Your Dad has excellent taste. All my locos are Playmobil (including the big 4052 tender loco), apart from an early LGB Spremberger, which is my favourite, wonderful, stubby little thing.
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What happened at your workbench today?
- Thread starter Henri
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Your Dad has excellent taste. All my locos are Playmobil (including the big 4052 tender loco), apart from an early LGB Spremberger, which is my favourite, wonderful, stubby little thing.
Not on the workbench because it is installed, but I've spent a bit of time replacing the clevis on the mainline junction lever; all points are operated from the frame using rods, an idea I copied from and 00 modeller's blog. The colour coding is non-standard, because I don't have any signals: Rule 8 applies.
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Have to say it is nice to see a box used for the correct purpose. Nicely done.
More measuring, cutting, scribing and glueing today.
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Inspired by Henri's thread of the RTB bogie coaches I've been attacking a Bachmann Jackson Sharpe coach to turn it into something vaguely European. It's (losely) inspired by some catalouge pictures I saw of tramway coaches offered by Hughes/Falcon/Brush or whichever name they were using at the time.
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Started my second 'lockdown' building from Brunel Models.
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Need a bigger bench
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Is it as big as it looks? It's a smashing looking model, but looks far too big for my line
Wrong kit on the workbench. Realised I should really get down to finishing my Pagosa combine, the SAR ballast wagon will have to wait a few days. Bought this kit and its donor AMS car 8 years ago. Only got down to start building it 4 years ago. Got as far as all the sub assemblies and primer. Then I parked it for another 4 years as I felt I might have overreached myself as I was going to give it a fully detailed interior, that the Rio Gande Models kit does not offer.
Well, as they say, if you are on a roll. So, yesterday/today on went the colour coats, Floquil Pullman green for the outside and Halfords Ford Highland green for the non passenger innards. Passenger comparment has been stained Coloron " Burmeese Teak" & "Canadian Cedar". Roofing has been layered up with masking tape to mimic tar paper, with the edges sealed with sanding sealer.
I do wish someone would re-release this wonderful range of Fn3 kits of D&RGW rolling stock. There must be a reasonable market worldwide for this subject matter. Max
Well, as they say, if you are on a roll. So, yesterday/today on went the colour coats, Floquil Pullman green for the outside and Halfords Ford Highland green for the non passenger innards. Passenger comparment has been stained Coloron " Burmeese Teak" & "Canadian Cedar". Roofing has been layered up with masking tape to mimic tar paper, with the edges sealed with sanding sealer.
I do wish someone would re-release this wonderful range of Fn3 kits of D&RGW rolling stock. There must be a reasonable market worldwide for this subject matter. Max
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I think the drawback with those kits was - first start with an AMS coach at £240 or north of that figure.
Add the cost of the kit, and it would provide you with a very expensive model
The signal box is temporarily installed on the line. It will have walkways across the track, and therefore will be very slightly higher. Solar panel is up on the top of the fence. The engine shed is in permanent position (although removable if and when we get a hurricane). The solar panel is in the top of the water tower.
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Those are terrific! It looks like the signalmen are partying late into the night (we all know NG lines stop running at dusk
), while the fitter is putting in long hours refitting the motion to No.1, which is due to haul the first train of the day tomorrow. Which reminds me, I must re-read LTC Rolt's account of his first visit to the Tallylyn -the rain here today reminds me of the persistent Welsh 'liquid sunshine'...-
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I think the drawback with those kits was - first start with an AMS coach at £240 or north of that figure.
Add the cost of the kit, and it would provide you with a very expensive model
I got the AMS car for £140, 2nd hand but pretty much NIB, with ball race axle bearings with built in pickups already fitted from Garden Railway Centres. Priced probably because it was in the "wrong" C&S livery. The kit was £155 bought direct. OK, still not cheap but if you want a Pagosa combine.......That high all up tag only really applied to to their car conversions, the other half of the range were waggons. These were a bit more reasonable, I have the Gunnison snow plow too that came with a fully made up brass plow.
I think that with the developments since these kits initial creation, in materials and wider availability in laser cutting and 3D printing technology, it would be possible to produce at least the non the passenger stock at a more reasonable price and develop the range from there. Look at what Resurgam are achieving with similar "esoteric" subject matter. Remember, these kits are plywood not MDF, with white metal and brass parts and come complete with bespoke decal sets and what I can only describe as some of the best instruction and plan sets I have seen. It all adds to the cost, room for some rationalisation perhaps ? You now really can produce on demand and not have to commit to batches too. Max
Yep, fully agree - start from scratch without the AMS coach, and it could be more reasonable
It's a 16mm scale model of Lynton Goods Shed and hopefully will look something like this:
Yes, it is big and bigger than I thought!
