kitmasterbloke
-
Posts
15 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Gallery
Events
Exhibition Layout Details
Store
Posts posted by kitmasterbloke
-
-
On 28/09/2021 at 20:56, adb968008 said:
do you mean this one..
Heljan 8712 Waggon und Maschinenbau Railbus DB999507 "Lab 20" in BR research department red and blue
because its been done once before, and long sold out as this one…
Heljan 87101 RTC "Laboratory 20" Modelzone Exclusive Limited Edition.2nd time round if it is.. someone must like it.. ones for sale for £400 on ebay, 2 have sold, one at £310.. so its desirable to some.
Well that is interesting and from a commercial point of view would justify re-running it.
-
5 hours ago, SweenyTod1 said:
If the Wickham railbus was produced in 00 scale I would definitely buy one. Can't remember who, but someone produced a whitemetal body kit of the Bristol version years ago. Even more exclusive than the others, only two, rather than the others in batches of five. There must be some clever person out there who could print a few body/chassis kits for these elusive types. Who will rise to the challenge then?
Ever hopeful!
Tod
I'm told was an MTK kit apparently.
-
So Hattons have announced that Heljan will produce the standard WMD railbus in the colours of the totally dis-similar Wickham railbus DB999507 Laboratory 20. And at only £152 each. What is the point of that?? Would you buy one? I certainly would not, and I'm a fan of Derby RTC stock.
-
Superb bit of modelling and lovely finish John! Just shows how good the original kits were.
-
1
-
-
- Popular Post
It is with great sadness that I report the death last week of Dennis Franklin at the ripe old age of 90. Dennis was a lovely chap and we became friends whilst I was researching my first book, "Let's Stick Together" about the history of Rosebud Kitmaster models.
Dennis Franklin was Rosebud's Technical Manager from the mid-1950s to early 1960 and designed most of the first series of Kitmaster train models in consultation with renowned local modeller Frank Roche. They were both members of Northampton Society of Model Engineers. Dennis used a lot of the Roche drawings in his design work, which explains why Rosebud's "Duchess" pacific embodies all the faults of the Roche drawing, including the wrong tender type! Dennis was responsible for the full 1959 Kitmaster range which included The Rocket, 08 Shunter, Stirling Single, Schools Class Harrow and GWR Prairie tank. Some of his designs (L&Y Pug, Prairie and Schools) are still in production today, from his tools, at Dapol.
Dennis was eventually lured away for better pay at Mettoy in Northampton, where he went on to design the Playcraft Railways British outline models to a VERY tight budget and using a lot of available French Jouef components - the Class 21/29, North British shunter, BR Brake Van, 21 ton mineral wagon and their Mk1 coaches, including the working ore discharge wagon and TPO sets (which used a novel mechanism to avoid infringing Tri-ang and Dublo patents).
He was most proud of the Playcraft British semaphore signal set which he cleverly designed to allow two complete signals to be assembled, or by combining two kits, a complete gantry signal. This kit is now on display in the National Museum of Wales in their Mettoy section, as production was at Forest Fach near Swansea.
Whilst at Mettoy, he also designed the Corgi construction kits, such as the Bately Leofric garage and the AA/RAC Telephone box set and the full Silverstone Circuit buildings set. His later career in plastic injection moulding was in the Republic of Ireland, where he worked on purely industrial contracts. He retired back to his home town of Kettering and passed away there in a care home from natural causes. He is survived by his wife & two daughters.
Dennis Franklin - unsung legend of British model railway design.
-
9
-
6
-
8
-
14
-
Official announcement at 3pm 17th June -Warley show postponed until 2021
-
On 15/10/2016 at 19:23, RANGERS said:
I just found this in another blogpost off RMWeb:
"I am Roger Chivrall, the son of the original designer and maker of the Scenerama Kits. His name was Ronald A. Chivrall a past winner of the Championship Cup for Model Engineering.
My father, who was the Tool room manager and later the Chief Designer for Airfix and subsequently Crayonne at Sunbury on Thames, designed them and had them tooled under the Company of Scenerama. I was the original salesman for them. The Company did not do well and I believe the tools were sold and ruined by trying to etch the brickwork into the tools. I have the original artwork for the walls etc and a fair number of the kits. I did have them on sale on E.bay a few years ago but did not sell many."From memory these were produced in the late 70s/ early 80s. I didn't take much notice of them until much more recently when I bought a couple of packs at a toy fair and had a good look at them. The mouldings are exquisite and my initial thoughts were to replace the printed overlays with embossed plasticard ones but the print quality is first class and it seems a shame to discard it.
I've no idea what became of the producer but I suspect they were too highly priced for their time, the tooling alone must have cost a fortune, and hence didn't sell well. They appear on Ebay from time to time but the value of the mouldings seems to be more appreciated now and they fetch upwards of £15, still something of a bargain but the £2.50 the one between Signaller has is a real steal.
End of Warley National Show - but now it's not the end of a show at the NEC.
in Exhibitions
Posted
It is sad but fully understandable. The Warley MRC team have always treated our little Club with respect and professionalism and I would like to thank them all for making us so welcome over so many years. Without them, we would not have been able to spread our message on the joys of collecting & building old plastic kits to so many new enthusiasts. All of us at the Kitmaster Collectors Club wish the Warley MRC the very best for the future whatever they decide to do.
Steve Knight
KmCC Secretary