Big bottle supplies

 It's the end of another big bottle of Slater's Mek-Pak. This one arrived on the workbench in February 2017, and has lasted 5 years. Not bad at £5.20 a year, or 43p a month.

The new one cost £27.08 compared to the £26 of the old tin. At this point someone is going to tell me I can buy a gallon for 50p from eBay or similar, and I'm going to ignore them. I bought this from Squires Tools at a show some time ago, Eileen's Emporium currently lists it for £28.50. 

Am I showing off my mahoosive wealth doing it this way? No. 

Firstly, I want this tin for the simple reason that there is a space for it on the shelf near my workbech. Near enough that when I need to top up the ancient Humbrol bottle on the bench itself, I don't need to reach far. If I bought a different sized container, I'd need to re-organise the shelf. 

Second, and this is the big one, I've always advocated buying "big ticket" items from proper shops. If you buy trak pins from your local shop, but use the cheapest box-shifter for locomotives because the local guy ia s few quid more expensive, he'll soon be gone, and you will be mail ordering track pins and paint. If my local shop stocked this stuff, I'd buy from him, but it's not something he sells enough of to make stocking the big bottles - so the second best bet is a trader I know at a show.

OK, I'm lucky, I can afford to think like this. For me, Mek is an essential part of my work (although I pay for it myself as it's used for Phil projects), not a discretionary purchase. That's why I buy the big bottle! For most, model railways are a luxury, so if you can, (and I know lots of people don't have this option) then please support the local trader.