4Ground Closing Down

At first it was a rumour that was leaked via a newsletter to a trader.

4Ground have announced for the second time in three years that it is going into liquidation and will cease trading on June 30th this year.

4Ground produce laser cut, pre painted MDF buildings and scenery in a variety of scales for model railways to wargaming.

So why have they failed for a second time?

The company claim it is down to rising costs, but what of the first time when they were bought out by Tymeagain Ltd ?

It has to be said that lessons were not learned, the brand suffered from poor sales, due solely to price, the building they produced were it has to be said excellent, but the end price was very expensive, saying they were at the top of end of the market in an understatement, being more expensive than the equivalent Scenecraft buildings from Bachmann, almost double.

Then there was the added problem of cheaper (unpainted) MDF buildings hitting the market, as laser cutters came within the affordability of the small companies, a couple of hundred pounds instead of thousands.

The advent of 3D printing was probably the final nail, a 1kg roll of filament costing less than £20, could produce 2 or 3 buildings in 28mm.

Even now, looking at the prices in their closing down sale, they still seem very expensive when compared to what else is available on the market.