High Level Kits

AT this pint we don't have the sayment gateway in use, so you can't actually order. We're hoping to get the whole thing ready for the second of August

We're hoping to be trading from 2nd of August, with most products available from stock. It's been a while, but most things are in stock - how long they last will depend on demand, and how easy it is to re-stock remains to be seen. All being well, this website should be live so you can order on-line. Please bear with us as we work our way through the backlog of orders and get used to our new way of working.

Mike usually request a custom-designed bogie for his range if he thinks there's a need. These are tailor-made and often the drivetrain is tucked up to prevent it being visible.

Removable brakegear is a standard feature on our kits. Wherever possible, use a full length of tube and a continuous, removable wire running through. Where there’s stuff between the frames, the hangers have short pins located into short stubs of tube and can be sprung off. Distance of hangers from frames, as Gordon says, depends on a number of variables. if you look at any of the chassis or locos on our site at www.highlevelkits.co.uk you can see how it’s done.

Thanks for all the valuable information about your preferences and uses for the bogies. Keep them coming as it all helps to build a picture of what’s needed… Mark, we’ve started an high level kits Instagram, is it okay to stick your photos on there? Fowler kis, especially built ones, are rare. You’ve done a smashing job on it.

That's the spirit... In the meantime, a bit of market research - the more replies the merrier... The LoRider has been a good, steady seller over the years, but now that our supplies of Mashima 1420s have almost dried up, is there a need for a replacement, especially in view of massive improvements to RTR performance since the unit was introduced back in the early 90s? If you envisage having a use for an 8ft 6ins motor bogie, what would you be motorising ?... If yes, would you prefer a simple rigid unit or be happy to do the extra work involved in building a compensated unit?

Here's an update, of sorts... a new batch of gears have now been moulded and tooling modifications will shortly be under way. Although we haven't actually received them, we're assured they have been done and so they should be arriving shortly. Once those gears are sorted and pressed into brass centres we should be able to start working our way through the backlog of orders and picking up new the ones with a view to supplying. It would be nice to think that that queues in the photograph ware actually for out products , but if things are busy then, again, we would ask you to be patient and we'll do our best. We have a backlog of orders, some from as long as 6 months ago, and we feel it's only right to contact these customers first before taking money from them after such a long time. We really do appreciate the fact that customers have actually held back projects in order to use our products. We're reluctant to make any announcements or give updates in these unpredictable times, especially if they involve other companies. Hopefully, not long now. In the meantime you can follow us on our website or on Instagram @highlevelkits for updates.

Thanks David, hope you're well. I made a start on the Barclay when the lockdown started last year but then got sidetracked. It was looking quite complicated. I'll get back onto it, but not sure when...

Well noted swampy. It refers to the Hints and tips which I've not yet uploaded. I may even tag them onto the end of the individual instructions. Glad you mentioned it. The idea of having them separate is a sort of 'read what you need' approach - you're not overloaded on the basic instructions and only need to read the sections you don't already understand but if you are a total beginner then the info's there... I've attached the file to this message. Gearbox Hints and Tips.pdf

The J50 is now pretty much done. Anyone can view the instructions (or any others) on the downloads page of the new site highlevelkits.co.uk ...or you never know your luck, this link might take you straight there: 27e471_f9a5b66c35de4dba8e9ae48aa1cb69cd.pdf (filesusr.com) Note that the J50 instructions cover part 2, 3 and 4 locos, but if you come to build one you only need to concentrate on that particular variant.

Martin, I do have some LoRiders, but I'm considering replacing the design in the near future, simply due to the fact that the 1420s it's designed to take are running low. No need to panic though, Chris.

I can imagine the lack of gearboxes and hornblocks is holding other projects up and I do greatly appreciate your understanding. Moving the tooling to another moulding firm is now in progress and the toolmakers are trying to get some test shots done so they can assess the operation of the tool to see if modifications are need. Hopefully, they won’t be, which would save some time. In any event, as soon as I have the gears I’ll be back up and running. Hope you’re all safe and well. Up to now, as far as I know, Scalefourum is till on for Autumn so hopefully will see a few of you there… I have dropped back onto the J50 job after a long layoff. It will build to go under Part 2, 3 and 4 locos. I hope to have these for sale on the stand for September.

I haven't been on here much lately, but have been busy as there are many things I can do behind the scenes. The reason I've had to suspend trading is due to lack of gears. The company who run my gear mould tools have had problems with them since the start, but the last batch of gears were just not up to scratch so the tool is now being modified. All previous gears have been fine but they've had to jump through hoops to get the quality spot on so with the mods in place the tools should run faster and more consistently. This work on the tool is not happening quickly due to the obvious difficult circumstances that exist today. I did have a batch of gears ready to take me over the modification period but had to reject them. I ordered these before Christmas but the moulding company are also having a difficult a time, as are most of my suppliers. As gearboxes make up the bulk of our sales it wasn't possible exist on the revenue from the other lines and so I applied for furlough. As I mentioned, due to the rules, I;m not allowed to do things directly related to taking revenue. I'm afraid I had little choice but once i have the gears I'll be back up and running. I am sorry as I know the lack of gearboxes may be holding your own projects up, and I will update you as soon as I can give you some reliable information. I'm going to have another go at the moulders next week... Incidentally, technically, I work for High level Kits Ltd.

