Dapol 'Schools' Class Locomotive - OO Gauge Plastic Model Kit - Build & Review

Named after various schools in the UK, these small but powerful tender locomotives filled a vital gap in the Southern Railway's motive power roster.

Join me in this video as I build and review the OO Gauge (1/76 scale) plastic model kit of this locomotive from Dapol.

Find the kit here:

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[leighthetwinotterflyerjone]

Wow i remember as a child in the 70s building the harrow locomotive with my grandad.I think it was an airfix kit.Great memories thanks for the video

[juleshammond]

It's great to see a build video of these classic old Kitmaster/Airfix kits. You should be congratulated on your work. Actually getting the valve gear to run freely is part of the fun of these kits, even if it isn't always possible!

[ellis]

Yes! I'm so happy you actually did my request! You even did the same locomotive I mentioned you should do :D

[anthonybeech]

I've never attempted a loco before, but after watching your guide and seeing the finished kit I'm now very Evening Star loco by Dapol looks like a place to start.

[morgenergy]

Highly recommend the Battle of Britain class in this range. In my opinion, it's the easiest to turn into a moving model as the gear linkage is pretty simple - my first one, which I built about a decade ago, still moves, although it requires some pushing down.

Other Dapol builds I've done recently move a lot more freely, with plenty of added weight and axles that have been refined and oiled (Lubrication is very important - dry plastic on plastic isn't going to move very smoothly and let me tell you, it squeaks.).

In regards to the instructions, I recently purchased two Airfix City of Truro kits from the local model shop to detail and motorise, and the instructions in those are much better step-by-step offerings with a large black & white paint guide. They were also only a tenner each, which is cheaper than what many ask for the Dapol version: doesn't make sense when an older release is much cleaner with a better fit, since the tooling was much younger way back then, not to mention a vintage item. The plastic on the Airfix offerings seems better as well, a beautifully clean and smooth black type which feels tougher than the grey stuff that Dapol uses. Dapol does use recycled plastic however, which is a unique feat. You can just feel that it'd be an easy job to make an older Airfix release move, maybe an older Dapol release from the 80's and 90's is easy to work with too, unless it's a Dapol problem.

I do fear how long these toolings have left as they are becoming more and more rough by the year, with some of them being a pointless effort; some kits are just too far gone and I reckon Dapol should begin retooling them. Until then, I'll be building loads of these as they are great ways to try new techniques, stuff your sidings or empty platforms at the station with modelling history. They've a wonderful charm to them and roughness aside, they are fun little things and you can't get a plastic kit of a British locomotive anywhere else. That, and when the wagons cost as little as a fiver and come with a modern coupling and metal wheels, as well as the fact that the Stanier coaches are as little as a tenner, I think the wear and tear is worth the while.

[dizwilliams]

A very well presented and informative video. You are a natural. Thank you.

[pencilpauli]

Have recently started to build this kit, so am really pleased to have found your video.
Will pause to make some observations as otherwise I will forget.

Re Instructions: I've found a PDF of the Airfix instructions. They're higgledy-piggledy with regards to cropping and random rotations of the images, but the illustration is larger with greater clarity of what goes where.
Will post a link if able and it will help.

Re: Decals Yellowing. For anyone who don't know, if you put the decals in a clear plastic bag, and taping the bag to a window to expose the decals to sunlight will remove the yellowing.
HTH

Sweet build! Thanks for the video.
Fancy having a go at the Evening Star which I see you also made a video of!

[scottledbetter]

Great job ! I love trains so I will build this classic someday. Thanks !

[AdrianBowerProject]

Excellent make and paint job MM!! I'd overlooked this video a couple of times as I thought it was a review for a new Hornby release!!

[GerardScroogeGoes]

Nice build, good paintjob. thx for the tip on diluting the acril paint for supressing the brush marks. I'm stil strugling with acril paint on that. Dapol retooled all (most) of their old Kitmaster kits and they really improved on it. They lost most of their flash. They alreay modernized the instructions. I have two, same instuctions, one with flash one without, I bought in Singapore. Staight out of the bag yours is as good as they get but these models are still very usefull as a basis for some nice upgrading.

[antonelloschiano]

Good work...i like this english loco... i bought it too thank you for posting..

[timsully]

My goodness, this takes me back! We couldn’t afford too many working models, so we had the older Airfix version kits of a Schools, Mogul and pair of 9Fs in our old engine shed, complete with fitters maintenance crew in situ. While they just sat there looking pretty, my Jinty, Class 31 and Black 5 actually did the work 😜

And yes, we couldn’t get the wheels to rotate freely either 🤣😂😅

I know they are a bit aged now, but they are great for pure nostalgia. I have a Dapol Mogul which I intend to build myself one day when I have a spare day or so 😎

Cheers mate! Nice trip down memory Lane 👍🍻🍀

[Pullisto]

Very insightful, as I've pulled my partly made model out of storage after 18 years after recently doing the Dapol (also former Kitmaster/ Airfix 2-6-0 Mogul kit which had similar problems, as you say you need some previous modeling expertise behind, I imagine many a kit bought has ended up flying across the room and then into the bin - or stuck in a box and forgotten in storage for decades like mine. Especially so if a person attempted to make it with turning drivers, not going to happen! Indeed the instructions /diagrams are a nightmare, and having been given a copy of the Airfix kit of the same, they are very much a ridiculously downsized redo copy of those. The nameplate problem, indeed with that small cuff bit on the decal and real nameplates, I'm going to try add a small bit so mine will fit. the name for mine is 'Shrewsbury', no 921, and will be done as SR. So the 5 digit number embossed on the smokebox door needs to go. Like the last loco, I'm dreading doing the valve and motion gear. My next of the Dapol steam kits will likely be 'City of Truro', simplified given the real deal had all inside cylinders. The Airfix kit from the early 80's will be kept in box, and not made up, now of course a collectible as such.

[Emilystar]

I bought this kit and hopefully when it arrives I can build it with ease and if not then I may need to do some extra fileing and use some other stuff but hopefully it isn't as much of a frustration like the one you built here.

[baarp]

Great video! 👍🏻 I wish I’d seen it before I bought this kit. I’ve the use of only one hand because of a stroke I’ve suffered so t seems I’m up for a bit of a challenge. 😄

[PanzermansBunker]

Unusual subject. Good build and paint job on the kit. Wish they added an engineer figure for the locomotive cab. Bill

[bussesandtrains]

i recommend humbrol 30 for the brunswick green as its slimier to raf grass green

[andrewgratrix]

Hi. During lockdown I've been back to childhood by making models from those long-gone days. The latest one I'm doing is this in its Airfix guise. I found your video very helpful and informative, but would appreciate more detail, especially on what colours to use on what inside the cab...

[atnorange]

AL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN TO 2.5K SUBS. CHOO CHOO

[heaptoncollierymodelrailwa]

Hi
Love the video (and the model)
I agree with you, just a little revamp would aid this kit so much
Cheers
Oliver