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The Cold of Winter, 2023
We've been working on getting some prices updated to reflect the current times, and you can take a peek at the most recent changes here:
I hesitate to mention anything specific, because I don't know when I'll get to it! But keep an eye out here for any notable changes.
Trad English Stirrups, SP21, Pewter
Unfortunately I have a lot of trouble with the mold, and do not have the time to "clean up" the castings on a regular basis. Some will become available in a month or so, as I can get to it.
Meanwhile, We've introduced SP76, which is the same stirrup as a raw casting, and you can finish them off yourself.
We also have printed resin stirrups SP310 which can be painted silver (or any other currently fashionable color.
Tooling Leather, LT2 should be in stock again sometime during the first week of Feb, 2023.
Almost Summer, 2022
We've added a smattering of new items you can take a peek at here:
1:6 and Thunderbolt/Sindy Size Western Saddle Trees
Updated Harness Brasses, Etched Terrets for 1/8" straps, and 3 new sizes of Trace Adjustor Buckles
HD825g - 1/4" Blanket Buckles in Gold color
Have you Seen Miss Mattie?
Painted by Tammi Palmarchuk
Painted by Tammi Palmarchuk
Email Gary about the newWeeVal HP . . . 1:18/Bijoux Mini Valor printed resin model.
We've gotten a good share of the price changes completed at this point and the PDF Catalog and Discount documents are up to date to this point.
The next and final major round will be the Bijoux & Small Scale items.
Well, we knew it was coming. Like everything else.
We'll be starting the price change process today and it will continue until it is complete. (We're expecting it to take a few days). Costs did go up significantly for the silver, but quite modestly for the Gold items. Once a new price is official for an item, we will only honor the old prices if the order was placed before the changes went "live" on the website.
Please note that the published PDF Catalog Prices will lag a bit, as well as the Discounts... which will also be updated. For now... both can be considered "out of date".
Those should start being back in stock late next week. Since it takes awhile to process through a production run, likely availability updates will continue into the following week.
We are currently processing through a new batch of Silver etchings, with most items back in stock already.
Harness Brasses will be sold in pairs (instead of sets of 4) at the time the new pricing goes into effect. I do have some new brasses in stock, but have not had the time to get things ready to show them off online or in the catalog! Hopefully I will get to that soon (it always takes a lot longer than expected!)
There are two new styles for Trad, and one for Classic (Celtic Knot and Pinwheel). The new ones have been resized to be in scale for each size respectively. Revised-scale Horsehead and Rosette brasses will also be offered. The existing brasses of the larger size will continue to be available for the forseeable future.
How did this happen?
Well, years ago many of us got some harness parts from Lenham Pottery in Britain, and the original brasses were based on those, without giving it another thought. But thanks to me listening/watching streaming shows like "Midsomer Murders" and such, where I would see harness brasses as decoration in various pubs in the show... I wondered what size they actually were. It didn't take long to find most harness brasses are 3" in diameter. A few may be a bit over or under-sized, particularly if they have unique design elements.
Given that, the current (or "old") brasses we have, are actually 1:8.2 scale for Trad and about 1:11 scale for classic.
So, the new brasses will both be a bit smaller, with the Trad size riding between the two sizes we already have, and the classic going a bit smaller.
We'll be adding etched terrets that will accommodate 1/8" lace reins. Also additional sizes of Trace Buckles for 3/16" (draft), 3/32" (classic or xfine trad), and 1/16" (bijoux or xfine classic).
Like the brasses, I'm struggling a bit with time constraints to get them onto the website... but if nothing else I'll see about getting them up there soon, even if it has to be without pictures.
Check your Spam!
Junk
TRASH
Promotions
and other folders if you are using Gmail, Yahoo, MSN and others.
Make sure you have added
to your "Approved Senders" list (or "Whitelist")
within your email app or email service.
Currently, we're experiencing no end of troubles getting in touch with customers via email, with most of the major services. Far too often, our emails go directly into the TRASH.
There is currently NO WAY for us to work around this.
If you are paying with PayPal:
Please check all your folders (Spam, Junk, Trash, etc.) and if you do not find one within 48 hours of placing your order... please email us.
Spring, 2022
We've gotten a new tannery run of skiver in stock at this time, and it does differ from the previous leather. It is a little firmer and less drapey/stretchy, slightly thicker, but also a bit "softer" and more luxurious to the hand.
Like most leathers, different characteristics can be useful for different projects, although at times you may need to adjust things a bit to make things work. I think this leather may be very nice for Bijoux/Venti sized tack items, because it is a bit like a "miniature tooling leather".
So far, over the past several months, when we have restocked leathers, the new shipments have not matched the previous leather more often than not. There may be differences in color, thickness, feel, amount of surface imperfections etc. While we've received no real information as to why things are not always the same, I surmise it is likely related to supply chain issues (which would include challenges at the tanneries and elsewhere along the way).
We do have a Gold production run in process at this time, and expect to receive them by the end of May 2022, or possibly early in June. Please note there may be price changes at that time.
Meanwhile, we also have another silver-color run due in by the end of May as well, which should help replenish stocks of a number of items we are still out of.
I admit to being behind on getting the information ready on these, but we expect some supply to come in with the next two production runs (gold and silver colors). The new items will consist of the harness brasses in the proper scale for Trad and Classic models. (It's a long story about the current brasses, which I will share when these items are ready to go). Also included are etched terrets in 1/8" (wider reins), and smaller 1/16" (for smaller scales!) as well as larger (and smaller) trace adjustor buckles.
Summer, 2021
The old newslist is defunct. We had attempted to try to start up a new email list in the intervening time here, and things were not working to our satisfaction for what we actually needed.
I still hold out hope I'll be able to find a suitable service that can get emails through to the problematic places like gmail, yahoo, comcast etc.
Gary's Situation
Due to the newslist only getting to some people, I did request that people share the info on the newslist on Facebook and other online hangouts for hobbyists.
The short version is that ultimately Gary had to have half of one foot amputated, and is currently recovering in fine shape. He is still off one foot for another 3 weeks, then who knows what therapies after that. However, he should be able to be reasonably ambulatory in the long run (March or so). Meanwhile, he's doing a lot of sit-down jobs and we've rearranged parts of the office and shop to accommodate him.
This has been a heck of a go these last months, but we're still working towards things lining out a bit and getting back on a more predictable track in the coming months.
I wish to thank all of our customers for being patient, and continuing to support what we're doing here for the model horse hobby (and others!)
Check these pages to do quick price checks, availability checks, new items, price changes etc.
Resin-Cast models by Carol Williams.
Every now and then we clean out the shop, and come up with all kinds of extra parts, goodies, odd lots, factory seconds or special items we've got only in a limited quantity. First come, first serve!
Mailing address, phone numbers, etc.
A list of commonly asked questions and answers about Rio Rondo and its products.
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