Dapol Class 08 Later Samples
During the weekend of DEMU/Doncaster Gauge O Guild shows, Dapol kindly agreed to lend us the decorated samples for their forth coming 08s with the later body style. We must remind you though these samples are well travelled and show the odd missing revised details through travel damage. Alongside this the colours are still undergoing final revisions. These new locos which will compliment the existing range of Class 08's are due out sometime during 2019. The new proposed liveries are;
BR Railfreight Triple Grey
BR Intercity
Freightliner Green/Yellow
Also planned alongside these 3 liveries are;
-EWS
-BR Blue Unnumbered
-BR Blue Highland Rail
These liveries will come in the standard options that have been supplied by Dapol with previous runs, allowing the buyer the choice of DCC Ready, DCC Fitted or DCC Sound. Prices are inline with the second batch of class 08. Starting at an RRP of around £225
Please note at the time of the review the EWS & BR Blue varients were not present at the time or reviewing.
-EWS
-BR Blue Unnumbered
-BR Blue Highland Rail
These liveries will come in the standard options that have been supplied by Dapol with previous runs, allowing the buyer the choice of DCC Ready, DCC Fitted or DCC Sound. Prices are inline with the second batch of class 08. Starting at an RRP of around £225
Please note at the time of the review the EWS & BR Blue varients were not present at the time or reviewing.
Body Revisions
Compared to the original run of these models this run will see various body revisions. Body and cab doors are a whole new tooling featuring pressed steel versions as apposed to their earlier releases featuring a wooden cab door and engine room door straps.
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They have also included a revision to the front and rear lighting arrangement to represent changes made through the locos working career. This entails loosing the removal of the top headlight and the bottom centre white lights whilst retaining the two outer red and whites at the bottom. They have also added the life guards to the under side of the loco which were not visible on the earlier models. They have also recessed the clips on the front sole bar boxes which makes for a nice little adjustment.
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On top of these revisions they have added the air compressor box above the sole bar, complimented by the fitting of appropriate buffer beam piping. Also included is the removal of the nose ladders and addition of rear wind screen wipers and additional etch apposable front window (which is supplied as a brass etch).
Internally revisions are also planned, fully functioning switches will be added to the PCB board in this model to allow for a full configurable light configurations. However we have been advised by Dapol these are fully bypassed when fitting a DCC decoder. This how ever will be decoder dependant. (A production model review will be carried out upon general release)
Internally revisions are also planned, fully functioning switches will be added to the PCB board in this model to allow for a full configurable light configurations. However we have been advised by Dapol these are fully bypassed when fitting a DCC decoder. This how ever will be decoder dependant. (A production model review will be carried out upon general release)
08740 - BR Railfreight Triple Grey
08740 is depicted in its Railfreight triple grey which it carried during it's time allocated to Stratford depot. Starting with the well known Sparrow depot emblem which has been crisply applied to the body side, which straight away attracts attention to the revised body side doors. The OHLE symbols, tank side numbers also follow suit. The Stratford depot sticker and loco data panel are readable and printed to a high quality definition. Along side this the water pipe detailing is also picked put in the usual blue.
Whilst studying prototype pictures of 08740 through it's career, we have noticed the left hand shunting light at both ends had been painted black whilst the right retains its yellow colour. It also carried an additional lamp iron which was located on the Slab end of the cab, this is also unfortunately due to tooling omitted from the model. 08740 also carried an air horn in place of a whistle these were generally fitted later on the career of the locos as the whistles weren't deemed suitable. However on the model the whistle is still present. As with the other models featured the light trunking is yellow as apposed to the orange carried by the prototype. The lines between the body side greys are a little fuzzy and could also do with attention before production commences though over all this model is neat and very striking.
Whilst studying prototype pictures of 08740 through it's career, we have noticed the left hand shunting light at both ends had been painted black whilst the right retains its yellow colour. It also carried an additional lamp iron which was located on the Slab end of the cab, this is also unfortunately due to tooling omitted from the model. 08740 also carried an air horn in place of a whistle these were generally fitted later on the career of the locos as the whistles weren't deemed suitable. However on the model the whistle is still present. As with the other models featured the light trunking is yellow as apposed to the orange carried by the prototype. The lines between the body side greys are a little fuzzy and could also do with attention before production commences though over all this model is neat and very striking.
08891 - Freightliner Green/Yellow
08891 is smartly turned out in freightliner green as carried during its career with Freightliner whilst being based at the company's Southhampton depot. Again featuring very crisp and readable printing through out. The loco was named 'J.R 1951-2005' the dapol model doesn't feature this nameplate, however it isn't critical for its earlier years in this livery. Dapol have featured the white exhaust port area, white light housings front and back , a whistle which is correct and most impressively the correct buffer style has been accounted for. Which is noticeable with the distinctively smaller buffer shafts and housing compared to the other two.
Minor things include the missing battery isolation notices, yellow light trunking instead of orange which is present on all 3 of the models supplied. Another small detail we picked up on was the cantrail stripe runs too far round the nose end, to be prototypical this should stop before the wasp stripes commence.
Minor things include the missing battery isolation notices, yellow light trunking instead of orange which is present on all 3 of the models supplied. Another small detail we picked up on was the cantrail stripe runs too far round the nose end, to be prototypical this should stop before the wasp stripes commence.
08795 - Intercity
08795 carries the distinctive intercity livery as when allocated to Landore and seen frequently in the Swansea area. As above with the other models the livery is well applied, and extremely crisp with all wording readable. The lights are painted blue front and back as per the prototype, though the piping is again yellow instead of orange. There is also the omition of OHLE flashes. The data panel is of the older style rather than the later tops version. At a glance the Executive Dark Grey has a slight purple tinge to it though without having another model of the same colour to hand it's hard to tell.
Conclusion
In conclusion whilst being similar to the original class 08 release the amount of additional detailing and revisions can not be ignored. The choice of striking liverys chosen compliment the existing range, and are welcome splash of modern image colour to any layout. These new releases allow the work horse of British Rail yards and industry to be modelled throughout their colourful career. That coupled with the attractive price tag these are a must buy loco!