Accurascale Mk. 5A

Only available as an Accurascale Exclusive via its website, the set of Mk. 5A coaches followed swiftly its Caledonian Sleeper Mk. 5A coaches with the same underpinnings but with completely different, and slightly narrower, bodyshells.

What we like: 

Once adornment is complete and train assembled, on test, the set performed faultlessly in both directions. At £225 for the set of five coaches equating to £45 per vehicle, value for money considering the quality is very good.

From the box there are empty apertures for the destination panels. There is a pack for each coach with two clear plastic parts backed with the destination information for each of the end points for the train; this pack being Liverpool Lime Street or Scarborough plus a destination display for the panel above the windscreen of the driving trailer car. These are very easy to fit but should be stuck in place to avoid loss – clear PVA worked well.

Assembling the train is simplicity itself with kinematic magnetic couplings between the set vehicles. The rear of the first vehicle has sprung buffers and a tension lock coupling fitted as standard for attaching to the locomotive.

What we noticed: 

The real livery on the prototype features complex colour graduations and blends on the driving trailer from purple, through indigo to pale and then dark blue. This is near impossible to achieve with tampo-printing, but a good representation of this has been made with very fine halftone dots of varying intensity.

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