2mm Products and Queries

[Nig H]

I heard today that Photo Etch Consultants will cease trading at the end of this week. They sent out an email to that affect to their customers last week, though I didn't get a copy. I and other PEC users are waiting for more information from the company concerning acquiring our photo tools. Getting the tools may be of limited value as other etchers may not be able to use them anyway. My PEC tools will be too big for PPD sheets, so I would need to set up a new tool for a given item, and this could require significant re-arranging of parts on an etch to get everything into a narrower fret.

 

Nigel Hunt

[Chris Higgs]

On 20/08/2022 at 22:29, Chris Higgs said:

Possibly not the thread to post this in, but then again as they were Association products at some point...

 

Given that many of the items I have produced over the years are no longer available in Shop 2/4, and I have had a few requests for, I am thinking of doing a new limited run of some of these items. The ones I have in mind are

 

Coach kits: - basically these are ones I have resin roofs for

BR CCT

BR GUV

BR MK1 BG

 

Wagon Kits:

GWR Toads

GWR Shunters Truck

GWR/BR Lowmac

 

Wagon/NPCS underframes:

Dapol Grain hopper (two types)

Dapol Fruit D

Chivers LNER Long CCT

Chivers BR Tube wagon

Chivers Long LMS Wagons (two types)

Chivers GWR Open C

 

plus any I might have forgotten.

 

Please get in contact direct to me (not by replying to this thread) if you have are interested. There will be a minimum order quantity as I am not in a position to field large numbers of orders for one underframe!

 

In case you are wondering, the LMS and LNER fitted underfames (2-371 to 2-373) and BR Plate wagon underframes (2-376 to 2-378) are not on the list as I am working with the Sales Officier to get these back as permanent shop items.

 

Chris

 

 

 

 

Thanks to those who have replied to me on this. Sadly all of this will be on hold until the situation with PEC has been clarified.

 

Chris 

 

[PaulCheffus]

32 minutes ago, Chris Higgs said:

 

Thanks to those who have replied to me on this. Sadly all of this will be on hold until the situation with PEC has been clarified.

 

Chris 

 

Hi

 

I assume that also includes the Plate wagon chassis.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[Chris Higgs]

1 hour ago, PaulCheffus said:

Hi

 

I assume that also includes the Plate wagon chassis.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

Yep. 

[John57sharp]

Can anybody advise whether the recently introduced gearbox block works with the 08 chassis  3-681 which i have not had much luck with?

 

i thought I had seen some discussion about it but cannot seem to find it now.

 

Thanks in advance

John

[Yorkshire Square]

On 20/08/2022 at 22:29, Chris Higgs said:

I am thinking of doing a new limited run of some of these items. The ones I have in mind are

 

Coach kits: - basically these are ones I have resin roofs for

BR CCT...

 

Chivers GWR Open C

 

plus any I might have forgotten.

 

 

Can you put me down for 15 of "any I might have forgotten"!? They might be useful these days... 😉

[John57sharp]

23 hours ago, John57sharp said:

Can anybody advise whether the recently introduced gearbox block works with the 08 chassis  3-681 which i have not had much luck with?

 

i thought I had seen some discussion about it but cannot seem to find it now.

 

Thanks in advance

John

Pondering this further I’m guessing that the 30T worm could be employed to just turn the centre axle on the 08 but couldn’t have the 14 tooth spur gear nex to it any more, so I think its a no really?

 

John

[Chris Higgs]

8 hours ago, John57sharp said:

Pondering this further I’m guessing that the 30T worm could be employed to just turn the centre axle on the 08 but couldn’t have the 14 tooth spur gear nex to it any more, so I think its a no really?

 

John

 

You would need to power the rear axle, I think that is the only way to get the motor into the bonnet. You will only have a 30:1 gear ratio, the chassis as designed gives you 50:1. Perhaps not such an issue these days with low-revving motors. And you need to work out if the motor will fit, the chassis design lifts it high up, whereas it will be lower with the gearbox. Probably time to play with some CAD to see how it would look.

 

Your choice of motor is the key here.

