Loss Leader

In the UK we are lucky in that we have such a wide range of model railway magazines available. Not every magazine is to everyones taste, and in a given month there is often quite a bit of overlap between the magazines as they review the same releases etc. When I first got back in to the hobby I was buying most magazines each month, which was an expensive outlay, and money that I could better spend on doing some actual modelling. I eventually settled on British Railway Modelling as the magazine I preferred and so subscribed to save even more money (and got some weathering powders as a free gift). I now buy the other magazines when either the content looks interesting or if I'm travelling and want something extra to read.

On Thursday I couldn't resist picking up a copy of the February issue of Railway Modeller. As well as a number of interesting layout descriptions, there is an intriguing article on making coaches by printing the full colour coach sides, and then there is the free gift: an OO gauge Lineside Hut kit from Ratio. Now I know that the magazine is published by Peco who own Ratio and so they won't have been paying full price for the kits, but I still think they must be losing money on each magazine sold. According to the website of my local model shop the lineside hut kit costs £5.50, yet the magazine only costs £3.95. If they are making any profit at all it has to be just a few pence!

While I'm not currently modelling in OO I also haven't built many plastic kits in a long time (as a kid I used to build Airfix aeroplanes, and I've recently built two Parkside Dundas wagons), so it will be a fun diversion, and I can try out some new painting and modelling techniques without worrying about making a mess of a model I really need. All in all I think buying the magazine this month was money well spent.