Hello to everyone.
This is the first time I have posted on this site because to do so might be construed as ‘cheap advertising’ by a commercial organization but I think I had better bring you up to date with what is going on with the new Severn before my reputation is shredded beyond recovery.
Firstly, Stan did indeed pay for his Severn at Warwick but he was aware of the delays in getting it into production. I have spoken to him several times since, we chat a lot. Stan is now a pal as much as a customer and I would hate to think that he thinks he’s been given the runaround. He is disappointed no doubt by the delay that is true but believe me, I'm trying very hard and Stan is very supportive.
He is not the only one who is waiting and I am painfully aware of this. It is all my fault for saying it would be ready far too optimistically.
I need to start selling these kits ASAP. This kit has cost me a fortune so far and I need to sell some so the delays are a real commercial problem for me.
One of pre-production problems I had was the fibre-glass man going out of business after just ten hulls and just proving the moulds were mine was an issue I could well have done without.
Still, I have a good supplier now so all’s well as they say.
There are two reasons for the on going delay.
Firstly the masters for the castings were a nightmare to do and took months longer than I had planned. The reason for this was that all the handrailings (and the mast) are all castings, you don’t have to fabricate any of them and they are all spot on scale and very detailed. They are all cast as flat parts and so the final shape (the masters) has to be ‘developed’ by CAD and then trial and error. Masters made, moulds made, castings cast, parts bent to shape and then fitted to the kit to get everything spot on. Too ambitious really but done now at last.
The second massive workload was the instructions which include plan, front, rear and side elevations of the Newhaven Lifeboat. All done from scratch and all ‘as built’. Nothing was done from RNLI drawings, this is really accurate stuff.
As many of you know, the wheelhouse is all laser-cut Perspex. 232 parts I think, all pre-cut cut perfectly to size and engraved with surface detail. Similarly, the detail parts amount to some eight sheets of laser-cut Perspex and five sheets of etched brass and stainless steel. There are about fifty castings, all centrifugally cast in Pewter, no ‘white metal blobs ‘ in this.
The kit includes a new unique twin shaft motor mount complete with cooling fans , couplings and prop shafts. The running sets are all brass and stainless all purpose mad by George Sitek.
I am trying to produce a worlds first with this model. There is nothing else like it. If it all works and the kit is as popular as I hope it is going to be then the Tamar will be done the same way as well perhaps as a battleship (the Potemkin is on the cards) and we have started work on a 1/16th scale Landing Craft Mechanical (LCM3). Some of you will have seen the USS Monitor I did this year (in between jobs?) and that has worked really well.
I hope I am bringing real quality to modelers that is simply not available anywhere else (the other manufacturers probably have more business sense)?
On top of all this, I had a visit from two VAT and Inland Revenues inspectors who had received a tip off that I was running an illegal business from home!
Well, they went away happy, (I do pay my dues) but it does make you wonder who and why people should do such a thing.
On the bright side, it did make the accountants bill worth it!
So, it’s a great kit and it will be worth the wait.
Incidentally, everyone who order on previously will be getting it at the price agreed then and that is less than it is now.
I have gone on a lot so maybe I’ll edit all this rubbish out and just say sorry for the delay, this ‘cottage’ industry is trying his best.
If anyone would like to hear how we are going from the horses mouth, call 01455 637658 or email me at a.gosling@ntlworld.com and I will do my best to answer any questions.
Happy Christmas and have a great New Years modeling.
Adrian Gosling
Speedline Models Ltd.