 

Chris

Edited September 2, 2022 by Chris Higgs

[John57sharp]

On 02/09/2022 at 20:47, Chris Higgs said:

 

You would need to power the rear axle, I think that is the only way to get the motor into the bonnet. You will only have a 30:1 gear ratio, the chassis as designed gives you 50:1. Perhaps not such an issue these days with low-revving motors. And you need to work out if the motor will fit, the chassis design lifts it high up, whereas it will be lower with the gearbox. Probably time to play with some CAD to see how it would look.

 

Your choice of motor is the key here.

 

Chris

Yes thanks Chris, that agrees with my thinking, sometimes just posting on here helps to focus the mind…. I think I’ll stick to chassis design and get that to work for me. 

 

cheers

John

[Izzy]

Having now made two 08 chassis, one with the three stage 49-1 gearing and the other the simpler two stage 38-1 (both driven off the rear axle), I have to say while there is hardly any noticeable difference in running between them, probably due to using Zimo's + stay-alives as much as anything else, I'm not sure I'd want to go as low as 30-1, and especially if the loco was DC.

 

Bob

[John57sharp]

12 hours ago, Izzy said:

Having now made two 08 chassis, one with the three stage 49-1 gearing and the other the simpler two stage 38-1 (both driven off the rear axle), I have to say while there is hardly any noticeable difference in running between them, probably due to using Zimo's + stay-alives as much as anything else, I'm not sure I'd want to go as low as 30-1, and especially if the loco was DC.

 

Bob

Thank you Bob, I’m going continue with the three stage gearing and get that working.

 

cheers

John

[chrisveitch]

On 29/08/2022 at 19:56, Nig H said:

I heard today that Photo Etch Consultants will cease trading at the end of this week. They sent out an email to that affect to their customers last week, though I didn't get a copy. I and other PEC users are waiting for more information from the company concerning acquiring our photo tools. Getting the tools may be of limited value as other etchers may not be able to use them anyway. My PEC tools will be too big for PPD sheets, so I would need to set up a new tool for a given item, and this could require significant re-arranging of parts on an etch to get everything into a narrower fret.

 

Nigel Hunt

 

I had some of my tooling with them and have since been in touch with the liquidators since I was not (along with many other customers, apparently) informed of the closure by PEC Ltd and only came across the news a couple of days ago. The process is being handled by Matthew Hill from the Birmingham office of PKF Smith Cooper who can be contacted on 0121 236 6789. I spoke to Matthew today and he suggested that I should pass on his details to anyone who has tooling with them and wishes to arrange to retrieve it. What remains in the company's premises apparently seems to be well marked and documented and it didn't take Matthew long to find my tooling amongst the remaining material. The current date for final clearance of the premises and disposal of what remains seems to be the beginning of November. 

[chrisveitch]

On 22/09/2022 at 11:51, chrisveitch said:

 

I had some of my tooling with them and have since been in touch with the liquidators since I was not (along with many other customers, apparently) informed of the closure by PEC Ltd and only came across the news a couple of days ago. The process is being handled by Matthew Hill from the Birmingham office of PKF Smith Cooper who can be contacted on 0121 236 6789. I spoke to Matthew today and he suggested that I should pass on his details to anyone who has tooling with them and wishes to arrange to retrieve it. What remains in the company's premises apparently seems to be well marked and documented and it didn't take Matthew long to find my tooling amongst the remaining material. The current date for final clearance of the premises and disposal of what remains seems to be the beginning of November. 

Update - I retrieved my tooling yesterday. The liquidator is attempting to write to anyone who still has tooling with them, but they think there are about 350 customers to inform and obviously they've no guarantee that contact addresses etc. are up to date. The last date for retrieval of anything from the factory will probably be 1st November, after which the contents will be disposed of and the premises handed back to the landlord. 

[Nig H]

Hello,

 

Here is a copy of a notice that will be appearing in the next Newsletter.

 

"Members Products

I will soon be releasing the following kits:

1. LMS 2P 4-4-0. Similar to the Midland 483 class but with detail differences. Price £30.

2. Midland Railway Johnson-style 3,500 gallon tender (rivetted version). Many ex Midland 4F 0-6-0s ran with these tenders so offer an alternative to the Fowler version included with the Mike Raithby 4F etc. Price £20.

