Cavendish Model Kits

[Artisan]

Does anyone know anything about Cavendish coach and wagon kits which I believe were made back in the 1970s?

[Jerry Howlett]

I had some, unmade kits  but sold them possibly to someone on this forum.

The were printed sides but with clear windows , with plastic roofs and white metal ends, bogies buffers.  I had the Gresley Articulated dining car set in LNER teak but just looking at it made me put it straight back in the box.  A bit beyond my construction standards.

Jerry

[Artisan]

I had some, unmade kits  but sold them possibly to someone on this forum.

The were printed sides but with clear windows , with plastic roofs and white metal ends, bogies buffers.  I had the Gresley Articulated dining car set in LNER teak but just looking at it made me put it straight back in the box.  A bit beyond my construction standards.

Jerry

Thanks for the response. In your opinion do you think they are fairly good for what they are? The reason I ask is because there is a chance I may be able to get some of the kits. Kit assembly for me is not a problem so I would welcome your thoughts on quality and realism. What I don't want to do is waste my money. 

[martyn]

They are very similar to the printed side coach kits still produced by Etched Pixels/Ultima.

http://www.ultima-models.co.uk/catalogue/lms-printed.html

http://www.ultima-models.co.uk/catalogue/lner-gresley.html

When Colin had Ultima, he did quite a range of kits similar to Cavendish; colour printed sides (ergo, no painting of complex colours/shades/lining), metal floor, white metal ends, and plastic or aluminium roofs. Most had bogies, sometimes plastic, sometimes metal, IIRC.

They made up quite well, but I did have a few problems getting the sides to stick to the roof and floor, but, in general, quite good for their age.

I also used Cavendish and Ultima printed sides on Mike Howarth kits when these were the only way to get LMS/LMR coaches.

HTH

martyn

[ScottishModeller]

Hi all,

Cavendish - Coach kits...

Takes me back to my youth!

They were the only way to create a realistic rake of coaches.

At the time the only othr coaches were the Graham Farish ones in either suburban or mainline and all the same coaches used for all the Grouping companies and BR.

Yes - they were a bit of a pain to build, but, with no other way at the time, what else could you use?

Compared to kits of today inc Mike Howarth , Etched Pixels, Bill Bedford they still stand up and look good.

But, compared to the RTR coaches of today, don't look good!

Thanks

[thebrighton]

I built a fair few Gresley's in teak back in the day and still have a couple unbuilt kits. IIRC they were spoiled by the teak affect which consisted of overscale yellow grain. Still looked good from a distance with a lot of variety.

[Bob G]

If you think about it, you have answered the question yourself, by saying they originated in the 1970s.
They were all you had at the time, and they were more prototypical compared with RTR 40 years ago, but 40 years on, they will not stack up against current RTR.

Bob

[joe cassidy]

These kits with printed sides were easier to build than etched metal kits.

The other advantage was that you didn't have to worry about transfers.

I have a 50' Stanier full brake and it doesn't look too bad in a rake with Farish Staniers (at normal viewing distance).

Best regards,


Joe