International parcels are arriving one after the other after NZ Post announced that the domestic delays have been resolved a week ago. We are still expecting quite a lot, but are very pleased that everything arrived in good condition so far.
Product of brands that have arrived include Armourfast, Italeri, MiniArt en Zvezda.
The website saw some useful improvements when it comes to estimating combined postage by users.
Kiro
The postage options on our website have been simplified. We removed 3 parcel size options that were hardly used anyway, but made our system more complicated.
At the moment there are 4 parcel size options left:
DLE - External: 235 x 130 x 70 mm - Internal: 230 x 118 x 68
A4-70 - External: 310 x 225 x 70 mm - Internal: 305 x 220 x 68
Big Box 1 - External: 430 x 310 x 190 mm - Internal: 425 x 305 x 185 mm
Big Box 2 - External: 430 x 310 x 380 mm - Internal: 425 x 305 x 375 mm
Publishing this type of information has its advantages. For more information and tips, see the topic "Website improvements (7)" later in this newsletter.
As our internet sales have increased significantly in the past 12 months, I looked at switching to a courier company hoping for better deals. Above all, I want to do something about those South Island- and rural fees from NZ Post, but we're not shipping enough quantities to get a deal yet. Hopefully by the end of the year.
I keep a close eye on this.
Some more Armourfast kit sets arrived in stock just after the last newsletter was published. Below are 4 examples:
For a list of all Armourfast products on our website click here.
The CHD was a closed freight wagon built for the Dutch 'Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij' (HSM) and the State Railways (SS).
From 1879 to 1919 several thousand of these standard closed wagons were built. Initially the wagons were delivered without brakes. Later versions received different types of brakeman's cabs.
With the founding of the Dutch Railways (NS) interest group, the cars were transferred to the Dutch Railways (NS).
From 1923 they were painted in the dark grey colour from their original brown.
In 1936 various series of the CHD got a longer wheel base, 5 instead of 4 meters.
In 1954 the Dutch Railways introduced the red-brown colour for freight wagons. Many CHDs remained in service unchanged until the early 1960s.
Artitec has released 21 models of these CHDs plus 2 sets. Below are just 4 examples:
To visit our Artitec page on our website click here.
Artitec has an impressive catalogue with a few hundred highly detailed 1:87 scale military models. Most are World War 2, but there are also quite a few modern military models and even WWI.
To visit our Artitec page on our website click here.
In the last newsletter we had a sale on B-T Models, but not all arrived models were in our system yet. All have now been entered and 10 of those new listings go straight on sale. Below are just 4 examples:
To check all B-T Models on our website please visit our B-T Models Page.
11 N Scale B-T Models were not in our system yet when the last newsletter got published. 4 of them went straight on sale:
To check all B-T Models on our website please visit our B-T Models Page.
The first Italeri kit sets have arrived. More stock is expected in July. Below are just 4 recently arrived items:
To visit our Italeri page on our website click here.
MiniArt has released a variety of 1:35 scale accessory kit sets that can be used for military dioramas as well as Gauge I model railway (1:32). Below are just 4 examples that came in stock last week:
Not all MiniArt kit sets have been entered in our database yet. For a list of all MiniArt accessories kit sets listed on our website so far click here.
MiniArt has a nice range of 1:72 buildings. These multi coloured kit sets have quite a few parts. The 'Building with Garage' kit 72031 consists of 181 parts for instance. Below are 6 examples of their 12 different buildings in similar style. Some arrived in stock last week.
For a list of all MiniArt 1:72 scale buildings click here.
14 different MiniArt figures sets have arrived in stock. Below are just 4 examples:
For a list of all MiniArt figures sets in stock click here.
A lot of Zvezda kit sets still need to be entered in our database. Especially the 1:35 scale kit sets and the new releases for 2020. There is more on its way. Arrival of new stock is expected in July. Below are 4 examples that arrived in stock last week:
To visit our Zvezda page on our website click here.
Several 1:72 Zvezda military kit sets have arrived in stock. Below are 2 examples:
To visit our Zvezda page on our website click here.
Some nice Napoleonic sets from Zvezda arrived last week, although quite a few sold out almost immediately. There is still some left and more is coming next month. Below are 4 examples of recently arrived kit sets:
For a list of all 1:72 scale Zvezda Napoleonic sets on our website click here.
FAQ: Will a user need to pay extra postage when buying multiple items or does the postage remain the same?
At the moment combined postage will need to be mailed separately after the buyer has checked out. Calculating combined postage by the website is very complicated. Adding volumes of product sizes will not work. I have not found a solution for this. If any reader of this newsletter is able to help me with this, I would appreciate any help.
It is possible for buyers to make an estimation however.
For this, the size of a product package are shown on the website when the 'shipping options' of a product is clicked.
The size of each shipping parcels will also be displayed.
For example, when you have the package size of two products and you know the size of a parcel, you could figure out most of the times if it will fit.
IMPORTANT
Like mentioned before: Simply adding volumes of products until you match the volume of a parcel will not work. The more products in a shopping cart the more difficult it is to make a 'perfect match'.
For smaller quantities this could still be a very useful way to find out if you need to pay extra postage when you buy multiple items.
If this proves to be too complicated and/or if it leads to misunderstandings I will remove the information on the website. Any feedback/suggestion is appreciated. Especially to get this issue fully automated ;-)
