Cleefy

DJH have 25% off selected OO, O & HO kits.

Currently on a flash sale for £21.91 with at the time of posting a little under 4.5 hours to go. Don't know how that compares to the price before, but I thought it was worth a punt as it looks like it'll be better than what I have and I don't do enough airbrushing to justify the cost of an Iwata etc. And it seems to have gone off sale again in the space of five minutes

What are you doing? This isn't a thread about bargains, this is a thread about the vagaries of Hereford Model Centre's stock control system. Did you know that if you order something from them, the stock level goes down by one? There's a wonderful cosmic balance that on the day Stephen Hawking dies, this whole new era of discovery dawns.

Can we have a running commentary on the stock level of those, too? Please? Pretty please?

Best hope they get in there before a mythical bird and its exacting enamels...

Given his recent editorial in MRJ, I wouldn't hold your breath...

The main reason I returned to this hobby is I dug out all my old Hornby/Lima/Mainline stuff from 30 years ago with the intention of sticking it on Ebay. After five or ten minutes' browsing it soon became apparent that even the boxed special edition stuff was worth both halves of sweet FA, so I figured I may as well do something with it and spent an evening coaxing those poor, misbegotten models of my youth back into life. Nostalgia - it's a dangerous thing

"A good paint finish" - buffer beams the colour of his wife's lipstick while the rest of the loco is the colour of his dog's. What horrors must await the unwary on the side of the loco he daren't show, I wonder?

Maybe it's something as simple as the placing of the thread in this part of the forum? RMWeb has separate sections for kit building, layout building and - if I dare mention the P word - photography et al that people can read/ignore as they wish. I'm wondering if having this thread here has lead to some thinking it's being promoted as some sort of gold-plated standard, although I realise that's absolutely not the intention. I'm also not suggesting that after more than two years and 160 pages the mods split it out into separate threads. What I like about this thread is that it features all of the interests and projects (well, the train set related ones at least) of an individual and as such forms a coherent whole. You may not be its owner, Tony, but you are definitely its glue! Aside from that, I'm as baffled as you are as to where the accusations of elitism come from. Your content, like the majority on this forum, comes across not as "look at what I've done" but as "look at what it's possible to do". Finally, as I'm aware of your aversion to forum aliases, I'll sign off with my real name although I suspect it might prompt a response of "Oh gawd, not another one!" Phil

You can always tell a dodgy kit on ebay because the seller will have thrown in a set of wheels or a Portescap motor to divert your attention away from its appalling quality. If anyone sees such a kit for sale, run like the proverbial and do not, under any circumstances, be tempted to bid on it!

Now I'm no expert as far as the catering trade goes, but...

Ummed and ahhed about getting the Caley, but having seen Sarahagain's informative post about motorising it, I went to get one today. Just one left in Lincoln WH Smiths now and it has a small but nonetheless noticeable mark on the footplate below the cab entrance. What the mark is I'm afraid I couldn't tell in the Stygian gloom! For the first time since the A4 and Coronation, my example appears to be free from QA issues, which is a relief because it's far too pretty to repaint. Although that can be said of pretty much anything that isn't in dreary old Brunswick green

There was only the one in Lincoln WH Smiths when I did a bit of late night shopping last night. Unless you're planning on repainting it, I would look elsewhere - the boiler lining looked like it had been applied by hand in the middle of an earthquake.

I'll help him and his poor daughter out just as soon as this Somalian prince transfers my inheritance from a distantly-related oil magnate...

Know how you feel, it's a minefield out there. I took a leap of faith with a Judith Edge kit and fortunately it paid off. An aged and somewhat warped K's Q1 kit, perhaps not so much - at least it was cheap and it's all part of life's rich tapestry, or so I keep telling myself If you're really risk averse, maybe try a simple Comet chassis kit? They're relatively inexpensive compared to full kits, and if it all goes breasts heavenwards you should at least be able to sell on the wheels and motor for something close to what you paid for them. A cheapo loco body off Ebay and the job's done - saves on all that painting malarky, too! Be warned though - the first time you get a chassis you've made moving under its own steam, er electricity, there's no going back

Yes, sadly they have. And of course, it's only a matter of time before Dave Cleal won't be taking orders for anything, anyway.

The only explanation I can come up with is maybe the price of dust has shot up recently? ETA: isn't asking for swaps against Ebay rules?

I can't decide whether the crappy photography is a help or hindrance in this case...

If you've exhausted all other options and you're happy with the price, then that's fair enough. The key with that seller and the equally nefarious micmcn (aka Cartmel Antiques) is to tread very, very carefully. I remember when I returned to the hobby a couple of years ago and started hunting around on ebay, those two sellers cropped up all the time at the top of my searches, probably because of their 'power seller' status. Luckily I delved a bit further and it soon became apparent that most of what they had on sale could be had elsewhere at a fraction of the price. Now I actually don't have a problem with that - they are, after all, free to charge what they like. What sticks in the craw, though, is as Horsetan mentioned the deliberate mis-selling. I reported one of gosturde's auctions because he described a loco as 'mint' and 'never been run' when the state of the wheels clearly showed that was untrue. The auction was essentially fraudulent but ebay just don't give a toss. Caveat emptor, as they say!

So... you've got £200 spare... you're after an LMS Beyer Garratt... as Harry Hill might say - will you the Hatton's, or will you the ebay? That said, I declare shenanigans - he's included photos of his other locos (all of which appear to be of significantly better quality) and the invitation to let him know if there's anything you want listing.

Got £418.60 burning a hole in your pocket? Hankering after a box of old tat? Today's your lucky day! Quite how they arrived at the rather specific BIN price I can only guess, but oh how I wish they had included a 'make offer' option...

Is *WOW* the new (SUPER ITEM)? Everything in his/her veritable tat-fest of a shop is similarly labelled, from the Belgian edition of Monopoly to the British Airways cutlery.

Good spot - I really should stop looking these gift horses in their mouths!

Gostudian levels of optimism, surely? The 'no returns' is especially reassuring...

We shall, apparently, find out later today, but if the model is in partnership with Steam then aren't they partly responsible for this 'poor choice'? If I were in the market for a King, I would, believe it or nay, be hoping for a Design Clever job around the same price as the DoG/P2 (i.e. £125 give or take). That would at least give us a clear choice. Two 'full fat' models for the thick end of £200 - not so much.