Coopercraft business put up for sale

[Steamport Southport]

33 minutes ago, Tim Dubya said:

 

Maybe they bought the machine from Colin Ashby or he does it for them?

 

Possibly. But I think Colin Ashby has retired now. I bought some stuff from him on eBay about five years or so ago and he said something along the lines of when they are gone that's it, he wasn't doing anymore.

 

It was mostly GWR wagon kits and a couple LNER. There wasn't much left.

 

 

Jason

[Jol Wilkinson]

9 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Someone must be doing it as Phoenix sell the SR Ian Kirk kits.

 

Whether Phoenix have their own machinery or outsource I don't know.

 

Jason

 

9 hours ago, Tim Dubya said:

 

Maybe they bought the machine from Colin Ashby or he does it for them?

The owner of PPPs background is in running an injection moulding company. He has his own machines and decades of experience.  As I understand it, the Ian Kirk SR kits are produced in house on a machine adapted to take the moulds. It can be done, but Mr Dunn wasn't able to do so.

[pete_mcfarlane]

48 minutes ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

 

The owner of PPPs background is in running an injection moulding company. He has his own machines and decades of experience.  As I understand it, the Ian Kirk SR kits are produced in house on a machine adapted to take the moulds. It can be done, but Mr Dunn wasn't able to do so.

 

I think the moral here is not to take on somebody else's slightly non-standard engineering solutions when you don't have the skills to produce something similar yourself. 

[Re6/6]

As an aside, I found this rather interesting and very informative from BRM.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTMqjm5neVg

 

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Re6/6

[BernardTPM]

Yes, unless you've actually been involved with injection moulding it's hard to appreciate the sheer bulk of tooling for producing what seem like quite modestly sized mouldings.

Edited February 26, 2022 by BernardTPM

[Siberian Snooper]

The Plymouth club had a visit to the Ratio factory in Buckfastleigh many years ago, when Roger Webster still owned it. The moulding machines were on a par with our smaller hydraulic presses, there's some large forces involved.

 

 

[cheesysmith]

I m in the middle of building some Kirk LNER coach kits I got off evilbay. Despite mistakes on my part, I am having fun and finding it a good way to relax (and int this hobby supposed to be fun?). I would like to build some more, so has anybody heard any news on these, or do I keep looking for second hand ones?

[Miss Prism]

12 minutes ago, cheesysmith said:

do I keep looking for second hand ones?

 

Yes.

 

[Michael Hodgson]

I rather like those kits too.  Would be good to see them return.

[Willie Whizz]

From what has been said on here in recent years, it seems unlikely we shall ever see any new production of the ex-Kirk LNER carriages again; nor is it reckoned likely any comparable new range would be introduced by a different manufacturer in view of the increasingly high cost of injection moulding unless significant quantities are going to be sold. 
 

One alternative might be to look at the Isinglass range of 3D laser-printed kits, which has some interesting LNER options. I haven’t tried one yet - early reports of this kind of technology a while back suggested that a fair amount of “fettling” was required to get the surfaces right and flash removed before you could make a proper start, which put me off a bit. But I imagine the process has matured somewhat since then; and as I don’t trust myself with soldering and bending brass and neither Bachman nor Hornby look likely to add to their current ranges, I’m seriously thinking of giving it a try. 

[AncientMariner]

On 26/02/2022 at 10:00, cheesysmith said:

I m in the middle of building some Kirk LNER coach kits I got off evilbay. Despite mistakes on my part, I am having fun and finding it a good way to relax (and int this hobby supposed to be fun?). I would like to build some more, so has anybody heard any news on these, or do I keep looking for second hand ones?

 

W.M. Collectables have a supply of unopened Ian Kirk kits.

I've bought a couple of useful additions to my layout from this guy.

 

John

[Ken.W]

On 26/02/2022 at 16:43, Willie Whizz said:

One alternative might be to look at the Isinglass range of 3D laser-printed kits, which has some interesting LNER options. I haven’t tried one yet - early reports of this kind of technology a while back suggested that a fair amount of “fettling” was required to get the surfaces right and flash removed 

 

and neither Bachman nor Hornby look likely to add to their current ranges, I’m seriously thinking of giving it a try. 

 

Fortunately not in the case of Hornby. Their new super-detailed ones are totally wrong body profile, and stick out like a sore thumb anywhere near a scale kit built coach. The older ones are actually better profile, though too short, but can make decent models by cut n shut.

Bachmann only do the post war Thompson coaches.

 

One of the new Isinglass kits, built without any "fettling ", with cast underframe fittings from Commet - which nicely weights it too.

They're a good match with Kirk kits

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Ken.W

[Michael Hodgson]

That Magnadhesion is really effective, keeping a coach on the rails on a vertical stretch of track!

