JSModels - Laser-Cut Kits - Now in N Gauge too!!!

[JSModels]

27 minutes ago, Markmiller2008 said:

 

Very good addition to the range Jonathan, any plans to do these in Brick too?

 

Mark

 

 

Thank you Mark,

 

Theoretically they could be done in brick (I've taken the brick dimensions into account when designing these, unlike the first kit!) but it might be a way off yet. I'll see how it goes, the more people that ask for something, the more likely it is to happen.

 

Jonathan

JSModels

Edited May 6, 2020 by jrb

[Markmiller2008]

As per your low relief ones i'm going to have, id probably be interested in the ends in brick at some point in the future if you did.

 

Mark

[JSModels]

You may have noticed this page has been a little quiet lately...

 

I've not been posting any updates recently simply because, unfortunately, there's nothing to update! I've been struggling to get some supplies in, with one supplier in particular being behind schedule (not helped by Royal Mail losing one shipment, and then a different courier losing the replacement shipment a couple of weeks later! )

 

At the moment I have very few kits in stock; I'm hoping to have new stock of the current kits available in 2-3 weeks, along with pictures of the first examples of the new canalside warehouse kits. Stock on those will hopefully follow a couple of weeks later.

 

On a more positive note however, I had a nice drive out the other day to look at a new laser-cutting machine... 

 

Thank you all for your patience & support!

 

 

Jonathan

JSModels

[A Murphy]

Hi Jonathan,

 

I am going to wait until you have canal warehouse front buildings; they look great.

 

Regards,

 

Alastair

[JSModels]

Interesting developments here at JSModels – thanks to Phil Parker’s excellent article in the July edition of BRM, I’m completely out of stock of ALL my kits! I’ve got a limited quantity which will be available soon, but not enough to cover all the orders/reservations I’ve received over the past week or so.

A brand-new laser-cutter is on order, which will enable me to produce the kits 100% in-house, but unfortunately that’s still a few weeks away. I should be fully up to speed with production on existing products, and have stock available on the website, by the end of July. The new ‘waterside’ series of kits will be available from 1st August.

In the meantime, I’m working on designs for several new products as well as a couple of commissions...

 

 

Jonathan
JSModels
 

[A Murphy]

Exciting times Jonathan. https://www.jsmodels.co.uk/ seems to be down at the moment? Do you have a new address or is this a temporary issue?

 

Best wishes

 

Alastair

 

 

 

 

[Markmiller2008]

Jonathan,

 

Great News, I’m glad your kits are getting recognition that they deserve, can’t wait to get my hands on some for Peartree Green and they will be fully worth the wait! 
 

Mark 

 

[JSModels]

On 22/06/2020 at 16:16, A Murphy said:

Exciting times Jonathan. https://www.jsmodels.co.uk/ seems to be down at the moment? Do you have a new address or is this a temporary issue?

 

Best wishes

 

Alastair

 

 

 

 

Alastair,

 

No, the website is working fine, don't know why you're having any issues? The link in your post works...

 

Jonathan

JSModels

[JSModels]

Here's the first test cut/assembly of oneof the five new 'waterside' kits:

 

 

This is JSM43 'Canal Warehouse End 1', which, along with the other 4 new kits, will be available from the 1st August.

The kit is laser-cut from 2mm and 3mm MDF, with pre-cut card strips for the roof slates (note that the slates shown are cut in white, but will be in dark grey for production kits).

Doors and windows are all separate & removable for easier painting, and doors can be shown open or closed.

Dimensions are 145mm wide, 245mm high, and 20mm deep (40mm with the loading hood). Price at launch will be £20.00.

 

Jonathan

JSModels

[JSModels]

In addition to the kit pictured in my previous post, I have now completed the 'first build' of the other 4 kits in the new 'Waterside' range, so here's a quick pic of each.

 

First up, JSM13 'Canal Warehouse Front':

 

 

JSM23, 'Canal Warehouse Back 1':

 

 

JSM33 'Canal Warehouse Back 2':

 

 

JSM43 'Canal Warehouse End 1':

 

 

And lastly, JSM53 'Canal Warehouse End 2':

 

 

All the kits are laser-cut from 2mm & 3mm MDF and feature separate, removable window & door frames for easier painting, alternate doors for fitting in either open or closed positions, glazing material (not shown fitted in above images), pre-cut slate strips for roofing (shown in white, but will be dark grey in production kits) and blanking panels which can be fitted in place of any of the windows.

 

More pictures of each kit are now up on my website or my Facebook page.

 

Kits will be available from 1st August.

