WEM Closing Operations as of 11/28/14 (update: Nov 2016)

[Gaston]

I had very little experience with them, but it was positive.

The striking thing about this kind of closure is that nowadays no one will rush in to fill the void. It kind of reminds me of Meteor closing in the US about seven years ago: Whatever the controversies were about the owner, or the quality of some of the items, a huge variety of stuff was suddenly simply gone, and nothing even remotely like it has replaced it since... There was the usual gloating about how there would be other companies to fill in the void: Hasn't panned out at all in my view, which is kind of ominous...

Gaston

[Guest]

WEM had many unique products which I guess we'll never see again.
Sad to witness their demise.
It doesn't look like Peter Hall is interested in the WW2 range but more in the Post-War stuff.

[John Snyder]

Peter was interested in filling a gap that WEM chose not to fill because of poor sales. I'd recommend waiting to see how Mad Pete proceeds in the future...but then, what do I know...?

[HMS Zulu]

Is anyone aware of if orders are still being sent out at all? I made an order on the 26th, received order acknowledgement but nothing received and the e-mail address no longer accepts e-mail

[BJohnson]

Is anyone aware of if orders are still being sent out at all? I made an order on the 26th, received order acknowledgement but nothing received and the e-mail address no longer accepts e-mail

They have now ceased trading I am afraid.

[BFR4570]

I just found out about this. It is bad news indeed that an Institution of this caliber is forced to close, especially so suddenly. If word had been announced sooner, maybe someone(s) rich enough could have bought them out and moved their operation lock, stock, and barrel to the USA, or at least to Canada, and prevented them from entering Receivership! One thing I do not fully understand is why not being able to ship enamel paints by air is so earth-shatteringly important. The shelf life of these paints should be much longer than any ship voyage could possibly take, and shipping should be far cheaper. Or are there regulations like having to fill an entire container before you can ship to a single destination? It looks like it is far too late now..... I didn't buy very often (I don't buy anything very often) from WEM, but those occasions when I did were enjoyable and I was looking forward to buying more stuff after I finish my new shop next year. Won't happen now unless someone steps up and fills this void. I don't see that happening unless the original people from WEM can find a financial backer to let them start over. No one else is likely to step up because this is way too large of a load for anyone else to add to all the things they are already doing. That is how things get sloppy and quality control goes out the window. Maybe if five or six other companies split up the load, it might happen. I hope someone can! I wish John (only one I dealt with), and the rest, all the luck in the world! And I hope they can land on their feet and hit the ground running!

[ModelMonkey]

Peter was interested in filling a gap that WEM chose not to fill because of poor sales. I'd recommend waiting to see how Mad Pete proceeds in the future...but then, what do I know...?

The game's afoot.

I choose hope.

[John Snyder]

I cantell you that the WEM stock of WEM kits and PE, plus the right to continue production, and the brand name have been sold. It is for the new owner to make the formal announcement.

I can tell you that the existing Colourcoats stock, and the right to continue production with the manufacturer has been sold. It is for the new owner to make the formal announcement.

I have offered my services to help both of these companies continue the WEM tradition.

[Quaestor]

Cheers John. Interesting and, I hope, good news.
Two different companies, then.
I hope the terms and proceeds of the sales will be beneficial to your former colleagues.

[Cliffy B]

Excellent news! Still sucks that you guys can't continue the company yourselves but at least the products won't be lost forever and someone else can continue to offer them.

[Sutho]

I cantell you that the WEM stock of WEM kits and PE, plus the right to continue production, and the brand name have been sold. It is for the new owner to make the formal announcement.

I can tell you that the existing Colourcoats stock, and the right to continue production with the manufacturer has been sold. It is for the new owner to make the formal announcement.

I have offered my services to help both of these companies continue the WEM tradition.

Being a big fan and regular buyer of your company I hope that this new company has your blessing to continue the range. I am happy to support them. As long as the products live on is a very good sign indeed.

Being the time of year it is I still feel sad for whatever caused WEM to cease trading.

[smyfe]

Sovereign Hobbies have announced their purchase of the colourcoats range over on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sovereig ... 2335451287

Mick

[D-Boy]

Sovereign Hobbies have announced their purchase of the colourcoats range over on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sovereig ... 2335451287

Mick

And Tom's is the purchaser of the rest of the line:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=158424

[BJohnson]

Update from Sovereign:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sovereig ... 87?fref=nf

[EJFoeth]

Do they have a webshop? If they only have facebook: might as well not exist at all.

[Quaestor]

Do they have a webshop? If they only have facebook: might as well not exist at all.

EJ, Sovereign is a new business, started to take on the Colourcoats line. Give them a chance to get organized.

[EJFoeth]

I will! thanks for the reprimand

[Sutho]

Here is a quote from their facebook page:

Good evening modellers,

We are extremely pleased to see the level of enthusiasm shown by you all so far. We are anxious to demonstrate our commitment to this so I thought it time to share a status update.

1) This is a new company which was incorporated last week. We made an offer on Colourcoats as enthusiastic customers who happened to have the capital available in invest. Due to the holiday period the process of setting up a business takes a little longer. We are incorporated but other requirements such as business bank accounts etc are not yet in place.


2) The website. We have a domain name purchased. The original WEM website IP was sold as part of the PE brass and resin products to Tom's Modelworks. Whatever happened we would need to build a new website. We need to build a bit more, as well as establish a new stock control system which integrates with the new webstore. We have this working with samples, but there are over 400 colours to list and categorise. There are something of the order of 26,000 tins of paint to count to populate the system once built.

3) Shipping. We have been researching numerous options here both domestically and internationally. Due to the product being enamel, this is a challenge even domestically. It can be done of course, but we are trying to find something that is sensible commercially.

4) Stockists. We are very keen to continue to work with 3rd party stockists - both existing and new where opportunities exist.

5) Other business. We are extremely happy that John Snyder is happy to work with us. Dave Carter likewise has been most helpful, although he's also busy packing up the rest of WEM's stock for the other buyers which is the immediate priority to surrender the WEM premises.

In summary - we're modellers who run another completely unrelated business who were delighted at the opportunity to buy our favourite brand of model paints. We're getting everything organised as fast as we can but it's going to take us a little time. Once we have a bank account running and payment means established we should be able to process orders here and there, with the full webstore going live as soon as we can build it.

We are very grateful for the huge levels of support shown, and hope that we're not delaying too many modelling activities in the mean time!

[Vlad]

While we are saddened by the loss of WEM, I'm afraid I must ask a practical question. For those of you who live in the UK, who would be your go-to supplier when you want to buy resin kits, photo-etch, accessories etc. that in the past you would have bought from WEM?

[Monty999p]

While we are saddened by the loss of WEM, I'm afraid I must ask a practical question. For those of you who live in the UK, who would be your go-to supplier when you want to buy resin kits, photo-etch, accessories etc. that in the past you would have bought from WEM?

Yes, I think it will be a while untill we have alternative suppliers for those things which WEM uniquely supplied in the UK. Combrig, as example. Many can be bought from Continental suppliers of course, but understandably, often there is a financial hit on carriage. We shall see as they say.

Hopefullty sooner than later, as I am needing a 1/350 VICTORIA