Good buy from Ebay

[cessna152towser]

2 hours ago, woodyfox said:

The most surprising was 4 mk3 hst coaches unboxed (short versions) for about £45. I'm not complaining...... 

I guess you got lucky there. I just sold 2 x shorty Mk3s, (one BR blue/grey and one Virgin Rail) for £9.50 plus £3.20 postage two weeks ago.    I was quite happy with that as I had started the pair at 99p.

[rope runner]

3 hours ago, hayfield said:

What cannot you find ?

 

 

It's not the content but the total quantity of preowned items listed I'm lamenting. Like most modelers with a niche sphere of interest it is rather more to do with quantity. I'll explain how ...

 

If (say, on average for argument's sake) 1 in 5000 preowned items is potentially of interest to me then the less items overall will mean that there is an overall lower chance of being anything of interest, if that makes sense?

 

Paul A. 

[hayfield]

The Westward LSWR Beattie well tank arrived this morning, absolutely perfect, fears of missing cylinders and connecting rods were unfounded, one etched balance weight and one cast brake shoe seem to be the only missing items along with the stated coupling rods.

 

It has a Branchlines motor mount and gears which run very slowly and a Mashima 1220, along with Romford/Markit wheels. A steal at £53 inc postage

 

The chassis is part built and will convert easily to EM gauge, the 1220 flat can is too big, which I think is what stalled the build, either the inside of the boiler/firebox castings need thinning or use one of the High Level kits 10mm motors

 

The body looks to have been built with superglue, there seems to be some reaction with the cast metal, most comes off with a burnishing brush, but difficult to get into the nooks and crannies. I will put it into an ultrasonic cleaner bath, if it comes apart no real problems.

 

Thanks to badly taken out of focus photos not showing everything I have a bargain, so bargains are still out there.

[PhilJ W]

4 hours ago, hayfield said:

 

 

The body looks to have been built with superglue, there seems to be some reaction with the cast metal, most comes off with a burnishing brush, but difficult to get into the nooks and crannies. I will put it into an ultrasonic cleaner bath, if it comes apart no real problems.

 

Dettol will not only remove any paint but it dissolves super glue as well.

[hayfield]

Just now, PhilJ W said:

Dettol will not only remove any paint but it dissolves super glue as well.

 

Phil

 

I do use it ,BUT I spilled some in my work room which is just off our family room and it stinks !!!, I may have to use it in the shed in future. Thanks anyway, a great tip for anyone and is super for use on plastics

[Enterprisingwestern]

7 hours ago, hayfield said:

so bargains are still out there.

 

Which is OK if that's what you want, a bargain isn't a bargain if you have to buy something you don't want just to get one!

 

Mike.

[hayfield]

Just now, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Which is OK if that's what you want, a bargain isn't a bargain if you have to buy something you don't want just to get one!

 

Mike.

 

Mike  Sorry I don't get the drift, far too intelligent for me

 

If I have to buy two or more things to get an item you want, providing its the right price and you can sell on the unwanted items at a decent price, its a bargain. I do find I have to pay the going odds for rare items. they may in time prove to be a good buy but if fashion changes they could equally be an expensive indulgence

 

Buying something you don't want is stupid unless you can resell it at a profit ?

 

If I am taking a gamble I like to think I have covered myself, in this instance I was valuing the wheels motor and gears, which on their own would on average prices cost me the same or more.

 

But again we all value things differently, certainly the Well tank is a favourite of mine and I have a Roxey Mouldings kit in 7mm scale and wanted one of these kits for ages. Secondly I have very fond memories of the late Chris Parish and John Redrup (who I still have a chat with) from their time at Puffers of Kenton, and as it is the kit has a Puffers label on it,  which is an added bonus for me for sentimental reasons.

[Enterprisingwestern]

9 hours ago, hayfield said:

Mike  Sorry I don't get the drift, far too intelligent for me

'

Apologies, I'm not trying to dispute your intelligence!

I understand what you are saying about you purchasing more than one item and doing the wheeler dealing to offset costs, what I'm trying to say is that the items I would personally be interested in, (obviously a different modelling era and sphere of interest to yours), do not come up at bargain prices, so there is no point me buying an irrelevant item just to say that I have got a bargain.

 

Mike.

[hayfield]

3 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

'

Apologies, I'm not trying to dispute your intelligence!

I understand what you are saying about you purchasing more than one item and doing the wheeler dealing to offset costs, what I'm trying to say is that the items I would personally be interested in, (obviously a different modelling era and sphere of interest to yours), do not come up at bargain prices, so there is no point me buying an irrelevant item just to say that I have got a bargain.

