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Custom built parts in G3

Started by pline, Apr 01 2013 06:11

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pline

Hello G3 Enthusiasts,

Thought of introducing my Company to all interested.

We do produce one-off custom built home-builder spares with low batch quantities in G3 like Wheel sets, power bogies, axle boxes, buffers, couplers, cast/machined brass & steel parts, photo-etches etc and specialize in custom battery operated R/C locos & rolling stock in G3.
We currently have an off the shelf G3 rc battery powered diesel bo-bo shunter. For more details kindly visit us at www.pline.in or write to us at info@pline.in
Regards
Paul Nilanjan
Paul Nilanjan
for PLine
Calcutta-700014, India.
URL: www.pline.in

John Candy

Paul,

Welcome to the G3 Forum and I hope it may be possible to make use of your services to produce components for British prototype models (if not complete kits).

You and I have discussed possibilities over the past couple of years and I would be pleased to see another G3 supplier break into the UK market.

In rare cases (such as the Kingscale "Britannia" live steam model recently launched) it has been possible to speculate with success as to what will sell  but in general that is a risky course, certainly so far as the British market is concerned.

In my view, the best course would be if a small group of members were to get together and agree a model which they all would want to acquire and then ask you to prepare a quotation for supplying the parts.

In general terms, the items which are in short supply  are passenger coaching stock (apart from passenger coaches that includes items such as horse boxes, luggage vans, etc.).

That is my brief "take" on the situation and others may disagree, so I look forward to seeing what other G3F members think.

The one aspect which would require clarification is the "red tape" and Customs duties which may be involved in transactions between the UK and India.

Regards,
John.
My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

MikeWilliams

Paul,

There is something you may be interested in, but it is only small.  So far as I can tell there are no complete water feed pumps available for our scale.  You can buy raw castings for home machining, and you can buy plans to build from scratch, but you can't buy complete and ready-to-fit pumps, except for the larger scales.

Is this something you might be interested it?

And are they things anyone else on here would be interested in buying?

Mike

454

Paul,
The biggest hole in the inventory of rolling stock in Gauge 3 is the availability of BR Mk 1 coaching stock in either kit form or ready to run.

There have been many promises but delivery is painfully inadequate.

At every meeting I have attended it always seems to be a topic of discussion.

So I repeat:

BR Mk1 Coaching Stock, Blood & Custard, Chocolate & Cream, Maroon, Blue/grey.
This member of the forum at this stage does not care which.

Good luck

Dave
454

MikeWilliams

Can't disagree with you there Dave.  Since Paul's business is forming metal, maybe a body shell along the lines of the old Westdale/Exley would suit?  i.e. both sides and the roof all punched in one piece and formed to shape.

Mike

John Candy

I would draw attention to the fact that John Witts has a Mk.1 carriage kit at an advanced stage of development and duplication would not be helpful.

Ex-LMS stock would be suitable for haulage behind "Britannias", in fact was probably more common than BR Mk.1 stock until the late 1950's.

Selecting a pre-nationalisation prototype increases marketability (is that a real word?!) greatly and sales volume is what will persuade any manufacturer to introduce more models.

If we have two manufacturers producing Mk.1 kits, that reduces sales potential for both and does nobody any favours.

regards,
John.
My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

454

John,
The snag about BR Mk1 coaches as I see it is that a typical customer will not be running a one coach train.
Speaking for myself. I am prepared to build one coach. That is where my DIY enthusiasm ends. My attention span will not endure to building a rake of 4 coaches which is the limit of my credible storage space & running line length. Anything longer would look silly & I would have nowhere to store the extra ones. Circuit approx 75 feet long. So train length could be 20% of line length on my track.

Take approx dimensions without being too precise:

mainline pacific loco at 3 feet & Mk1 coach about 3 feet long

so 3 + (4 X 3 feet) = 15 feet train front to back total length.

The limiting factor as I see it is production capacity, I suspect far eastern suppliers have this capacity & capability. Kingscale have demonstrated this with knocking out 50 ish Brits in a space of several months. With the best will in the world, I do not believe for one moment that any UK based supplier whoever they are could possibly compete with delivery within a reasonable timescale whilst we are still young enough to enjoy them.

Just look at the gauge one examples marketed on Kingscale website, ok they are smaller than Gauge 3 but eminently affordable & they look great. Even Kingscale only sell them in packs of 4.

So let us not dream let us be practical. What can we afford, how long are we prepared to wait?

  In the meantime my Brit will be hauling Thomas trucks plus a miscellany of other trucks all mixed period. The pennies will be clunking into my piggy bank for many years to come before any credible Gauge 3 Mk1's hit the RTR market at a reasonable delivery & cost. :)

Can anybody prove me wrong ? I hope they can because acquisition of decent Mk1's in Gauge 3 for me is just a dream. :(

Dave
454







John Candy

Dave,

Paul will produce in limited quantities to order.
I was in discussion with him last year regarding a possible joint project with a UK trader and the minimum order of 8 units was mentioned.

If you can find another person willing to purchase a minimum of 4 units, I will open a dialogue to see what can be done (or you can discuss terms directly with Paul).

Regards,
John.

My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

454

Is there anybody out there who would like to purchase a minimum of 4 x Mk1 BR coaches?
With my requirement for 4 that would bring the minimum order up to 8 in order to commence fruit-full negotiation as John has indicated?

