I second David Andrews. I have never met him but we have talked on the phone and chatted by email. Ironic that we didn't live that far apart at the time. Had long chats about his book on the GWR Moguls and why he never produced a kit. I still have two unopened kit boxes, a Patriot and a second Compound. His Castle kit continues to stagnate. Must finish it one of these days! I am very tempted by his latest LMS 4F.
Which brings me to Jim McGeown of Connoisseur Models. What a guy! He and I have met at several shows and I only wish he made more kits that fit my sphere, just the Jinty and the 4F, my first and second 7mm scale kits. You see the Jinty every time I post on WT. His instructions and other PDFs are the best in the business (well, Finney7 instructions are good too!)
For coach kits what's not to like about Malcom Binns and Side Lines. Malcolm always responds by return and ships almost as quickly.
It's people like these who make 7mm scale modelling so compelling. Thank you!