Glad you got a good one! I’m still not going to buy one though because of how many other people have had issues with this loco

Thanks for sharing; you really are extremely patient! I was so looking forward to these locos being available and so disappointed by what I heard about them. To date I have not bothered buying one. I spoke to a Rapido UK rep at their roadshow in Maidstone, Kent last year. His response was that I shouldn't worry about the reviews online as they provide a very good repair service and what are a few faults anyway? Despite our conversation being based around the 15xx he then went off on a tangent about how I might like to buy one of their new GWR 2-6-2's! All the best, Dudley

I would put your shed on the plot were you took the frame from and use your good top soil for planting or a tunnel

Mine had missing bits on the front, replacement sent and just as bad, emailed KR but no reply, not impressed

I loved this video, very descriptive. It has certainly made some of my problems solvable. I'm now looking forward to your follow up video.

You have a beautiful layout in all aspects except one which is a pet peeve of mine, if I may: The paper background 2D photos of buildings do not allow the vanishing points to move as we move past them as do the 3D structures and all of real life... I think this detracts from otherwise so many excellent model railroads this way and feel it's best to only have 2D hills and foliage with perhaps structures in them that are far enough away that we can't see their walls (which cause the problem)...then use low relief buildings behind trackage if no room for full depth structures, which you've done. The photo right above your left shoulder at 15:17 is what I'm referring to. Yet the red brick buildings to either side of you and the rest are fine.. The Leader looks really nice. The intruding coal load may be a sales ploy in order to catch the eye so that those unaware of the existence of such a rare 'coal-burner' won't assume it's just another diesel; the coal below the roof line going unnoticed..Just a theory. In any event, thumbs way up # 442 from across the pond..

Good video. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only one to get a good one, funny though I went for the black one as well. Most of the bad reviews were on the silver ones, perhaps they took more care with the black ones. I also notice you are use DCC with Digikeijs same as my setup, except my one has factory fitted sound. The only issue with mine was the coupling holder disintegrated when I tried to push in the NEM coupling. Fortunately Rails sent me a replacement coupling.

I'm glad you didn't get a lemon. It looks like it works well even at low speeds. It's an unusual design, I'd never heard of it.

I've so far received two of these models and both suffered from loose wheels and broken buffers amongst other issues. On the second loco - the one with the fewest issues - I refitted the wheel and buffer using superglue, and so far it runs absolutely fine.

Dear Sir! Great photos, what a research! Cheers from Brazil!

I'd certainly be interested how you get on curing the jerky movement, listening out... good one.

People are returning their Leader locomotives left right & centre, so you may have a future collectors item on your hand here, if you can fix any of the issues

One theory doing the rounds is that DCC fitted ones seem to run better than DCC ready versions. I do like your one in Black but I do propose that KR / Rails of Sheffield need to sort out the quality of each before they are sent to customers.

Great vlog

You were fairly lucky Julian. But things shouldn't be falling off on trains that cost a small fortune. I always trust Sam's Trains verdict and hope KR Models will just stop. Stop making dodgy models.

I would probably say you got away lightly on this.. however the dcc side on the lighting codes are completely made up and don't correspond to any SR route indication apart from 1. But apart from this its mainly details, body shape, radius of corners, shapes, livery, types of rivets, positioning of firemans door and window, wheels, the livery is ok on this.. but on the grey... its actually silver... and missing the red buffer beam its a bit of a joke.

To add to what you said, I saw an analogue versdion of a KR Leader running on the test track at our Model Railway club earlier this week and didn't see any running problems - it tackled third radius curves at speed without any problems and as for slow running - no problems there either nor did anyone point out any glue marks or badly fitted parts - Other than the coal load it was a very good representation of a loco that was sabotarged by the idiots in-charge of BR in the early 1950's - sounds like some of them may now be writing the reviews on KZbin!

just a thought , have you tested the over hang when passing another train with long 60ft coaches. I had this problem with a steam train and the new 64 ft coaches passing in opposite direction . Glade your train is better than some other reviews of them thank you for sharing .john

KR models is becoming a byword for ‘scam’ the sooner people boycott the company the sooner it will go belly up, and it can’t happen soon enough.

I was ready to buy one but, seeing the reviews, I dropped my idea to buy one. Too much quality issues, and you can get a lemon or a decent engine depending only on your luck... The previous one I wanted to buy from KR Models was the Fell class. Also plagued with quality issues... I was lucky to have two Hornby new tooled 9F bought in a row with good running qualities, I honestly won't try my luck once again with the Leader.