Really glad the site's getting the thumbs up. I'm still developing some of the content, so things are still likely to change and there'll be a few more hiccups yet, but it's getting there. One of the main aims (other than online shop) was to present the info on gears, motors and CSBs in a clear and easy-to-follow format. One major problem is that the a mail is not working properly. This will no doubt be causing some customers considerable frustration, thinking they're being ignored. I'm trying to sort the mails problem out. We are trying to use this down-time productively so will be re-ordering stock so when we are no longer furloughed we can bounce back and supply all products. Some products may have to be suspended if they take specific motors which we no have. I plan to re-design the motor bogies although I still carry reasonable stocks of 1420s so they'll keep the Lo/Long riders going for a bit. The J50 was just about finished so that won't be long in coming out and I have a Hattons' Barclay in pieces but won't be able to drop back onto that job until I can get the shop side of things running smoothly. Please browse the site the info on it. You can download any of the instructions as PDFs. More later. Chris.

Hello all, As has been mentioned above, we are now furloughed. This is a result of our supplies being depleted over a very busy 2020, resulting in us now being short of enough key components that things have become unworkable. Unfortunately, the furlough rules state that we have to go one way or the other, so we can no longer trade at all. Not that helpful however… We are trying to use the down-time profitably and are working behind the scenes on the new website with online ordering. There’s a lot of tinkering with settings going on, with the usual suite of problems that happen when you touch anything to do with the internet. For example, for a while, you may not be able to view the new site, or the old one, then one or the other might come on, or maybe not… emails may not get to us… and who knows what else! So, apologies for the interruption(s) - we will try and get things sorted ASAP - and thanks very much for your continued support for our business over the years. We fully intend to get things up and running again, and the new system should help us to be more efficient. Being realistic, when we are back on our feet, there’s likely to be a few teething problems with all the new stuff, but they’ll get ironed out and I may even get some time to do some design work?!… We're also working on an Instagram page. Cheers, Chris

Just a reminder that High Level produce a finescale chassis for a 94xx. This was in response to the rumours that Bachmann were going to do the full loco at some point, and worked on the assumption that: A) there will be a glut of old lima donor bodies selling cheaply on EBay and B) the Bachmann model will be up there with modern standards and so finescale modellers might like to upgrade by using an etched chassis. Our chassis fixings are suitable for the Lima model and body fixing screw locations have been slotted maximise their chances of lining up with the Bachmann product. Running height and other arrangements can’t be guaranteed as they’re a result of educated guesswork from our experience with previous Bachmann locos which can now benefit from more luxurious underpinnings we offer. Anyone wanting to know more about our 94xx chassis can drop us a line and we’ll mail back the instructions. The kit and details are on our site at www.highlevelkits.co.uk

You're very welcome Keith.

I'm afraid I'm kept away from any design work by the fact the PC is not working but also mail order keeps me on the hop. I got so far with the Barclay but now the trail's gone a bit cold. The J50 is near to completion but, again, I can't get it finished due to the above.

Gordon, I'm afraid the busy mail order has kept me away from the computer for anything other than administration. I did make a start on the Barclay at the beginning of lock down, then the phone went crazy. I'll pick up on it when I get the chance. Just to add to the workload, I had to get a new PC, and this comes with Windows 10 (professional), which has proved to be a nightmare. Presumably, professional means it provides opportunities for your business to purchase new software as your existing stuff won't run on it!... Glad to see though, they've kept the on-line help facility for internet connection problems! Now having supply problems so starting to run out of things with my suppliers quoting long lead times.

I'm not certain which part you mean but we always try to provide spares.

It's the thought of doing that that keeps me going...

Another update: At this point in time we are sitting on quite a few unfulfilled orders. This is due to the massive demand for products over the lockdown period (which also coincided with the spring show season). If this affects your order then we apologise for the delay. Certain key items, like axle final drive gears for example, are completely out of stock and, in this instance, there are problems with the gear moulders tied up making things for the NHS - other suppliers are either furloughed or playing catch-up themselves and some, who were pretty slow under normal circumstance are even worse! The sheer volume of orders has tested our own working methods and, inevitably, there have been some cock-ups. Although we do try to answer all mails, a few enquiries may slip through the net and would like to stress that we don’t take out customers for granted, but just may not have the time to deal with everything as quickly as we would like. We’re still nagging our suppliers and hope to have things back up and running at full capacity soon...

Back in the saddle now after a week off, but still chasing parts. The moulding company has furloughed most of its staff so delivery of final drive gears (as key component in the gearboxes) has been delayed and we're just using up the last few now. This is a temporary hold-up and we’ll get around to fulfilling orders ASAP. Apologies to anyone whos order is held up.

It’s been a very busy six weeks or so, mail order-wise, so we’re having to take a week off (9tht to 17th May) to re-organise things, replenish stock and maybe take a breather. This definately isn’t us shutting up shop and as soon as the new parts arrive, things will be as normal.

Porcy, I can tell you mine didn’t fall apart, in fact, there may have even been a pipe glued between the footplate and boiler preventing removal of the chassis. The likelihood is that I’ll be trying to re-use all the plastic parts that plug into the chassis; cylinder assembly, crosshead and slidebars will run together and will save customers a hell of a lot of work, as well re-using the brakes. People are just not up for that amount of work these days.