John: Lets open that dialogue please.

Any takers?

Dave
454

John Candy

Dave,

On the assumption that you would not want 4 identical coaches (e.g. 4 x SO) but a selection of types, it would seem logical to ask for a "skeleton" kit/assembled unit of underframe, ends, roof and bogies, onto which a variety of sides (and interiors) can be fitted.

In that way it will be easier to meet the requirement for any minimum order (whether the sides are sourced separately or Paul would be willing to produce smaller "sides only" batches can be discussed).

On the other hand, if you want a "bespoke" set of RTR models, then I am sure that can be arranged but the price would no doubt reflect the nature of the order.

Regards,
John.
My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

pline

Quote from: John Candy on Apr 01 2013 09:11
Paul,

Welcome to the G3 Forum and I hope it may be possible to make use of your services to produce components for British prototype models (if not complete kits).

You and I have discussed possibilities over the past couple of years and I would be pleased to see another G3 supplier break into the UK market.

In rare cases (such as the Kingscale "Britannia" live steam model recently launched) it has been possible to speculate with success as to what will sell  but in general that is a risky course, certainly so far as the British market is concerned.

In my view, the best course would be if a small group of members were to get together and agree a model which they all would want to acquire and then ask you to prepare a quotation for supplying the parts.

In general terms, the items which are in short supply  are passenger coaching stock (apart from passenger coaches that includes items such as horse boxes, luggage vans, etc.).

That is my brief "take" on the situation and others may disagree, so I look forward to seeing what other G3F members think.

The one aspect which would require clarification is the "red tape" and Customs duties which may be involved in transactions between the UK and India.

Regards,
John.

Hello John,
As far as "red tape" is concerned, I have in the past few years had extensive experience in doing business with the UK, specially with 16mm NG enthusiasts, as most of my products are of that scale.
As to what i am told by buyers in the UK, by declaring an item as "Model Railway spares" it can get through without much of a hassle with your customs.
Although at my end it still is treated under "toy train items" by our customs.
Regards
Paul Nilanjan
Paul Nilanjan
for PLine
Calcutta-700014, India.
URL: www.pline.in

pline

Quote from: MikeWilliams on Apr 01 2013 11:41
Paul,

There is something you may be interested in, but it is only small.  So far as I can tell there are no complete water feed pumps available for our scale.  You can buy raw castings for home machining, and you can buy plans to build from scratch, but you can't buy complete and ready-to-fit pumps, except for the larger scales.

Is this something you might be interested it?

And are they things anyone else on here would be interested in buying?

Mike

Hello Mike,
I have in the past built a small batch of water feed pumps for a 5" gauge live steam spares manufacturer in the UK, but never anything smaller. This looks like an avenue worth looking at.
If anyone else is interested in a feed water pump I would seriously start thinking about it.
Regards
Paul Nilanjan
Paul Nilanjan
for PLine
Calcutta-700014, India.
URL: www.pline.in

MikeWilliams

Thanks Paul,

Dick Allen (known to most of us on here) drew a design which is just what i want.  I'll get a copy to you for evaluation and would be happy to take a batch of 10, and possibly up to 25.  Not sure if that is a viable number for you?  It is driven by a scotch crank.

Regarding the carriages mentioned above, if you want to see what BR MK1 carriages look like here's a piece on assembling a kit in 0 Gauge, which of course is half the size.
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/255/entry-8908-o-gauge-mk1-coaches-get-thee-behind-me-ebay/

Also, Doug Hewson makes kits for them in 5in Gauge, which is twice the size, but alas his new website doesn't have any photos which might have been useful to you.  Maybe somebody can find his old web site?
http://the-hewsons.webs.com/

Mike

MikeWilliams

Paul - Have sent you an e-mail with drawing of the pump.

Coming back to John Candy's point that BR Mk1s are in development and something else might be suitable:

GRS do LNER suburban stock, GWR suburbans (B set), and LSWR suburbans.  I believe they have plans for GWR corridor stock, but can't remember where I read that.  At our AGM in 2012 somebody had a prototype for LMS Period 3 corridor ciaches which were to be fully detailed (does anyone know what happened to them?).  I do LNWR 6-wheelers, Walsall have some LNWR 42ft lavatory stock and two other projects I know of will bring shorter and older carriages to the market.  Wouldn't be at all surprised if Slaters were working on some Midland stock.

So, although folk say there are no carriages available, really there are no carriages of the type they want and pre-Nationalisation is quite well represented.

Mike

bolingbroke

I have only just picked up this thread. I have no personal knowledge of the detailed LMS RTR coaches other than a few bits and pieces of info from someone involved in the development. My understanding is that if they come to market they will be in the region of £1200/£1400 upwards per coach. This a big single purchase, let alone buying a rake of 6 or 8.

I would also back the suggestions that MK1 s are under development and a pre grouping prototype would have greater sales potential. The LMS MK3 Stanier coaches were highly standardised, were devoid of beading,  had a relatively simple livery, widespread use and longevity.

Talking to Kingscale who were proposing G3 Mk1s, the costs would still have been around four figures at least. The problem most of us want solving is that of affordability, being able to make even a short rake without breaking the bank. The LMS RTR coaches at the 2012 AGM will always be a limited, specialist offering. Making an affordable alternative would not detract from their specialist efforts.