Built in Britain

[Phil Parker]

I suggested it as a lower price option, not a replacement for RTR. Those who can't or won't make things can pay whatever high price the RTR version comes at, while those of use who like to build things can do it ourselves, save money, and adapt or remake parts if we want.

 

By the time the bits have been packed into a special CKD box - you can't just chuck them in a bag - would there be that much of a saving?

 

Also, there is after sale service dealing with people who have damaged bits trying to put them together. Finally, really extensive instructions to show how it all works. You could easily sink a few grand into producing these!

[BG John]

By the time the bits have been packed into a special CKD box - you can't just chuck them in a bag - would there be that much of a saving?

 

Also, there is after sale service dealing with people who have damaged bits trying to put them together. Finally, really extensive instructions to show how it all works. You could easily sink a few grand into producing these!

I don't know how much, if any, saving there would be. I might be an accountant, but couldn't answer without seeing the numbers. Is it much different to some of the plastic kits now available with hundreds of parts? It may well not be practical, given the number of potential sales, but if no one considers these things an opportunity may be lost. Unless the whole purpose is to de-skill people, so they are unable to buy anything but RTR.

[Kris]

I read this topic thinking "oh, a new manufacturer". Such a shame that the topic was not about this but was a generalist if topic about manufacturing locations.

[jjb1970]

I think price arguments tend to be based on a few assumptions:

 

• The cost of the final product is an extrapolation from wage costs
• The cost of manufacture is pretty much fixed and outside the control of manufacturers
• If it costs manufacturer 'A' £X to design, manufacture and distribute a model and they need a margin of %Y then that is the case for all model producers

 

I'd take issue with these assumptions. There are very few fixed costs in business and the number of man hours required to build and finish a product can be controlled. When I look at the design of some models it is pretty clear that ease of manufacture was not a particular consideration in the design process.

 

I suspect the two real killers for UK model manufacturing are less cost of labour but the lack of a suitable skills base (that can obviously be addressed but it doesn't happen overnight and it won't cheap) and the fact that re-establishing factories would need a huge initial investment with an extended time to recover that initial investment and a significant risk that you wouldn't recover it.