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Martin Finney retired


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Having sold 9400 kits I think Martin has fulfilled most of the potential demand. Anyone buying his range will have to get it at a suitably realistic price to make anything out of it in the future.

 

Logical contenders might be JLTRT for the 7mm  range but I don't know which 4mm kit supplier might be interested. Most of those taking over other ranges of late do seem to have the characteristics of a black hole.

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I suppose the A3 and A4 kits will sell out first - no other equivalent comes quite as close to their specification, unless you're prepared to shell out for the Golden Age product.

 

Even more so for the V2. Thankfully I've got my quota!

 

The Nim.

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  • 2 weeks later...

  1. Anyone buying the Finney range will want it cheaply because the "panic" buying alluded to will have taken most customers out of the market for a year or several.

Restocking the range is not difficult provided the component purchasing side of the business is well organised and documented.

If there is little stock in hand that will keep the purchase cost low, but equally means a large investment in new materials.

Finney kits rarely appear on that well known internet auction site or at Bring and Buy stalls. They are generally regarded as the best kits on the market although also considered rather complicated/over detailed by some. They have either been built, are in the round tuit box or are being hoarded for a "rainy day" . I suspect that there is a fair bit of the last two categories and we may well see them popping up for sale if, like D&S kits, they suddenly get rarity value.

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In a distant past, I vowed buy a Finney Bulleid Pacific to celebrate my A-level results. For 8 years, I put it off until 'tomorrow'. Last Sunday, I vowed tomorrow really would be the day. Tomorrow came and he'd sold out yesterday.

 

Moral of the story - Sometimes, you've just go for these things today.

 

F'it.

 

(But, if by some fluke anyone has a 7mm West Country kit and 4500 gallon tender up for grabs or knows where I can find one, please drop me a PM)

Edited by Pixie
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In a distant past, I vowed buy a Finney Bulleid Pacific to celebrate my A-level results. For 8 years, I put it off until 'tomorrow'. Last Sunday, I vowed tomorrow really would be the day. Tomorrow came and he'd sold out yesterday.

 

Moral of the story - Sometimes, you've just go for these things today....

Who was it who said "Snooze and you lose"?

 

Meanwhile, I'm still counting the pennies.....

Edited by Horsetan
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Who was it who said "Snooze and you lose"?

 

Meanwhile, I'm still counting the pennies.....

 

Hmm, I found his site when the T3 from the NRM came over and stayed with us at the Toronto Railway Museum for The Railway Children production.  I promised myself sometime i would buy one of his kits for that locomotive, now i find myself on the verge of a lengthy trip to the UK for my honeymoon in October and not having the money to afford the cost of the kit.

 

Ahh well, such is life, hopefully someone buys his business and it can continue on.

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Hmm, I found his site when the T3 from the NRM came over and stayed with us at the Toronto Railway Museum for The Railway Children production.  I promised myself sometime i would buy one of his kits for that locomotive, now i find myself on the verge of a lengthy trip to the UK for my honeymoon in October and not having the money to afford the cost of the kit.

 

Ahh well, such is life, hopefully someone buys his business and it can continue on.

 

The ideal outcome for this 'drier side' afficionado would be for Dave Bradwell to take on the 4mm LNER kits and upgrade the chassis suspension to springing.

 

The Nim.

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Martin will be the start of many retirements - a lot of these guys are older than me - I’m 62 - it’s an aging hobby, unfortunately... Actually British guitarists are going the same way... Clapton will be 70 next March, Jeff Beck about the same, Keef is knocking on 150 years old.

 

Best, Pete.

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Reading all the comments above reinforces to me why my "buy it when you have the money"  policy is sensible. That would explain why I have an aberdare, Stella, 2 x 3232, 2 x Dean Goods, 2 x Atbara, City, 4 x bulldogs (two of each), two dukes and an 1854 in my stash!

 

Craig w

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The panic-buy/sold-out list continues to grow:

 

L6 GWR Stella

 

L15 LNER A1/A3

 

L21 LNER V2

 

L22 LSWR Adams Radial

 

L25 GWR Duke

 

..., Keef is knocking on 150 years old..

Keef only got to 150 years old 'cos the drugs and alcohol acted as a sort of weird preservative. He won't need any embalming.

Edited by Horsetan
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I am pleased Martin's kits are selling well prior to his retirement, he has made a fantastic contribution to the hobby. I am new to 7mm, well six years, and have tried Connoisseurs, David Andrews and tried a Finney LNER tender. I must say all three are good products but the Finney is excellent in packaging, instruction quality and accuracy and is fun to build. I am sure the range or part of it will be sold and don't think ageing modellers will be a reason not to do so. I am 47 and would love a part time hobby continuing Martins good work making some of these kits available to future modellers and would have no doubt that others are thinking the same. I sort of hope all this is true as I have a lot of his kits on my "want to do" list, ie. A4, A3, V2 and Bulleid Pacific.

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4mm scale "Sold out" list now looks like this:

 

L1            GWR Aberdare

L2R          GWR 3232 – round topped firebox

L3            GWR Straight frame Bulldog

L6            GWR Stella

L9            GWR Hall

L14          LNER A3

L15          GNR/LNER A1/A3

L17          LNER A4

L21          LNER V2

L22          LSWR Adams Radial

L25          GWR Duke

T9            GNR/LNER coal rail tender

 

Just picking over the bones now.

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