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Kirk Coaches (OO) from Coopercraft


todeni
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Hi Folks,

I have tried several times to log into Cooper Craft, to order a Gresley Artic set but with no luck, kept kicking me out, an e-mail and phone call  has also brought no results. I wondered if anyone else has had the same problem as I would dearly like to obtain this model. read on the web site that a new machine was due to arrive so as to resume production but that you could pre order but I also found this impossible. Maybe there is a situation due to the current state in the country?

Thoughts and observations welcome.

Many Thanks,

Stay Safe,

Ian H.

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As Pete says, do not touch CooperCraft with a barge-pole, unless you find the chap exhibiting at a show - whenever those restart. Multiple bad experiences by many, many sad witnesses on here reveal a firm that simply is not run in an orderly fashion, and has sadly taken some respected brands down with it. 

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34 minutes ago, todeni said:

I wondered if anyone else has had the same problem

 

They have.  

 

You are lucky that you haven't handed money over, others have managed to order and received nothing. There is a case on here of another who pursued his outstanding debt through the courts to the point of bailiffs but the owner was well versed in how to avoid paying. The owner has refused help to turn off the website...

 

I would keep an eye on Ebay for any Kirk kits that can be bashed into an artic set as well as Isinglass models who are 3D printing kits of LNER vehicles.

 

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Ian, would it be possible to edit your thread title to something like 'Kirk Coaches from Coopercraft' ?  The reason that I ask is that Ian Kirk, still in business selling his 0 scale coaches, is a thoroughly trustworthy producer and I wouldn't like him to be confused with the current owner of Coopercraft. Thanks.

Ray.

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On 22/09/2020 at 17:58, Marshall5 said:

Ian, would it be possible to edit your thread title to something like 'Kirk Coaches from Coopercraft' ?  The reason that I ask is that Ian Kirk, still in business selling his 0 scale coaches, is a thoroughly trustworthy producer and I wouldn't like him to be confused with the current owner of Coopercraft. Thanks.

Ray.

Worth adding to this that there is also an "ex-Kirk" range available from Phoenix Precision, being the Southern coaches formerly in the Kirk 4mm range, these are nothing to do with Coopercraft either. Actual Kirk coaches now from Ian Kirk are all 7mm as noted.

 

If you are looking for a few to buy, at the moment W M Collectables has a fair range on offer secondhand, prices vary depending on item, from £25 upwards.

 

John.

Edited by John Tomlinson
Phoenix Precision, not the other way round.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread. In a way flattered that people still want stuff that I produced perhaps 30 years ago now.

Great pity that it has ended up as it has but the LNER range has had two perfectly satisfactory owners before ending up with the current owner.  Colin Ashby in Leeds and Tony Brown in Ilford both ran the range as I would have wished to have it done. I had no say on any later sale.

I sometimes wish I had held onto the range and up dated it but the main part of my business was commercial moulding and this type of work had already started to move to Asia. When I got the chance I sold up the factory (some of my machinery was bought by a gentleman from India some went to Parkside) Having first put my freight wagon kits into Parkside I sold the 4mm Coach tooling to Colin and Tony and I kept a couple of machines and the O gauge coach range I had just started to give me a little business (at that time I thought I was too young to retire) I now call it semi retirement.  As someone said there is an O gauge range and they are all still available.

I hope Ian H finds what he wants and does not have to pay too much for it. I have bought a few from a well known site and am amazed at the cost but I am thinking back to what I charged a long time ago.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

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1 hour ago, Ian Kirk said:

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread. In a way flattered that people still want stuff that I produced perhaps 30 years ago now.

Great pity that it has ended up as it has but the LNER range has had two perfectly satisfactory owners before ending up with the current owner.  Colin Ashby in Leeds and Tony Brown in Ilford both ran the range as I would have wished to have it done. I had no say on any later sale.

 

... I kept a couple of machines and the O gauge coach range I had just started to give me a little business (at that time I thought I was too young to retire) I now call it semi retirement.  As someone said there is an O gauge range and they are all still available.

I hope Ian H finds what he wants and does not have to pay too much for it. I have bought a few from a well known site and am amazed at the cost but I am thinking back to what I charged a long time ago.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

 

Ian,

 

I'm glad you did hold onto the O gauge stuff - if only because I've bought a few kits at shows, for hardcore "kitbashing" in some homebrew projects - and I might well get more in due course. (I'd prefer not to bore anyone with the details right now - but the prototypes of what I'm intending to build didn't look much like main line bogie coaches.)

