Bucoops

I can imagine!

Whoops!

Most domain registrars offer an anonymity service for Whois info.

Watching with interest but yes well and truly (easily ) rumbled lol

Small update - countersink screw obtained and the head thinned down. Really need to give markits another call...

Any news?

Oh I don't doubt it - I don't mean to sound disparaging but it's a strange hobby when even the suppliers work to hobby timescales. And I should probably clarify - I'm not putting Markits or D&S in the same boat as coopercraft!

Coming back into the hobby after many years out it does seem that some suppliers seem to be run on the basis of "whatever". The extreme is of course cooper-craft, but I've had and am having issues with Markits, I'd like to uy some GE kits from D&S and the new batch look of interest but I'm rather nervous. If I send a cheque off, I don't really want to have to keep ensuring I have that money in my account for an unknown length of time, and then also not knowing how long until I can expect my eagerly wanted kits... Conversely - I'm sure it would be easy for a supplier to just pull the plug and then we wouldn't have these items at all.

Congratulations My nipper is nearly 5 now - the train indoctrination is in full swing!

Would it need to be the trading standards local to Coopercraft or the (attempted!) buyer?

Hmm, that sounds like a possible solution - not ideal as would prefer to be able to solder the boiler to the saddle. Managed to get the bit of wire about 1mm too far forwards. Whoops! Easily fixed though. I need to swap the screw for a countersunk one to avoid the wheel, but at least I got that in the right place

Absolutely - although getting it right can take an awful lot of to-ing and fro-ing. I note from the Little Loco Company that they gave up getting stuff manufactured abroad because of the hassle. I wonder what Peco spent getting their kit? They should look at doing Gresley coaches

Setup costs, especially for long items such as coach sides and roofs are huge. I've heard £50k mentioned for a coach kit - not sure how true that is though. edit: sorry this was in response to Clive's post. I'm not familiar with modern techniques.

Taking a photo of a copyrighted item can be deemed breach of copyright as well. As facebook might say, it's complicated!

Would it be worth reporting the site as fraud? https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report-a-fraud-including-online-crime

Best of Luck with the venture, Graham, and thank you to Barry and Jean for all your hard work! If you are compiling a wish-list I'd like to see more in the way of LNER stock (with GE flavour) please

Really not sure how I managed to get my money refunded when others have had no luck. Really hope you get it sorted.

That looks a bit better (so I need to put the spacer back on that I took off...). I need to widen the slots in the footplate a little as the wheels can touch so a short is very likely. Not sure what to do with the smokebox saddle as it's not the right radius

Yes I'm not sure where I got the idea to use a 16xx Mashima - from what I've seen it should be a 14xx series for this size loco? Still, I can't see any reason I can't use it - I need to pop a couple of bars across the frames to hold the gearbox in place so it doesn't torque itself round the axle and bash into things. Think the footplate needs to come down at the back a bit. After some abuse with a file (heavy abuse too to wasn't surprised when a splasher departed!) the footplate is a sliding fit over the motor. The splashers are a bit thinner now but most of them are covered by the boiler anyway. Still plenty of room in the firebox area for a DCC module at some point.

I keep telling myself not to give into the temptation to put this kit aside and start something simple like a 9f I've been really busy at work (damn them!) and have been getting a bit despondent with the lack of progress but having another go at the moment to get it on the move again. While I'm (still...) waiting for the Markits stuff I will be looking at getting the rather wide motor to fit into the boiler next.

I think I've been waiting 6 weeks now Meanwhile - some progress, even if it doesn't look like much. I've done some gentle tweaking of the valve gear and also tried out my rollers. I wouldn't say it runs like a sewing machine, but there's no sign of tight spots and I can run it up to full speed in either direction. It does wobble a little bit. There's no lubrication anywhere so not going to run it too much. I need the extra bits from markits to finish the motion off, hence the hanging down bits...

Thank you - as much as I'd like to, I want to be able to build Mk1s and maybe even Mk2s at some point so that would mean a usable length of ~270mm - which if you rule out the cheapo Chinese unbranded units gets very expensive

Hi All, quick question - any reason why you can't use a smaller tanked cleaner and use it to clean one end then the other? Or does the piece have to be totally immersed? Thanks

I think i'd prefer to err on the side of caution and try and stick with insulated wheels throughout. Markits are doing their best to prevent this though, still waiting for a response several weeks later... I have certainly given myself a baptism of fire with this kit!

Yes it's both DC and DCC - I confused myself so it's only fair I confused everyone else as well