New release now in the shops

Dapol has released its class 73 Southern Region electro-diesel in a range of liveries (and with a selection of retailer commissions also available) to mixed reviews.

I have one of The Hobby Shop (of Faversham, Kent)'s limited edition ones which claims to be in "Electric blue" and is in the early iteration of that with a small yellow warning panel, grey bodyside stripe at the sole bar and no double-arrow logo.

The main catalogue releases include variations of BR blue with small and full yellow ends, BR Inter City sector as worn by Gatwick Express locos and early BR green.  Specials include Pullman livery (Gaugemaster, Ford), early blue as mine (The Hobby Shop, Faversham) and GBRf purple (Olivias Trains).  That list is not exhaustive.

The box label describes it as a "Diesel electric" which is true inasmuch as the diesel unit powered electric traction motors but the type has always been known as an "electro-diesel locomotive" or EDL.

Inside the stout box mine has the limited edition card (mine being no. 14/150) and the quality foam inner liner which also featured when the class 22 and 52 locos were produced.  The inner sleeve is a standard clear plastic one with the "bits bag" stuck to the top.  Unlike other manufacturers Dapol includes good advice on where the pipes go and you get an exploded diagram and body-removal instructions.

The loco looks like a class 73.  I don't have a micrometer nor do I have the full dimensions of the real thing but it appears to sit correctly and looks at least as good as, for example, the Heljan class 33 alongside which some will no doubt be running.

Mine runs perfectly straight out of the box on a DC layout with well-worn track.  It takes a little current to get going and there is slight gear noise.

Now for the negatives.  

I don't like the fact that the pick-up shoes are in the raised position which would be used only if the loco were running on diesel power away from the SR third-rail routes.  They were normally lowered and alongside a Bachmann 4Cep or Hornby 2Bil this looks wrong.  It isn't possible to fit the pipework if the plug-in couplers are used.  I managed to get only the outer half of the low-level MU jumper cable fitted; the rest will have to stay in the bag.  Pullman rubbing plates are supplied as user-fitted parts.  Mine fouled the buffers at both ends but examination showed that three of four buffers were slightly out of line.  They were eased back by judicious application of force.  Several other owners have reported mis-aligned buffers.  The couplers plug into sockets on the bogie frames; not all operators will find that to their liking and the arrangement might give problems on very tight curves.

The livery application of most variants has been questioned.  Mine should be "electric blue" which is arguably different to "rail blue" but the loco is in a rather strange shade which looks in some light to be excessively purple.  the yellow warning panel is pale lemon and should be a much richer custard shade.  The IC version is a shocking travesty with the lower light grey / beige panels nearly white and the upper dark "executive" grey being black.  Some purchasers have returned theirs and others have resprayed them.  There are reports of BR rail blue ones also being resprayed.  These are fundamental errors which should not have passed the painted-sample checking stage.

The interior is visible through bodyside windows.  I don't find that attractive and it's avoidable.  Cab and headcode lights stay on unless the wiring is cut.  DCC users are reporting that there are issues with correct control of the lights requiring CV changes and this is being flagged as another fundamental error.

Both ends feature a pre-fitted headcode.  This can be replaced if required but no alternatives are offered.  In practice the inner end should show a double white blank when coupled to a train.  in model reality it's hard to get it right every time when the headcode cannot be changed in traffic.

My loco runs well and hauls a realistic load though slows noticeably with six Mk1 coaches on.  These extremely versatile locos were never the most powerful beasts but could normally manage load 8 unassisted on electric power.  

The class 73 EDL was a widely-travelled type and its dual-power capability made it a popular choice for through workings away from the SR.  Many of the 49 built still exist and some have recently undergone extensive rebuilding - effectively emerging as new locos - to work the Scottish sleeping car trains north of the limit of overhead electrification.  Did anyone ever think they'd see a class 73 at Fort William?????

The Dapol model represents reasonable value at a price of around £120 but many, if not all, are fundamentally flawed at least in livery terms so buyer beware.  

My pictures show E6007 straight out of the box and before fitting any parts or weathering.  The picture is in natural daylight but out of direct sun which makes the blue livery appear an odd colour as noted above.

Nice review, Rick.

Mine (also a Faversham limited edition E6007) was one of the reports of strange happenings with the lighting on DCC, as well as running in reverse with a decoder fitted.

I have reversed the brush feed wires, which involved desoldering, swapping then resoldering them. One should not have to do this on a brand new, £120+ model. 

Mine also had what I would assume to be a one-off assembly error, where one wheel had two right-hand brake blocks fitted instead of one right and one left-hand item. The Hobby Shop, Faversham are looking in to getting me replacement parts for that. 
I would hasten to add that the faults with the models lie fairly and squarely with Dapol, not The Hobby Shop or any other retailer.

My model runs very quietly with no obvious gear noise, although i did run it for over an hour in each direction on the rolling road on DC power first.

