The Nth Degree

Another more basic video with one of the many horn options.

DCC sound testing video. This uses the latest body mouldings on an older chassis Nikki has been playing with. We've got a few minor alterations to make on the sound baffle, but we're almost there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BSXCSWYu5I&t

I'm afraid not. There's not enough profit in the models to pass on to retailers for their margin so they are all being sold direct. I'm talking to retailers in other countries (Australia, Germany, Canada) about stocking our models to spread distribution costs.

No prices have been raised. You are comparing the funder price (with a discount) to the standard retail price. I wouldn't ever raise prices by choice, although the Rustons have gone up by about £20 because it's been languishing so long in the factory all the component prices have gone up. After the 22 is released I can start to stockpile volatile components to lock in prices better, just in case there's another Ruston episode. Cheers, Steve

Little Loco Company will not be taking on any more commissions. We are sticking to our fully researched production plan. We will also not be announcing any more models in development until after EP1 stage either. The whole Class 50 debacle has been nothing but a long chain of painful lessons, but we learn quickly! Nothing larger than a Type 2 will be produced by us for quite a while yet.

We conducted our final full test build of the moulded parts today and even managed to fix to a running chassis to test running. Approval has now been given to produce the main body components. We have a small teak to make in the gearbox and chassis, so we're submitting a test report to the factory tomorrow for the die-cast parts. All machined parts – axles, wheels, bushes, etc have also been approved today. It's definitely getting closer.

Yes, these among other parts were not to spec, but all bar the cab interior fascia panel are now approved, with only the panel to amend of all the injection moulded parts. The die-cast parts (chassis, motor/gearbox mount, buffer assembly) are still to be seen and approved. Machined parts, like wheels, axles and handrails are all approved, as are the electronics suite. Theoretically I could have parts ready for assembly in 6 weeks, but theory is nothing next to practice!

You're not far off. I went to a funeral that day and was more than a little peeved on several levels. But, back on topic, the model looks almost there. Good effort.

After a reasonably successful factory visit yesterday I have now approved all but two of the injection parts for the Rustons. The only two outstanding are the cab interior fascia panels, and only because the injector pins were placed on the visible side (schoolboy error on their side). Once these amends are made I can give the go-ahead for production. The only remaining parts left to approve are the chassis and buffer assembly. At least with the upper superstructure in production at least some assembly can start.

Our model will be the same price, give or take, and provide a LOT more for your money. DCC as standard, capacitor bank as standard, helical reduction gearbox and metal bogie gearing, solid steel wheels, virtually friction-free pick-ups. It's so efficient it can roll down a slope under its own weight – double-heading has never been easier. Sound and smoke optional, but full support built in and are only £100 extra each. Designed, produced and assembled in the UK and supports UK charities. They don't come close to any of this. But it's your money. We asked several retailers, including this one, if they wanted to support our project with limited or special editions. All but one declined. I guess we can't offer the same level of margin that they do, but that's because we give a lot of our profit away to ensure our unique history is still accessible for our children's children. Denmark couldn't care less.

Several mentions of the Class 50 have been made in this thread, the most pertinent of which is above, two pages back. We have a direct competitor for this model so we are keeping news of its development to an absolute minimal level (subsequent models will have no public announcements at all). Our competitor – a much larger company than ours – could quite easily out-compete us on several levels, if they chose to do so. It's doubtful that they would, but it is possible. This venture is a risky one for both companies, so I imagine they are going to be just as cagey as us. With a few hundred reservations already in place we hope to have the upper hand when it comes to placing hard orders. Can I ask if you are registered as a funder or do you wish to be a retail customer? Funders will always be first to know of any news, and the next planned news item will be a call for funding to commence. It's always best to email if you have any specific questions about a current or development product. I can't be nearly as open on a public forum as I can be in an email. Thanks, Steve sales@littleloco.co.uk

If you want to jump in you have about 10 days, but you'll have to stump up both the first and second instalments together I'm afraid. This amounts to £425, with the third instalment due in a few months when we're closer to delivery and will depend on the specification you choose. If you're interested send an email to class22@littleloco.co.uk and I'll send you all the details. There are a few spots still open of the original 300 restricted funder models.