[The Evil Bus Driver]

My Coopercraft kit arrived and is complete. It's a Mk1 CK I got from Evilbay  I'm guessing it'll now be a case of rummaging through assorted kit boxes on traders stands. Maybe I might find a few gems lurking in there. Maybe not, then it's on to my usual '3 wagons for a fiver' rummage boxes that are my other fave.

 

Somewhere is another CC kit of a mk1 FK I picked up which has been split amongst several boxes so once that's back in one place and stripped down I'll see if it's salvageable. Let's see what I can find. I'm sure the wire plus important small parts are still in the packaging and I know where that is coughcoughcough100milesawaycough

 

I can get my second Kirk Brake Third this way as well. That'll give me a Maunsell 3 set. I'll probably buy a similar set of ExKirk kits (a Brake Third- CK-Brake third combo if anyones interested) so I can get a direct comparison so if anyone wants a write-up let me know. 

 

I have read the other (now locked) thread over the past week and it was pretty depressing reading. I do hope someone can pick out the salvageable items and fix the moulds and maybe bring one or two items back. I do accept there are items which have been lost. 

Let's see how it pans out.

Edited February 16 by The Evil Bus Driver

[Nile]

Something has happened, see http://www.cooper-craft.co.uk/

 

"Cambrian Model Rail Limited have now completed the purchase of the Cooper Craft Moulds. As part of the purchase we also have the rights to the Cooper Craft brand and the Website."

[The Fatadder]

Presumably this will just be the plastic moulds, rather than the ex Mallard/Blacksmith etches.  Even so, it’s good news if he is actually able to do anything with them. 
 

edit:  clicking on the link makes clear that is the case, with coopercraft still looking to sell the other ranges.  

Edited December 11, 2022 by The Fatadder

[Re6/6]

It's good to see movement on this. We can only hope that somebody will take on the Mallard/Blacksmith etchings range.

 

 

[Oldddudders]

11 hours ago, Re6/6 said:

It's good to see movement on this. We can only hope that somebody will take on the Mallard/Blacksmith etchings range.

 

 

I fear the sad loss of Eileen’s will have sent a shiver through the “craftsman” end of our suppliers. Speculative purchases, even of quality ranges, may have taken a knock. 

[Colin_McLeod]

On 27/06/2022 at 18:40, The Evil Bus Driver said:

Evilbay

 

What's Evilbay?

[The Evil Bus Driver]

47 minutes ago, Colin_McLeod said:

 

What's Evilbay?

It's Ebay but we all have our opinions on its merits or otherwise

[hayfield]

11 hours ago, The Evil Bus Driver said:

It's Ebay but we all have our opinions on its merits or otherwise

 

Speaking as a kit builder rather than a buyer of ready to run, eBay has been a breath of fresh air as far as kit building stock is concerned and the spin off for both companies like Eileen's and suppliers of kits is the additional business in both spares and materials this development has bought, in face it is becoming more common for some retailers to use eBay to move on s/h stock they cannot easily sell locally. Yes it has its faults but also don't for get its benefits

 

No doubt there will be a glut of unmade Coopercraft items on eBay next year, which will please quite a few

[The Evil Bus Driver]

2 hours ago, hayfield said:

 

Speaking as a kit builder rather than a buyer of ready to run, eBay has been a breath of fresh air as far as kit building stock is concerned and the spin off for both companies like Eileen's and suppliers of kits is the additional business in both spares and materials this development has bought, in face it is becoming more common for some retailers to use eBay to move on s/h stock they cannot easily sell locally. Yes it has its faults but also don't for get its benefits

 

No doubt there will be a glut of unmade Coopercraft items on eBay next year, which will please quite a few

Heh I hope so. I'm after 2 Brake second mk1s to make a 3-set. I've got plenty of kits to keep me going for now though. I do tend to check feedback on there. You can get some great bargains but there are some who have had less than positive experience there. That said my reference to it as Evilbay was a bit tongue in cheek, especially since I've bought a fair few bits and pieces on there over the last month. 

Edited December 23, 2022 by The Evil Bus Driver

[Nile]

The current situation:

 

The "Cooper Craft" 4mm plastic kits range has been sold to Cambrian Model Rail - link :  http://www.cooper-craft.co.uk/

There is a topic in the Model Shop Guide section of RMweb:

 

The "Ian Kirk" and "Mailcoach" kits range has been sold to Phoenix Precision Paints - link : https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/news/kirk-lner-coaches

There is a topic in the Small Suppliers section of RMweb:

 

The status of the etched ranges is unknown.

[Steamport Southport]

There's also no idea whether some of the Cooper Craft kits are included in the resurrection.

 

No mention of the BR coaches or the loco kits (which I assume are long dead as I've never seen one apart from a B12 on the Wright Writes thread). I believe there was also an GER F3 2-4-2T.

 

 

Jason

[Blue Max]

There was also the East Anglian and the Hook Continental coach sets that were issued as limited edition runs under either the Kirk or Mailcoach ranges.

Don’t expect these will ever come back on the market