New OO gauge Class 73

[roundhouse]

Hereford models have one less green 73 as of 20 minutes ago.

I wanted to take it out the box but my other half won't met me do so in the pub!

[Guest]

Anybody with any experience of the windscreen wipers on all SR rolling stock will know that getting them to even work adequately let alone park properly is haphazarous at best ..................................

 

I remember an ED with an unmarked "Hyperspeed" mode in addition to the marked "Run" and "Park" positions. Running light to New Cross Gate from Norwood, I turned the wiper on travelling slowly through Norwood Junction waiting for the signal to clear. The wiper launched itself so suddenly and with such force that the blade just flew off. I found out later that it had embedded itself in the side of a hanging basket on Platform 1. I always was crap at gardening.

The position of the blade on the secondman's side in this shot of 73201 at Clapham Junction was all too normal.

 

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

[YesTor]

The replacement loco arrived from Hattons today. It is actually the one I ordered (a nice touch), but three of the four buffers are pointing in distinctly odd directions. Left hand side at the number one end is pointing upwards by about 10 degrees, the number two end pair are angled inwards towards each other. While the latter isn't as noticible from most angles, I think it would look peculiar when coupled to anything. Still reserving judgement on the colours - but it's the yellow that looks most unusual to my eyes. Doesn't match anything else I own.

 

 

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...

 

 

Having just received a blue Class 73, I hate to say that I am disappointed. Correct livery is not a technical challenge - it was achievable in the 1980's. This is NOT a cheap model and all of its magnificent detail (and it is really very lovely fine detail in many places) cannot be enjoyed when you see the glaring mistake that has been made with the livery. The warning panel really is a sort of lemon yellow and the blue is just odd.

I know that I have a choice and don't need to buy this model but I wanted it to succeed and I wanted to support Dapol - however they have no choice but to go back to the drawing board and find out how they could have scored such a massive own goal and I hope they can salvage something from this.

 

Update: The problem appears to be the type of paint that is being used. The 'lemon effect' is more pronounced under bright white led lighting and it is a slightly wamer yellow (almost acceptable) under fluorescent or warm white leds. I am assuming this is due to fluorescence of the dye in the paint used. There is no problem with my other Bachmann or Hornby models.

 

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?

Edited December 12, 2015 by darkjunglemung

[Downendian]

This is a shame, based on the assessments in this thread I've cancelled both my preorders, I'm simply not willing to part with £120x2 on models that will need resprays. True, one cancellation was due to funds being needed to purchase the SLW class 24, but will wait now to see if there are future corrections (there weren't for the greeny-blue class 22s) or if the pricing drops to reflect these livery errors.

Neil

Edited December 12, 2015 by Downendian

[Temeraire]

Its been a week now since the first models were received and this thread went crazy with everyone's disappointment with pretty much all versions, am I right in thinking the silence from Dapol has been deafening! Surely with so much adverse comment and models getting returned to the box shifters and orders cancelled you would have thought there would have been some sort of comment from the manufacturer? I don't do facebook etc if they've made comments there, but I'm guessing not as someone would have repeated it here.

 

I forgot to say I've had no reply from my e mail to Dapol earlier this week either!

Edited December 12, 2015 by Temeraire

[roundhouse]

Never had a reply from Dapol when I have emailed them so I don't bother any more.

[Guest]

I do wonder just how many people are finding fault with this model? If it's just us lot, we may only be a small percentage of total sales. Not every collector/modeller is on RMWeb. "It looks like a 73, so that's good enough for me" is a phrase I've read often enough.

I'm not confident enough to respray (at least not a £120 model), but I would like a correct livery. Do I butcher an old Lima body or do I just do nothing in case some of these Dapol models are heavily discounted in the future? Tough question. If sales are good, the discount is unlikely. What a strange situation. It does most definitely look like a 73... no doubt about that, but I am very much put off by the livery errors.

[charliepetty]

For all those you are keeping them!!   Legomanbiffo has done a Version 2 of his Class 73 which has a pre-programmed lighting fix.  SO the light on your model will work correctly with no messing about.

 

 

Charlie

[roundhouse]

For all those you are keeping them!!   Legomanbiffo has done a Version 2 of his Class 73 which has a pre-programmed lighting fix.  SO the light on your model will work correctly with no messing about.

 

 

Charlie

How well does your sound decoder work on DC. Still trying to,convince Mike to convert Star Lane to DCC!

[ChrisB]

I do wonder just how many people are finding fault with this model? If it's just us lot, we may only be a small percentage of total sales. Not every collector/modeller is on RMWeb. "It looks like a 73, so that's good enough for me" is a phrase I've read often enough.

