C&L Finescale

[AndyID]

was the bloke who shelled out - get this - thirty quid for a small packet of 10 Exactoscale axles.

 

Excuse me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

:)

[Pteremy]

I have an order outstanding from mid-November. Has anyone done better than that?

[Jol Wilkinson]

The one that surprised me most amongst the recent Exactoscale eBay frenzy was the bloke who shelled out - get this - thirty quid for a small packet of 10 Exactoscale axles. That's £3 per axle. Even Ultrascale don't charge that much. That.....is madness.

 

For information, from a recent new topic on the ScaleFour Society Forum it appears that Exact scale C&W wheels will become available again but not through C&L. However, C&L will continue to supply Exactoscale track parts.

[hayfield]

I have an order outstanding from mid-November. Has anyone done better than that?

 

 

Just phone Phil up, best to call between Tuesday and Thursday not too early but before 3;30 as he goes to the Post Office. He has had several issues with the website and emails

[Greenmodelmonkey]

Just phone Phil up, best to call between Tuesday and Thursday not too early but before 3;30 as he goes to the Post Office. He has had several issues with the website and emails

Spoke to Phil at Bristol show yesterday he is getting on top of things and had well stocked stand. He is having to overcome many issues due to take over but is making good progress to sort out inherited issues. Nice chap!

[barrowroad]

Just phone Phil up, best to call between Tuesday and Thursday not too early but before 3;30 as he goes to the Post Office. He has had several issues with the website and emails

 

Are you able to tell me what is Phil's average turn around time for website orders?  Mine has been showing processing for two weeks and I have not been able to get an answer on the phone

[hayfield]

I know he has been very busy this past month as its his busiest show period. I would have thought providing it is both in stock and packaged you should be getting your order very soon. I must be lucky when I call as he normally answers, but I avoid days close to shows he is attending. PM me with the details, cant promise anything but may be able to assist 

[Stephen Freeman]

Are you able to tell me what is Phil's average turn around time for website orders?  Mine has been showing processing for two weeks and I have not been able to get an answer on the phone

The annotation "processing" is now as far I can tell without meaning. I've received all orders placed under Phils reign, even if he does take longer. Every one of them still shows "processing". As John says, try to phone him or even write by snail mail, it does work.

[Great Western]

Spoke to the chap yesterday, he's been let down by his internet provider so is having a hard time processing orders at the moment.

[barrowroad]

I know he has been very busy this past month as its his busiest show period. I would have thought providing it is both in stock and packaged you should be getting your order very soon. I must be lucky when I call as he normally answers, but I avoid days close to shows he is attending. PM me with the details, cant promise anything but may be able to assist

 

Hi, Thanks for the reply. I managed to speak to Phil late this morning and he said my order should be despatched by early next week.

[martin_wynne]

Announcement today from Andrew Jukes:

 https://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=60948#p60948

from which:

"Exactoscale track and turnout kits will also be taken away from C&L and will form a separate product group, also overseen by one person.Timescales here are likely to be long as there is a large volume of stock to be disentangled, sorted and organised. Some components may need to be ordered, with the lead time that implies. I am pressing for priority to be given to the sorting out even if that means more products being unavailable in the short term."


 

[Guest Bri.s]

Announcement today from Andrew Jukes:

 

https://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=60948#p60948

 

from which:

 

"Exactoscale track and turnout kits will also be taken away from C&L and will form a separate product group, also overseen by one person.Timescales here are likely to be long as there is a large volume of stock to be disentangled, sorted and organised. Some components may need to be ordered, with the lead time that implies. I am pressing for priority to be given to the sorting out even if that means more products being unavailable in the short term."

 

 

 

Is this same, and affect with the 0 gauge chairs and components also?

In the near future I’ll be doing quite a lot of point building and was hoping to use the exactoscale range

 

Brian

Edited May 16, 2018 by Bri.s

[polybear]

I wonder how Phil must feel about this loss - I hope it doesn't adversely affect the C&L business too badly, as that will be unwelcome news for everyone.

[The Fatadder]

I wonder how Phil must feel about this loss - I hope it doesn't adversely affect the C&L business too badly, as that will be unwelcome news for everyone.

Will make the need for a new chair tooling even more pressing I suspect along with the extra expense). From what I’ve seen recently at least with the c&l chair at least one in 5 (probably a lot more) need to be cut with a scalpel to clear the space for the rail as it’s moulded solid. Exactoscale on the other hand seems to be in a much better condition.

 

 

I was always worried when C&L took over Exactoscale that it wasn’t healthy having all the track parts owned in one place. The recent supply issues have really confirmed that. Very glad to see the separation, will be placing an order for more gwr chairs once supply has resumed as I can’t rebuild my slip until I do

[Nimbus]

I wonder how Phil must feel about this loss - I hope it doesn't adversely affect the C&L business too badly, as that will be unwelcome news for everyone.

It may be a short-term psychological setback, but removal of this part of the range will increase the headspace available for Phil to get on top of the workload that even the remaining range will generate.

 

The Nim.

[chris p bacon]

"Exactoscale track and turnout kits will also be taken away from C&L 

 

 

 

I find this phrase a bit odd.  If Phil purchased C&L and it's products how can something be 'Taken away' ?  if he didn't purchase the Exactoscale range then it can't be taken away. Strange.

 

It is telling though, that they also have a disorganised pile of products to sort before they are able to restart selling, much as Phil had.

[The Fatadder]

I find this phrase a bit odd. If Phil purchased C&L and it's products how can something be 'Taken away' ? if he didn't purchase the Exactoscale range then it can't be taken away. Strange..

