Frustrating Flushglazing Search

[AndrewInOz]

I’m a newcomer to this forum, modelling as I do in Australia, of British Railways in OO scale. I’ll cut to the chase with my question about postage costs to Australia from the UK.

I’m fortunate to have a local model shop who holds a lot of British outline spares, but they cannot help me.

I’ve inherited a Hornby Class 110 DMU and have fitted a black beetle motor - replacing the tired original Hornby motor. It runs a treat now!

But to complete it, it needs flushglazing. And what fun has it been to try to purchase 2 packs of SE Finecast S69’s! Oh, I can buy them, but baulk at £25 or £38 postage from the UK. Does the seller personally accompany the goods?

The 2 packs would be lightweight-and pass as a letter rate surely?

Does anyone know, or can suggest, any seller (not an eBay retailer who want to charge like bulls) in the UK who could help?

 

[John M Upton]

I don't know what postage they charge but Peters Spares has them in stock.  

 

Unfortunately overseas postage from the UK is now pretty expensive across the board. 

[Izzy]

All international postage, even within the EU, is now often at eye watering levels. Bachmann (USA) now charge a flat rate of £25 to post anything to the UK, even small spare parts costing just a couple of pounds. This is all down to the flood of cheap goods from China at subsidised postage rates over many years and a ‘realignment’ of rates to try and counter it. Sadly this is the result.

[jonhall]

From what I recall, the Hornby 110 glazing is already pretty good, I find it hard to believe the SE Finecast vac-forned stuff would represent an improvement?

 

Jon

[jcm@gwr]

1 hour ago, jonhall said:

From what I recall, the Hornby 110 glazing is already pretty good, I find it hard to believe the SE Finecast vac-forned stuff would represent an improvement?

 

Jon

 

Also, unless they've changed the type of plastic they use,

the vac-formed windows dis-colour badly over time,

unlike the originals.

[DAVREB05]

Could you use one of the glue and glaze products

that are on the market.

Edited November 27, 2021 by DAVREB05
Spelling

[ianmacc]

23 hours ago, jonhall said:

From what I recall, the Hornby 110 glazing is already pretty good, I find it hard to believe the SE Finecast vac-forned stuff would represent an improvement?

 

Jon

That was my first thought. The Hornby class 110 has flush glazing already that was way ahead of their other products in the 1980s. 

 

Do you mean their class “101” aka metro cammell lightweight? 

Edited November 28, 2021 by ianmacc
Spelling

[AndrewInOz]

Thanks to those who replied, and some reality about postage costs plus glazing of the Class 110, using SE Finecast. Unless I scout around for someone selling the original glazing. Peters charge £23 postage to Australia, by the way ($42AUD). Again, many thanks for responding!

[ianmacc]

43 minutes ago, AndrewInOz said:

Thanks to those who replied, and some reality about postage costs plus glazing of the Class 110, using SE Finecast. Unless I scout around for someone selling the original glazing. Peters charge £23 postage to Australia, by the way ($42AUD). Again, many thanks for responding!

Hi. I still don’t see how flush glazing aftermarket will improve the 110, which already has it. 
 

Anybody here tried it? Aside from the cab possibly was it actually any better?

[Quarryscapes]

If the seller is using eBay postage labels then there is no Royal Mail option internationally, it's UPS only and that's at the rate quoted by the OP. Royal Mail signed for to Oz should be around the £10 mark. 

[roundhouse]

Squires had a fair few packs of Flushglaze the last time I visited a few months ago. Not sure what units they had but they didn't have the Lima DMU ones that I was after.

[kandc_au]

15 hours ago, AndrewInOz said:

Thanks to those who replied, and some reality about postage costs plus glazing of the Class 110, using SE Finecast. Unless I scout around for someone selling the original glazing. Peters charge £23 postage to Australia, by the way ($42AUD). Again, many thanks for responding!

Gave up on Peters when I saw their postage prices.
They are so expensive because they use Ebays ripoff  Global Postage system.
Was looking at some buffers on ebay and postage was going to be GBP 20 odd for GBP4 pack....go figure!
Ebay have basically shot themselves in the foot with  their GPS charges, that I don't look there much now!

 

Andrew I would suggest buy it from a store/shop NOT on ebay!

