Hi Alberto - I bought one of the early Bowande Black Fives and although I'm generaly very pleased with it - it does have a number of problems ....
Bowandes understanding of poker burner design leaves something to be desired. In the one supplied with the loco there were too few slots and they were much too wide. The second one they supplied had many more slots and they were much narrower but it still required the addition of stainless steel mesh to get anything like acceptable performance. Howerver it was still no match for the Roundhouse FG design which incorporates holes instead of slots. I believe Bowande have now given up on poker burners and have gone over to the radiant ceramic type.
The taper on the boiler was not pronounced enough on the early ones - but this was later corrected.
The brass etches for the cab construction was very thin and vulnerable to damage - later corrected.
The supplied pressure gauge was hopelessly small and never worked - I replaced it with a much better gauge from Blackgates.
The filler for the cylinder lube oil was obstructed by the smokebox door making it very dificult to use.
The water gauge glass is too small at 5mm - it should be 6mm as per Aster practice.
On the plus side there are many good points ...
The general standard of construction and detailing is better than that of Aster who were widely regarded as the best in the business - there are no ugly exposed phillps screw heads.
The lining is far more prototypical than the Accucraft version and it not only incorporates the red and white lines, but also the gray as well.
There are none of the dreaded white metal components - everything is in finely cast brass.
The replication of the water pick up gear in the tender is outstanding and could easily be made operational if you wanted to.
So on balance I think it is a worthy model and I would certainly buy from Bowande again - hope this helps ....