I assume the Exactoscale was never actually sold to C&L instead just a licence for the IP and branding which has now been revoked due to a breach in the terms? It wouldn’t be he first one a subsequent purchaser of a business got stung in that sort of situation.

[martin_wynne]

I find this phrase a bit odd.  If Phil purchased C&L and it's products how can something be 'Taken away' ?  if he didn't purchase the Exactoscale range then it can't be taken away. Strange.

 

It is telling though, that they also have a disorganised pile of products to sort before they are able to restart selling, much as Phil had.

 

The Exactoscale brand and tooling are owned by Andrew Jukes, formerly Exactoscale Ltd. The production and distribution arrangements are currently with C&L.

 

Martin.

[chris p bacon]

The Exactoscale brand and tooling are owned by Andrew Jukes, formerly Exactoscale Ltd. The production and distribution arrangements are currently with C&L.

 

Martin.

 

Thanks Martin.

 

I rather hope Phil hasn't been caught by a less than watertight contract of sale between himself and the previous owner. Or it could be that he just took it on until another outlet was found.

[martin_wynne]

I rather hope Phil hasn't been caught by a less than watertight contract of sale between himself and the previous owner. Or it could be that he just took it on until another outlet was found.

 

Hi Dave,

 

C&L was a viable and profitable business under its prior-previous owner, Brian Lewis. That was well before any involvement with Exactoscale, so there is no reason that it couldn't be still. The arrival of Peco bullhead flexible may have upset the 00 market a bit, but there is still the entire copper-clad trackbuilding market, and there is EM. When I was supplying track kits and parts in the 70s and 80s, EM outsold the others by a hefty margin.

 

Martin.

[martin_wynne]

Exactoscale is primarily about P4. There has been a recent trend of P4 modellers returning to 00 -- and when they do so they go for 4-SF (00-SF). I understand the 00-SF gauges are currently out of stock at C&L. If I was Phil I would make it a priority to get them back in stock -- no-one is going to be buying track bits if they can't get the gauges to build it with.

 

Martin.

[Jol Wilkinson]

Will make the need for a new chair tooling even more pressing I suspect along with the extra expense). From what I’ve seen recently at least with the c&l chair at least one in 5 (probably a lot more) need to be cut with a scalpel to clear the space for the rail as it’s moulded solid. Exactoscale on the other hand seems to be in a much better condition.

 

 

I was always worried when C&L took over Exactoscale that it wasn’t healthy having all the track parts owned in one place. The recent supply issues have really confirmed that. Very glad to see the separation, will be placing an order for more gwr chairs once supply has resumed as I can’t rebuild my slip until I do

 

I've very recently been using Exactoscale 3 bolt chairs on a group project and have found that a significant number have a small "bridge" across the rail gap that needs clearing with a scalpel. A significant number "split" when being pushed on to the rail, much more than when I last built track about six years ago, which may indicate that the moulds are also suffering some minor wear.

 

AFAIK, the current range of Exactoscale products were commissioned by Andrew Jukes, designed by Len Newman and remained the property of Mr Jukes. In addition to sorting out existing stocks, etc. he also has to create a new sales outlet, although this could be through an existing trader. A rather more lengthy communique appears in the S4 Society Forum.

[The Fatadder]

Interesting, I hand realised the Exactoscale tools are failing as well. The GW two bolt chair at least was still going well when I last bought some just before the C&L shop closed down.

[Jol Wilkinson]

Interesting, I hand realised the Exactoscale tools are failing as well. The GW two bolt chair at least was still going well when I last bought some just before the C&L shop closed down.

 

I think the word "failing" is rather too emotive. It may be that the problem I experienced, relatively minor, may only apply to fairly large batch our group purchased to cover our project requirements. Perhaps others might like to comment on recent experiences of both C&L or Exactoscale track parts. The only issue I experienced with C&L when I last used them was that the plastic was more brittle than Exactoscale. AFAIK both ranges were designed by Len Newman.

 

I look forward to the reintroduction of the C&W wheels, although the loco wheels range didn't provide anything I could use.

[Greenmodelmonkey]

Is this same, and affect with the 0 gauge chairs and components also?

In the near future I’ll be doing quite a lot of point building and was hoping to use the exactoscale range

Brian

Unfortantly I ended up spending a considerable amount of time and effort trying to get Exactoscale 7mm running chairs slide chairs to fit the rail. After much measurement I suspected there was a problem with the products and raised this with the previous owner who eventually agreed tooling was worn but nothing has been done about it (I outlined the problems on this forum under a different heading at the time and supplied photos to show the issues) see link below for details...

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/user/29282-greenmodelmonkey/

 

I eventually got over the problem buy using PECO rail section instead of C&L rail and it fitted the Exactoscale chairs perfectly. I know the PECO rail section is not quite right but the thinner foot of this rail fitted the chairs and does not look any different once fitted and weathered.

 

I was going to buy some spare ready made 7mm track at a recent show from C&L but decided against it as I thought the material used for rails was so silver in appearance (which is claimed makes it look more like steel, but I have never seen real rail this colour and still think nickel silver is best ... and cheaper to produce). I also noted that rail was not as smooth along its length as I have been used to other makes of rail so rail looked like cheap Lima track if anyone can remember this.

 

Just hope that Exactoscale chairs will get sorted if range is being moved again as it was a shame products standards and quality had slipped under previous ownership.

 

Hope this helps as situation at the time gave me a real headache especially as I had to make all my one pointwork aswell. Also a considerable sum of money was invested the products which were far from perfect ... at the time of purchase course.

 

Cheers GMM

Edited May 17, 2018 by Greenmodelmonkey