Wow, know what next kit to build is ....

Is it by a well known builder and/or painter? Is there something exceptional about it?

MBQ

Not that I can see. Thought at first must be 'O' guage. Description of pivot/springing of wheels sounds impressive, but there shouldnt be any need for the reason given. Cant see reason for double shafted motor either.

Cheers, Simon

If it's in 4mm, then probably a London Road Models kit, if 7mm, probably Scorpio..

Probably because the builder wanted to drive more than one pair of wheels

- it's not like they're coupled..

It quite clearly states that it is an LRM kit on 16.5mm gauge wheels, so not even finescale.

I can't believe any normal person would bid =A3820 on the basis of three small pictures on Ebay without an attribution to one of the "gods" of loco building/painting.

MBQ

When I looked it quite clearly stated that the advert had expired, and nothing else, so I didn't have that information to hand..

I fail to understand your point.. given the limited proportion of "normal" (for, perhaps, "normal" definitions of "normal"..) people who'd be likely to buy locomotive kits, let alone kit-built locomotives, let alone kit-built locomotives of a rather rare and obscure prototype...

I'd find it interesting (and compared with O, which I was fiddling about with to no great effect for some years, it seems positively cheap..), but then I'm quite happily not normal :)

Link had been chopped, so here again :-

Tis a very nice loco but top class DJH completed models go for much less and could commision such a build for far less than that. LRM models are not difficult to build.

Cheers, Simon

I think its just a bidding war between two or three buyers. That's what auctions can do.

As for the price/cost of commissioning loco builds, how much per hour do you think skilled time is worth ? In the O-gauge community there seems to be some realism on the value of a skilled builder's time. As scales decrease, generally there appears to be, at least in the UK, is less inclination to pay sensible rates for work.

As a marketplace, there is, of course a conflict/competition between a skilled builder selling stuff at a realistic wage rate (to put bread on his table and a roof over his head), and a hobby builder who just wants to sell something for hopefully more than the parts cost. Compounded again by sales of collections of deceased people.

- Nigel

snipped-for-privacy@news.aber.ac.uk...

om...

The original link was fine. It's Ebay that are having a few problems.

MBQ

Was looking at it from what have seen available as "buy it now" on ebay as well as some trader stalls. I dont have a view on what should be charged, locos are a luxury item so leave to the market is my feeling. Tis interesting that kit built 'O' guage sells at about GBP1000 compared to '00' of GBP250, yet not sure that theres that much extra involved in the larger guage. Perhaps its more related to the cost of RTR products. One trader recently told me that the price of completed '00' kit locos had halved in the past few years mainly because of the upward trend in quality of RTR products.

as an aside, I have a birthday approaching and have been asked what would like. Am considering a LRM LNWR kit, but the choice wont be based on potential reseale value ;-)

cheers, Simon

Cheers, Simon

It's also a private auction, so my suspicions would be aroused immediately. There's really only one reason for sellers making an auction for something like this private, but there has to be at least one genuine bidder!

Even so, as others have said, it seems a high price for a built model without a "name" tag on it.

ebay hides the names of bidders on all auctions now - people were using the information about buyers to creat 'second chance' messages that funneled any money paid into rogue accounts. Quite a large number of people had been conned!

The pictures are not detailed enough to know just how good a model it is, so I am probably with you on that.