3. Fowler 3,500 gallon tender. I have decided to provide this kit as the Mike Raithby etches for the 4F and 8F are no longer available, the etchers having lost the tooling. This style of tender ran with a number of LMS locomotives including the 4F, 2P 4-4-0, Patriots, Jubilees and 8Fs. Price £20.

I will also have available parts needed to convert my Midland Railway Johnson 3,250 gal tender to the original style with lower front bulkhead and full length coal rails. Price £2.

 

Please contact me if you need more information or are interested in buying any of them.

 

Photo Etch Consultants Ltd.

Many of you may have heard that the etchers, Photo Etch Consultants, have ceased trading. I and several other members used this company to produce many of our etched kits. Fortunately, much of the photo tooling, including my own, was rescued by Bob Jones and Chris Higgs and returned to the owners. However, finding another company that can use the photo tools is another matter. My photo tools are too wide to fit a standard sheet used by PPD Ltd, my other preferred etcher. So to produce more of my kits I would need to arrange new artwork with either fewer of the existing drawings on a PPD sheet, or parts on the existing drawings re-arranged to create a narrower but deeper fret that would use space on the PPD sheet more economically. Either of these alternatives is costly in terms of time and the expense of creating a new photo tool.

Given the above and that sales of my existing kits are low once the initial rush following their release is over, I am considering not re-stocking most products once existing stocks have run out."

 

The new kits arrived today. I just need to produce instructions for them.

 

Nigel Hunt

 

[Chris Higgs]

5 hours ago, Nig H said:

Hello,

 

Here is a copy of a notice that will be appearing in the next Newsletter.

 

"Members Products

I will soon be releasing the following kits:

1. LMS 2P 4-4-0. Similar to the Midland 483 class but with detail differences. Price £30.

2. Midland Railway Johnson-style 3,500 gallon tender (rivetted version). Many ex Midland 4F 0-6-0s ran with these tenders so offer an alternative to the Fowler version included with the Mike Raithby 4F etc. Price £20.

3. Fowler 3,500 gallon tender. I have decided to provide this kit as the Mike Raithby etches for the 4F and 8F are no longer available, the etchers having lost the tooling. This style of tender ran with a number of LMS locomotives including the 4F, 2P 4-4-0, Patriots, Jubilees and 8Fs. Price £20.

I will also have available parts needed to convert my Midland Railway Johnson 3,250 gal tender to the original style with lower front bulkhead and full length coal rails. Price £2.

 

Please contact me if you need more information or are interested in buying any of them.

 

Photo Etch Consultants Ltd.

Many of you may have heard that the etchers, Photo Etch Consultants, have ceased trading. I and several other members used this company to produce many of our etched kits. Fortunately, much of the photo tooling, including my own, was rescued by Bob Jones and Chris Higgs and returned to the owners. However, finding another company that can use the photo tools is another matter. My photo tools are too wide to fit a standard sheet used by PPD Ltd, my other preferred etcher. So to produce more of my kits I would need to arrange new artwork with either fewer of the existing drawings on a PPD sheet, or parts on the existing drawings re-arranged to create a narrower but deeper fret that would use space on the PPD sheet more economically. Either of these alternatives is costly in terms of time and the expense of creating a new photo tool.

Given the above and that sales of my existing kits are low once the initial rush following their release is over, I am considering not re-stocking most products once existing stocks have run out."

 

The new kits arrived today. I just need to produce instructions for them.

 

Nigel Hunt

 

 

Just to say, I am currently liaising with Grainge and Hodder (the other etchers in the model railway business) to use existing ex-PEC photo tools. Hopefully by next week I will see whether this has been successful.

 

Chris

 

[Chris Higgs]

On 12/10/2022 at 21:12, Chris Higgs said:

 

Just to say, I am currently liaising with Grainge and Hodder (the other etchers in the model railway business) to use existing ex-PEC photo tools. Hopefully by next week I will see whether this has been successful.

 

Chris

 

 

Results from Grainge and Hodder were successful. Bob Jones is also getting PPD to produce etches from some of his ex-PEC photo tools.

 

What this means is that we will not have to produce new tools for some existing Association items previously sourced from PEC.

 

Chris

[Sithlord75]

That's good news Chris.  Does this mean the previous post about some of your stuff being produced in limited numbers is now back on?  

