Quote from: cornish yorkie on January 01, 2026, 09:14:56 PM
  Fingers crossed I have Class 313 arriving from Revolution Q1 2026
  stay safe regards Derek

I have Classes 314 and 483 on pre-order. Looking forward to these immensely.

It is going to be an expensive few months for modern modellers, with Dapol's Classes 33 and 87 due February and the 56 due April. The remaining Mk3s should now be due in July.

Quote from: Newportnobby on January 02, 2026, 11:53:37 AM

Quote from: Bob G on January 02, 2026, 11:49:40 AMI think of my collection(s) as (1) giving me pleasure in collecting and playing with them, and (2) supplanting my pension when I sell them. 

The proceeds may well supplant your pension but you'll get nowhere near what you paid for them in the first place (in the majority of cases)

If that's what you tell the taxman that's fine 

I'm happy so say that I do pretty much get what I paid for them, with the exception of wagons, and minus the EBay fee of course.

You just have to choose your time when selling. The periods February to June and September to November are best, while summer, and December and January are out. Sunday evening is a good time to end an auction.

Last year I was very surprised to sell all my old BHE and Worsley MU kits, because I would have thought 3D printing would have taken over, but with the demise of small producers like N-Brass and Worsley (heading to retirement) they have a certain niche value.

Bob
 

Quote from: Bob G on January 02, 2026, 11:49:40 AMI think of my collection(s) as (1) giving me pleasure in collecting and playing with them, and (2) supplanting my pension when I sell them. 

The proceeds may well supplant your pension but you'll get nowhere near what you paid for them in the first place (in the majority of cases)

I think of my collection(s) as (1) giving me pleasure in collecting and playing with them, and (2) supplanting my pension when I sell them.  Selling also offsets buying costs!

I'm also quite a heretic because if you look at the prices you can get non-moving models for, they are close to similar prices we expect for the powered DC versions we use, so I adopted the view that with Dapol tender drive locos (Schools class in particular) I was buying a static model for a diorama that sometimes worked. That attitude has certainly helped keep my blood pressure down.

Bob G

Quote from: Browning 9mm on January 02, 2026, 11:19:29 AMoften cheaper to buy new when needed, rather than pay D& G to repair. one of our washing machines some years ago cost more in spares to repair than a replacement, but they insisted in repairing rather than replacing.

It's only the motor that has stopped working, and its only 3 years old. I used to work in the environmental sector where one of the biggest gripes used to be the longevity of white goods.
The service engineer is coming on Monday (10 days after he was booked to come) and all he's going to do is look at it! TBH I'd like it to be repaired!

Bob

often cheaper to buy new when needed, rather than pay D& G to repair. one of our washing machines some years ago cost more in spares to repair than a replacement, but they insisted in repairing rather than replacing.

oh great, only six weeks till the sky is full of airborne fire bombs.
remember one landing on one of the buildings before I retired, no match for a fire extinguisher, but fields could catch fire, or cattle get entangled in the wire and pater when they landed.
perhaps a new wave of channel crossers, not dinghies, airborne

I absolutely agree with the suggestions to start with baby steps with a known good kit. Something like a Fourdees 009 loco which are known to fit Bachmann chassis well and can be painted and finished to a good standard by a newcomer.

Or there are lots of rolling stock kits from the N Gauge Society to cut your teeth on for very low cost.

The 444 kit could be worked up to as your confidence grows - and it'll be much cheaper if you can do it yourself.

Just adding a link to the listing for the 444, makes life easier to refer to it

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=177732211831

Yes I've read before about 3D prints which maybe re-sized from another scale or just drawn up according to the prototype dimensions, and not specifically tailored to make use of RTR parts such as a powered mechanism.   This is nothing new, some of the old white metal loco kits of the 60s/70s/80s required an existing chassis to be hacked about to fit. 

That doesn't mean it's impossible to produce fine model but requires a lot of experience, a wide skill set and a lot of workbench time.   People with such skills all had to start somewhere with simple models and so can you

Quote from: GWR_XC on January 02, 2026, 05:51:39 AMUnfortunately I do not have the skills or confidence to attempt such a task as building/painting a project like this

How do you know that? If you try, you might surprise yourself.
I didn't think that I had the skills until I tried, and when my club bought a 3D printer I found that what I could make was way beyond my previous dreams.

Why not try something simpler (and cheaper) as a start - maybe something that is designed to fit on a specific chassis, possibly an 0-4-0 or 0-6-0 shunter?