408493/1957 - British Rail nr 20 - BR Rail Blue

Excellent quality, more O Gauge please.

Very securely packed for postage, lovely box holding the model very nicely. Excellent level of detail, the cab roof and bonnet top being very discretely removable. Very nice etched Ruston plates too. All in all brilliant, I shall look forward to the next one in 7 mm scale!

With long-term plans to model a part of Reading Signal Works in O, #20 was an obvious purchase for me!

Loco is securely packaged with stout box, foam insert and the usual clear plastic clamshell. Included are 2 baggies with the debris guards and a set of pre-coloured etched RH and RUSTON plates for the user to attach.

Livery and details are crisp and well applied, matching photographs of the prototype in regards to buffers, lamp-irons, etc. The bonnet-top handrails are quite easily dislodged, but probably necessarily so to allow access to the DCC fittings under the separate bonnet top, held in place via 4 magnets. The cab roof is also separate, with excellent detailing of the cab interior.

Running-wise, my dc model is smooth and quiet out of the box, with a realistically limited top speed. With some running-in I'm sure it will improve further.

The only real issue is that, with the debris guards fitted as per the instructions using superglue, the clamshell can no longer be closed up around the loco, making it difficult to store in the original packaging.