Quote from: Newportnobby on May 21, 2021, 10:35:51 AM

Quote from: Paddy on May 21, 2021, 09:42:47 AM
So to date the Dapol 9Fs have all had plastic chassis?  Dapol seem to be saying that this batch has been upgraded to have a new metal chassis - correct?  Has anyone been able to confirm this with Dapol?

Have posed the question to Joel on the Dapol Digest, Paddy

Thanks @Newportnobby - I did not want to duplicate effort.

Kind regards

Paddy

Quote from: Newportnobby on May 21, 2021, 10:35:51 AM

Quote from: Paddy on May 21, 2021, 09:42:47 AM
So to date the Dapol 9Fs have all had plastic chassis?  Dapol seem to be saying that this batch has been upgraded to have a new metal chassis - correct?  Has anyone been able to confirm this with Dapol?

Have posed the question to Joel on the Dapol Digest, Paddy

And he has replied not with metal news though

Quote from: Fardap on May 21, 2021, 11:14:49 AM

Quote from: Newportnobby on May 21, 2021, 10:35:51 AM

Quote from: Paddy on May 21, 2021, 09:42:47 AM
So to date the Dapol 9Fs have all had plastic chassis?  Dapol seem to be saying that this batch has been upgraded to have a new metal chassis - correct?  Has anyone been able to confirm this with Dapol?

Have posed the question to Joel on the Dapol Digest, Paddy

And he has replied not with metal news though

Hi @Fardap

I do not understand your comment?  Are you saying that Joel has stated this batch still has the plastic chassis?

Kind regards

Paddy

No change to previous versions he has said.

Quote from: Fardap on May 21, 2021, 11:43:22 AM
No change to previous versions he has said.

Thank you - that is a shame. 

Kind regards

Paddy

If this is just a re release of the existing tooling, I am afraid that I won't be buying one as I already have 5, one of which needs a new final drive gear.(hopefully more spares will now be available) I would have hoped that it would at least have been fitted with traction tyres on at least one axle, which would have gone a long way to improve its poor haulage compared with newer models like the New 8F from Graham Farish which is streets ahead of it. I think that Dapol should have retooled this one as well as the M7, an opportunity missed as far as I am concerned.

Regards,

Alex 

Quote from: Hailstone on May 22, 2021, 06:25:41 AMI think that Dapol should have retooled this one as well as the M7, an opportunity missed as far as I am concerned.

Two thoughts:

1. if they have money to invest in tooling, would you rather it goes on something new or re-tooling an existing model?
2. who's to say this run isn't getting the last drops out of the existing tooling before starting on a new version...

The price is very keen and may attract many who have previously missed out, but I doubt I will buy. I have one of the first release in my stash which is very much representative of that point before quality of engineering and mechanisms had caught up with the level of detail - all in all a bit "flaky". I'll happily stick with my 8Fs and WDs.

Of course if it was a shiny new model to the standards of the 8F and ready for sound that would be an entirely different situation.....

Roy

I really think we tend to forget what we used to NOT have. Look at @maridunian 's Class 20 post, for example.

My 9Fs are Minitrix models, which are a compromise of a British body shoehorned onto a German chassis.

Any model is welcome.

Bring it on!

As I say, the price is very keen and at about £116 discounted only about a fiver or so more than the RRP when it was first launched in 2006/7!

It is most certainly a lot of loco for that kind of money these days and I am sure will sell quickly enough. Just probably not one for me.

Roy

I have one of the first batch (with replacement front bogie spring) which was numbered as one of the half-dozen or so which hauled the Fawley oil trains before the class 33s came in.
You can imagine the lack of haulage with any of the Revolution Class B tanks in tow. It is truly a display model only.

I also have a second batch "Black Prince" limited edition which is better and is a keeper because I rode behind it at Eastleigh in 1974.

I have sold on my Evening Star Club version (which was originally a club model and there were then some on general release as they did not all sell) and my Dapol weathered one because I did not see the point of a fistful of locos that didn't haul too well.

Same with my small tender Grange. The Hall tender is fine but the Manor tender versions are pants. Dapol really do need to drop the tender drive system and figure out how to do electrical pick ups better.

Best
Bob
 

Quote from: Bob G on May 22, 2021, 01:39:16 PMSame with my small tender Grange. The Hall tender is fine but the Manor tender versions are pants. Dapol really do need to drop the tender drive system and figure out how to do electrical pick ups better.

Dapol have never used a "tender drive system" - Farish do & Union Mills do (and you never hear of complaints about the haulage capacity of a UM loco!) In theory the tender mounted motor/loco driven system Dapol employ should offer the best of both giving best available space for weight over the driven loco wheels... As per the comment a couple of pages back, a pair of traction tyres would probably help make the best of the arrangement.

Quote from: Bealman on May 22, 2021, 10:20:48 AM
I really think we tend to forget what we used to NOT have. Look at @maridunian 's Class 20 post, for example.

My 9Fs are Minitrix models, which are a compromise of a British body shoehorned onto a German chassis.

Any model is welcome.

Bring it on!

the way i look at it--is not to compare the minitrix with the dapol.  The dapol is a lovely model--even if it is a bit of a delicate flower. The minitrix is part of our n gauge history: fantastic must have in its day--and will always have a place on my layout--but not at the same time as the dapol. I usually run my dapol in reverse--it runs well and smoothly that way: or--with a suitable pilot loco if forwards

Quote from: PLD on May 22, 2021, 05:03:44 PM

Quote from: Bob G on May 22, 2021, 01:39:16 PMSame with my small tender Grange. The Hall tender is fine but the Manor tender versions are pants. Dapol really do need to drop the tender drive system and figure out how to do electrical pick ups better.

Dapol have never used a "tender drive system" - Farish do & Union Mills do (and you never hear of complaints about the haulage capacity of a UM loco!) In theory the tender mounted motor/loco driven system Dapol employ should offer the best of both giving best available space for weight over the driven loco wheels... As per the comment a couple of pages back, a pair of traction tyres would probably help make the best of the arrangement.

i may well go the bullfrog snot way with my dapol: but using copydex.  ive used it successfully on a dapol 28xx that shed its tyres--a farish 4P 4-4-0 that transformed the pulling--and a minitrx 2-6-0.

Quote from: PLD on May 22, 2021, 05:03:44 PM

Quote from: Bob G on May 22, 2021, 01:39:16 PMSame with my small tender Grange. The Hall tender is fine but the Manor tender versions are pants. Dapol really do need to drop the tender drive system and figure out how to do electrical pick ups better.

Dapol have never used a "tender drive system" - Farish do & Union Mills do (and you never hear of complaints about the haulage capacity of a UM loco!) In theory the tender mounted motor/loco driven system Dapol employ should offer the best of both giving best available space for weight over the driven loco wheels... As per the comment a couple of pages back, a pair of traction tyres would probably help make the best of the arrangement.

You know what I mean. You just wanted to be pedantic and correct me.

How about "Loco drive through a tender mounted motor with a cardan shaft"? Its a little bit more of a mouthful but absolutely correct.

Bob