Garden Railway Forum

MDLR:117578 wrote:

GardenRail:117569 wrote:The moot point here is the number of people prepared to build or modify. The 16mm Association did pretty well out of their kit – although I have not seen that many completed as yet.

This is not strictly true. The Association did Victory as a "no profit" exercise - the small surplus which has accrued is to be donated to charities connected to Keith Dyer, who designed it.

Yes - poor choice of words Brian. I meant in terms of number produced...

How many Victory kits were produced?

Some progress has been made. I have now sourced suppliers for gears, CNC turned parts such as wheels and someone to do the laser cutting. I have some numbers to crunch before I decide how much to invest. My current contract pays well so I can afford to invest with falling into debt. I'm playing the long game here. Some parts will have to be made in quantity but they are generic so can be used in future designs as well as being sold on their own to loco builders. I already have all I need in terms of machines and tooling except for the odd drill or tap.

Being a professional modelmaker now since 1988 I have a bit of experience about making money from models,We always reckon on average that the material costs alone of any model ( whatever it is ) should be about 10% without labour so a £300 quid engine should be about £30. Its always very seductive to assume that you can sub out all your CNC and get it back and bolt it together.
I'm at the moment building a Keith Bucklitch Brazil class loco and I have 3x 3D CNC machines to help me, but the reality of setting them up for each part is considerable I can assure you and I'm only doing one for myself! As I mentioned in an earlier post its ok for Roundhouse and Accucraft to get and make large orders but they have a constant stream of mentions in the model railway press, as a one man band you might get a mention once in the magazines but what happens the month after?this could be a problem as I've also noticed that garden railway modellers are not so forward in championing new products on the net as their plastic kit modeller counterparts.
John

I don't plan to sub out all parts. Currently only considering unions, boiler bushes, wheels and gears. Plus laser cutting of steel parts of course. Laser cutting is a small outlay as prices are good from qty as low as 25 sets. My aim is to build an initial batch of 25 locos and take it from there.

This is something I have wanted to try for a long time and I am now in a position where I have enough money to get started. It's only about 2 weeks pay I'm putting into this. If it doesn't work out it is not a big deal.

Busted Bricks:117581 wrote:How many Victory kits were produced?

200 I think. (?) At NGRS 2014 it was possible to sign up for a new batch of Victory kits, but the interest turned out to be too low.

Have you considered running your Cracker project as a kickstarter project? Or setting up your own website taking preorders and/or uncommitted interests?

I'm surprised that many kits were sold but that's good to hear.

I'm not a fan of Kickstarter and I don't think it is available for my country anyway. People seem to have this idea they are investing in a business when in reality it is just a pre-order system for something that may or may not see the light of day. Plus Kickstarter take a share of the proceeds.

I'm generally not keen on taking orders for something I haven't made yet. Products will be put up for sale when they are available. I have found that people who express an interest in a product are rarely the ones who actually buy it. I will never take money up front unless it is a bespoke product and there is a very clear written agreement about the terms. When you are a one man band, things can and do go wrong some times.

I already have a fully featured online shop and a Facebook presence for my business, Busted Bricks (blame the late Colin Binnie for that name). I also have a Youtube channel. Currently with 303 subscribers but my kit business has been dormant for quite a while. One video has over 100,000 views.

I know a professional videographer and photographer who owns an advertising business. He owes me a favour so I can have a nice promo video made.

Kickstarter is a good thing for those who need funding to get started. I wasn't aware that you were already in the business and well suited. A batch of 25 probably sold within two years should be quite ok to give it a try.

can I register an interest in buying one,

In a Victory? They're not being produced anymore.

No the busted bricks loco

Thanks!

The plans are on hold for the time being. Since the UK would be my main market I have to see what impact the Brexit decision will have. The drop in the exchange rate means the UK price would be higher than originally planned.

Anyway, it looks like I may get my contract extended until the end of the year so that buys me some time.

Michael

I've come a small step closer to my goal of making locos. Today I purchased an automatic Schaublin lathe that I can make some of the fittings on. The guy I bought it from can CNC turn the parts for me I can't make on the Schaublin and his prices are very reasonable.

Not much will happen until next year though. January 2018 we will relocate to Denmark.

I had to take money out of the fiber laser budget to help pay for the house we have bought. However there is a small business grant I can apply for that may help fund the laser.

Good luck with your project.

What type of locos were you thinking of producing?

Cracker and other simple geared oscillator locos. Aimed at the budget end of the market. Possibly as bolt together kits as well as RTR.

Bolt together kits would be most interesting. Many people have good mechanical skills but lack the ability to machine stuff.
However I have heard from someone who offered his products as kits or ready made that there are sometimes problems with people being unable to build the kit and blaming their own lack of skills and sense on the kit.
I for one like the idea of a basic running chassis and boiler as a kit and then options for the rest of the build.

Should the boiler be a kit as well (ready to solder with flanged ends) or ready to use do you reckon? Perhaps both?

I can't see any problems with offering both. No need to keep the boilers made up. Just assemble when required.
Might be worth checking the liability issues with selling assembled boilers though.

I have looked into boilers and if I make them ready to use, they will be tested on certified test equipment and the test procedure documented.

Fair enough.

I would buy one tomorrow if you had any built.