 

 

Jonathan

JSModels

[JSModels]

I spent a few hours over the weekend painting one of the prototype builds for the new waterside kits. I decided to try Phil Parker's method as detailed in his review of another of my kits; grey primer, then various browns & greys sponged on, then standard plaster/filler for the mortar lines:

 

 

Very happy with the results!

 

I did make one change to Phil's method - he recommended rubbing the filler in dry, then misting water on afterwards. I tried this but without much success, so instead mixed a small amount of filler to a cream-like consistency, and rubbed that in with my finger. The rubbing action picked some pigment up from the sponged-on colours, resulting in the filler being slightly off-white (I don't think I'd left the paint long enough to dry fully) but I don't think that's a bad thing. A wooden manicure stick (a bit like a large cocktail stick) was used to pick away any large build-ups around the cills & in the corners of the window/door openings before it fully dried. The following day a quick rub with a finger and a bit of green scouring pad (used very lightly) took off any loose bits of plaster that had dried on the surface.

 

The gutters either side were quickly shaped/carved from a square section cut off a lolly stick; the downpipe is from 1.6mm styrene rod, with 3D printed collars & elbows. The door knob is a dressmaking pin.

 

Jonathan

JSModels

[Roger Sunderland]

Hi Jonathan.

Have now finished the large factory/warehouse kit you sent me recently. A superb kit, and large, there is nothing like these kits on the market. Also very sturdy. This is a photo of it on my current layout. I adapted the loading Bay Area slightly . Painting was grey undercoat followed by a suede type paint ( just what BRM said not to do) which gave a nice stone texture, finally rubbed over with a cloth and a minimal amount of Matt black.

you are to be congratulated on an excellent product, beautifully packaged with excellent instructions, which fills a huge gap in the model railway market.

 

[JSModels]

Following on from my last update, I've received the news that my laser cutter (which I was hoping to receive last week) is finally being installed on Friday!

 

Once that's up and running I will be working hard over the following days to cut and package all the kits for people that are on the waiting list. If you are on the list and have expressed an interest in one or more specific kits, I will contact you when those kits are ready, to confirm your order and get your postal address. I will then send you a PayPal invoice, and once payment is received, the kits will be shipped.

 

A limited quantity of the new "Waterside" range of kits (pictured above) will be available to order on the website from 1st August as originally planned, however these will not be cut and shipped until the above backlog has been cleared, so please bear this in mind when ordering.

 

Once the backlog is dealt with, and orders for the waterside kits are done, I will then work on getting kits made for general stock. This stock will then be available for ordering via the website as usual.

 

Thank you all for your patience and support.

 

Jonathan
JSModels

[Peter Eaton]

Hi,

Is the web site down at the moment.

The link not working.

Have I just picked a bad time to look at these nice buildings !

Thanks

Peter

[JSModels]

5 hours ago, Peter Eaton said:

Hi,

Is the web site down at the moment.

The link not working.

Have I just picked a bad time to look at these nice buildings !

Thanks

Peter

 

Peter,

 

No, the website is fine at the moment. I've just checked the link in my signature & that's working too, so puzzled as to why it won't work for you? Website is here. If you're still having problems, please drop me a PM.

 

Jonathan

JSModels

[JSModels]

This week I had some bad news, in that my new laser cutter has been held up a few more days... but the good news is that the machine supplier has lent me one of their demo machines in the meantime, and that was installed yesterday! It's a smaller machine than the one I have on order, but at least I've now been able to start production.

 

This means that the launch of the 5x new 'Waterside' kits is going ahead as scheduled, and they are now available to order via my website.

 

Note that (initially at least) quantities available are limited, and kits ordered now will not be shipped until the week after next (week commencing 10th August) as I've got quite a bit of catching up to do to produce the kits already requested.

 

Jonathan

JSModels

[JSModels]

Just a few days after the loan machine was installed, the laser cutter I had on order finally turned up! Since then I've been working pretty much non-stop, cutting all the kits that people have ordered over the last few weeks, and I've now finally caught up with the backorders!

 

I've now moved on to making kits for stock on the website, but just before that I cut some pieces for the prototype for a new kit that I've been working on in the background for a few weeks now:

 

 

The above are 2mm, with 6mm for the top surfaces. I've also since cut some bits in 1mm MDF too.

 

I wanted to do a kit of a canal lock, so a couple of months ago I went out with a notepad & tape measure, and surveyed Shop Lock, which is lock 18 of the Rochdale Canal, in my hometown of Todmorden.

 

Here's the result. This new kit, with some minor changes (listed below) will be available later in the year, but I couldn't resist sharing some images in the meantime.

