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Robinson C4 GCR Atlantic Jersey Lilies


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The McGowan one is high on my list of worst ever kits and is best avoided unless the builder is somebody who enjoys lots of remedial work.

 

The Worsley one is more of a scratchbuilding aid and doesn't have any castings but is probably a better starting point.

 

I did hear of a kit from "Great Central Models" but I don't know if it came out or is still available. Production and supply of their kits sms to be a bit hit and miss.

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30 minutes ago, t-b-g said:

The McGowan one is high on my list of worst ever kits and is best avoided unless the builder is somebody who enjoys lots of remedial work.

 

The Worsley one is more of a scratchbuilding aid and doesn't have any castings but is probably a better starting point.

 

I did hear of a kit from "Great Central Models" but I don't know if it came out or is still available. Production and supply of their kits sms to be a bit hit and miss.

Great Central Models were P4 and EM only, and have been gone for at least 4 years .

 

There is still a webpage on the P4 society site.

 

https://traders.scalefour.org/greatcentralmodels/

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2 hours ago, micklner said:

Great Central Models were P4 and EM only, and have been gone for at least 4 years .

 

There is still a webpage on the P4 society site.

 

https://traders.scalefour.org/greatcentralmodels/

 

Thanks for that information.

 

They do say OO is possible with some input from the builder n the website.

 

I did look at the websites before I posted but other than a "When this batch is gone they won't be repeated" there is little to say whether or not they are still around. Or if there is, I missed it.

 

I saw some photos of early test builds, which I wasn't impressed by. There seemed to be lots of gaps where things didn't quite meet up.

 

My hope would have been that these were resolved when the kits went into production but it seems as if they came and went and hardly anybody noticed! I certainly haven't seen any increase in number of GCR models in P4, EM or OO.

 

That is a shame but it does leave the GCR as a minority interest, which suits me as it makes my models more unusual.

 

I have shown this before but this was a C5 built from scratch by the late Malcolm Crawley for a layout we were working on when he became ill.

 

I have it now and a new joint MR/GCR layout is under construction, so it will hopefully have somewhere to run before too long.

 

New_Layout_032.jpg.e1e8390ce40592018ea6bfe690ce5bae.jpg

 

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The Worsley Works etches are in Nickel Silver or at least the ones I have are.

 

I also have one of the complete kits from John Bateson of Great Central Models and it really is an excellent kit. From his website it seems John is developing a range of etched kits for GCR engines for his own requirements, but has no interest in marketing them, preferring to pass this over to a third party.

I have heard a rumour as to who this might be and hope to confirm this at S4 North as the potential range includes a lot of loco’s I require.

 

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There was a big fallout between him (GCM) and another supplier at a guess about 2014 on the latters forum page?  at the end of which he said he wasnt doing anymore kits . The website hasnt been updated since then.

 

https://traders.scalefour.org/greatcentralmodels/

 

Send him a question via the webpage above, this will confirm the situation.

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, Andy Hayter said:

greatcentralmodels.co.uk does not appear to work

It seems to work fine on Apple devices, I’ve tried 3 different ones this afternoon. This website was put up after the original site hosted by the S4 Society.

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  • 4 months later...

I have not seen this thread before but find it of interest since I produced the early designs. I was not expecting much interest in them.

Production of the kits started to overwhelm the design process and a combination of multiple family care issues and funerals and associated legal fights put a complete stop to both design and kit productions. In 2015 it seemed reasonable to close down the associated limited company as we were both exhausted.

 

A  period of stability has brought a new paradigm to the situation. I was aware that a number of suppliers and associated skills were ceasing to trade and in a number of cases all the experience was being lost. I decided to re-start the design process on my target range but avoid the production of kits. The Scalefour Society very kindly offered to take all the drawings and tools off my hands for the original set of designs and any new ones I might complete. At present several of these older designs are just awaiting castings but again real work (not to mention COVID) has intervened.

 

The web site that has the curent details is https://www.greatcentralmodels.co.uk  although the target dates and some pictures do need revision.

This new web site replaces the one held on the Scalefour Society web site which was essentially a repository just to preserve it when I mislaid the registration for it and it became a Chinese shoe shop! - careless of me.

 

Now I have the registration back I have noted in it that I will no longer be doing the production of kits but will continue with designs for my own collection. Once I am satisfied with those designs I will send the drawings and tools to Jeremy Suter of the Scalefour Society who is updating the designs mainly by producing castings whereas I used a lathe for things like chimneys and domes. This should happen in the not too distant future.

 

A contributor to these pages has noted that these kits are not for the faint hearted and I agree that they can be a challenge. I saw an end result of a 'fish' engine at Wakefield a year or so ago and it looked really good.

 

As for the 'spat' all those years ago, I came rather late to the discussion as it was,  I understand, on a different forum to this. As far as I am concerned that is history and that is where it stays.

 

John

 

 

 

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34 minutes ago, JohnBateson said:

I have not seen this thread before but find it of interest since I produced the early designs. I was not expecting much interest in them.

Production of the kits started to overwhelm the design process and a combination of multiple family care issues and funerals and associated legal fights put a complete stop to both design and kit productions. In 2015 it seemed reasonable to close down the associated limited company as we were both exhausted.

 

A  period of stability has brought a new paradigm to the situation. I was aware that a number of suppliers and associated skills were ceasing to trade and in a number of cases all the experience was being lost. I decided to re-start the design process on my target range but avoid the production of kits. The Scalefour Society very kindly offered to take all the drawings and tools off my hands for the original set of designs and any new ones I might complete. At present several of these older designs are just awaiting castings but again real work (not to mention COVID) has intervened.

 

The web site that has the curent details is https://www.greatcentralmodels.co.uk  although the target dates and some pictures do need revision.

This new web site replaces the one held on the Scalefour Society web site which was essentially a repository just to preserve it when I mislaid the registration for it and it became a Chinese shoe shop! - careless of me.

 

Now I have the registration back I have noted in it that I will no longer be doing the production of kits but will continue with designs for my own collection. Once I am satisfied with those designs I will send the drawings and tools to Jeremy Suter of the Scalefour Society who is updating the designs mainly by producing castings whereas I used a lathe for things like chimneys and domes. This should happen in the not too distant future.

 

A contributor to these pages has noted that these kits are not for the faint hearted and I agree that they can be a challenge. I saw an end result of a 'fish' engine at Wakefield a year or so ago and it looked really good.

 

As for the 'spat' all those years ago, I came rather late to the discussion as it was,  I understand, on a different forum to this. As far as I am concerned that is history and that is where it stays.

 

John

 

 

 

 

Many thanks for that John. It is nice to hear the present position "from the horse's mouth".

 

Presumably the intention is for the kits to be available for sale via the Scalefour Society at some point. If so, you have at least one customer here ready and waiting patiently!

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