Xmas 1980. I’m six and I’ve just unwrapped my brand new Lima BR blue class 55 and I’m pretty pleased with myself. Today, I’m also very happy that both of my Accurascale Deltics arrived just before xmas with Nimbus in BR blue and RSG in it’s modern guise turning up in sturdy packaging - my only issue here being that you’ll need some small ziploc bags for the numerous tiny parts & photo-etch because the bags provided aren’t resealable. Those tiny parts are really nicely moulded and etched, the latter items are protected by a piece of folded card in their bag.
The box is lovely, the paperwork is beautifully presented and everything is packed with care, which is understandable given the heavy weight of the model loco itself - my good lady was using her kitchen scales at the time, so an accurate measure couldn’t be taken, but we’re in the 800g ballpark here.
The finish on both locos is flawless, tiny loco specific details like horn mounts and windscreen wipers and the intricate finely moulded parts (more of which later) all do a great job of reassuring you that your £170 (less than half the RRP of Hornby’s DP1!) has been very well spent. There’s a quality look and feel to everything here, the paint is flawless and finely realised on my examples and things like the handrails those windscreen wipers look perfectly in-scale and convincing. Definitely punching above the price-point here which is pleasing and refreshing.
The cabin and loco lighting is very impressive, you can pick out individual dials on the dashboard - the cabin itself is also very nicely done, complete with very fine glazing too. I do like that you can specify wee 3d printed figures to sit in the cabs if you want.
Both locos ran beautifully straight out of the box around my xmas tree layout. The mechanism on both being the quietest I’ve heard yet and the locos ran beautifully smoothly at a crawl without any hesitation. I haven’t run either at full speed yet, but both are impressively fast runners at 75% (on DC).
The only issue I encountered was of my own making - Nimbus derailed thanks to me not checking my freshly assembled track connections properly and I took out the tiny curved tangs that clip on at the front of the bogies (I’ll probably reach out to Accurascale and ask if I can buy some replacement parts), the locos themselves are faultless.
A full five stars from me, top work guys!