 

Cheers

Kevin

 

[Chris Higgs]

9 hours ago, Sithlord75 said:

That's good news Chris.  Does this mean the previous post about some of your stuff being produced in limited numbers is now back on?  

 

Cheers

Kevin

 

 

In due course. For now, I am concentrating on getting some new artwork done for certain previous items I have agreed with Tony to get back into the Association range on a permanent basis. One is already with the shop but I will leave him to announce that.

 

Chris

[Yorkshire Square]

10 hours ago, Chris Higgs said:

 

In due course. For now, I am concentrating on getting some new artwork done for certain previous items I have agreed with Tony to get back into the Association range on a permanent basis. One is already with the shop but I will leave him to announce that.

 

Chris

 

They're in shop 2 now. Visit the products page on the Association website.

[65179]

On 26/10/2022 at 10:42, Chris Higgs said:

 

In due course. For now, I am concentrating on getting some new artwork done for certain previous items I have agreed with Tony to get back into the Association range on a permanent basis. One is already with the shop but I will leave him to announce that.

 

Chris

 

Thanks for facilitating reintroduction of the 1:148 LMS fitted chassis Chris. They are really useful along with the Peco replacement chassis for all sorts of stuff:

 

 

 

 

Simon

[Matt.S.]

Morning all,

 

I note that most wheels are of the Mk5 design but only crankpins for mk6 are stocked - is there a plan to restock to help use up the remaining Mk5 wheels?

[65179]

Hi Matt, Use 3-126 crankpins instead. These insert from the back. Add a washer (from your etch or use 3-129) over the crankpin before adding your coupling rods to space the rod away from the wheel face.

 

Before final fitting , check that the rear of each crankpin doesn't catch on the frames.

 

Simon

[Nig H]

I have been discussing with Alan Cox of Etched Pixels what will happen to his range of mainly coach-related accessories. The end result has been that the range is being divided up between the Association and P & D Marsh. The latter have been granted permission to use the EP white metal moulds they possess to sell castings in their own right, if they so wish. The Association has received some parts (plastic and white metal) and will sell these in its shop. Some of these will be listed soon. Some parts have been sent to the NGS, and more will be offered to them soon.

 

Details of EP etched parts are to be sent to me soon, and I and Tony Simms will decide what we want to do with them. The Association also has the moulds for various plastic roofs and plans to sell them via its Shop.

 

So, some of the range will end up with the Association,  some with P& D Marsh, and some with the NGS. 

 

Nigel Hunt

 

Product Development Officer

[Chris Higgs]

13 hours ago, Nig H said:

I have been discussing with Alan Cox of Etched Pixels what will happen to his range of mainly coach-related accessories. The end result has been that the range is being divided up between the Association and P & D Marsh. The latter have been granted permission to use the EP white metal moulds they possess to sell castings in their own right, if they so wish. The Association has received some parts (plastic and white metal) and will sell these in its shop. Some of these will be listed soon. Some parts have been sent to the NGS, and more will be offered to them soon.

 

Details of EP etched parts are to be sent to me soon, and I and Tony Simms will decide what we want to do with them. The Association also has the moulds for various plastic roofs and plans to sell them via its Shop.

 

So, some of the range will end up with the Association,  some with P& D Marsh, and some with the NGS. 

 

Nigel Hunt

 

Product Development Officer

 

So by the EP white metal moulds is meant the former Ultima items?  If the moulds are still in good conditions those are excellent quality. I do hope P&D Marsh take up the option to produce them. 

 

Very good news that the plastic roofs will be made available again.

 

Chris

 

[Nig H]

8 hours ago, Chris Higgs said:

 

So by the EP white metal moulds is meant the former Ultima items?  If the moulds are still in good conditions those are excellent quality. I do hope P&D Marsh take up the option to produce them. 

 

Very good news that the plastic roofs will be made available again.

 

Chris

 

Yes, Etched Pixels  (EP) = Ultima. It might be a good idea for people to send enquiries about the EP castings to Paul Andrews at P & D Marsh. He has agreed to consider any requests for these castings. The plastic roof moulds are being modified slightly to overcome some technical difficulties in using them. This work will be undertaken as soon as possible, but other work has a higher priority at the moment.

 

Nigel Hunt