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I guess prices will always reflect the limited market. I bought one of the DJB IOM coach kits that were out a few years ago: a beautiful kit that produced a museum quality model. It was expensive, so I only bought one. With the option now much more limited, I wish I'd bought two. Or three...Yep, fully agree - start from scratch without the AMS coach, and it could be more reasonable
Here it is, on the rear of the consist
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Cracking on with it today. Roof painted and the interior lighting distribution, 1:24 dolls house stuff, sorted out. Next the bit that always creates doubt in my mind, glossing surfaces that will be decaled. I'm going to use micro gloss and when the decals have dried I'll hit the lot with Testors full clear coat. I have a test board that is made up with the primer, colour coat, micro gloss (tried Klear but that didn't look right) then the some decal offcuts topped with the lacquer to make sure nothing has an adverse reaction. Fingers crossed. Max
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So fun fact - I was part of the team that created these kits. I actually named the company!
David Gormley in Derby was/is the owner of RGMUK. Myself and a few others in the US did research, drawing development, etc., and then David would do the final CAD and contract the laser cutter there in the UK. The reality is, the laser cutters we used have all gone up in price. Seriously up. David and I still build our own cars... and occasionally he does very small runs/reruns for friends - but if you thought the prices were high before... well, we're not stupid - we looked at several options. There is a reason the kits are no longer offered.
Given my frequent travels between the US/UK, I would mule in cases full of AMS bodies I'd buy for cheap in the US, and then he would use for builds there. Additionally, I brokered the deal between RGMUK and Jonathan Bliese at EMW in California to "import" the RGMUK kits. Sadly, the demand just wasn't there. In the late 2000's and very early 2010's, wood was cheap, laser time was cheap, Phil Dipple was running large batches of NBW's from a Chinese vendor custom made for him, and AMS cars were readily available. All of that is gone.
Honestly - I was the *kid* modeling 1:20.3 in my 30's... and everyone I met or worked with in CA and at the national shows were 55+... sadly in the past 10 years, many of the guys have passed on. Those that have not, have sold off their collections and moved to retirement homes. David and I competed to see whom could have the "second largest MOW collection" behind Dean Lowe. Dean's since moved to a small condo with no room for trains. Jonathan moved, and closed EMW. David Crocker passed. Don Winter passed. Phil Dipple moved and put PNG in mothballs. Greg Posta gave up traveling to shows. The Big Train Show was moved, then sold, then became an "all scale" show, and then finally shut down. Durango Dan's 1:20.me shutdown. Dave Goodson stopped taking new conversion work.
Moreover, H. Lee Reily passed at Bachmann, and with him the passion for 1:20.3 cars. Kader's purchase then killed it. Rich Yoder stopped almost all new products. Bing at Accucraft/AMS has contracted, and sadly Fred Devine passed. BACK2BAY6 in Telford closed after the owner passed (who commissioned many of the RGMUK cars for sale in the UK market).
There was a great group of a dozen or more folks that kept 1:20.3 relevant. Two large manufacturers, and a half dozen "cottage industry" kit makers, all using the same folks to research and develop new cars/kits/offerings. Moreover there were 30-40 folks in the western US and Colorado/Texas that manufacturers knew would pre-order anything new for the D&RGW. Given the limited numbers needed for runs at Accucraft and RY (as low as 50 pcs, typically 100-200 pcs at most), making a new car wasn't too much of a gamble. Now, less than 10 of them are still active that I know of.
Very long post, short: RGMUK didn't simply stop, the economics and the market changed. We still talk about running new kits from time to time (typically each trip I'm over, after a good evening at the pub), but each time we run the numbers, it just doesn't pencil out.
If you're still looking for kits - the GAL line is an option. They basically picked up and ran away with David's model for laser cut "add on" car sides for AMS cars. Honestly once they started selling in the US, RGMUK couldn't compete due to TATL shipping costs. Worse yet, each time David would release a new car, it would magically appear on their site a few weeks/months later. You can also try emailing David... there are still a few cars in various states of finish. One example I know of - last year he did a few "chicken coop" MOW diners for a client.
Anyway - hopefully that sheds some light on it all... glad you like the kits. I miss them too. There are lots of factors out there as to why they were discontinued, but simply not trying a "new way" of making them is not one of them.
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So fun fact - I was part of the team that created these kits. I actually named the company!
David Gormley in Derby was/is the owner of RGMUK. Myself and a few others in the US did research, drawing development, etc., and then David would do the final CAD and contract the laser cutter there in the UK. The reality is, the laser cutters we used have all gone up in price. Seriously up. David and I still build our own cars... and occasionally he does very small runs/reruns for friends - but if you thought the prices were high before... well, we're not stupid - we looked at several options. There is a reason the kits are no longer offered.
