Hi people, I'm thinking of buying engines from Dapol, a class 220 Virgin x-press and 1 or 2 EWS class 66. :tb-wacky:Before spending my precious money i'd like to know your opinion on these models... - min radii? - current pickup? - DCC conversion? - Details ? - Scale??? 1:148 vs 1:160 - etc... thanks for your comments and happy NEW YEAR to every :tb-biggrin:.:tb-smile::tb-rolleyes: Seb
I have a Class 220 Virgin set. I like it despite The lack of details on it You Cant even see through the windows (They are mouled indentations in the bodywork that are Painted over with Black Paint) I Paid about $200.00 for it and i only Bought it Because I have ridden on the Prototype. You Dont Get Much detail on it if you compare it to a Kato But then Kato dont make this model The motor is also rather Noisy I have seen others and they all are noisy If Dapol make any other European and British trains and train sets that i have been on i will buy them and there are some that Dapol make that i have not bought yet That i will buy as soon as i can After all is said an done it is a nice train set just dont Expect it to be as highly detailed as an american model of the same price While on the subject Of europe have any of you seen the Mehano Blue Tiger locos They Have Awesome detailing
Yes the scale is 1:148 it says so on the Box It is also DCC ready fitted with 6 pin socket Altho the set needs 3 decoders 1 for the power car and the others go on theend cars to controll the lights the decoders ar made by lenz and cost about $40.00 each so for DCC thats a toal of $120 just for decoders according to the info on the box it is also ready for a digital sound chip I must still buy the decoders but at that price there must be absolutely nothing new in the shops for that month that i would rather buy
folks thanks for you answers. In others terms... i'll wait for a better investment... BTW anotherjuan : your talking about the mehano tigerblue in HO scale, right?
Just about all British outline N is 1:148. Very similar is 2mm which is older and has its own standards, (high ones, a world away from most commercial N) and that is 1:152. You can get a Kato version of the European version of Class 66 in 1:160. It’s one heck of a lot smaller than the 1:148 version. http://www.lemkecollection.de/img/productImages/Kato/K10811_500.jpg Ben
Interestingly, Dapol is working with a brand new European manufacturer, Modelbahnunion (of Germany) to produce a new line of 1/160th scale European freight cars, starting with a telescoping hood coil steel car. I thought it was sort of a strange choice, since Roco has a pretty nice model of the same car, and of course they are getting back into N in an increasingly big way. Lou
Hi Burkina Dont let my Comments put you off it is still a nice trainset and i dont regret buying it at all as for the Mehano Blue Tiger im talking about the one in N-Scale
Dapol 66 Seb...:thumbs_up: I have five of Class 66's from Dapol and am a member of their Dapolnthusiasts club. The recent Stobart Rail Class 66 engine that was released to club members is outstanding and has over 40 paint steps in the manufacturing process. All of these are good runners and their new engines are all coming with directional lighting and a dcc socket. The 1:148 size is not an issue for me. Dapol is also making some dummies of the class 66 that can be ordered from their web pages. Dapol seems to be going out of their way to produce accurate engines to the extent of correcting minor details such as the trucks on the 66. They have recently offered a corrected truck replacement for older 66's...although I am hard pressed to see the difference. I have three of their 220-221 sets as well and am very happy with them as well. Dapol is a small company competing with Farish (Bachmann) and their engines seem to be better than Farish. I have been impressed with them. Steve E. ******************