I'm not confident enough to respray (at least not a £120 model), but I would like a correct livery. Do I butcher an old Lima body or do I just do nothing in case some of these Dapol models are heavily discounted in the future? Tough question. If sales are good, the discount is unlikely. What a strange situation. It does most definitely look like a 73... no doubt about that, but I am very much put off by the livery errors.

 

There isn't actually much hacking involved. The Dapol cabs fit in the Lima/Hornby body without a problem or, their original cabs will fit on the Dapol chassis without fouling. The bottom of the bodies under the cabs just need a couple of swipes with an emery board to sit down properly. The biggest part of the job is removing most of the vast Limby glazing unit and putting the side windows back in individually so they sit in the recesses in the chassis casting. The Limby body even fits with a speaker fitted in the supplied recess.

 

Beyond that, it's just a question of how much you want to detail the Limby body.

 

Guess how I know all this ?

Edited December 12, 2015 by ChrisB

[LaGrange]

I know the buffers and 'colouring' have been heavily discussed but what about the ride height? See attached photos. In reality the 33 has bigger diameter wheels,3'7 vs the 3'4 of the 73 but should the locos be more or less 'level' with each other. The Heljan 33/1 is out of the box wheelswise

 

The Class 33 is 12 ft 8 in tall (3.86 m) with wheels that are 3ft 7in (1.092 m) in diameter. The Class 73 is 12 ft 5 5/16 in tall (3.79m) with 3 ft 4 in (1,016 mm) wheels.  So the 33 is 70cm/2ft 4in taller. Lets not take into account fuel loads/worn wheelsets/tired springs etc

 

Have Dapol (and Heljan) got these 2 bang on?

[Mike Storey]

I know the buffers and 'colouring' have been heavily discussed but what about the ride height? See attached photos. In reality the 33 has bigger diameter wheels,3'7 vs the 3'4 of the 73 but should the locos be more or less 'level' with each other. The Heljan 33/1 is out of the box wheelswise

 

The Class 33 is 12 ft 8 in tall (3.86 m) with wheels that are 3ft 7in (1.092 m) in diameter. The Class 73 is 12 ft 5 5/16 in tall (3.79m) with 3 ft 4 in (1,016 mm) wheels.  So the 33 is 70cm/2ft 4in taller. Lets not take into account fuel loads/worn wheelsets/tired springs etc

 

Have Dapol (and Heljan) got these 2 bang on?

 

I am not sure I understand your maths? I make the height difference 7cm, i.e c.1mm in 00?

[Mike Storey]

I have not seen one in the flesh yet, but have two blues on order (24 and 35). I agree that the livery colour, if wrong, is unacceptable to many. But I always weather mine so I doubt this will be a problem in reality. if the buffer angles are easily resolved then, again, should not happen but not a terminal problem. There would appear to be a fix for the directional lights problem and probably the cab lights. I would replace the wipers anyway with finer versions.

 

These things really should not have happened, for whatever price. That is not making me cancel, The overall effect of Dapol's version, compared to the Limby, plus the improved running qualities, are enough to make me want them. The rest is cosmetic or digital fiddling, and are easier to fix. Something that simply does not look right is never possible to fix.

 

I don't excuse the errors but I include myself in the "if it looks like a duck......" brigade.

[roundhouse]

Finally had chance to take my newly purchased 73 out the box.

The buffers at one end are fine but the other end a little out when looking down on the loco. I will adjust these when back home.

 

Detail does look superb. One thing that does stand out is the instruction sheet for adding the detail bits and the opening up to fit a decoder. Much better than the other two well known companies (although I haven't yet tried to follow them and open up the loco).

 

Interesting how the bogies don't pivot at their centres.

 

This early green one will get weathered and will be seen running on Star Lane at the Guildford show in January

[shanks522]

I've decided to run mine in black and white, sorts the paint problems out! 

 

Joking aside i will attempt to repaint the lower body panel to the correct shade. 

 

Graham.

 

[Stevelewis]

Sorry but I don't agree with this at all - why can't Dapol send a quality control team over to China to oversee the initial production runs and iron out the issues as they arise? An architect doesn't just hand over the plans for a building to the contractors, and expect them to get everything right - they supervise the important stages of construction to make sure it's done according to the design specification. And that's what should have happened here. And with the livery colour issues, we have international standards systems such as RAL and Pantone for exactly this reason - why is it difficult for Dapol to say 'Colour ref #0901121 to be used here, Colour ref#1822001 to be used here'? - given the importance of precise colour matching in this type of product, it is bizarre for an experienced manufacturer like Dapol to have made this mistake really.

Had  to  smile  re   'sending  a  quality  control TEAM  over  to  China, One of my  sons  is  a regular traveller  to  China ( works in  the  energy supply industry) , but  when  he  makes  the  journey  he  has  to  be very  sure  that  the  costs  which he  will incurr will provide  a tangible benefit to the  company he works  for.

