I probably already know the answers I’going to get but I sent a Locomotive away a long time ago (3-4 years ago) and I’m still waiting to get it back. All I wanted was a new set of drivers and paint touch ups. The last e-mail hasn’t got a response yet…
I figure I’m screwed
Fergie
Fergie,
You must be a highly trusting person. That’s really a long time, for anything.
Sure took a long time, to figure out Your last sentence. [:)]
Good Luck!
Frank
A new set of drivers?? Is this a steamer we are talking about? And then, what make? I do those type of jobs as well, and in some cases there will be a waiting time for up to a year or two as the small manufacturers have to accumulate orders before making a new batch… It happened to me last year. To finish a brass steamer I needed new headlights and air pump… those took 8 months to get, and 2 hours to finish the job!
I’m still waiting for a bunch of stuff to get painted. Problem is that it is me I’m waiting for to get on with the work![swg][D)][(-D]
Sending nasty messages doesn’t seem to work!!
Dave
Ten years. Of course, that’s waiting for me to get off my butt and paint the things.
They are still laughing at the PINK colour you wanted !!
Fla. Phil
This was somewhat similar to my experience with a locomotive which I was painting for a friend. For several years he had been searching for a USRA 2-10-2 which he wanted me to convert into a model of a CNR prototype. (The CNR had bought ten such locos from the B&A in the '20s, and they looked markedly different after going through CN’s shops. )
I finally found an Akane model of such a loco in a nearby hobby shop and he promptly purchased it. I then set about making a list of detail parts needed to do the conversion. Here’s the loco (minus its original long USRA tender, with a Bachmann one in its place):
After some time we had all the necesary parts on hand and work began. Here’s the chassis, already equipped with a good-size can motor by the previous owner:
…and work begun on the superstructure:
I continued to work on the loco in between working on my own stuff, but my wife decided to buy a fixer-upper house in a nearby town, and I switched my attention to doing the fixing-up. After about a year (lots of fixing) [banghead], I finally had time to return to modelling. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm for that loco had waned, and I struggled to even get much done on my own stuff. It’s fortunate that my friend is a patient man, and he never bugged me about that loco. In fact, he regularly brought me new acquisitions to be painted or detailed, and those were always done and returned promptly.
One day,
Fergie,
Do you have a telephone number? If so call or try to find one. Take it from someone who managed a commercial credit department for over 30 years. It is a lot tougher to ignore someone on the phone than an e-mail.
CN Charlie
I have some that are close to 5 or 6 years. Paint up a few P2K GP30s and patch a CB&Q SD24. I have the guy’s number, and I think he’s still on this forum (heck, we’re on facebook). The last I heard he had to order a fan for a Atlas SD24…
Wayne:
That is truly a masterpiece!
Dave
Thanks for your kind words, Dave. My friend was pleased, and I felt pretty good about it, too, the long delay notwithstanding.
Wayne
Wayne,
Ditto, on the Masterpiece.
What was Your phone number again? [Y] [:D]
Frank
Frank…sent you a PM. [swg]
Wayne
On average, my turn-around time is three to four months … usually due to back-log. I’ve had a couple that stretched out to around six months, but I keep in contant contact with my clients so they know I haven’t forgotten about them. I personally hate when projects sit around too long.
Being in Canada, getting parts sometimes can really add to the time factor. If in the middle of a project, an obscure part is needed, it can easily add a couple weeks just to get it, even if it’s found right away.
Mark.
I figure you’re probably right.
I had my LHS do a sound decoder installation in a switcher. It took 2 or 3 months, as I recall. He has someone else do some of these.
It was OK. I have enough switchers, so I wasn’t sitting there with a yard full of cars and no way to get them to the main. And, when I got it back, I was really happy with the results.
I still need to finish my SP&S #869 and 213 Alco F unit set… those are waiting on an airbrush, which is waiting on me. it’s been atleast 6 months.
9 years.
I do all of my own work on everything. I picked up a Penn Line 4-4-2, in the Pennsy flavor at the last train show held in the Reno Nevada area in 2005. It was an absolute wreck. Got it out this past weekend and began to give it the attention it needed. Since I have no LHS I ordered online, the 00-90 tap (among other things) I need to finish the rods.
Mark H
I’ve waited years - but that’s because it sits with the other half a million projects on my workbench. 3-4 years after sending something to a supposed ‘pro’ I’d be more than a little angry. I understand these people get busy and you aren;t going to get back a professionally painted model in just a few weeks, for 3-4 years is beyond “I was busy with previous committments”
Perhaps this person is no longer living, and the family had no idea what all that stuff he was working on was, or who it belonged to. That’s about the only valid excuse there could be for years with no communication.
–Randy
3 months currently. I need to purchase a new motor for a Bluebox GP35. I bought the shell/frame in January, Bought the decals/gloss coat in February, assembled in March, and now am waiting for Atheran to get their DCC ready Motors in stock.