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Chivers Finelines have today posted on Facebook that the business is undergoing some very heavy weather at the moment. There’s talk of (from Chivers), this may be the end for them. I hope not.

I’ve built a few of their kits most recently a batch of eight MDV’s -mdv-in-the-bag/ and they are excellent. An obvious question would be why not buy the Accurascale RTR models of the same wagon, also an excellent product? Well here’s the thing, the Chivers product is so good it sits easily alongside the Accurascale MDO/MDV, so well that I felt no desire to buy the RTR version, and enjoyed the experience of building the kits. In a minor way in a couple of areas the kits are better, the thickness of the top edges are better on the kit. This is due to the RTR body moulding, as it’s a one piece ‘box’ the top edges need the thickness to prevent inward bowing particularly as the moulding cools. So that is where the kit edges it in appearance. The underframe is good too and a bit of additional wire makes the underside pop like vthe RTR version. There’s a cost benefit too, the kits are roughly half the price of the RTR version, and the wheels couplings and transfers push the price up a bit, but not by a great deal.

This isn’t a pop at RTR manufacturers or those that buy from them, rather a desire that people might look ok at alternatives to RTR to vary their stock mix and liveries, and that holds across scales too. An often heard response is that ‘I’ll never get to the paint finish of RTR products’, that is true for the greater majority of us. However without practical experience that will never happen, you’ll have to have some crap results along the pathway, we’ve all been there. On Shelfie 4 at the moment, (see above), there’s a rake of kit built wagons waiting finishing, and it’s been enjoyable getting them ready.

There isn’t an easy answer to the problem, interesting prototypes both in terms of large fleets and special traffic are naturally of interest to kit manufacturers as well as RTR suppliers. I always encourage people who ask about items I’ve built to have a go themselves and guide them to the easy starting points. An couple of easy wins builds the confidence for more challenging kits that may be older tooling. But when you have a kit like the Chivers MDV below, they are a brilliant starting point, if you’re thinking of taking the first steps, this kit will see you right, give it a try!