Given my frequent travels between the US/UK, I would mule in cases full of AMS bodies I'd buy for cheap in the US, and then he would use for builds there. Additionally, I brokered the deal between RGMUK and Jonathan Bliese at EMW in California to "import" the RGMUK kits. Sadly, the demand just wasn't there. In the late 2000's and very early 2010's, wood was cheap, laser time was cheap, Phil Dipple was running large batches of NBW's from a Chinese vendor custom made for him, and AMS cars were readily available. All of that is gone.
Honestly - I was the *kid* modeling 1:20.3 in my 30's... and everyone I met or worked with in CA and at the national shows were 55+... sadly in the past 10 years, many of the guys have passed on. Those that have not, have sold off their collections and moved to retirement homes. David and I competed to see whom could have the "second largest MOW collection" behind Dean Lowe. Dean's since moved to a small condo with no room for trains. Jonathan moved, and closed EMW. David Crocker passed. Don Winter passed. Phil Dipple moved and put PNG in mothballs. Greg Posta gave up traveling to shows. The Big Train Show was moved, then sold, then became an "all scale" show, and then finally shut down. Durango Dan's 1:20.me shutdown. Dave Goodson stopped taking new conversion work.
Moreover, H. Lee Reily passed at Bachmann, and with him the passion for 1:20.3 cars. Kader's purchase then killed it. Rich Yoder stopped almost all new products. Bing at Accucraft/AMS has contracted, and sadly Fred Devine passed. BACK2BAY6 in Telford closed after the owner passed (who commissioned many of the RGMUK cars for sale in the UK market).
There was a great group of a dozen or more folks that kept 1:20.3 relevant. Two large manufacturers, and a half dozen "cottage industry" kit makers, all using the same folks to research and develop new cars/kits/offerings. Moreover there were 30-40 folks in the western US and Colorado/Texas that manufacturers knew would pre-order anything new for the D&RGW. Given the limited numbers needed for runs at Accucraft and RY (as low as 50 pcs, typically 100-200 pcs at most), making a new car wasn't too much of a gamble. Now, less than 10 of them are still active that I know of.
Very long post, short: RGMUK didn't simply stop, the economics and the market changed. We still talk about running new kits from time to time (typically each trip I'm over, after a good evening at the pub), but each time we run the numbers, it just doesn't pencil out.
If you're still looking for kits - the GAL line is an option. They basically picked up and ran away with David's model for laser cut "add on" car sides for AMS cars. Honestly once they started selling in the US, RGMUK couldn't compete due to TATL shipping costs. Worse yet, each time David would release a new car, it would magically appear on their site a few weeks/months later. You can also try emailing David... there are still a few cars in various states of finish. One example I know of - last year he did a few "chicken coop" MOW diners for a client.
Anyway - hopefully that sheds some light on it all... glad you like the kits. I miss them too. There are lots of factors out there as to why they were discontinued, but simply not trying a "new way" of making them is not one of them.
Interesting to know. I was myself a producer of short run multi media kits in another hobby area for a few years back in the 2000's and understand and encountered some of the issues you've mentioned. I think I found out about RGMUK from the Durango Dan posts, a much missed blogger. I did try to email David (RGMUK) a couple of times as I was interested in getting one of the water service cars but never got a reply and just assumed the whole lot had closed down. As for GAL line I have never seen anything on there, apart from an interior embellishing kit for an RPO/Combine, that related to D&RGW. In the UK there seems to be quite a proliferation now of laser cut ply/MDF that have sprung up to cater for the 16mm market - some recent product being aimed squarely at the US 2ft narrow gauge subject area. Anyhow nice to know the background and a pity it seems the numbers cannot be made to add up to revive the range. Max
Hey Max - PM me and I can get you connected. It is mostly "closed down" these days - although there are a few bits still knocking about in the workshop (at least, there were in December, during my last visit... $%#@ covid!
)You're right - the RPO was the big thing that really competed and redirected stateside business... but as I was told, there was a group (led by a curmudgeonly older East Coast modeler) that would have other cars fabricated for them privately (the "custom" services on offer).
Oh well, onwards I guess. And yes, DD is sorely missed... though I wonder how many modelers are left out there to read his blog!
Since this is the "workbench" thread, I better offer up something on topic before the wrath of the Mods falls from the sky!
Here is my latest...
Finishing up a few modifications to the stock LGB Calanda wagon... trying to get it to it's newest incarnation within this paint scheme era (it's since changed completely, but this style with some updates still works for early 2000's). Primarily this was a blue tape intensive "mask and spray" effort... just finishing the job LGB should have done at the factory.
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I am *so* tempted to get some stripped plastic, which is presently States-side, sent to you to lay some paint on, before it comes to me! 
