rope runner Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 I'm thinking of joining the N gauge society, but does anyone have any experience of ordering any of their exclusive products? Is it done by mailing them, or is there any online facility? does postage have to be paid on the items? or is it included in the price? thanks in advance, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin1985 Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Is it done by mailing them, or is there any online facility? does postage have to be paid on the items? or is it included in the price? The N Gauge Society Shop is basically run by a couple from their home, so it is very much a volunteer operation. At present there is no online ordering facility, but shop stock lists are kept up to date on the website (I think). Each issue of the paper copy journal comes with an order form on the back of the cover sheet. When you join you also get a full A5 binder with an introduction to N Gauge, and detailed descriptions of the kits. This is quite useful because the kits vary a lot between "one piece moulding you plonk on the chassis" to really detailed (and fiddly) etched brass kits! Given that it is a volunteer service, orders always seem to be processed really quickly, and you can also get loads of other stuff at below RRP (e.g. Ratio kits that dont usually get discounted elsewhere). There are more discounts for bulk-buying 3, 5 or more kits. If I remember right there is a fixed standard P&P charge, so you get better value the more you buy. J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mikes rail Posted February 24, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 24, 2010 Just to say as a member I have used the shop a few times and always had very good service from them. P & P is £2.50 at present I think. One thing to watch out for if you join and that is do not throw out the white sheet of paper with your address on that covers the mag each issue, the order form is on the back of it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Steven B Posted February 25, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 25, 2010 As has been mentioned, the shop is run by volunteers and can suffer from delays in processing orders due to holidays, sickness and PC's crashing. They say to allow up to 28 days for delivery but my orders usually arrive within a week. £2.50 p&p on all orders appart from Model Master transfers where a SAE included with the order is sufficient. No on-line ordering (or order form wizard like the 2mmSA have), just good old Royal Mail. In addition to the 30+ exclusive kits, one current and one upcoming RTR models you'll also get discounted prices on stuff from like likes of TPM, Peco, Ratio, Parkside, Parkwood etc plus lots of little detailing bits that can be hard to get hold of if you don't get to exhibitions all that often. The Society's Journal is in my opinion one of the best club/society Journal/newsletters going. Happy modelling. Steven B. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etched Pixels Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Second or third that - good kits, good journal. The internet side is a bit lacking but being progressed slowly. The modelling side of the operation seems to work very well. Shop is good and while they say 28 days I don't think I've ever waited more than about ten. Only thing to beware of is that the NGS shop prices are sometimes *more* expensive than the suppliers own prices ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Shop is good and while they say 28 days I don't think I've ever waited more than about ten. Only thing to beware of is that the NGS shop prices are sometimes *more* expensive than the suppliers own prices ! True but some items are at a significant discount, notably Ratio kits. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rope runner Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 Ahhh great guys, cheers Does anyone have any experience of the Railtrack PNA kits they offer? It says they're self-coloured and come with a pre-assembled chassis. Supposedly all that is needed is to apply transfers and spray with some kind of matt varnish? thanks again, Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Ben Posted March 9, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 9, 2010 Hi Paul, The chassis supplied is the standard Farish pedestal suspension wagon chassis, as used on their PGA and PCA wagons. The chassis does need some modification (buffers cutting off, centre section cutting away) to allow the weight included with the kit to fit - the weight incorporates slots to allow the separately cast brake air tank and distributor to be fitted. The body is a simple 5-part plastic kit - the kit is moulded in the correct dark green and comes with decals. Note that each kit comes with 2 chassis and enough parts to build two wagons. The PNAs were built in several batches and on underframes recycled from numerous old wagons (mainly tank wagons) and each Society kit can be built as two models of wagons from three different batches, if that makes sense! For my PNA rake I also converted a couple of Farish POA wagons to give me a more prototypical "mixed" rake; I am hoping that sooner or later Farish will tool up the PNA they offer in their OO range which complements (but does not duplicate) the Society version. The photo shows a converted Farish wagon and two of the variants offered by the Society kit. cheers Ben A. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rope runner Posted March 9, 2010 Author Share Posted March 9, 2010 Hi Ben, I'm certainly going to take the plunge with 6 of these now, and the society in general I can't see your picture of your wagons, but i'm already convinced anyway! Cheers Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Ben Posted March 9, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 9, 2010 Hi Paul Try again: Farish conversion, then two Society kits. The main difference in the Society versions is the spacing of the bodyside ribs. cheers Ben Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrislock Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 I'd agree with everything that has been said. The journal is improving all the time, and the shop always seem to return within about a week. I have only purchased a few MR van kits, but they are simplicity itself to assemble and you just can't get them elsewhere - and at £3.45 or whatever are a steal! Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.