 

Mike.

 

Mike

 

Its dead easy to question my intelligence

 

I get your point now, and suffer the same issues. I have all the easy to get items, the ones I want are now of the rarer type. Resulting in either paying the going rate or searching out the real bargains

 

There were 3 reasons for being so pleased with these two.

 

1 For sentimental reasons I have been after a Westward kit 

2 I am into whitemetal kits rather than RTR and model the GWR & SR regions the streamlined GWR Railcar has been on the wanted list for ages.  I have seen unmade examples go for nearly £100 several times. This built but slightly damaged model cost £25 inc postage which also included the Lima chassis

3 Modelling the Bodmin area, therefore must have a Beattie well tank

 

Like a London bus, been waiting to buy a Westward model for ages, got 2 in the same day

[Hal Nail]

On 10/03/2021 at 21:11, hayfield said:

If I have to buy two or more things to get an item you want, providing its the right price and you can sell on the unwanted items at a decent price, its a bargain.

I wanted a 7mm 57xx pannier and eventually found one being sold with an autocoach. One was BR one GWR which helped and I paid far less than the individual prices and flipped the coach for a fraction under the going rate for a quick sale, leaving me with the loco for £140 (compared to c£200 at the time).

 

Unfortunately I then embarked on a conversion involving spare autocoaches and of course paid more for one the second time!

 

The lord he giveth....

[hayfield]

8 minutes ago, Hal Nail said:

I wanted a 7mm 57xx pannier and eventually found one being sold with an autocoach. One was BR one GWR which helped and I paid far less than the individual prices and flipped the coach for a fraction under the going rate for a quick sale, leaving me with the loco for £140 (compared to c£200 at the time).

 

Unfortunately I then embarked on a conversion involving spare autocoaches and of course paid more for one the second time!

 

The lord he giveth....

 

There is always another deal to be had.

 

It might be a time to hold back and save those pennies. No doubt over the last lockdown period there are quite a few estate collections waiting for buyers, plus those staying at home on furlough will be returning to work. The dealers will be eager to buy new stock, but will the volume of buyers wanting items be as large. I think a few bargains will be on the horizon soon.

 

Certainly mixed undescribed lots have been few and far between lately if not extinct.   

[hayfield]

I managed to buy a couple of BSL Phoenix SR Maunsell Coach body kits for 16.50 for both including postage. In my spares collection I have several BSL SR Bogies, underframe and seating kits. Given these body kits usually go for £20 each and fill kits £40+ quite pleased to get them at £8 each

 

They are in one way basic kits but do detail up well, even if I buy Comet chassis they will still be inexpensive

 

My K's 1361 got a bit cheaper, I paid £40 for it and bought an etched chassis for £20, I resold the old chassis and motor for £20 at the weekend, I have Romford wheels for it in my wheel box, will but a High Level gearbox when they are available, I do have a small coreless motor to try out, at worst I will buy one of High Level's small Iron cored motors

 

I just need a bit of time

[leopardml2341]

On 15/03/2021 at 09:24, hayfield said:

In my spares collection I have several BSL SR Bogies.......

Hi John,

 

Do you perchance gave any instructions for those?

 

I bought a pair recently without assembly instructions and I just admit I'm a but confused about how they are intended to go together.

[hayfield]

If its the cast bogies/ ends/ seats or underframes, they never came with any, either in a clear plastic bag and or just wrapped up in tissue.

 

If its a bogie coach instruction, then which one ? Mainly generic instructions with a bit of specific information as to the prototype

[adb968008]

On 14/03/2021 at 11:35, hayfield said:

 

There is always another deal to be had.

 

It might be a time to hold back and save those pennies. No doubt over the last lockdown period there are quite a few estate collections waiting for buyers, plus those staying at home on furlough will be returning to work. The dealers will be eager to buy new stock, but will the volume of buyers wanting items be as large. I think a few bargains will be on the horizon soon.

 

Certainly mixed undescribed lots have been few and far between lately if not extinct.   

I think that about new stuff too.

 

Theres a bulge of new releases awaiting to burst, just as we head out of lockdown, into summer / autumn this year...

What I want may not tally with when I actually buy it.

 

I fear some manufacturers may catch a cold on their price expectations.

