions on Dapol's 21 pin Westerns? They look really nice especially in BR green or maroon. Are they good runners, quality wise are they reliable?
Thoughts and comments? Thanks!
I bought mine in a 'London Transport Museum' Black-Friday Sale (online), because of a (fine) tip-off, thru one of the lads on here - (Rob.43, IIRC)
T'was THE first time they'd gone down in price (albeit briefly, momentarily), from £149.00 down to just a mere £75.00, so I pulled the trigger.
I was VERY wary, initially, as I have several of the 'Class.73' (Airtour-Suisse) & they are shocking runners, due to the pick-up wipers (documented, elsewhere)
However, MY one & only 'brand-new' Dapol Western, in BR.Blue ('Western Buccaneer'), runs like a dream & is both smooth & powerful.
I tend NOT to bugger-about with loco's, as I both run DC only, plus, I'm a HUGE believer in the, "If it ain't broke, don't fix-it"
Model comes with a large set of numbers/numerals/headcodes, runs lovely AND is very well detailed.
Wish I'd bought the Maroon version too, but, it went like a scalded-cat, in a Saturn.V rocket to Jupiter
"Whoosh". Gone. Laters...But it "is" recommended by Hawny here (& I have ZERO links with Dapol)
Re: Class 52 Westerns OO gauge
Just seen this, thanks!Hornchurch wrote:'centenary wrote:
What's people's opinions on Dapol's 21 pin Westerns? They look really nice especially in BR green or maroon. Are they good runners, quality wise are they reliable?
Thoughts and comments? Thanks!
I bought mine in a 'London Transport Museum' Black-Friday Sale (online), because of a (fine) tip-off, thru one of the lads on here - (Rob.43, IIRC)
T'was THE first time they'd gone down in price (albeit briefly, momentarily), from £149.00 down to just a mere £75.00, so I pulled the trigger.
I was VERY wary, initially, as I have several of the 'Class.73' (Airtour-Suisse) & they are shocking runners, due to the pick-up wipers (documented, elsewhere)
However, MY one & only 'brand-new' Dapol Western, in BR.Blue ('Western Buccaneer'), runs like a dream & is both smooth & powerful.
I tend NOT to bugger-about with loco's, as I both run DC only, plus, I'm a HUGE believer in the, "If it ain't broke, don't fix-it"
Model comes with a large set of numbers/numerals/headcodes, runs lovely AND is very well detailed.
Wish I'd bought the Maroon version too, but, it went like a scalded-cat, in a Saturn.V rocket to Jupiter
But it "is" recommended by Hawny here (& I have ZERO links with Dapol)
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Metadyneman
- Posts: 1175
- Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:09 am
- Location: Portslade-by-Sea East Sussex
Re: Class 52 Westerns OO gauge
As predicted, I have just seen this thread and will add my twopenneth to the conversation.
I have three Dapol Westerns and I can honestly say they are all very nice models indeed. Out of all the Western models available from various manufacturers, they are the most accurate in terms of cab shape and dimensions and although the Heljan version is nice, the cab shape on that version is simply nowhere near as good as Dapol's. Mechanically the Dapol Western is up there with the elite, it is smooth, powerful and geared realistically to achieve a nice scale top speed as well as a decent crawl. If you are thinking of going digital, body removal is one of the best I have come across, undo four screws at each corner of the underside of the loco and hey presto the body almost wants to lift itself off the chassis! My only grizzle about the model is Dapol have chosen to provide self adhesive stickers to put over the headcode panels. They are awful to be honest. I have modified mine by using Heljan head code numbers and very delicately pushed them in from behind so they are correctly placed behind the headcode glass not stuck on the outside of it. The other minor niggle is the windscreen wipers are all in the same place on all of their models and they sit slap bang in the middle of the drivers line of vision. Happily they can be tweaked a bit (very gently) to alter the position and sit them at random angles on both sides of the cab. The additional detailing kit is quite comprehensive and includes a lot of very fine and fiddly body lifting lugs which one is supposed to fit to the roof of the loco. Needless to say I haven't bothered with these as they look way too fiddly for my sausage fingers. Some people have experienced derailments due to the fitting of the side steps on the bodyside fouling the bogie. My advice on that is if you have sharpish curves don't bother with them. The loco comes with 4 sets of front lower fairings two which allow the fitting of a standard NEM coupling and are factory fitted and two which do not and are extras meant purely if you want the model as a static exhibit with both ends detailed, or to detail one end and have the other as a functional coupling. The fairings are a clip fit to the body at each end and are completely interchangeable.
As I said before, it's a great model and I was hoping for great things when the 73 was released. Sadly I have had three of those too in the past, all of which were nice to look at but absolutely shocking runners. The Western though, is a complete winner and I highly recommend it.
I have (hopefully) added a picture of one of my Westerns 1018 "Western Buccaneer" trundling round the garden showing how the look of the front end is improved by putting the headcode numbers inside the model rather than sticking them on the front together with adjusting the wipers to a more realistic angle. (I decided to retain the functional couplings at both ends to keep the mechanism evenly worn rather than have it always running in one direction with a rake of coaches.)
I have three Dapol Westerns and I can honestly say they are all very nice models indeed. Out of all the Western models available from various manufacturers, they are the most accurate in terms of cab shape and dimensions and although the Heljan version is nice, the cab shape on that version is simply nowhere near as good as Dapol's. Mechanically the Dapol Western is up there with the elite, it is smooth, powerful and geared realistically to achieve a nice scale top speed as well as a decent crawl. If you are thinking of going digital, body removal is one of the best I have come across, undo four screws at each corner of the underside of the loco and hey presto the body almost wants to lift itself off the chassis! My only grizzle about the model is Dapol have chosen to provide self adhesive stickers to put over the headcode panels. They are awful to be honest. I have modified mine by using Heljan head code numbers and very delicately pushed them in from behind so they are correctly placed behind the headcode glass not stuck on the outside of it. The other minor niggle is the windscreen wipers are all in the same place on all of their models and they sit slap bang in the middle of the drivers line of vision. Happily they can be tweaked a bit (very gently) to alter the position and sit them at random angles on both sides of the cab. The additional detailing kit is quite comprehensive and includes a lot of very fine and fiddly body lifting lugs which one is supposed to fit to the roof of the loco. Needless to say I haven't bothered with these as they look way too fiddly for my sausage fingers. Some people have experienced derailments due to the fitting of the side steps on the bodyside fouling the bogie. My advice on that is if you have sharpish curves don't bother with them. The loco comes with 4 sets of front lower fairings two which allow the fitting of a standard NEM coupling and are factory fitted and two which do not and are extras meant purely if you want the model as a static exhibit with both ends detailed, or to detail one end and have the other as a functional coupling. The fairings are a clip fit to the body at each end and are completely interchangeable.
As I said before, it's a great model and I was hoping for great things when the 73 was released. Sadly I have had three of those too in the past, all of which were nice to look at but absolutely shocking runners. The Western though, is a complete winner and I highly recommend it.
I have (hopefully) added a picture of one of my Westerns 1018 "Western Buccaneer" trundling round the garden showing how the look of the front end is improved by putting the headcode numbers inside the model rather than sticking them on the front together with adjusting the wipers to a more realistic angle. (I decided to retain the functional couplings at both ends to keep the mechanism evenly worn rather than have it always running in one direction with a rake of coaches.)
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