3 days to go for this unmade Brandbright LNER open wagon kit. Much too cheap at the moment so somebody should place a bid!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132335635120?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&fromMakeTrack=true
Mike
£122 - blimey, that's a lot.
Mike
Quick tell Brandbright might get them back in production ;)
The Flexikit for the same LNER Diagram 3 6-plank would have cost around half that amount!
John.
to me, the brandbright kit is excellent and if others agree,lets all email them and ask to re produce it, surely if a lot of us do so, they may take it serious, especially if we confirm we will buy/deposit
Quote from: AshleyW on Sep 27 2017 22:51
...,lets all email them and ask to re produce it, surely if a lot of us do so, they may take it serious, especially if we confirm we will buy/deposit
1) Do we know if the new owners actually purchased the masters, etc for the G3 kits?
2) How many actually sold previously?
Excellent though they may be, if stock does not shift on a sideline product (possibly with rather small margins), it does not make business sense to continue with it.
The price achieved and bidder list on e-bay demonstrates that there were 2-3 people who
really want one of these kits. So perhaps there is a market for selling 20 - in 4 years maybe?
And as John points out, there is now an alternative kit for the same prototype, which is cheaper.
I'm not arguing against trying to encourage established traders to supply G3 - but most of them have to face economic reality, unlike 'cottage part-timers' like myself who just want to have their costs covered.
Andy
Andy
The fact that Brandbright removed all the G3 items from their catalogue a few years ago (unconnected with retirement/sale of business) does rather support what Andy has said.
I would hazard a guess and suspect they may only have ever produced one batch of each type of wagon (LNE 6-plank and GW 20T "Toad") and they "took for ever" to sell, meaning capital tied up in "dead stock".
GRS and Walsall both produce the GW "Toad" and Williams Models has patterns and moulds for the LNER 6-plank Flexikit (I will dig out my pre-production example and post a photo later), so those wagon types are still available in, what it has to be admitted, is a very restricted market.
Regards,
John.
I think the popularity of that particular Brandbright kit now is the fact it is made of wood and can be altered to represent other wagons. What it is a kit of doesn't matter. It would be great to see Brandbright back in Gauge 3 but other wooden wagons are coming on stream already from several sources, so it may be too late even for small production runs.
Mike
They are great kits. However they need retooling so as to be laser cut and the mounds are warn- that was what I was told a while ago. I think the new owner is slimming down the range as it.
What is the real difference, when it comes to wagons, between G3 and 2 1/2"? Surely the 2 1/2" chaps would be looking to buy kits marketed as G3.
Jon
Yes Jon - where they buy wagons that is...and you can see (G3) wagons on the N25GA stand sometimes - but it's not generally what they do (although of course some are members of both organisations).
Regards,
IanT
Ian
Er, why isn't it generally what they do? I don't understand what the difference is.
Jon
Quote from: hornbeam on Sep 28 2017 18:05
they need retooling so as to be laser cut and the mounds are warn
Most people now use Slaters wheels, axleboxes, springs, buffers and couplings are all available elsewhere, so that leaves just the wooden parts and brakes. Whether you prefer machine cut or laser cut is personal preference I guess, but wooden parts made either way would be welcomed, I would have thought.
Mike
Jon,
Well I used the word "generally" for a reason, as everyone has slightly different ideas about what they want to do in 2.5" gauge. But generally, the N25GA is organised around rallies at Model Engineering Society (MES) tracks. At these rallies, they (generally) 'Passenger' haul (or perhaps more correctly) 'Driver' haul. The other difference of course is that they build 2.5" gauge engines in scales other than 1:22.6 (e.g. non-standard gauge locos - such as Steve Eaton's NG 'Toby' engine).
However to perhaps illustrate how dangerous it can be to "generalise" in these areas, I've seen trains of G3 stock pulled around MES tracks at these rallies (both with drivers and without) - although if I recall correctly the 'without' was by a G3 member at the Cheltenham (combined N25GA & G3S) Anniversary rally several years ago.
What I haven't seen yet is any passenger/driver hauling at a G3 GTG (which might be a problem on those tracks with tunnels) but perhaps Ted will allow someone to set a new G3 GTG precedent? :-)
Regards,
IanT