High Level Kits

Due to storm damage to part of the building,The Newcastle Show, scheduled this coming weekend (11 and 12 Nov) has been cancelled. Pity, it was looking like it was going to be a good one.

Just in case anyone hasn't seen it anywhere else, the organiser of Newcastle show, scheduled this coming weekend (11 and 12 Nov) has contacted me. Due to storm damage of the building, the show has been cancelled.

Hello John, I did reply a good while ago and received no notification to say the message hadn't got to you. I have no clue why this happened. The reply was pretty short, that we keep the spares you require on The Spares Page of the site. Regards, Chris

Customers with Gmail accounts (for emails) who might think we're ignoring their communications: We are unable to send messages to anyone with a Gmail address, due to Gmail changing security settings at their end. Sending from our business mail doesn't work either but, as a last resort, we may be able to send you a text if we have your mobile number. This has been going on for a while now but sending via the message facility has always worked fine. Now even this is playing up... Other news: when time allows, we're ploughing on with the Barclay Chassis. This is proving a difficult job for a variety of reasons and when you get into the dimensions it's apparent why the Hattons' designers made it the way they did. We hope to overcome all the problems and provide a finescale chassis with compensation, for EM and P4. With virtually zero clearance above the wheels, the hornblocks will ride on stops with spring wire exerting downward force only. The gearbox will be a split affair, as in the Pug. The boiler will be cylindrical with daylight underneath the chassis. We were hoping to be able to utalise the existing cylinder assembly, but now it's looking like we'll have to include our own. It'll be extra work but at least it'll be silver and will integrate with the etchings to provide a strong job. Hopefully, the brakegear can be re-used. That's the plan up to now....

We do try to be on the case and most of the time we are, but these are difficult times and sometimes we are unable to get stuff from our suppliers. Other snags to do with this strange new world we now seem to live in, also make life difficult. Your patience and understanding (when needed) continued support and encouragement is not taken for granted, so thank you very much for the above comments... Changing the subject, I have revisited the Hattons' Barclay chassis drawing. It's going to involve the use of a number of untried concepts to make it work the way I would like. I don;t know when I'll get the time to get back on it properly, but hope to do so at some point. It'll be for the 14 inch and the way things seem to be going will be for EM/P4 but probably not OO.

High Level Kits Update: The current economic climate has caused us to review the viability of our range of products. Maintaining the range of kits has proved very difficult in these times where nothing seems to be straightforward any more. We had reluctantly considered either dropping, or at least suspending, production of some, or all, of our boxed items. However, because we take great pride in our products, we’ve decided to try a different approach which we hope will benefit everyone... Although we still have some original stock, we’re now starting to offer our kits in a slightly different format. As before, we’ll include a full set of etched and cast components, a custom gearbox specifically designed for that model, but so you don't have to pay twice for common parts you may well keep in stock we leave you to provide parts like brass wire and tube, nuts and bolts, and handrail knobs. Nothing will be any different if you're buying 'consumable' items like gearboxes, hornblocks and suspension items, and we'll still continue to offer a choice of high-quality motors to go with all our products. We hope this approach will go some way to offsetting the massive rise in the cost of the materials and manufacturing services we pay for, allowing us to keep our own prices as competitive as possible. It might be that this simplification also frees up time for more design work...

Anyone attending this show needing a motor/gearbox solution, bring info with you, if possible, to the High Level stand. Line drawings (to scale) are ideal but if you can't provide this, then the actual model certainly helps. If you want head's start then read this: https://www.highlevelkits.co.uk/gear-planner It's been three tough years and we're looking forward to attending this show again. It's always a good one.... Quality railway modelling appeals across the board, regardless of scale or gauge, so we hope to see as many of you there as possible.

Our new website has been up and running since last August and is working pretty well for us. If you’ve used it, you’ll know it takes orders, processes payments and we’ve also tried to provide clear and easily accessible information and guidance. This has freed up more time to spend on other aspects of the business, but also means we don’t get the opportunity to talk to our customers. So we’re looking forward to catching up with customers at EXPO EM 2022, our first show since late 2019, where we’ll be able to help with any queries you may have. We’re in the process of stocking up and hope to have most things available in time for the show.

Hello, Quite few issues with supplies at the moment. We're trying to keep stocks up, but it's not easy. We do try to be careful as careful as possible when packing gearboxes, but slip-ups do inevitably happen and, for this reason, we recommend that customers check over all the bits just to be sure and thus minimise the problems caused by any errors. I know this is a bit of a faff, but its the safest way. Having said that, we will label the bags if requested. Chris

Hello, Etches are on order but the turnaround times are not good. I would have to be honest and say 6-8 weeks. Material shortages and staff absence are the current reasons cited. Sorry I couldn't give you more positive news...

Thanks very much Frank. I'm glad you like some of the features that are a bit of a departure from normal practice. You didn't take lang to build it either!