We recently commissioned high resolution 3D prints of the bodysides and roof using CAM generated to create the tooling. Remembering that CAD is something that you'd 'like' to produce and CAM is something that you 'will' produce is very important. Funders have had the benefit of seeing this for a couple weeks already, and those attending ALSRM in Reading last weekend would have also seen it. The best machine in Europe is currently residing in Germany, so we had to wait for it to return, and as there was a delay of a day or two, they gave use the 'bonus' of a gloss varnish. Unfortunately this 'bonus' is detrimental to showing the fine detail we've incorporated. Regardless, you can see beyond the varnish that we have managed to capture actual size rivets, scale roof treadplates, and even the bolts on the hinges. To achieve this we have used every piece of modern tooling technology available to us. CNC machining and EDM can only take you so far, so our tooling surfaces have been laser etched too! There was no other way to capture this fine detail. I'll leave you with the pictures, but as the varnish was so thick the roof didn't seat properly in the precision fixings we've designed, so please bear that in mind.

Hello Dan, the extension was only to allow for the late appearing magazine ads and any interest gained from those, although I did offer that extension equally to anyone who had not yet paid. The 30 May payment deadline is still active but, as I said in the email, I can extend it a little if required. There is a huge payment chunk due in the first week of June to pay for bogie tooling and machining. Kind regards, Steve

But that still won't give you absolute guarantees about the project. If a third party is holding the funds, how are they going to be used for the project if the project relies and depends upon them? At one point they will have to be released with no tangible product in anyone's hand. If an organisation were to underwrite the process that would be a different matter, but they would then be acting as an investor or lender. Funding by parties who have a vested interest in its success is a good way for under-resourced organisations to get access to cheap cash. There has to be a clear business plan with defined milestones and an easy way for funders to communicate with the project manager, and for the project manager to communicate with the funders on a regular basis. If crowdfunding is not the answer, then easy access to cheap funds must be provided by someone or something. At the moment there is a large hole in funding provider's portfolios of products, and it happens to be exactly at the level where small manufacturers need it.

Financing and funding is a very interesting issue at the moment, and I look forward to reading the article in BRM. It's an odd fact that there are quite a few funding specialists that have cropped up in the last 5 years – many of which use private equity (or crowdfunding at our common level) to finance their funding operations. The reward for funders can be many: from an ownership stake in the invested company to a simple discount in the product it provides. Bank loans are very restricted in the level of finance they offer; often small sums of less than £100k (apologies for that offensive word 'small' when quoting £100k!), while funding specialists offer sums of £1 million plus. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground at all. The problem for many small manufacturers is that £100k is often not enough and £1 million is way too much. So where to turn? Organised crowdfunding providers are great at marketing your idea to a wide audience, which generally means that to be a success it is far more likely if your idea appeals to that same wider market, especially if larger sums are required. The ~10% fee of these organisations can also be problematic if not budgeted for, or your budget is very narrow. For a niche product in a niche sector it is far more efficient to pitch yourself directly at the audience you are targeting, but how you do that is critical for the success of your proposal. I'll leave issues on marketing, communication and trust to others, as this is much more personal in the way it affects you as a consumer.

I've let the web elves know that logged in customers cannot see their orders and they are taking a look at it. I've forwarded all emails relating to this issue to them so they are aware. I and they can see all the orders through the admin panel so we are a little lost! Every time they work on the ordering system it sends out an automated email and turning it off doesn't seem to be an option. Rest assured though, all pre-orders are on the system, they're just going through how you can see them too. Cheers, Steve

Yes, I will try to combine a reminder towards the end of May with an update of some kind.

