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Kenton

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Kenton last won the day on August 6 2011

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  1. Kenton

    EBay madness

    I guess we can't all be experts. Always nice to help others out. It can be sometimes clearing out the loft/spare room/garage of junk you know little about.
  2. It is your time machine, fly it any way you like. If it is possible or even plausible, then leave it up to others to prove you wrong.
  3. Or even motorising a wagon or a coach, has been done and works just as well even if it does look rather surreal seeing a van going LE around a layout. I'm not so sure that the Kitmaster designs are so good a starting point and with all the effort entailed it might be better, even easier, to design a new kit to today's finer standards. At least that way you can proudly call it your own and have no fear from lawyers-r-us.
  4. I think I have just lost my sight, and the 2mm signal box interior just confirms it. The photos are so enlarged the detail looks bigger than reality. The 4mm were struggle enough while being very impressive but 2mm ... incredible detail.
  5. Kenton

    EBay madness

    So what? I am not aware of tension lock couplings on British stock either. Yet somehow this remains perfectly acceptable for modellers to use in selling British outline models. It is someone's idea of a model - they are all simply toys, who are we to judge. Don't like it then don't buy it. I won't and you probably won't and my decision will not be based on the couplings because I cannot be a hypocrite by purchasing a loco from Hornby et al.
  6. I was there a few weeks ago. The scenery doesn't change much it was still quite spectacular. Still quite a lot of snow around and the waterfalls in full flood as it was an unusually warm week. Main objective was further north but most of the peaks were too dangerous due to avalanches. So had some time to spare for Flaam and Bergen. Although railway link is tentative bordering on holiday snaps. The railway truly is quite spectacular especially at the higher part where it loops back on itself inside and on the side of the mountain. If you get to Begen the cable car to the top is worth a trip though on this day the weather had turned and it was windy, wet and a little cooler. (Note model railway link) Bucket lists are just like kit stashes completing them before you die is about as unlikely. Too many. Not many of mine are railway related though.
  7. Kenton

    EBay madness

    So? photographer forgot to tun off the date setting. I cannot see anything mad either about the item. Clearly states that they are tarnished. 14 sheets (even with some parts missing) could possibly weight 6Kg - we don't know the size of the sheets or their thickness ... or the accuracy of the scales The starting price could be lower but there is nothing really daft about it. I am curious too as I cannot make out the "carriages". A term often used by "dealers" / non-railway modellers to describe everything fro a locomotive to just about anything model railway related. This one just might end up in the "Good buy from ebay" topic
  8. Quality is not a term I would use in this particular comparison. For me it is a matter of 1. ease of build (that is a combination of how long it takes me to complete the kit and how much extra work is required to make the parts fit together (a mixture of good instructions/diagrams/prototype information/available references. and design - remembering I'm not a great fan of tabs) 2. availability and that means the complete kit - for example if one kit comes with the right buffers and the other only informs me of where to get them (possibly out of stock) 2. Prototypical correctness - Much can be forgiven but there are limits. 3. price - that ugly word also comes into the equation of quality. I certainly do not expect to pay a higher price just because a kit is "new" There are some manufacturer's around who rightly expect their kits to have a high price ticket but there are also some excellent kits that have relatively cheap prices. 4. materials - well everyone knows my distaste of resin or plastic components in a kit. It doesn't stop me building a kit, but given a choice it is a deciding factor in that judgement of quality, white metal castings vs brass, n/s vs brass it all is in that equation. Now I haven't built the LRM J25 and I doubt if the market has been exhausted. Though if it has then I guess Arthur is not going to sell many (his risk). If it hasn't then I guess LRM will be making a bigger return on sales than Arthur. So, I do not see that there is much of a problem. Customers get a wider range to choose from and if the quality is so different then one or the other will get the major portion of the sales. However, I also agree that there must be other prototypes to work on a whole range from other long past out of production prototypes and lesser quality kits that still seem to fetch silly prices s/h simply because no one can be bothered improving and making them available.
  9. niche of a lesser niche market . doomed from the outset. Unless your the first to market with such a narrow market, it is a very uphill struggle. Its agenda, positioned as more anti-steam rather than simply more "modern" focus probably didn't do it any favours. In world where there is much to choose from and a burgeoning internet, well it is hadly going to be missed by many.
  10. It's a bit like a political party - not much use without a critical mass of members. A bit like the LibDems the participants can all fit in a taxi (without their modules) and the few vocal enthusiasts seem to have lost their voices. Although the proof of concept meet up worked well the overall RMWeb support seemed to have gone out of the sails.
  11. I'm sure the problem is only dependent on the exchange rate at this time as possible trade negotiations are very much smoke and mirrors at this time. As the exchange rate is similarly very unpredictable (may yet go up or down) nothing is certain there either and may only affect purchases at this point in time. So regarding UK manufacturing the only known in the unknowns is exchange rate on current stock and in that regard, as I guess that metals are imported, the impact will be potentially on the UK supply chain as well.
  12. Grub, Dibble, Cuthbert, Barney McGrew, Pugh, Pugh. ... but the Fat Controller may have put it in reverse then Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grub.
  13. Kenton

    EBay madness

    The first one is a chancer trying to make a fast one based on a name that used to be regarded highly. The second one is a reputable trader who is still regarded very highly. Who continues to sell excellent valued kits at well below the rip off prices asked by most ebay sellers (and often go for prices in excess of the BIN direct from the manufacturer.
  14. ex tax accountant (slight difference) but I'm not investigating how the business/charity/individual handles their tax affairs. The "profit" from the show simply goes out of my pocket in exchange for the entertainment. The value entertainment can vary but that is a personal judgement. From an exhibitor's POV I fully understand that one may wish to have nothing to do with a particular club/charity/business - that is very much a personal decision. I can think of a few in each category I would not have anything to do with. But I make that choice with eyes wide open and perfectly capable of asking any questions to gain answers for that choice. The fact that the "profit" or any part of it goes to subsidising a minority group of modellers or to a business simply does not matter to me. This is even more true if the business is also providing a service to the modellers. I would argue that the existence of the profitable business eg. s/h model trains is providing far more to the well being of me and the modelling community that a club ever is. The visitor to these shows is very unlikely to join the club (and even more unlikely to benefit from input into their next funded layout) where as they may well buy their first train set from the trader. As said I just do not like the tone suggesting dishonesty of an individual or that there is something intrinsically wrong with this individual. I really do not like the undercurrent that seems to imply that clubs are the only people who should organise, take part in and benefit from all shows.
  15. No need to waterboard anyone. I guess I'm stupid or something. But if I was asked to exhibit/demonstrate by someone I didn't already know (and even more so from a club I had never heard of) I would be asking lots of questions of the individual. Just the same as with any transaction. A similar and probably broader set of questions (a civilised form of interrogation) would ensue if the invite came from a club I had never heard of. I would also be asking a wider group of folk, I actually knew (rather than just simply a forum) for supporting judgements. I know what you are asking, but you are also implying that this individual is being dishonest. I have seen nothing to that effect. If he is claiming to be a club then ask him how many members he has in that club and make your decision based on the answer. If he says he has 100 club members then perhaps make your views on his honesty based on that. As I have already indicated I have no issue with him making a profit, no problem with his business behind the promotion as I see all club/society/hobby/venue/charity shows making profit. As far as I am concerned there is no difference in motive. But the motivation of some on this topic seems to be to deny the public (that is me) from having a local show organised by an enthusiastic individual. A sort of ganging up by clubs and organisations to say they must be the only show in town.
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