 

 

It's a big beast, at 570mm long, but it's accurate to scale & not compressed. The Rochdale Canal was quite unusual when it was built, in that all it's locks have the same size/design of chamber, and all have exactly the same drop of 10 feet (40mm in the model).

 

 

The kit is designed to have 2-3mm of resin form the water, which will bring the water level up to the correct level. The bottom gates can be modelled open or closed, and the steps at the bottom end can be placed at either side.

 

 

 

The lock gates shown above were the first attempt, and I've already redesigned them. I've also done some handrails for the footbridge over the bottom end. I was initially thinking of 3D printing the gates, footbridge, and the sluice gate mechanisms (which go it the 'T' shaped recesses next to the pockets for the top gates) but I think they're going to prove quite expensive done that way so I'm going with the laser cut (the sluice gate mechanisms will still need 3D printing though).

 

The main change I'm planning to make is to engrave cobblestones into the top surfaces of the 6mm pieces, which will look awesome. There are currently 2 barriers to acheiving this:

 

1. I don't (yet) know how to do it; I've engraved some test pieces quite successfully, but don't know how to make that happen in anything other than a basic rectangle, and;

2. If I do manage to figure it out, it's going to add considerably to the cost of the kit, as it would more than double the machining time.

 

Anyway, there's a lot of work to do on it yet, so don't hold your breath. I was just so chuffed with how it went together I just had to post the pictures!

 

Jonathan

JSModels

[JSModels]

Revised lock gates, and handrails on the bridge:

 

 

 

These are a sandwich of 2mm and 1mm MDF, so they can effectively have engraved detail on both sides:

 

 

Bridge handrails from 1mm MDF:

 

 

A long way to go on this project yet though!

 

Jonathan

JSModels

[JSModels]

Something a little different tonight - this was one of those 'do you think you could possibly do...' requests!

 

An LMS upper quadrant home signal arm, half-scale (even at 50% it's still quite big, at around 800mm long!):

 

 

This is a combination of 6mm and 3mm MDF, with 3mm acrylic lenses, and will be painted & hanging on a railway-room wall soon!

 

Jonathan

JSModels

[JSModels]

At the time of writing this, all products on the website are in stock, and ready to ship.

 

Please note however that I will be on holiday for a week, as of this Saturday (22nd August). Any orders received prior to 5pm tomorrow will be despatched before I go; after this time, orders will not be shipped until Tuesday 1st September.

 

 

Jonathan

JSModels

[davefromacrossthepond]

Jonathan,

 

Enjoy your well-deserved vacation!!  

 

Dave

[Theakerr]

First time I have seen this site and whilst there is nothing for me their is some amazing stuff here.  Very impressed

[Georgeconna]

Got my Brick warehouse and very nice it is too. WIP pics below. 

 

[JSModels]

Ever since the 'Waterside' range of low-relief kits was released, I've been asked for a full building version, so here it is!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A combination of 4 of the 5 existing kits, with new floor and roof pieces, the kit can be assembled in 2 different ways with the end loading doors on the left or right hand end of the building.

 

Comprising 6x A3 sprues of 2mm MDF, 3mm MDF details, 4x A4 sheets of roofing slates, plus glazing material and full build instructions, this is quite a sizeable kit! The finished building is 290mm wide, 165mm deep, and 245mm high (not including the loading hoods/covers).

 

 

JSM93 'Canal Warehouse Full Building' will be available shortly on the website, at a cost of £79.00 (a saving of £25.00 over buying the 4 low-relief kits individually).

 

Jonathan

JSModels

Edited September 11, 2020 by jrb

[JSModels]

A few weeks ago, I posted on here, and on Facebook, a picture of a half-scale (1:2) LMS signal arm that I'd been asked to make for a client:

 

I'm pleased to announce that this, along with a WR version, will shortly be available as standard items from my website!

There are 4 in the range; LMS Home/Starter (JSM81), LMS Distant (JSM82), WR Home/Starter (JSM83), and WR Distant (JSM84):

 

 

Despite being half-scale, they're still quite large; the LMS ones are 785mm long, and the WR versions 765mm. Here's a painted one, with a 12"/300mm steel rule for scale in the second image:

 

 

Each kit is laser-cut from 6mm and 3mm MDF, with tinted acrylic lenses (red & green for home, yellow & green for distant) and assembly/painting instructions.

 

JSM81 Contents:

 

 

JSM83 Contents:

 

 

The kits are priced at £22.00 each, and will be in stock and up on my website in a few days.

 

 

Jonathan

JSModels