Edited March 23, 2021 by adb968008

[Prometheus]

Not to everyone's taste, but three partially built Siphon F kits from Keyser for just over a tenner each. A really easy restoration job which requires little more than underframe detail, remedial work on those awful plastic bogies [so, later productions] and paint. The bodies themselves were fairly well put together, sufficiently so not to dismantle them. A little filler and filing will sort any problems there.

 

But just look at those appalling gas tank mouldings: what was Keyser thinking about there?

 

 

Tony

Edited March 23, 2021 by Prometheus

[Andy WD]

A nice couple of wins for me, one increasing ever more the wagon collection. (Although SWMBO doesn't seem to agree it's a good idea!)

Job lot of 10 wagons for £33.00 , some compensated, most of them nicely built, needing finishing or wheelsets, but most of all including another ABS Rectank. That makes the 4th picked up recently with the most paid being £11.00 + postage. I keep seeing them bid up to £25-30 each....

 

And maybe not so much of a bargain, but certainly a 'loco want' for a while, a Millhome GCR N4/5 Kit for £51.00.

One of those badly described, single picture lots. So it was fingers crossed until it arrived. Fortunately it is what it was supposed to be with body parts never opened. One for the 'roundtuit' list after finishing some more wagons off.

 

You are supposed to build these @@rare@@ kits when you buy them, right?

[Enterprisingwestern]

7 hours ago, Andy WD said:

You are supposed to build these @@rare@@ kits when you buy them, right?

 

No.

You're not paying attention.

You sit on them, let them mature and then flog them on ebay in a few years time!

 

Mike.

[hayfield]

9 hours ago, Andy WD said:

A nice couple of wins for me, one increasing ever more the wagon collection. (Although SWMBO doesn't seem to agree it's a good idea!)

Job lot of 10 wagons for £33.00 , some compensated, most of them nicely built, needing finishing or wheelsets, but most of all including another ABS Rectank. That makes the 4th picked up recently with the most paid being £11.00 + postage. I keep seeing them bid up to £25-30 each....

 

And maybe not so much of a bargain, but certainly a 'loco want' for a while, a Millhome GCR N4/5 Kit for £51.00.

One of those badly described, single picture lots. So it was fingers crossed until it arrived. Fortunately it is what it was supposed to be with body parts never opened. One for the 'roundtuit' list after finishing some more wagons off.

 

You are supposed to build these @@rare@@ kits when you buy them, right?

 

Given the prices I saw over the weekend its a good buy, I kept an eye on it but as I am really interested in GER at the moment a little dear for a passing interest. Good luck

[MartinWales]

On 30/03/2021 at 00:19, Andy WD said:

A nice couple of wins for me, one increasing ever more the wagon collection. (Although SWMBO doesn't seem to agree it's a good idea!)

Job lot of 10 wagons for £33.00 , some compensated, most of them nicely built, needing finishing or wheelsets, but most of all including another ABS Rectank. That makes the 4th picked up recently with the most paid being £11.00 + postage. I keep seeing them bid up to £25-30 each....

 

And maybe not so much of a bargain, but certainly a 'loco want' for a while, a Millhome GCR N4/5 Kit for £51.00.

One of those badly described, single picture lots. So it was fingers crossed until it arrived. Fortunately it is what it was supposed to be with body parts never opened. One for the 'roundtuit' list after finishing some more wagons off.

 

You are supposed to build these @@rare@@ kits when you buy them, right?

Ahhh.....so it was you who outbid me then.......

[hayfield]

eBay was good to sellers this week, silly season on many of the items I watched, bagged a couple of SEF unbuilt kits, but as the new owners are selling new ones on eBay their prices have dipped a bit. One cost £42 + postage, had a gamble on another at £60 + postage. I could see 2 wheels and 3 axles so took a bit of a chance and it was a less common model. Still both are still good savings on RRP 

[Paul Cram]

Just recieved a nice little package today. 3 london road loco kits J21, J25 and G5 all with sharman wheels and replacement brass domes and chimneys. Dave Bradwell tender, Poertescap mator and micor dive motor and hearbox with some other goodies. Less than half price.

[PhilJ W]

Arrived today, Radley models LT locomotive L11 all made up and painted and decals added and with a Tenshodo spud £101 on e-bay. The price on the box (just for the unmade kit) was £80. The motor bogie has a fault but if its not fixable I have a spare.

[Andy WD]

12 hours ago, MartinWales said:

Ahhh.....so it was you who outbid me then.......

 

Well it was time, you beat me a couple of times

[MartinWales]

11 hours ago, Andy WD said:

 

Well it was time, you beat me a couple of times

Blast! Maybe next time......