A note to Class 22 funders: you should have received an email late last night with an exclusive update. If you're a funder and you have not received an email please check your spam folder before letting me know you didn't receive it. Please keep the update to yourselves until after the ALSRM show on 12th May.

A brief reminder that the Class 22 funding offer closes tonight at midnight. You may remember this opening offer was extended to April 30th as a result of delayed magazine advertising, but that extension will end tonight. The campaign has gone very well. A couple of you have chosen to purchase four models! A couple more have three on order, and quite a few have two, so it appears this model was eagerly anticipated. By far the most popular choice is the 'as-built' all green with disc headcodes with about one third of the orders placed so far. 'Lister' limited edition was also very popular and may have sold out of the 50 model allocation by the end of tonight. Less than one third of the orders are for blue liveries, which is quite surprising. I know I keep saying this, but thank you for your support! Steve

Thank you, Justin. I'm finding it a very interesting side project to LLCs main product line. It presents a lot of challenges, but they are great fun to solve. The test track will be ready soon so testing of bogies can start in earnest. These will be simple acrylic frames just to test how different prototypical wheelbases can manage on a new standard like this. We'll gradually tighten the radius and type of turnout until we get a failure on one or all of the bogie lengths, and then we'll have our limit. KitPart Ltd (our fledgling manufacturing arm) has a CNC mill to add to its injection moulding machine, and the plan is to manufacture and assemble these models ourselves, entirely in-house. It's a couple years off at the moment, but I'm quite excited about the prospect. It would be good to bring in some manufacturing partners to ease the burden a bit. Having proved the concept, a track manufacturer would be a big help, along with some manufacturers of rolling stock and infrastructure. I have spoken to a bespoke kit manufacturer of buildings who is very keen on the project. They produce some very innovative designs, so if anyone is interested please visit them here: www.postcardmodels.co.uk and tell them Little Loco Company sent you.

The web elves have informed me that all Ruston and C22 orders are now back online with the new ordering system fully deployed. I just had a brief look and I can see 15 pages of Ruston orders, which looks to be correct at casual glance, but I'll check fully over the weekend. If you'd like to check yourselves by logging in and let me know of any errors. Also, as the old system didn't have enough categories to include S7 as a build option on the Ruston, if you have previously specified this please let me know so I can add it. Likewise with any special delivery and payment options preferred. I had made online notes on your orders, but by upgrading these notes have disappeared. One or two elves have spent some time bent over my knee... Being my birthday week, responses to emails may be slightly delayed and covered in cake crumbs. Have a good weekend all.

Absolutely. The two worst things you can have on a production line are paint and glue. You have to find additional space for drying storage and possibly positioning and fixing jigs, plus controlling the amount of paint or glue from worker to worker is incredibly difficult. I've heard of many models being returned for glue marks (luckily not on the 15), so we've almost designed that out on the 22 – total glue used is approx 3 drops, maybe 4. Everything else is tab-located and screwed, or uses friction fits in non-stress areas.

We've been looking at kit-based models for a few months now for several different products. For example, the 04 shunter has two different chassis designs, several cab and bonnet configurations and three different wheel sizes, and all the time being classified as an '04'. Producing this a an RTR model would cost a fortune, unless you picked one of those versions and ran with it, like Bachmann/San Cheng did, but that's not what LLC is; if we're going to make a 04 we're going to make all of them. This is an ideal model to be produced as a kit or CKD product, even if to reduce assembly and inventory costs. I'm afraid the smoke unit used in the 22 is too big for the 15. The 22 was designed for it. As it's quite big – and very simple – we are looking at producing our own unit, but I'm not sure yet how much smaller we can make it and still retain the same tank capacity. Don't write it off just yet though, we are trying to be creative about this.

KitPart Ltd is the company Nikki and I created to explore and carry out UK production of injection moulded parts and models. We now have an injection moulding machine and a CNC mill to create the tooling with. Just have to learn how to use it...