RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted November 25, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 25, 2011 I keep hearing and reading that the market is small. I guess I was wondering, Coachman, why the market was so small and whether some sort of shake up might make more people enter it. The demographics are that the population is aging so it seems logical that a lot of folk might make the move - if the price is right (that same demographic is on a pension or soon will be). I got to thinking that Dapol entering the market might be the sort of shake up that's needed although their price point for the new wagons is no different from the competition. It's loco prices that I think really put people off (well it puts me off) so a company like Dapol with their vast experience ought to be able to design a reasonable one at a reasonable price. They've announced that they are doing one - we'll just have to see. John I think the market is smaller than 4mm for some very simple reasons the most important of which is size and the amount of room a 7mm layout can consume. Oddly tho' that is probably an outdated factor because despite this country's small houses and sheds there is a contemporary fashion for things like small shunting layouts instead of large railway empires - but 7mm still takes up nearly twice as much space as 4mm. Thus the developed market is smaller although the developing market is perhaps redressing the balance a little but that still faces another problem - cost. Bigger trains and bigger track cost more because they are bigger - they consume more material and need bigger moulds and so on. And I reckon that demographics are more likely to work in favour of 0 gauge as older folk suffer deteriorating eyesight and - as long as they're those retiring in the present generation - tend to have quite good pension provision in what i would think is a pretty good percentage of the model railway market. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 I keep hearing and reading that the market is small. I guess I was wondering, Coachman, why the market was so small Not small, but smaller than 4mm. I don't know why things are as they are. Maybe now is the right time to introduce British outline plastic RTR into 7mm. I personally think it is a canny move....... The repercussions will be interesting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Full marks Stationmaster and Coachman - that's where I was going. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted November 26, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 26, 2011 Maybe now is the right time to introduce British outline plastic RTR into 7mm. Hi Larry, Where we lead others follow. Shame about the 20-year delay. Produced from 1992 to 1998: Our original web site from 1998 is still online: http://www.templot.c.../go_hunslet.htm Instruction sheets for the kit version: http://www.templot.com/martweb/kitins.htm regards, Martin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Martin Wynn : Where we lead others follow. Shame about the 20-year delay. I honestly didnt know about this loco. Very nice too. Out of interest, at what price point do you consider small steam-outline loco like this should go out at today? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmrspaul Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 ... but still steam, which wouldn't be much use for what I'd like to model. I'd rather a small industrial diesel shunter of some kind; of course there are many kits available but many of us just don't have the skill to do that otherwise we already would have a layout. Skytrex do an 02 http://www.ogauge.co.uk/571/class-02-shunter/ I don't know if it is anything like the original, nor how it runs. Paul Bartlett Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmrspaul Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Hi Larry, Where we lead others follow. Shame about the 20-year delay. Produced from 1992 to 1998: Our original web site from 1998 is still online: http://www.templot.c.../go_hunslet.htm Instruction sheets for the kit version: http://www.templot.c...tweb/kitins.htm regards, Martin. Unfortunately the Achilles heel of this was the plastic connecting rod which bend and disable the loco. I suspect many are laid up, as is mine. Paul Bartlett Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 If they are only laid up because of the plastic connecting rod, surely someone can come up with an etched nickel silver replacement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 I think the market is there already, Skytrex have their 6-pinter locomotives, and a range of wagons that range from good to 'not very'. Interestingly those prices aren't far removed from the 'quality' (HJ/LH) end of the market. Heljan with the diesels and Lionheart have shown that quality will sell at a reasonable price '£500' ish, therefore if a manufacturer gets near or meets the HJ/LH quality at that price point or ideally cheaper with a common-or-garden prototype small loco they'll do well. There will be a number of current 4mm modellers accustomed to contemporary 4mm RTR product detail and quality who would consider 7mm modelling if the releases met those standards at a reasonable price, I'm one of them. Choose a prototype with popularity, longevity, a reasonable number of liveries, and detail/paint quality equivalent to contemporary mainstream RTR 4mm locos and stock, and the 7mm RTR market whilst smaller, is there for the taking. There obviously is a market for RTR 0 from the way the Skytrex range keeps increasing despite the poor quality of much of their stuff. I have built quite a few wagon and coach kits mainly because of the lack of good quality RTR at a reasonable price. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ngtrains.com Posted November 27, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 27, 2011 If they are only laid up because of the plastic connecting rod, surely someone can come up with an etched nickel silver replacement. John Taylor does profile milled replacement rods for the kit. Martyn, Care to tells us why it was withdrawn? Do the moulds still exist? Just interested to know. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fay Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Does any one know when dapols 2012 catalogue will be released? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-CRS Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Dapol catalogue should be out in early January. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliepetty Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Lets hope they don't start copying the 7mm Parkside Range, like others did with there 4mm range. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DapolDave Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Hi Charlie, I'm afraid that our business plan will be like any other company, and that is to fundamentally produce an established range of A particular gauge of models. This WILL include popular models that have been made already as kits by others. I don't think this can ever be helped and is a risk that will always be run by the smaller industries. It's never nice I know, but in reality it will always happen, much like duplication among manufacturers. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I know you can't say yay or nay, but some of your six wheeled milk tankers scaled up to 7mm would be quite handy for something I have in mind... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 This is Chris Klein from Ixion. Just to pick up on a couple of points. We have decided to replace the lined blue version of the Hudswell Clarke with a plain black version as we think this will be more popular. In response to the comment about the higher cost of O Gauge RTR v 4mm scale, the answer is very simple. The cost of tooling has to be amortised over a much smaller production run reflecting the smaller size of the O Gauge market. That said, the Hudswell Clarke is available from some retailers for little more than the price of a new DCC sound-fitted OO steam locomotive and we hope that it will persuade more people to start modelling in the larger scale. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fay Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I noticed on the Tower models site the full list of wagons and there will be THREE O gauge locos in this years catalogue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted February 16, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 16, 2012 or three variants of one general class of locomotive ....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike Bellamy Posted February 16, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 16, 2012 I noticed on the Tower models site the full list of wagons and there will be THREE O gauge locos in this years catalogue. Dave did hint at this way back in November in post #50 - there was one loco ready and he was working on two more that might make this year's catalogue. Tower have altered their web site as there was more there a few weeks ago including something not officially announced which has been removed - if you search through the Dapol 2012 Catalogue topic you might find it Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve fay Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Ive got a tower Catalogue and I havent even looked at it untill now. Very Interesting 2 out of 3 any way for me! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Dava Posted March 4, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 4, 2012 I'm looking forward to my Ixion Hudswell Clarke saddle arriving having see the test versions For Dapol in Gauge 0, I predict a Southern Terrier and GWR 1400 042T as they did these in N gauge and they will appeal to the market, possibly with an 03 or 04 diesel. I wait to be proved wrong! Just finished lettering & weathering the Sentinel Y3 (Walworth Models kit) I've been building since Dec 2009 - slow progress! Photo to follow... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I have just had a look at the pictures of the wagons on the Dapol site. A friend mentioned that the brake-shoes seemed quite a long way from the wheels and I now see what he means. I also noticed that, although they are correctly modelled with independent brakes (with double brake-hangers each side) they have both sides incorrectly connected together! Apart from these minor niggles they look pretty good and, hopefully, the production models will have had these inaccuracies corrected. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DL 36 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Having just started out in O gauge I have been really looking forward to these but it looks like aside from the planking they don't have internal detail (bolt heads, strapping, same colour as outside planks etc) of course this wouldn't matter if you put a load in them but then that negates the opening doors. I think the lionheart ones look considerably better at this stage although they don't offer the 5 or 8 plank as Dapol do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmrspaul Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Having just started out in O gauge I have been really looking forward to these but it looks like aside from the planking they don't have internal detail (bolt heads, strapping, same colour as outside planks etc) of course this wouldn't matter if you put a load in them but then that negates the opening doors. I think the lionheart ones look considerably better at this stage although they don't offer the 5 or 8 plank as Dapol do. The photographs are here https://picasaweb.google.com/115347471280043463004/Gallery1# I agree with you about the lack of internal detail. There are various comments being made about the external steelwork as well on http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/7mm/ I will leave them to make detailed comment, but the end door doesn't appear to have any way of being hinged from the top - there were different ways of doing this. What I do specialise in is BR liveries, and these are wrong on the two examples. The ex LMS 5 plank has very large numbers - on BR these should have a prefix letter (M in this case) 3 1/2 in high and numbers of 3 inches. The tare should only be 2 inches. More difficult is that an open wagon on a wooden frame should have an unpainted body - just simply the old paint fading away - with the steelwork picked out in grey. https://picasaweb.google.com/115347471280043463004/Gallery1#5717555483510796930 More serious is the P numbered ex Private Trader. The comments above hold for this, but also the lettering is transposed with number and tonnage on the right and tare on the left - Wrong! Also, instead of the position of the end door being indicated with the diagonal at that end being painted white, there is a vertical strip down the side at the door end and the door itself may be white (that is not so clear) https://picasaweb.google.com/115347471280043463004/Gallery1#5717555246189085906 I hope Dapol can make suitable alterations at this stage. [The idea of representing wood with deep grooving has been removed - thanks] Paul Bartlett Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Western Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 In all my excitement to place an order I forgot to ask. Will the new 08 be laser scanned for dimensional accuracy as per the other new Dapol models ? Regards Great Western. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.