DJM Dave

Hi everyone, At last some progress. I am told by the laser scanning guys that i should have a lot more from them this week, so please keep a look out. The new e-commerce part of my revamped web site should also be up and running later this week as well. This means i will be refunding all who have paid there deposit, and asking you to transfer your payment via Lloyds Click safe via a special link to take you to the non RRP priced APT page where you can re-submit your order, and / or change your requirements and pay your first payment. To do so you will need to input your order number and this will, to stop others trying to gain an advantage from purchasing this way. Your original order number (not your paypal number) will be checked against the database and our data base altered accordingly should there be any order changes from you. Thanks for bearing with me in this but i think this new system is for the best and the re-vamped web site is easier and more informative / easier to navigate. I'll be adding more content to it over the coming weeks. Cheers Dave

Hi everyone, I was sent this last week and in all the 'excitement' forgot to post it. Basically it shows the old Shark body against the slightly re-tooled shark body. Of note are the finer panel lines, the chimney and heat plate and the lack of any handrails (as all handrails will now be separately applied items) Component production has started and i am awaiting final deco's before signing off on full production which should happen any day now. Cheers Dave

Hi mate, agreed, the problem comes as a cost against reward excercise. a 3rd / 4th bogie (if you take into account with and without coupler box) will just cost so much more than i am comfortable i have orders / payments for. cheers Dave

Hi Vacuum, Totally correct , and here is the laser scan to show the parts mentioned in the last 2 mails. Fish belly to the reverser duly added, and speedo position being changed in a few minutes. Overlaying the cab front roof profile to drawings, it seems to match up properly now, obviously the laser scan was of the 'cut down' king cab so would have been different anyway. Cheers Dave

Oh of course it is, but i want my first N gauge loco release to have good reviews and for people to take notice. So do it as right as possible, first time. The Factory offered me a free (apart from a free to put my name on it) box for the loco, sort of American and Continental type, with a separate lid that has lugs on the side to hold it to the base. Free'ish is always good, but with me, even the box has to 'say something' when you look at it, and hold it. it must exude a presence, not look like so many before it, which tend to look a tad naff. Cheers Dave

Hi everyone, I'm pleased to say that the cad/cam for the GWR version of the King is almost completed, and i hope to sign off on it over the next day or 2. Just checking a few things, and refining where possible. I've spotted a couple of minor niggles that still need 'playing with' but here it is. changes you will notice include, the coupling box being pushed back (there will still be a spare bogie frame without coupling box in the packaging, the detail above the bogie and 'through' the frames is better, cab roof, and firebox slope changes. I'd still like the whistle better but i think it may be one of those compromises that's needed. Anyway, if you spot anything at all that's not right, please let me know, even though i may have spotted it already, its better to have more than 1 pair of eyes on this. Cheers Dave

Hi Peter, quick'ish story, last year i imported product from China and had to pay £23,000 in import duty. Fair enough, it was expected and i paid immediately. i am allowed to claim back duty each quarter and as the quarter was up, i was in the fortunate position to claim immediately. However, i was questioned about this £23k claim (and before anyone says anything, yes there were other claims but not above 3k in the quarter). So Believe it or not, i was asked to prove i'd paid the £23k i was claiming. Now for those of you that dont know this, but HMRC, (and i'm simplifying this here) are an animal of many heads........ and as such couldnt just ask 1 department involved if i'd paid the bill in the first place. no, not even pick up the chuffing phone. Oh no, i sent them a copy of my payment certificate (you have to keep these forever) as proof as apparently its a document that HMRC accept as fact you've paid etc. However, this was not good enough, and i spent 5 months jumping through hoop after hoop trying to prove i'd paid, proving it, then being re-asked, then asked what the product was, who was it for, why was i importing into the UK, where's my proof of payment (yes again and again) then finally after 5 and a half months of almost continuous back and forth, and well into the next quarter and the one after that, they deined to accept their own paperwork proving i'd paid them, and begrudgingly (and i mean that word) paid me back. no apologies, no interest on my £23k, nothing. I did write to them to ask for an explanation, but got none. It was almost as though there was a guiding hand just out to mess me about I put this to show just how daft things can be with some people, even if you follow the rules, and not to justify my recent mess ups.

Hi mate, forgive me if i dont wash that particular item in public. and yes she was, but it was my fault for not supplying her with this info. like i said, my fault.

Quote: I've no doubt anyone investing in this has had an elevated heart rate this morning Me too Bob, Me too.

Just to push this further on, and not get off thread totally, i've just spoken to the accountant (yes on a Saturday) and the info required by HMRC will be filed today, possibly by mid afternoon, so i expect that depending on how their system works it will show the submission today (maybe automatically) or Monday afternoon at the latest when a human being looks at the submission. No doubt the 'usual suspects' will not post that "all is now well" but i will once i know. cheers Dave

Just as an addition, i have just received the filing as a hard copy via the post. no reason given, but as explained above i'd think it would be for the late filing than anything else. Although i do so wish they would elaborate more, 'just in case' i'm missing something.

