Does anyone have any experience of products from 'Worsley Works' (http://www.worsleyworks.co.uk) in any scale?
They offer a service to produce any of their extensive range of kits / parts in any other scale and already do a number of 16mm NG & G1 items - so G3 ought to be within their capabilities.
I've got too much else on to make any serious enquiries at the moment - but it might be of interest to someone else.
Andy
I have looked at their site on several occasions and wondered about the quality of their work.
They seem to be trying to be 'all things to all men' with a 'one size fits all' philosophy.
The nearest equivalent manufacturer I can think of is The Wagon & Carriage Works, producing three G3 wagon kits which have been made from artwork 'blown up' from 7mm, through 10mm scale and finally 13.5.
I have a couple of their van kits and have written an article for the next Newsletter on the LNER refrigerator van (it will also appear on the website for the benefit of non-members of the Society).
The only problem I encountered with these kits is that the artwork which is produced for, say, 7mm scale may have a margin of tolerance which is acceptable (not noticeable) in the smaller scale but is magnified in the larger scales.
An example would be the width of items such as V-hangers and brake gear generally which were too 'fat' and required filing down.
The 'gaps' in planking is wider than scale, while at the other end of the scale, some of the 'relief' (e.g. door hinges) is too 'flat'.
Having said that, the kits can be built into very good models with adjustments and the addition of detail.
Returning to 'Worsley', they have very few photos on their website and their kits start from 2mm scale upwards. If the artwork has been prepared to a large scale and reduced for the smaller scales then the result for G3 would probably be acceptable but if enlarged from 4mm scale the result could be poor.
They are offering some carriages (GER) in which I would be interested but I like to see before I buy!
I don't know what is the largest brass sheet they are able to etch but I suspect a 50ft plus coach in G3 could be too large for their process (Mike can probably elaborate on this point).
John.
Different etchers use different size sheets. Some, such as Photoetch, prefer one size but will use a larger one if you ask them, so it may well be possible to etch a 50ft carriage side in one piece.
Etching is OK for to represent steel panels, but personally I'm not happy about a single sheet - even 28thou - representing a wooden body on which the windows need to set back about 1.5inches. You can do it with etching, using two layers, but that means a complete redesign and double the cost.
But that's just my opinion.
Mike