Having been looking forward to meeting our customers and friends once again at the Wiltshire Trade Show on 4 December we are very sorry to have to announce that Masterpiece Models will now not be able to attend the show.

John Borkowski is currently abroad, returning to the UK on Friday 3 December. While has has been away, the Government has imposed a new programme of precautions to limit the spread of the new Omicron variant of Cononavirus, meaning that John will need to take a PCR test when he returns and then self-isolate pending a hopefully negative result. That means there is no possibility of him attending the show.

To all those who were hoping to meet us at Wootton Bassett we are truly sorry, but in the spirit of optimism that characterises our hobby we look forward to some degree of normality returning next year. In the meantime you can follow progress with our models and availability on this website.

Assuming that the Omicron virus does not impact production in South Korea we are still anticipating delivery of Collett Halls, Modified Halls, 28XX and 38XX 2-8-0s to the UK in the near future.

Please do contact us about any model that interests you and we will be happy to discuss details or send photographs as required.

We are delighted to tell you that, at long last, we will be attending a show once again. Following the cancellation of the Reading 0 Gauge Trade Show, Nigel Smith of Omen Miniatures has, at short notice, pulled together an exciting replacement pre-Christmas trade show which Masterpiece Models and 20 other carefully selected, quality traders will attend.

It will take place on Saturday 4 December at Royal Wootton Bassett Memorial Hall, SN4 8EN
(Near M4 Jct16 Swindon)

Admission will be by ticket purchased in advance only (Covid control).
You can find out more and purchase tickets HERE. We are very much looking forward to meeting our old friends and customers (and new ones too!) to start the festive season.

For many customers the show will provide the first opportunity to take a close look at our new Western Diesels. We will also be displaying and running examples of our 70XX 'Castles', 'Granges', 47XX 2-8-0 and pannier tanks. The first production models of our 'Halls' and 'Modified Halls' are also nearing completion in Korea and it may be possible to ship one to the UK in time for the show. See you there!

Why, you may ask, is it taking so long to deliver the new Masterpiece Models ‘Western’ diesels to patient customers? After all, it’s a couple of months since they arrived in the UK, so surely all the pre-delivery checks should have been completed by now?

Well, you could say that we have found ourselves at the centre of a perfect storm. The ‘Western’ is by far the most complex and sophisticated model we have ever produced, both in terms of fittings, drive train, lighting, sound, electronics as well as mechanics. As the production progressed we would normally have made one or more visits to Korea to carry out wide ranging checks and inspections, but with the onset of the pandemic we had to face the fact that South Korea was a ‘no-go’ destination. We were able to monitor some of the work via photographs and videos, but some details and functions just could not be checked fully by those means.

Rather than delay import once the build was complete, we arranged for the ‘Westerns’ to be shipped and, as you have seen from the photos on this site, the models are absolutely stunning. However, we never make any assumptions so we began the long task of checking every model visually, with instruments and with running tests. Two issues came to light: the first, which was beyond our control, is that the manufacturers of the electronic decoders have updated the firmware necessary to operate them, meaning that each decoder has to be reprogrammed and re-wired. This work will be carried out by our sound engineer.

Secondly, the complex drive train from the large and powerful Maxon motor has to be set up in a very specific way to deliver the surge of power we want at all speeds. The builder had clearly struggled with some of the settings we demanded so, taking two unreserved models as ‘mules’ – one in 0 gauge and one in Scale 7 – we implemented some engineering changes to the transmission. We have now arrived at a very successful solution which will now be applied to all the models.

Much as we would like to say to everyone who has reserved one of these splendid machines that they will have their model in the next week or two, realistically this work will take time – probably 2 to 3 months – so customers will, we hope, receive their models by Christmas.

We do appreciate that this delay is irritating, but the whole ethos of Masterpiece Models is to produce the best ready-to-run 0 gauge and Scale 7 models available today and we won’t compromise by releasing sub-standard models to the market. When you do receive your ‘Western’ you will know that it is the best model it can possibly be. After all, that is what you are paying for.

In the meantime here are a couple more photos, this time of D1015 in the unique golden ochre livery.

14 September 2021

We have undertaken a major photographic session and you can view the pictures in a gallery HERE.

We are busy checking through all the 'Western' diesel hydralics as we have been unable to do that in Korea due to the travel restrictions. Deliveries to customers will soon begin, but we are so excited about these models that we wanted to share some more images with you.

Just the golden ochre liveried engines still to photograph now...

You can check availability and make a reservation HERE.

20 July 2021