hayfield Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Whilst in my local model shop I spotted this complete loco kit on the shelf for £25, well almost complete as missing the brass nuts, bolts and pickups from the chassis kit. I don't model the GE or LNER but I do like Back Jumpers for some reason, perhaps seeing Mr Rice's layouts are to blame Other than a bit of damage to both tank/cab sides its in very good condition, with the quality of both casting and metal used up to the standards we expect today I decided to buy an updated etched chassis rather than use the cast one, in addition I have replacement wheels as the ones in the kit are early Romfords, the crankpin holes have not been drilled or tapped, Mazac wheels on one side and flangeless centre wheels. At the same as buying the chassis I asked for a spares price list just in case there were additional castings now available. Still deciding whether to build to 00 or EM gauge, but will use a new more modern motor and gearbox Those who complain about instructions, have a look at these Looks like I will have a Romford Terrier either for sale or swap, as well as the cast chassis with the old style wheels. I guess the parts I will be adding will cost more than the kit, but it will be a better model for doing so and still far cheaper than everything being bought as new Just for fun I thought I would see what inflation has done, as the motor has 22/6 (£1-13p.) My W&H book dated 10/67 show's the price for the motor as 23/8 (£1-19p) I am guessing the kit has laid un-made since about 1966 or earlier According to mr W&H book the plain drivers were 1/7.5(£0-09) each, and insulated drivers 4/5 (£0-23p) axles 1/9 (£0.09p) The loco body was 40/2 (£2-10p) and the chassis 23/4 (£1-17p) Whats interesting is that a £1 in 1966 after inflation is now worth £17.66 The body and chassis being £3.27 = £57.75 A new kit costs £89.50 Tax being £14.92 Purchase tax back in 1966 was 9/9 (£0.49.5p) £8.64 in to days money A bit of useless information, but shows both kits and tax have gone up quicker than inflation 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Whilst in my local model shop I spotted this complete loco kit on the shelf for £25, well almost complete as missing the brass nuts, bolts and pickups from the chassis kit. I don't model the GE or LNER but I do like Back Jumpers for some reason, perhaps seeing Mr Rice's layouts are to blame 114.jpeg Other than a bit of damage to both tank/cab sides its in very good condition, with the quality of both casting and metal used up to the standards we expect today I decided to buy an updated etched chassis rather than use the cast one, in addition I have replacement wheels as the ones in the kit are early Romfords, the crankpin holes have not been drilled or tapped, Mazac wheels on one side and flangeless centre wheels. At the same as buying the chassis I asked for a spares price list just in case there were additional castings now available. Still deciding whether to build to 00 or EM gauge, but will use a new more modern motor and gearbox 115.jpeg Those who complain about instructions, have a look at these Looks like I will have a Romford Terrier either for sale or swap, as well as the cast chassis with the old style wheels. I guess the parts I will be adding will cost more than the kit, but it will be a better model for doing so and still far cheaper than everything being bought as new Just for fun I thought I would see what inflation has done, as the motor has 22/6 (£1-13p.) My W&H book dated 10/67 show's the price for the motor as 23/8 (£1-19p) I am guessing the kit has laid un-made since about 1966 or earlier According to mr W&H book the plain drivers were 1/7.5(£0-09) each, and insulated drivers 4/5 (£0-23p) axles 1/9 (£0.09p) The loco body was 40/2 (£2-10p) and the chassis 23/4 (£1-17p) Whats interesting is that a £1 in 1966 after inflation is now worth £17.66 The body and chassis being £3.27 = £57.75 A new kit costs £89.50 Tax being £14.92 Purchase tax back in 1966 was 9/9 (£0.49.5p) £8.64 in to days money A bit of useless information, but shows both kits and tax have gone up quicker than inflation The prices are roughly what I remember. I didn't consider them cheap at the time! The large difference in the price of insulated and uninsulated romford wheels is mainly due to the nickel silver tyre of the latter. IIRC uninsulated wheels with nickel tyres only became available later. (About the same time as the bosses came drilled and tapped?) The inflation figures are the result of pick and chose on the part of the government. AFAIK house prices are not given their proper weight for example. (IMHO) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sem34090 Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 £25 - a decent price. I might try and locate this model shop... I had been hoping to get to Didcot - they had some nice kits for good prices when I was last there, but travel and entrance costs are proving prohibitive at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 Local to me and this was a one off, every now and then I spot a little gem not just there but other places as well. The model could be built as is, just missing the crank pins and pickups, plus the nuts and bolts. I have decided to all kits now to a certain standard, etched chassis, can motors, gearboxes and brake gear For most the Mazac wheels are not worth it, likewise today flangeless drivers are normally not needed, plus the crankpin holes need drilling. For some none of these items are an issue. I have both a drill bit of the correct size and a 10 ba tap, had the wheels all been both flanges and nickle silver rims I would have gone to the trouble of drilling and tapping them. Next the chassis is a bit old school for me, firstly being cast, secondly the coupling rods are a piece of bullhead rail, the etched chassis ordered will not only have decent coupling rods, will have the correct profile, guard irons and brake gear Finally the motor is a bit vintage for use in an etched chassis, I will use a can motor and a decent gearbox No doubt there will be takers who prefer the cast chassis and someone needing a Terrier motor Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 The prices are roughly what I remember. I didn't consider them cheap at the time! The large difference in the price of insulated and uninsulated romford wheels is mainly due to the nickel silver tyre of the latter. IIRC uninsulated wheels with nickel tyres only became available later. (About the same time as the bosses came drilled and tapped?) From memory as a youngster I looked at the Wills Finecast kits with a bit of awe, by the time you bought all the bits they were twice the price of K's kits which were complete, though we dis change the wheels for Romfords when the newer plastic ones came out, but as you could see were quite cheap in comparison with today's prices Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 As I said for some reason I have always liked these locos despite knowing very little about the locos from the eastern side of the country, from the photo in both the Wills and W&H books they looked quite big, not so as they are quite tiny The etched chassis is far better than the much older cast one and the fret also includes etched bunker coal rails as well as wheel balance weights, will need to order a Westinghouse casting for the chassis Just for information showing how the kits have progressed from the initial design of using RTR chassis This is the revised chassis for the Wills Flatiron, the kit originally used the Triang Jinty chassis, differs from most revised designs as has the hornblock holes etched out and if built rigid you have to fit the axel blanking plates with holes in them Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Before you get to far it may be worth while looking out for some old articles in early MRJ's (I think?) that described making the Wills version into a 'proper' J67/69. From what I can remember (which isn't much these days!) the Wills model is a bit of a 'bitza' - but I suppose it depends on how accurate you want it to be. It's your loco after all and Rule 1 applies. Like you, I'm not at all familar with locos from the Far East (the Southern Far East at that!) so what I've said above might be a complete load of round objects that bounce. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 5050 Thanks for the heads up, I will keep to the kit (J69) which unlike the revised version that covers either the J67 or J69. Having said this I will replace a few bits like split pins for hand rail knobs, brass smoke box doors in place of the casting. As for the subilties I will leave these for those in the know, The chassis upgrade I think is important, both for looks but more importantly performance I am a bit of a Philistine when it comes to fine detail and absolute accuracy, I have a couple of SR Q1's I am of a mind to paint one in Machilite green, much the same with my Beattie well tank, should be in blacr, but would look splendid in SR green, but think of the uproar itI would cause 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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