I did not own any of their products before and decided to give it a go. My collection did however include some UK rolling stock already and of course I wanted to buy something I did not have yet. That's why I went for some very modern freight wagons in N-scale. I've ordered four of those from the Hattons online store. Let's take a look at them!
Dapol 2F-039-003 - Telescopic Hood Wagon
This wagon was priced at £17. Its most notable feature is the telescopic hood.
A Dapol-branded cardboard box contains a plastic box which in turn contains a plastic enclosure. Nice packaging!
The wagon comes with Rapido couplers but another type is included for replacement. Let's see what the model looks like.
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The wagon has quite a lot of details. Many of those are separately applied and painted. The colors are very rich and it does look very nice overall. One disappointment is a completely flat underframe.
The wheels are metal, but the wagon is very, very light. Way too light for my taste. A very nice feature is the option of opening the hood. One could even attempt to put some cargo inside.
Dapol NHSpec001 - Silver Bullet Tank Wagon
The Silver Bullet tank wagon set me back £20. It's the most expensive one in the set. According to the label on the box it's a "gold standard model".
This car also features a "3-layer packaging". Cardboard, hard plastic and soft plastic. The manufacturer definitely cared about a safe delivery.
The default couplers are Rapido but a set of 5 (?) knuckle replacements is available. Some extra parts are included, too. The customer is probably supposed to apply those by himself. Unfortunately we get no manual explaining the steps.
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This wagon has a crazy amount of details. In addition to separately applied and painted plastic parts, it also contains a large number of handrails and they're all metal wires. The silver paint job is incredible. The body of the model is almost as perfect as a mirror.
The wheels are metal and the model is rather heavy. I suspect the tank element might be actually made of metal, too. The underframe does not offer many real-life details but it reveals the complex spring-based mechanism holding the wagon together. Very creative and definitely "gold standard" looking.
Dapol 2F-022-004 - Ferry wagon
This covered freight wagon was priced at £14. It's the cheapest one of the four.
Packaging differs but just slightly. Instead of a plastic enclosure we get a foam form. It's a little bit more difficult to take the wagon out but it looks well protected.
Four knuckle couplers are included in case the user does not like the default Rapido parts. I again wonder why we get more than two pieces...
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The wagon is very long, around 14 cm long. Its size is the only reason why it provides a decent weight. It feels like it would be very light if it wasn't for its length. The wheels are again made of metal.
The model does not offer a huge amount of details. It looks rather generic. But still there are some extra parts around and they're nicely distinguished by a different color. The painting is high quality with easily readable labels and high contrast elements. Surprisingly this simple looking wagon offers some underframe details.
Dapol 2F-010-006 - Gondola Wagon
My last purchase is an open top freight wagon. It cost me around £18.
Seems I can call it now a "typical Dapol packaging". Plastic holder inside a plastic transparent box and a cardboard wrap. The wagon is 100% safe inside.
Rapido couplers are factory installed. Two knuckle couplers are provided for the users who need them. There are also some extra details included but the set lacks information about where and how to apply them.
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This is one vivid wagon. The bright yellow color was already noticeable in the other models but this one is yellow all around. Definitely eye-catchy...
The wagon features a lot of details. Several small elements can be recognized and their presence is further underlined by using contrasting paints. Even though it's just a gondola car, there's a lot to look at.
The underframe is very nicely done. Pipes, rods, tanks - so many parts to look at. The wheels are again made of metal. And there must be even more metal in the model, as it is noticeably heavier than the other wagons.
Summary
So this is my first N-scale rolling stock from Dapol. What do I think about it?
The models are definitely good looking. They're very nicely painted and most of them feature a lot of details. Of course the more expensive ones offer more but the cheaper ones are very decent, too.
I'm very happy all of the wagons include metal wheels. Knuckle couplers are also appreciated, even though I do not use them. Product packaging is flawless, exactly as I would expect.
First impression about the Dapol brand? Seems they just got themselves a new customer :)
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