Sometimes you just want a model because you just like it and stuff if it fits any particular era, location or whatever! Does look good in BR black and glad you have a good one but just seems to many issues around this model and sadly KR Models generally for me to want to part with my hard earned for one… Does seem a shame that KR seem to let themselves down as when you see the quality that the likes of Accurascale and Dapol are producing amongst others, they really seem to be missing a very big opportunity.

Hi Julian, a break from the norm! It's an interesting model, and I do quite like the unusual, but it's outside of my era. I always find it funny with reviews, apart from Sam's Trains, mostly all reviews of any rolling stock is negative, a way of venting off steam! I apply that to my kind of work, I'm a mechanic. You never hear the guy down the pub praising your work, but make one mistake, a human frailty, or faulty part, and the whole world knows about it! I don't think that any new model is designed to run on toy train curves. The older stuff does, but it misses details. It has flangeless wheels, incorrect wheel bases, etc. We are all too quick to knock a product, most coal loads are unrealistic, and plastic small items are delicate, and they weren't fitted once upon a time. I would, however, take humbridge with visable glue marks. If there are fingerprints, we can find the culprit! As the last word, I think that you would be well suited for any model railway producer. Your "day job" is obviously in designing?, I'm not entirely sure, and your attention to detail is second to none, a benefit that most manufacturers would welcome.

LEADER COAL Forget the moaning that seems to be going on about the coal load. The majority of pictures of the Leader in traffic do show it with a high coal load, as per the model. James Hennighan Yorkshire, England

This model has been awaited on by many modellers BUT K R MODELS need to improve their quality control or lack of it Please pick up your game

The Leader model has real pressence in BR black. I enjoyed your video as it brings Bullied's vision alive.

I’m really happy with mine, it’s fulfilled a long held wish. I don’t mind a few gremlins, because that’s what model railways are all about

The only thing I can say is well done, your decision is not crazy at all, you have looked at the reviews of this loco and although a lot of them have been scathing you have still come to the decision that you want to try it out, you made that decision yourself, you didn’t let other people influence you, you understand that your experience of this loco will be different to what is being shown by others and in return despite a minor issue with the whistle breaking you got a relatively fault free model, we need more people like you in this hobby. Far to many people in this hobby these days are becoming spineless cowards who when they see someone report an issue with a certain model they will happily just go along because they have the the pathetic belief that if they get the same loco they will encounter the same issue which isn’t true, you try to tell them and it just falls on deaf ears. Onto the model though I do have one, I got the silver with no BR crest and mine has had no faults at all, no broken parts and no wheel disengaged from the axle, very pleased with it and very happy that I have not had any issues with mine, it was always a loco I was going to get regardless as it’s a loco I have always been interested in since seeing photos and reading up about it, also with it being a one off prototype loco and I pretty much have every other one off that’s been done by the other manufacturers, just so I am being fair there are some inaccuracies with this loco that do bug me, I may look at correcting some at a later date but when it comes to the loco overall I think KR have done a decent job, to even do this loco at all was quite the statement from them as it’s a very niche loco that won’t appeal to everyone, one thinking I really like about the model is it’s presence, when it’s on a piece of track the loco has a real presence to it, KR have managed to capture the very unique look and how strange Leader was, my only regret with this model is I didn’t go for a sound version but thankfully there are some places doing a sound decoder now so may look at that in the future. With regards to KR I still have confidence in them, I own the GT3 and The Fell and just talking on the Fell the 1st release ones had a few quality issues, KR at a later date rereleased it with some improvements but for some reason not many people seem to know about it compared to for example Accurascales recent rerelease of the deltic which has had improvements done to it. I repeat my statement in the beginning, well done for making your own decision despite what has been said, there will be many others out there with a model of Leader and it will have been fine for them, what needs to happen now is those need to get some form of media out that shows their loco so then there is a more even playing field as to which ones have had the unfortunate bad model and those who have had a good model then those who may be on the fence can look at each view and hopefully do what you have done, it necessarily buy the mode, but make their decision themselves instead of having someone else make it for them.

Not sure which decoder you have fitted, but KR supply their locos with an ESU Lok Sound V5. If you have fitted an ESU you can do the following to smooth out the model: Set CV 54=0 Then activate F1. The loco will shoot off at full pelt for a short way then stop (DON'T do this on a short siding etc or it might take the buffer stops out!). This is an auto backlash set up. I did this with mine & it now is silky smooth in the crawl. Hope this might help you. Cheers Boa Films

Great running session with a good choice of shots and angles around the layout! I thought the Leader looked impressive going over the bridge videoed from a low-camera angle. This showed off the Leader's impressive size. Your example looks great in the BR lined black livery. It is difficult to know what rolling stock to feature with it. I think it was intended for unelectrified commuter lines. I think I would order Southern Region coaches. Watch my video on the Thanet Flyer Set, as the coaches from this set would look great with the leader! kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6mYl2B7Zddpe5osi=ZKUyOFeMmPxN-SvC Thanks for uploading.

