JAMES MAY'S BIG TROUBLE IN MODEL BRITAIN 06/03/19

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Mountain
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Re: JAMES MAY'S BIG TROUBLE IN MODEL BRITAIN 06/03/19

Post by Mountain »

Resin kits are normally reasonably priced. They are normally body kits to convert locos to a different type. Why not try a wagon or coach kit from Smallbrook Studio (Yes, he does 00 gauge as well) to see how you get along. The kits are easy to file and shape if the parts don't quite fit, and if you need to correct a mistake or have a bubble hole that needs filling, Das modelling clay is a budget solution. Superglue is used to bond the parts together. Resin is a cost effective entry into kit building which I recommend.
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Bufferstop
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Re: JAMES MAY'S BIG TROUBLE IN MODEL BRITAIN 06/03/19

Post by Bufferstop »

windcutter9f wrote:I think it was the way purchase tax was levied in those far off days,the finished item incurred more tax than the kits.
It was known as "design by Chancellor" The Chancellor of the exchequer would make various proclamations then leave the civil servants to make sense of them. Thus we had CKD by Triang, the complete finished model taken apart and presented in a box, with assembly instructions, avoided purchase tax of between 20 & 30%. Construction kit (educational, not a toy). Controllers without a transformer, The transformer was an electrical component (industrial not taxed.) Loudspeaker in cabinet (Domestic luxury goods 30%), Hi-fi speaker with two drive units zero percent (Multi drive unit speakers were "public address systems, tax exempt). The downside of this for companies was that a product could be reclassified from industrial to luxury, on the perception of a civil servant who knew nothing about them.
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Michaelaface
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Re: JAMES MAY'S BIG TROUBLE IN MODEL BRITAIN 06/03/19

Post by Michaelaface »

Oh I know body kits and dapol stuff are affordable, but it's when it comes to getting it to run the costs go crazy, saw a post on a dapol build somewhere that was summed up with "£9 loco kit £90 on the chassis, gears, motor and wheels"
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Mountain
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Re: JAMES MAY'S BIG TROUBLE IN MODEL BRITAIN 06/03/19

Post by Mountain »

Michaelaface wrote:Oh I know body kits and dapol stuff are affordable, but it's when it comes to getting it to run the costs go crazy, saw a post on a dapol build somewhere that was summed up with "£9 loco kit £90 on the chassis, gears, motor and wheels"
Well, if you want to try a budget kit without spending too much money there is a solution but it is not ideal for you and that is to try a 7mm narrow gauge loco body kit which uses the chassis from one of the budget little 0-4-0's. (I would normally recommend the Smallbrook Studio "Ceto" but with your building experience I would say you could master any of the Smallbrook Studio kits without any issues. Actually I am surprized there has not been a resin body kit designed to adapt one of those little 0-4-0's into a different 00 gauge shunter as it would certainly be an ideal start. Maybe there is such a kit? I am not aware of one though. It would be great if there was.
b308
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Re: JAMES MAY'S BIG TROUBLE IN MODEL BRITAIN 06/03/19

Post by b308 »

They were but certain things were still assembled, the wheels on the chassis for instance. With today's market I recon the company could be liable for more warranty claims than full assembled locos due to cack handed assembly, also greater requests for spares. I doubt they'd be any cheaper, though. If you are keen to assemble your own stock just buy a kit, there's plenty still around...
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Re: JAMES MAY'S BIG TROUBLE IN MODEL BRITAIN 06/03/19

Post by Bufferstop »

The 0-4-0 chassis is a bit bulky when it comes to alternative bodies. Side tanks provide space for the motor, but it needs headroom as well. The 0F firebox is way too high when you look at the prototype, Dad-1 did a conversion to 0-4-2, but had to ignore the firebox error. Fitting a type7 motor makes it fit in a number of smaller body types, but needs a bit of skill to make it work.
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Bigmet
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Re: JAMES MAY'S BIG TROUBLE IN MODEL BRITAIN 06/03/19

Post by Bigmet »

Michaelaface wrote:...when it comes to getting it to run the costs go crazy ...£90 on the chassis, gears, motor and wheels.
That's what small volume manufactured and machined parts, mostly made in the UK - other than the motor which will almost certainly be from the Far East - really cost. These kitbuilder's parts never were cheap, but were all we had to make decent models, until the unexpected bonanza from China twenty years ago. Suddenly you could buy RTR an OO model that looked and ran like the output of a skilled kit or scratch builder and painter, and it was under half the full cost of an equivalent kit build.

Enough of the historical perspective, what to do about it? Basically, extreme low cunning. You haven't told us what you would like to build, which is the essential starting point. I still kit build, kit bash and scratch build to make the items that cannot be got RTR, and in these last twenty years the most I have spent on a loco mechanism amounts to around £30. But to do this you have to know exactly what you are looking for, to buy the right item that will work on the planned project.

My method is to purchase suitable 'feedstock' for the planned build projects. Always looking out for useful items in retailer clearances or bargains, and what may be got second hand. I sell on all the bits that are not required, and here's where the current situation with spares works for us: Johnny Ninethumbs has totally busted the body of his fave loco, and will buy the body from my s/h or bargain purchase. And I still have the box, and also quite possibly have a tender, valve gear, bogie and/or detail pack to sell on. Sometimes the mechanism ends up for free or even at a profit. Shhh, don't tell anybody, did I mention that this is about low cunning?
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