Hi everyone, Due to yearly accounts going in late to Companys House for the period , end July 2017, they have put this as a sort of threat for me to get those done. The accounts should be formalised and back in shape with C.H. over this weekend. It will be twice ive missed the dates in 2 years running, so this is really just a 'shot across the bow' for DJM to get its house in order. It has nothing to do with PayPal or DJM's finances, merely myself taking my eye off the ball. Hope this helps clarify things. cheers Dave

agreed, but you can still walk into any branch of lloyds and pay into an account of a third party.its just you dont get that security as paying online. sorry for the confusion. cheers Dave

i presume so, as it is , in theory, an integrated system.cheers Dave

just the one. cheers Dave

Hi mate, It will affect all payments from now on as i want a more user friendly interface for monies that you can use securely directly. the 92 deposits are ok, but for the king, and the balance 92 payments and any new loco's and stock, they will be through the new system. HTH Cheers Dave

Hi Colin, It's slightly complicated, but involved PayPal being suspicious of so much money going into my account, in quite large sums, and basically blocking the account for payments in and out except refunds. My business account was fine taking circa £50 to £150 at shows with the odd higher number thrown in, but it peaked their computers interest once those amounts went a lot higher. Having taken almost a month to get to speak to a lovely Irish lady who was very helpful, it transpired that no one in the 'chain' on previous mails and phone calls could get to the bottom of the situation. So their suspicions centred around possible money laundering etc. They will allow me to refund all those crowdfunded APT deposits, but not to actually use the monies in there. I have no idea how they will then restore my paypal business account, but hey ho, that's not something i need to bother about at this minute in time. If some drop out, and it's quite possible, then i'll cross that bridge, but i would hope that everyone can see what's happening regards progress and stick with it, as things should get quicker in the oncoming weeks. Hope this helps. cheers Dave

Hi everyone, As some of you may already know, i'm in the process of adding an e-commerce feature to my revamped web site. This will allow me to part orders/ orders / pre-orders and deposits directly using Lloyds Bank Click Safe, via secure payment tabs on the basket page, rather than the convoluted way it happens at the moment. This is just awaiting the 'sign off' by Lloyds, before i can go live. Once this happens, i will refund all paypal payments bar a few, that were used to go towards the laser scanning day, and ask you all to re-order using this new method. You will get a full invoice mailed to your e-mail address, once you input your details, and i would ask that you cross reference your re-order (if you get my meaning) with your original customer order number for me to fill in my spreadsheet on payments correctly and easily. Rest assured any pre-orders will be honoured at the relevant price, and if you decide you would like more of the models, please contact me directly and i'll sort out a separate invoice for you. It should all happen quite soon (fingers crossed here). I'll post on my website and here when its all live and kicking. cheers Dave

Not only that, but selling someones tools from under them is very problematic, China or not. for instance, if they are owned outright, and you have letters of ownership, the factory can do what it wants, but caviet emptor will rule for anyone that tries to make the models and import them into the UK. I would imagine that anyone who owned tools being used without their permission would get an easily granted injunction to stop third parties from gaining benefit of such owned tools, and as such the models would be 'tainted' as would the purchaser / importer. It's risky for the factory too, as if it got known they were selling their clients lawfully owned tools from under him, no matter what the reason, without their clients permission, word would get round in the community world wide and that factory would never get work again. Of course, proving the models came from your tooling would be quite simple as they mostly all have identifying marks known mostly to each company, so a large re-tool would be the only thing to do to try and make it a 'new' model, and hope to get away with it, but its a hell of a risk for said recipients of models from anothers tools. Mostly these occassions are based on brinkmanship and ransom, and who blinks first and opens the wallet or aquiesses.

Hi everyone, posted to the N gauge APT thread by mistake, here are the rough renders of the APT and the laser scan of one of the bogies. more work to do, but it's progressing. Cheers Dave

Hi everyone, I've started to get the OO gauge rough renders back from the laser scanning company, and please don't worry, there is still work to do to refine them, and they are not indicative of the final look of the scan. the bogie is a laser scan render and is included to show how the model should look. Apparently the bogies, because of the complex detail and shape are being modelled separately with more 'interesting' software. more when i have it. Cheers Dave

have reminded the Chinese this week that the low fat quote was still outstanding. will report back as and when i have anything through from them.

oh i could tell a story there, but i'll leave it for my memoirs ;-)

you can change any crowdfunded choice for another, and upgrade for sound if you need to. HTH cheers Dave

This removal of Thomas is even more interesting, especially as there is a Thomas film due for release this year, i believe.