 

 China  is  approx 7,500 flying  miles  away,   The  typical  airfare  is just  short  of  £3K,  Hotel  accomodation  is  not  exactly  cheap either,  so  I wonder  how  much  more  expensive models  would  be  if  the UK manufaturers did send  out a team!

 

Thinking  further on  this  subject  would it not be  rather less expensive for the manufacturer  to actually send a completed loco(s) over  to  Chirk for Dapol to check the colour(s) before full production (painting) of the batches commenced?

Maybe  they  do that already?

Edited December 12, 2015 by Stevelewis

[tjf4375]

Well perhaps a team is a bit extravagant, yes - but I don't see why they can't send at least one employee out there to check things like correct assembly and paint finishes. I don't know what the production run for these models is, but if it results in each model being maybe £5-10 more expensive, I think people would rather pay that than be disappointed with poor livery application.

[griffgriff]

Well perhaps a team is a bit extravagant, yes - but I don't see why they can't send at least one employee out there to check things like correct assembly and paint finishes. I don't know what the production run for these models is, but if it results in each model being maybe £5-10 more expensive, I think people would rather pay that than be disappointed with poor livery application.

Stevelewis' idea is better though... Airfreight a model to Blighty and get as many 'company' eyes on it as possible before the eyes of the public rip it to pieces and damage the models (and perhaps companys) reputation. It would have been a small price to pay; I for one might have been tempted by the IC example but not now and the loss of my sale, as well as sales to others, I'm sure would have covered the cost of several airfreight deliverys.

 

Griff.

[gelboy45]

A few years ago Athearn in the USA released a new 'state of the art' HO scale GP7 or GP9 and the lining of their painted Santa Fe release exposed an error in the position of  louvres on the sides. Due to the criticism online they immediately acknowledged what was purely an unnoticed error and apologised and re-did the model. 

 

What an excellent result for their customers and their reputation.

 

Gerry

[ThaneofFife]

Do they need to send anybody in fact ?  Cant China send painted samples back to the UK for sign off?  This model has been in development for god knows how long.  these sorted of problems should not be happening.

[Ian Hargrave]

Well perhaps a team is a bit extravagant, yes - but I don't see why they can't send at least one employee out there to check things like correct assembly and paint finishes. I don't know what the production run for these models is, but if it results in each model being maybe £5-10 more expensive, I think people would rather pay that than be disappointed with poor livery application.

Reading the last few posts leads me to the conclusion that the reason for the glitches could be down to the loss of one key player in the Dapol establishment......maybe...

[Butler Henderson]

Snag with that is the "key player" was with them when previous livery clangers were released. If they cannot get Rail Blue right what hope is there for the garter blue on the forthcoming 400 quid A4.

[metropolitan cammell]

I have fitted a Bachmann/soudtraxx decoder to mine and have changed cv33 to 2 and cv34 to 1 which reassigns the lights to the correct direction.

 

With the cab lights being on all the easiest solution looks to be insulating the wiper between the pcb and roof to turn them off completely though after the western and class 22 with independent switchable cab lights this seems a crude solution to the problem.

Edited December 13, 2015 by metropolitan cammell

[martin_l_jones]

Reading the last few posts leads me to the conclusion that the reason for the glitches could be down to the loss of one key player in the Dapol establishment......maybe...

 

Seems like a lack of quality control, just like the Hornby Class 67's all over again, lots of disappointment.

 

And most companies employ a local agent to manage the products into production.

 

The paint colour should be measured against a RAL master...

 

Quite a simple check really.

 

I have a GB on pre-order, I'm hoping for the best

Edited December 13, 2015 by martin_l_jones

[eb1]

Seems like a lack of quality control, just like the Hornby Class 67's all over again, lots of disappointment.

 

And most companies employ a local agent to manage the products into production.

 

The paint colour should be measured against a RAL master...

 

Quite a simple check really.

 

I have a GB on pre-order, I'm hoping for the best

 

I bought two of these locos but I am sending them back to the seller as they were dreadful runners. One loco kept cutting out -  the decoder kept going dead and needed regular re-programming. It also ran erratically as did the other one. I wonder if having to put in the decoder upside down makes a contribution to this. It cant be a good thing. Im not convinced that it offers a good connection.

 

The lights being incapable of switching according to the direction of travel is a pretty basic fault, even if sorted out by changing the CVs. Not something we should accept at @£120 a time.

 

As for the cab interior being permanently lit, its totally odd. Dapol told me when I called them that the head of the project had specified that they should stay on. I cant think why they would.

 

The paintwork is odd when you take a closer look on both the IC and BR Blue versions, the ones I bought.

 

I'm very disappointed. This should be a flagship model. I only hope Dapol can correct these faults and produce a new batch that is worthy of the anticipation created by this model. I would still buy them in future if there was some certainty that they would work well and look right.