We've been busy with the new version of the 34mm bogie, designed to take a 1220 coreless. This 3D mock-up is the first etch and a lot may change, so take it with a pinch of salt...

Thank you Mr 50... if we have the bits we try to turn the orders around pretty sharpish. There's a few problems with some parts, but nothing that's going to effect us long-term. Chris

They're a while off yet Martin. The reason for the redesiegn is purely due to motor change. Yes, we spec'ed the new motors with the same screw centres as the Mashimas so they fit the existing boxes.

Just a quick update on our the stock situation. Some gearboxes on our site are currently showing ‘Out of Stock’. This is due to a shortage of one single component which is currently in production. This particular part goes in four of the boxes, and they are the most popular sellers… which is why we ran out of them!... We knew these boxes (RR+; RRC+; HiFlier; HiFlier+) were the most popular, but didn’t realise it was by such a margin! Just though it worth mentioning in case anyone thought things were on the slide and there were more serous problems. We’re now starting to get to grips with the site's software and will try to keep all items in stock, or as many as possible. We’re also stocking up the parts for the first batch of production J50s, re-tooling the BEL2 to take a different motor, and working on a new design of 8’ 6’’ motor bogie.

I’m sorry I haven’t been able to keep up with my own thread due to work, but have just noticed this discussion which suggests there might be a need for a ‘lanky’ gearbox, something with a bit more height to it. Have a look at the HiFlierPLUS, which was designed to elevate the motor. In the past, the LoadHaulerPLUS was used, in things like 9F’s but the ratios, especially when matched to a big motor, are too slow. As always, I would encourage anyone trying to work out the best solution to use our planner in conjugation with scale drawings.

Sorry about neglecting this thread - we've been absolutely flat-out trying to get the lists of orders cleared. Finally getting near the end now... With regards to the 48DS, I haven't got as clue if it will fit the RTR version. Its was designed to site the 1020 motor in the etched bonnet space to keep the cab area free, so you're in with a good chance. It also takes a 1020, so you could go for a 1015 if you need an extra 5mm to play with. The unit is actually a gearbox with a swinging arm, so there's not a lot to it - it uses the existing chassis to carry the weight of the loco. This makes it adaptable. If you download the instructions and you have the actual model in front of you it'll probably be apparent if it'll fit or not.

The Covid's gone now (luckily my jabs saved me) so we're now back in full swing and working through the orders. I'm intending to list spares on the site when I get the chance. Thank you all for your support. Martin, I hope to get your bogies off to you, or at least to the post office, this week.

We're working through the orders but Covid has just visited the household recently so it's a one-man operation for the time being. Have you managed to get on there and place get on or place an order?

Thank you Barry. I'm just getting to grips with using the new site from our end and it is going to make life easier but it's also quite a steep learning curve. Covid has had a real go at our household recently so I've had to fly solo. I'm working through the orders sitting on the site now, so if you haven;'t had yours yet I will get around to it. We didsalso have a slight glitch - when I say slight, I may be understating it... and when I say glitch I actually mean that some orders may have gone astray when we changed e mail providers. These would be orders from either before the furlough, or during it, so say, the last six months. If this might be you, give us a week or so and then drop us a line.... and apologies for the shocking service - you just can't get the staff, or the parts, or anything else... When I get the chance, I;m going to put the new motor profiles on the site and will try and get some spares listed so you can also order those online. Again, thanks so much for your patience and support.

Thanks to all for the positive messages. Things are still on track for getting up and running on 2nd August, with most items in stock. It'll be the first time working with the new site doing the legwork for us, but hopefully it'll save time and effort. We can start processing the old orders we've been sitting on for the last six months and then work through the new ones.

Just a quick update about where we're at now, and where we hope to be in the very near future: Giulia and myself are working away here, with a view to firing up the swanky new website and opening for business on the 2nd of next month (August). Because of the furlough/parts situation, we've been sitting on many orders, some of which date right back to January 2021. We're sorting through these first and, to avoid debiting anyone's account out of the blue, we're trying to contact our customers in advance, in order to confirm they still want to go ahead. So, if this is you and by, say, two weeks into August, you haven't heard from us, drop us an email, at mail@highlevelkits.co.uk because it's likely there's been some mix-up amidst all the chaos. One final point - we've been amazed how, even after all this time, almost all of our customers still want to go ahead with their orders. We’ve had some fantastic, supportive messages over the last few months, and would like to say a massive thanks to everyone for being so patient and understanding. Look after yourselves, Chris

This isn't something we anticipated. Perhaps if you know the loco wheelbase and look at the shape of the kit for which they were originally designed, this might give you a good idea of feasibility. I've just updated this section of the site although I still have some work to do with prices etc... Remember though, they're all really slow, so may be no good for a normal DMU etc. Sorry I can't be more help here...

Yes Frank, we have a nice batch of etches and hope to have it on sale soon. Not exactly sure when but maybe for the virtual ScaleFourum weekend. You can view the instructions now by going to our downloads section of the site www.highlevelkits.co.uk/downloads