Saw a completed model of the LMS Stanier Period 3 coach built by Customer Carriages that appeared at the G3 AGM in 2013 and featured in the Gauge 3 Society Newsletter some while back. The coach was superb, lots of detail but appeared to be very robust so suitable for outdoor running, and finished in the LMS Period 2 very style used before Stanier simplified it to simple lining above the windows and at waist level.
They are not cheap though - cost is expected to be around the £1600 mark, so definitely for the better off members! I'll do a full report for the September issue of the G3 Society Newsletter.
Ian
In my view, rather too nice (and expensive) to be trailed around the garden....belongs in a display cabinet!
There are mixed messages coming from both suppliers and G3 modellers : Some maintain that, if it looks alright from 6ft away, then that is all you need in the garden, while others are producing these high-end, exhibition quality, models.
What is really needed are more "middle of the road" models which are accurate but robust and not over-detailed / fragile and can be used in the garden without worrying about inevitable damage,which would knock a chunk out of the value of a high-end model.
That's my tuppence worth!
John.
Couldn't agree more John.
This is what Trevor Taylor (Gauge 1 Model Co., http://www.g1m.co.uk) did in Gauge 1. He fronted the cash to have 2,000 BR Mk 1s built in plastic that cost about £250 each to the enthusiast. He has, he says, just 6 coaches left.
Ian
And that, I'm afraid, is why it won't happen in Gauge 3. 2000 x £250 = a lot. Say they cost half that - £125. That's a quarter of a million pounds and Gauge 3 must cost more than Gauge 1. And that would mean every single G3S member (or equivalent) buying ten of them each.
More realistic to go with a Westdale type pressed aluminium shell with cast ends and applied detail, in my opinion.
Mike
Unless some "big player" (Bachmann for example) takes a gamble on creating a mass market for G3, the limitations of the current G3 "market" will forever preclude large scale investment by smaller businesses.
I have not given up on the idea of seeing whether it may be possible to get aluminium bodies produced in India ..... the last offer I received was that an order for 8 items of any pattern would be of interest to Paul N.
You will remember that a year or so ago I posted asking whether anyone would be interested in either LMS all-steel excursion stock and/or a 3-car LMS "Inter - District" set.
The response was disappointing.
At present, I just have too many projects on the go to take on more.
Regards,
John.