I do like the black livery. If I had one though, I would paint the buffer beams and buffer stocks red. And yes, the coal load would be the first thing to go! No doubt a manufacturer will make a far more superior coal load for it soon.

185 pounds four year wait the model should be perfect out of the box but no.

The "grey" or silver livery that seems to feature in many reviews certainly does the loco,otive no favours at all; from certain angles it looks rike a 1970's Victoria Lline Underground cab rather than a Leader. This looks a lot better and I'm guessing that in part is due to the fact that the eye is not drawn to, and retained by, an unremittingly slab of single colour plastic.

Julian, you were lucky with this model from K R Models. I agree that the coal load is crap, but that is easy to replace. I will not be buying one. Martin. (Thailand)

Looks very smart in black, you seem to have a better quality loco than several other people. Video shows your layout nicely

Blimey Julian, I saw your video there waiting to watch, thinking there is another horror story of a model. Ive watched a fair few reviews on this loco and yours is the only one I've seen with all wheels intact. You were very fair and still honest. Hope it continues to be the good runner as it started out to be.

Hi Julian, I have had a few issues with my example, parts coming off in transit, couplings pointing downwards, and the jurky motion. It does hangover the track a lot on rad 2 curves, but overall runs reasonably well. The big issue for me is that in the nearly 4 years of waiting and paying for the loco, KR couldn’t get it right! You live and learn!

I do have to say one thing that KR absolutely nailed was their decision to offer fantasy paint schemes. This model looks amazing in BR lined black and even better in BR blue, almost makes me wish to see it in EWS red and yellow. I just hope they can sort out their issues, and the fact that at least some are coming out without too many issues suggests they can make them decently enough.

Julian, it’s great to see a working and decently put together version of this model. I’ll admit, you did gamble 😅 but I’m glad it paid off. Poor KR must be having a nightmare with this, I hope they’re able to bounce back and raise their QC with their next offering as this definitely wasn’t their finest hour. Your black version is easily the most interesting of the options available and it looks grand on your layout. Thank you for sharing mate. Keep well

I had my Leader arrive this week. And it was a surprise that mine was in perfect condition. When I was running it in a lower speeds it clicked for about the first 2 minutes, but then I turned up the speed to 50% and it went away, and has not come back. I think that the QC needs to be picked up for KR models, but otherwise I am impressed at the moment with it

I was crazy enough to buy two of them, one in black and one of them in prototype grey, they both turned up in good condition and both survived shipping to the USA, I was blown away with my two so I was shocked to hear that so many had issues with them, I will not be trying to defend poor quality control especially on a loco this price but for me at least this is a loco doesnt have issues that some real coal and light weathering cant fix. I do hope whoever does have issues with theirs is able to get it sorted though

Thanks for the reassuring video. I just received mine and not a good start when I opened it to see a small screw in the plastic packaging. There was also a hook missing off one buffer beam but all the wheels are good.

An out of the box running session and narrative overview which showed that the Leader (I like this livery) in a better light, albeit still with issues that KR need to take on board, I must say it looked incredibly smart (even without the problematic coal load), and you can see side on the pseudo diesel look (7:21). I believe KR's next project is the 4DD EMU, which in reality was Bulleid's 4-Car double deck BR suburban/ commuter train, model due Q2/2025. KR like quirky I just hope they get better at it. ...Drew

Congrats on winning the quality control lottery!

Yes, I was indeed thinking why on earth had you bought one of those. However, the running shots show it blends absolutely perfectly with your layout theme. That’s a tribute to the historical authenticity of your architectural modelling. Nice addition and a nice review, thank you.

My black Leader arrived intact but I have doubts that it will remain intact. Unless there are varying tolerances in the "insulated" wheel bushing or the inner diameter of the hole for the bushing in the wheel then I fear that all insulated wheels will eventually let loose, especially if used on R2 curves. The curved rail puts a lot of stress on the wheel leading to failure. Some have found that while intact on arrival, after running for a relatively short period a wheel or multiple wheels will separate from the axle.

That is a good break down of your version of the loco Julian. I have seen other good reviews out there too, so they can't all be bad (other then the coal load). Happy modelling.

Hello from the UK 🇬🇧

Just came across your site. I have many videos to watch as I started off your road video's from 4 yrs ago. I just retired and your video's are very helpful in planning what I want to do. Thank you for sharing.

Nice 10/10 model 👌

Well done! What software are you using to draw these buildings?