polybear

For me that's a good thing. I'd much rather read (and hopefully learn) the techniques that help create quality layouts, rather than look at someone else's masterpiece and not have a clue how it was created in the first place. Or even in some cases reading about someone else's masterpiece that was achieved predominantly via chequebook modelling. Brian

I've a feeling that the RMWeb website has been hacked. By "Cricketing Monthly"... Brian

Why not stick the old Printer on Freecycle? Someone may find a use for it. Not only will it keep it out of landfill, it also avoids getting a puncture when visiting the local dump.... Brian

Hi Mike, May I ask - what conclusions did you come to as a result of these experiments? Many thanks Brian

Not only is the painting a work of art, the subject in the picture is a work of art too......

I find that one of the major concerns when placing small orders (e.g. one packet of crank pins) is the cost of postage. Some traders exercise some leeway here, whilst others place a "minimum postage, no matter what" regime which can double the cost of an order quite easily.

Please don't. Trains are much more interesting....

Just post his name & address on the thread Tony; the RMWeb Boyz will soon fetch it back for you. With interest.... He'll not forget xmas day in a hurry :jester:

Although such information can be useful when manufacturers are trying to track down purchasers of washing machines etc. liable to burst into flames without provocation....

Best guy for style was the one mentioned on the radio that bought the missus a fridge-freezer for xmas. And in the afternoon gave he the repayments book - turns out he'd only paid the deposit. For some strange reason they're no longer married....

The problem with the big manufacturers announcing loco "X" will be released in 1 - 2 years' time is that it then kills the sales of the one-man cottage industry who has put his heart and soul into designing and developing an etched brass etc. loco kit for the next 1 - 2 years, as many decide to wait for the RTR version. Only for the newly released RTR version to receive bad reviews on RMWeb, so said punter decides to go for the kit after all. Which is no longer available cos' said manufacturer was so p!ssed with zero sales he discontinued it Admittedly the above applies more to steam outline locos, though not exclusively (I wonder how many Class 128 DPU kits have been sold by DC Kits since Heljan announced then released theirs?). As for pricing of the R.E. Class 24 - sure it's expensive, but I understand that a decent DCC Sound chip will set you back the best part of a ton (without the speakers etc.?). Which starts to make the basic loco look pretty cheap IMHO. Me? I'm tempted, but will hold fire until a livery with SYP is released...... Out of interest, does anyone know where these models are manufactured Cheers, Brian

And Mike Edge produced his very nice Clayton, just before Heljan announced they'd be releasing one in 18 months (?) or so. I recall speaking to Mike at the time ( not sure which exhibition it was). To say that he was a little miffed with Heljan for killing his sales for the next 18 months or so was an understatement. I still bought one though.... Brian

Would i be correct in thinking that the previous (original?) owner of Crownline was Dave King, who set up PDK after he sold Crownline? And i seem to recall that Mike Russell may also have been a part of Crownline with Dave (as an employee possibly?) - i recall mike telling me that he had first refusal , but became ill at about that time so had to pass up on the offer. I seem to recall that a husband and wife team purchased crownline, but a subseqjuent divorce made things very complicated......i understand that mike russell may have been offered many parts (castings maybe, or maybe even the business?) from (one of?) the new owners at a bargain price, but the alarm bells were ringing loudly so mike steered well clear. Mike went on to set up his own kit business (DMR) and very nice kits they are; he's now sold the businesss to Pheonix Paints (i hope mike is ok - does anyone know?). He was working on a Beyer Garrat when Heljan announced they were going to release one - i believe mike's version was basically finished and he was at the stage of writing the instructions. I never heard more - i did enquire several times; i wonder if it was ever finished and if so did Pheonix get it as part of the deal? I hope the kits don't go the same way as Sharman Wheels. Of course much of the above could be complete nonsense and/or my memory may have failed me........ Brian

Agreed - perhaps if you are a registered buyer of the loco then you could purchase spares at some later point, for the purposes of repairing a damaged model. Though if you wanted 30 buffers you could be unlucky...... Brian

Why not take it along to one of Tony's Loco Clinics? He'll soon have it up and running......

A nice idea, but one I think that would need to be implemented (moderated?) very carefully. It would be oh so easy to destroy the reputation of a range of kits, leading to them being withdrawn from the market. Not a bad thing if the kit is a total pile of unbuildable cr*p, but for those older kits (or even recent ones) that that may take more effort to build well and/or have some errors etc. then it can still be argued that a mediocre kit is far better than no kit at all. As Tony has pointed out, it takes a skilled modeller to even match some of the latest RTR offerings, even when using a good kit as a starting point. So perhaps modellers wishing to build their own locos are prepared to accept compromises when it comes to kits, if the alternative means either no kit, RTR or scratchbuild? Perhaps one option would be to stick more to a "I built kit A successfully" type of format, with a photo of the finished loco; perhaps with some hints and tips and possibly deviations from the build, such as changing a dome for a more accurate example? An idea of the modeller's skill/experience would be useful also. Going down the route of "that's a pile of unbuildable Cr*p" is fraught with dangers - it could be that the modeller has never built so much as an Airfix Wagon, yet seems to think that a Finney Kit would be a fine place to learn etched brass loco construction...... Or even a Proscale V2..... HTH Brian

I have a Bachrus Rolling Road - excellent, and (IMHO) one of the better ones available Brian

Hi Tony, Whilst I ticked the "Thanks" icon following your reply, it has been bothering me ever since that it does feel very impersonal and well, frankly not even close to the thanks your excellent response to my question deserves. So: Many thanks Tony! Brian