As for the shade of blue, on this model it doesn't look out of place, but placed next to the Lima model in the "same" livery, the difference is obvious.

More niggles have showed up.

I fitted the couplers which were supplied and hooked the loco up to a train.  It ran for a while then refused to stay coupled.  Inspection of the couplers showed that the hooks were fitted the wrong way round in the loops.  So when the loop unit was plugged into the socket it was upside down.  The uncoupling arose because the hooks at both ends had dropped off.  Another quality control issue.

Then I found one of the lamp irons had fallen off.  Luckily I found it - a tiny L-shaped piece barely 2mm long - and was able to refit it using Australian sticky glue which seems to be better than the Chinese stuff.  In doing that however a small chip of yellow paint came off and I shall now have to get the yellow enamel out at some point to correct that.  I won't attempt a perfect colour match as the lamp irons were often chipped and sometimes hand-painted anyway.  But another QC niggle.

Running in twilight I was able to see the effect of both cab lights being on at all times and the headcode panel which is a piercing brilliant white and far too bright.  It was only lit by four incandescent bulbs on the real thing so glowed a fairly dim yellowy shade.  More work to be done inside, methinks.

And that's not accounting for the serious faults on DCC as detailed by Jeff.  Sometimes I'm very glad I stuck to DC and I have no plans to change!

The loco has now received a light weathering including a wipe of Carrs dark sand powder over the offending lemon-yellow ends which has taken them down a little.





There's also a short clip of the loco in service doing what they often did namely leading a train of parcel vans.  The difference between Dapol's "electric blue" and the "rail blue" of the Bachmann and Lima vans can be clearly seen.

incandescent bulbs  !!    haven't they heard of LEDS?

Not in the 1960s when those things were built, Sol ;-)

True but surely in the model form, LEDs would be better than incandescent bulbs  ?

The model has LEDs but they are way too bright.  The effect should be a dimly glowing yellowy colour but instead it looks like a high-intensity beam of brilliant white.

I turned the headcode light intensity down to about half the default (full) intensity, but they could go down a bit more yet. Since the cab lights seem to be separately fed, I'm not sure if the setting I applied works on them as well … yet. More experimentation will follow later.

Simply not good enough for something costing £120. 

It seems a sad fact of modern life that, as prices increase, standards fall.  We, the paying public, are just being taken for a ride whilst the organisations concerned try to keep the cats at the top, fat…………..:twisted::twisted::twisted:

I agree, Peter.

The model is good, it looks like a class 73, and the underframe and bogie detail is really good, but it is let down by livery and electrical faults.

Further to my previous post, I put the model back on the programming track and fired up Decoder Pro to change the light intensity again. This time I chose a value of 50 for both forwards and reverse, and that looks a lot better to me, with the headcodes now appearing to have a dim yellowish glow more fitting for incandescent bulbs.

I also chose to place a bit of electrical insulation tape over the cab light contacts to disable them for the time being. I may do some modifications later as posted by someone on RMweb to put the cab lights under the auxiliary outputs of the decoder. I would rather that Dapol replace the defective PCBs with a better design that does what it is supposed to. Having got all this right with their class 22 and class 52 locomotive models, I can't see why they would not use the same circuit design for the class 73 PCB.

Edit: I almost forgot to mention: The Hobby Shop, Faversham, got back to me and are organising a replacement bogie frame for me, seeing as the brake gear is not listed or shown as a separate assembly. That is promised to arrive as soon as DCC Supplies (Dapol's agent) get the spares in themselves. I have to add also that I have had excellent service from both The Hobby Shop and DCC Supplies (the latter with whom I have dealt with several times in the past).

I'm currently awaiting my preorder for the DJM class 71 which I'm not expecting to appear much before the middle of next year. I hope it will be somewhat better thought out than this Dapol model appears to be, as it must be very disappointing to get a model after a lengthy wait, only to find that after all the talk, it really doesn't live up to expectations. Previous models from DJM seem to have been pretty well received, so I'm expecting the wait to be worthwhile.
                                                            Keith.

More tiny parts have fallen off E6007 here.  I suspect the Chinese glue is not at all sticky if indeed any was used at all.  Some bits of pipework and the handrails seem to be just push-fitted with someone's fingers crossed …..

The DJModels class 71 (and the class 74 of which I have two pre-ordered) should be much better.  Dave Jones is effectively a one-man business and stands or falls by the quality of his product.  He has always used the strap line "Setting higher standards" and based upon those models so far released for which he has been responsible or had significant inout those words ring true.

Under the Dapol brand he brought us the class 22 and 52 diesels; under his own marque we have the Beattie and Adams tank engines.  All have been generally very well received.

Dapol on the other hand continues to churn out large numbers of items and small-run commissions of sometimes quite indifferent quality.  Their factory standard weathering (not that applied to the 22s and 52s) is a curious and ghastly shade of red oxide.  I don't think I have ever seen a railway vehicle weathered to that colour anywhere.