Precision Miniatures, based in Johannesburg South Africa,
specialises in H.O. models of South African Railways (Transnet) locomotives and rolling stock.

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Newsletter February 2011  

We are expecting a large shipment of stock to arrive from the UK in the first week of March.
Unfortunately due to the weakening of the Rand against the Stirling there will be slight increase in price. We anticipate that it will be less than 10%, in addition we have been able to negotiate a better shipping rate which will hopefully absorb most of the increase.

We are running a special to clear out the last two HOm GMAM Garratt kits from the old stock. These can be bought for R4,300.00 each including postage anywhere in South Africa.Work has started on the relaunch of the Class 23. The new version will be wholly manufactured in South Africa, and will a chassis milled from a solid billet of brass. This we believe will vastly improve the running characteristics of the model. The tender floor, bogies and leading and trailing bogies on the loco will also be milled from solid. As with all the new locos from the Precision Miniatures stable these will be available in both 12mm and 16.5mm versions in ready to run format only.

We have now got the correct South African Railway steam whistle sound file installed in the sound decoders that we supply and fit in the ready to run locos supplied by ourselves.

Precision Miniatures will have a presence at the Cape Town Model Railroad Convention giving Conventioneers an opportunity to see our ready to run locos and what is inside of the box of a kit to see whether it is a project you would want to tackle.

Regards

Rod Hering

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Newsletter October 2010

 Hi all, If you are reading this you will be on our new revamped website. It is our intention to make this site more interesting and newsworthy to those who have an interest in modeling the glory days of the South African Railways. We would also appreciate your comments, and ideas for improvements.

To this end you will see that we have included the construction manuals for the individual kits, as a service to help you decide wether you want to tackle building the kit yourself, or rather buy the ready to run versions that we supply. There is an article written by a model builder in each of the instruction manuals to help you with construction of the kits, and we will be expanding on this subject in future newsletters.

 Obviously, the big news is the launch of the 19D with the Vanderbilt tender. As with all our models this will be available in both 16.5mm and 12mm gauge versions. The new tender is manufactured from brass, with a few resin detail castings. The brass construction is in line with the materials used in all of our models, and ensures good electrical continuity and strength. This makes it a vast improvement on the previous resin version offered by another party.

Unfortunately, due to the cost of producing this tender as a kit, this model will only be available as a ready to run item. As with all of our models it will carry our normal 12 month warranty on our workmanship.

This model has been very well received with the first 14 already having buyers who have paid deposits.

 In addition we have started work on a new version of the Class 23 locomotive. On this model we are going to use a chassis for the loco and tender that will be machined from billet brass. This will be a departure from the traditional fabricated chassis used in the past and we believe this lead to more reliable and better running characteristics. We will keep you informed of progress via these newsletters.

 On the website you will see that we have included a price list of components for scratch builders. All of the items on the list are available for immediate shipment.

As an Authorised Distributor for DJH Engineering we are able to supply replacement parts for all of the models that we supply. However this is strictly for replacement parts only, as DJH have a policy of not supplying parts from their kits for scratch builders.

 We have also made payment easier and safer by subscribing to PayPal. This will be up and running shortly.

 Regards

 Rod Hering

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Newsletter November 2011letwords_sp_new.gifter No.

First item of news is that the progress on the new version of the Class 23 has been very slow due to a very busy motorsport schedule in 2011.

We have a prototype chassis running, based on the principle of a chassis machined on a 6 axis numerically controlled machine. This has ensured absolute accuracy in axle spacing which has resulted in a chassis with excellent adhesion and smooth running straight out of the box.

On the old 23 with etched frames etc. the parts count for the bare chassis was 16, made up of frames, spacers, spreaders, screws bushes etc. The new version has a parts count of ONE.

Now that the concept works, we intend to tidy up the design, and will include sacrificial axle bushes.

So when your loco has run for many hundreds of hours we can simply replace the bushes, to make it as good as new.

 The 19D with the MX tender continues to sell well, and we have another shipment of ten 19D kits arriving at the end of November. Unfortunately the collapse of the Rand recently will lead to an increase in price of about 15%. All the other locos will remain at their current prices as they were imported at the beginning of the year, at a very favourable exchange rate.

 We currently have two ready to run AD60 Garratts in stock that we imported and built on spec. We are selling these at R8,500.00 each including VAT. Compare our price to the DJH website, do the math and phone us today to secure yours.

 Precision Miniatures is also proud to be associated with Jan Gouws of SARMS, in distributing his fine range of SAR coaches and goods wagons.

The quality of the finnish is superb, and the full Blue Train rake is something to see.

We have a range of his products on display at Model Train Exchange in Randburg. We will be featuring the full range in full colour on the website soon.

 The Precision Miniatures home layout in Randburg is going to be de commissioned in the New Year for an extensive rewiring programme to take advantage of the advances of computer control and DCC.

This layout is an SAR layout set in the Eastern Transvaal (where the f... is Mpumalanga)in the early 1970's, and uses the correct 12mm gauge track If anyone would like to view the layout in December before the trains stop (just like the current Transnet) please phone Rod on 082 7805110 to arrange a suitable time

 Until next time please be careful out there and have a safe and joyous festive season.

 

 

 

 

 

ber 2010

 

Hi all, If you are reading this you will be on our new revamped website. It is our intention to make this site more interesting and newsworthy to those who have an interest in modeling the glory days of the South African Railways. We would also appreciate your comments, and ideas for improvements.

To this end you will see that we have included the construction manuals for the individual kits, as a service to help you decide wether you want to tackle building the kit yourself, or rather buy the ready to run versions that we supply. There is an article written by a model builder in each of the instruction manuals to help you with construction of the kits, and we will be expanding on this subject in future newsletters.

 

Obviously, the big news is the launch of the 19D with the Vanderbilt tender. As with all our models this will be available in both 16.5mm and 12mm gauge versions. The new tender is manufactured from brass, with a few resin detail castings. The brass construction is in line with the materials used in all of our models, and ensures good electrical continuity and strength. This makes it a vast improvement on the previous resin version offered by another party.

Unfortunately, due to the cost of producing this tender as a kit, this model will only be available as a ready to run item. As with all of our models it will carry our normal 12 month warranty on our workmanship.

This model has been very well received with the first 14 already having buyers who have paid deposits.

 

In addition we have started work on a new version of the Class 23 locomotive. On this model we are going to use a chassis for the loco and tender that will be machined from billet brass. This will be a departure from the traditional fabricated chassis used in the past and we believe this lead to more reliable and better running characteristics. We will keep you informed of progress via these newsletters.

 

On the website you will see that we have included a price list of components for scratch builders. All of the items on the list are available for immediate shipment.

As an Authorised Distributor for DJH Engineering we are able to supply replacement parts for all of the models that we supply. However this is strictly for replacement parts only, as DJH have a policy of not supplying parts from their kits for scratch builders.

 

We have also made payment easier and safer by subscribing to PayPal. This will be up and running shortly.

 

Regards

Rod Hering