Khris

[ikcdab]

Royal mail website tells me it's £4 postage from UK to Aus.

On 27/11/2021 at 07:53, AndrewInOz said:

I’m a newcomer to this forum, modelling as I do in Australia, of British Railways in OO scale. I’ll cut to the chase with my question about postage costs to Australia from the UK.

I’m fortunate to have a local model shop who holds a lot of British outline spares, but they cannot help me.

I’ve inherited a Hornby Class 110 DMU and have fitted a black beetle motor - replacing the tired original Hornby motor. It runs a treat now!

But to complete it, it needs flushglazing. And what fun has it been to try to purchase 2 packs of SE Finecast S69’s! Oh, I can buy them, but baulk at £25 or £38 postage from the UK. Does the seller personally accompany the goods?

The 2 packs would be lightweight-and pass as a letter rate surely?

Does anyone know, or can suggest, any seller (not an eBay retailer who want to charge like bulls) in the UK who could help?

 

Royal mail website tells me it's £4 postage from UK to Aus. You can check that yourself.

I am happy to receive the goods here in UK and drop it in at my local post office to post to you if you want. If so, just pm me.

Ian C

[Daddyman]

I'd agree that SEF glazing adds nothing by way of improvement to a model, and can't understand why you'd want to replace the original glazing - unless it's damaged? If so, I'd suggest finding Hornby's catalogue number for the 110 glazing using their service sheets, trying to source that, and then using Ian C's kind offer of postage. I think East Kent Models stopped trading, but does anyone else do Hornby spares? 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Daddyman

[John M Upton]

41 minutes ago, Daddyman said:

I'd agree that SEF glazing adds nothing by way of improvement to a model, and can't understand why you'd want to replace the original glazing - unless it's damaged? If so, I'd suggest finding Hornby's catalogue number for the 110 glazing using their service sheets, trying to source that, and then using Ian C's kind offer of postage. I think East Kent Models stopped trading, but does anyone else do Hornby spares? 

 

Ironically...  Peters Spares!

 

I have to say that whilst Flushglaze was great back in the day when it was part and parcel of taking basic lumps of Lima and Hornby plastic and detailing them up to look a tad more realistic, it's time now has passed mostly bar the odd exception.

[Ruffnut Thorston]

It can sometimes pay to check both a sellers own website, where one exists, as well as their eBay listings.

 

Sometimes one or the other is cheaper overall than the other source…

 

Peter’s Spares does have their own website selling portal….

 

And, yes. PS has purchased most of the remaining stock from East Kent Models, when they retired….

 

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Ruffnut Thorston
Typo

[Andy WD]

On 27/11/2021 at 08:43, Izzy said:

All international postage, even within the EU, is now often at eye watering levels. Bachmann (USA) now charge a flat rate of £25 to post anything to the UK, even small spare parts costing just a couple of pounds. This is all down to the flood of cheap goods from China at subsidised postage rates over many years and a ‘realignment’ of rates to try and counter it. Sadly this is the result.

Unfortunately global shipping is totally screwed up at the moment with any shipment, air or sea, being up to at 5 times pre-covid rates for a container, and that's if you can even get it your load on a ship or aircraft! It's not just the influx of cheapo imports.
 Freight carriers have manufacturers over a barrel at the moment, while manufacturing costs have increased some in China as raw material costs have risen, it's the onward transport that's the issue. Shipping lines have reduced sailings, airline carriers are still flying less than before, so space is fought over, and as usual money talks!

 

[Colin_McLeod]

On 27/11/2021 at 07:53, AndrewInOz said:

Oh, I can buy them, but baulk at £25 or £38 postage from the UK. Does the seller personally accompany the goods?

 

If you can procure travel for me to Australia for only £25 or £38 then I will gladly accompany the goods postage free. 

 

[great central]

An ongoing, very slowly (!), project is the conversion of a Hornby 110 into a 104 to be finished in green.

I have the original Hornby glazing but the bars are silver and should be green for the 104.

I ordered a set of the Flushglaze ones but the glazing bars are merely a raised 'ripple' in the clear plastic so still need painting. 

I've now painted, not particularly well, the bars on the Hornby glazing but it's a devil of a job to get the silver covered.

So in my opinion, the Flushglaze doesn't offer any great advantage over the Hornby original.