 

As for the "then and now" prices, I can quite believe that there's a big difference - however, it can sometimes be worth checking the "secondhand zones" in model shops. Several years back, in one well known (and thoroughly reputable) emporium, I came across a bagged "8865 LNER TRIPLET Restaurant Car Set" - a kit for a 3 coach articulated set, for the princely sum of £10. It goes without saying that I'm not expecting to see a similar deal available anywhere again - but, occasionally, bargains do appear.

 

Needless to say, this kit quickly found its way to Cwmbran - where very little has since happened to it. Yes - I've opened the bag and had a quick look inside - before closing it up. I don't know if everything is there (quite likely is) - but I got the impression that I was getting rather a lot of kit for my money.

 

At the time, I felt this could be an interesting learning / practice exercise - it probably still could. However, I've since purchased other items that look more likely to form the basis of projects that would sustain my interest long-term - so this one looks like going back into storage.

 

This brings me to why I'm posting these comments:

  • This isn't a sales pitch. I'm not worried whether or not I hold onto this kit for a while. My gut feeling is that it'll probably find its way onto a society stand at some show or other, about 5 or 10 years down the line - but I might be proved wrong on this.
     
  • I'm not even sure which type of articulated set the OP is looking for - this kit is for a 3 car set - but I've also seen loads of references to "quad arts", which I suspect might be of more interest.
     
  • I'm also not setting out to taunt anyone with "look at what you could have won" style garbage. There are, occasionally, bargains to be had - but finding them seems to involve a lot of looking and a lot of luck.

 

I could also add that, even when people are in the market for new RTR, looking and luck can sometimes seem to be the order of the day - especially with a number of RTR manufacturers seeming to have gone over to a business model of shop pre-orders, with a number of (even mass market) items selling out in most places before some of us punters even get to find out that certain models exist.

 

I hinted at this a few hours back - in a post about one shop that I always enjoy visiting. They recently happened to have several examples of a certain model in their stockroom (while some of their competitors were saying "you'll never find that" about the same model). The shop got a sale - and a delighted customer. I got a project that aligns closely with my core interests - one which is almost certain to find its way onto a forum site in due course.

 

I won't bore you with the details - but I'm sure that lots of people here must have bought some models / kits at various times, only for them to end up lining the back of a cupboard.

 

What I will say, though, is that I suspect that somebody probably has the desired kit - and they won't necessarily get round to building it. I just hope the OP comes across this person and is able to strike a deal that works well for both parties.

 

 

Regards,

 

Huw.

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On 02/10/2020 at 21:47, Ian Kirk said:

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread. In a way flattered that people still want stuff that I produced perhaps 30 years ago now.

Great pity that it has ended up as it has but the LNER range has had two perfectly satisfactory owners before ending up with the current owner.  Colin Ashby in Leeds and Tony Brown in Ilford both ran the range as I would have wished to have it done. I had no say on any later sale.

I sometimes wish I had held onto the range and up dated it but the main part of my business was commercial moulding and this type of work had already started to move to Asia. When I got the chance I sold up the factory (some of my machinery was bought by a gentleman from India some went to Parkside) Having first put my freight wagon kits into Parkside I sold the 4mm Coach tooling to Colin and Tony and I kept a couple of machines and the O gauge coach range I had just started to give me a little business (at that time I thought I was too young to retire) I now call it semi retirement.  As someone said there is an O gauge range and they are all still available.

I hope Ian H finds what he wants and does not have to pay too much for it. I have bought a few from a well known site and am amazed at the cost but I am thinking back to what I charged a long time ago.

 

best wishes,

 

Ian

 

Hi Ian

 

Slightly OT but on the subject of your disposing of kit, I recall driving to Scotland with the other members* of "Model Irish Railways" to collect a white metal molding machine and some MIR moulds.  That machine did some sterling work in my garage until I moved to Cork, when it then went to Edgar's place.

 

Most of the MIR kits have now been replaced in the market with RTR from "Murphy Models" and "Irish Railway Models".

 

*  Ian McNally, Edgar O'Donnell, Brian Dorian and Gerry Healey.

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