Nick Dunhill's Workshop. Victorian Models GWR no 34

[Eastsidepilot]

David,
Your right in saying that different kits probably need different levels of skill to complete, some will be easier than others.
My main gripe with some kits is the fact that some parts are just totally wrong and impossible to use in the construction and should not be sold as a 'kit'.
I think it's why I prefer scratch building.

Col.

 

[Bigjohn]

East side pilot………..worth every penny???????? Try selling it the day after you purchased it. I recently disposed of my O gauge locos, mainly scratch built 50 years of hobby time,after haggle, ..price £100 a pop. Were it not for age related need to dispose I would have been better off stripping out the Harris wheels and porters caps and selling the rest for the scrap prices mentioned above. Desire plus wealth distorts value and expectations. Why would someone spend £10,000 on a used postage stamp or £10,000,000 on a fine art painting. Because they want to (and can). If you want to buy a kit you will. If you want to scratchbuild you will. If you want to buy out of the box you can that’s the width of a hobby
Just try to be happy with your choice and development of your skills.
I shall now look for my slippers and sit in my armchair…………

 

[Ian@StEnochs]

East side pilot………..worth every penny???????? Try selling it the day after you purchased it. I recently disposed of my O gauge locos, mainly scratch built 50 years of hobby time,after haggle, ..price £100

Bigjohn,

You could have spent your time and money knocking a wee white ball into a hole in a field! 2nd hand golf clubs are 10 a penny.
Cash isn't everything, just remember the satisfaction you got from building something unique, Priceless!

Ian.

 

[Bigjohn]

Ian……quite so ………is that not what I suggested in my post??????
“Be happy with your choice and development of your skills”

 

[Eastsidepilot]

East side pilot………..worth every penny???????? Try selling it the day after you purchased it. I recently disposed of my O gauge locos, mainly scratch built 50 years of hobby time,after haggle, ..price £100 a pop. Were it not for age related need to dispose I would have been better off stripping out the Harris wheels and porters caps and selling the rest for the scrap prices mentioned above. Desire plus wealth distorts value and expectations. Why would someone spend £10,000 on a used postage stamp or £10,000,000 on a fine art painting. Because they want to (and can). If you want to buy a kit you will. If you want to scratchbuild you will. If you want to buy out of the box you can that’s the width of a hobby
Just try to be happy with your choice and development of your skills.
I shall now look for my slippers and sit in my armchair…………

I'll say it again worth every penny of a skilled model builders time, effort and research, in fact most of the guys I know who are professional builders don't charge enough in my estimation ! As for any profit
Obviously skill and time is not appreciated by some !

Col.

 

[simond]

I don’t think it’s a lack of appreciation of skill or quality.

The bottom line is that even very good models sell cheaply second hand, and are unlikely to achieve anything like their cost. Even on the likes of Ellis Clark’s website, decent kit built locos fetch not much above the cost of the kit, wheels & motor, and probably do not cover the cost of a pro paint job. Disposing of John Matthews‘ collection was a bit dispiriting.

Top end models by known pro builders do fetch considerably more, but I doubt they cover their cost when sold second hand.

I guess the moral is to have and enjoy what you can afford, whether it’s a couple of Dapols, or something magnificent and unique, built to order, or anywhere in between.

 

[Solebay]

If you want someone to build a kit for you, it will involve several weeks' worth of skilled labour, and you will have to be prepared to pay appropriately. Nick Dunhill's rates seem entirely reasonable to me. But Bigjohn's point that you won't be able to recoup your money if you try to sell the completed result is also true. It's a sad fact that prices on the open market do not reflect the skill and effort that went into the building.

As for selling a lifetime's worth of scratchbuilt models --- something we might all have to face one day --- the very best you can hope for is to find loving homes for them, and for that, you might have to give them away, or sell for token amounts.

 

[Eastsidepilot]

You'll never get back the money spent on a bespoke service, the market always dictates.
O gauge models always seem to fetch a slightly higher price than Scale Seven for example because there's a bigger market, but it's the same for anything really, I used to build motorcycles ( Tritons ) from basket cases and spare parts, ending up with a fully restored machine, then sell it on after a year or so, I never was able to recover the cost of my time and effort.
But back to model railways the only loco's for example that I've seen sell second hand and retain there original price were Masterpiece Models, not all, but a fair few.

Col.

 

[Matt.S.]

Strewth. After all that - how's progress @nick?

Looks like you really captured the look of the beast so far.

 

[40057]

Model railways are like many other items. Don’t buy them as an investment and expect to make money. Buy what you like and get your money’s worth from enjoying your trains.

Antique toy and model trains were fetching high prices 10–20 years ago. I still think if you had bought the item for, say, £10 in 1930, the sale price in 2000 was probably lower in real terms than it cost originally. Now it certainly would be. If you bought vintage ‘collectible’ trains 20 years ago, you won’t get back what you paid as prices have dropped for most items. Some rarities still fetch very high prices, but most things cost less than they used to and far less than they did when new after taking inflation into account.

 

[Bigjohn]

At some risk of topic drift,,,,,,the quality (or otherwise) of kits is questioned, elsewhere on this forum the running of a RTR pannier model is questioned , a diesel RTR has problems with drive gearing. Are we expecting too much from suppliers or are we encouraging poor quality by purchasing such models? Or could be down to luck. The purchaser has the ultimate power.