Unlike their HO scale cousins, O scale resin kits do not have preformed grabs included in the boxes. So we have to bend our own. The same issue can arise on cars with special grab widths or styles. The half grab comes to mind.
I have 2 super simple tools to assist me in this task. I don't take credit for them, but share them as they were shared with me.
The first was from Ted Culotta.
Take a strip of scribed styrene and cut it to a wedge shape. Dimensions are not remotely critical. Lay the "tool" against the model and determine which "slot" is best for the grab width required. Mark with a pencil and start bending as shown. The final bends can be cleaned up off of the tool. If you find you've got too many marks, toss it and make another.
Drop grabs present an additional wrinkle. Need to have all those bends the same.
So I made a little "trap" from styrene to hold the grab. I use another bit of styrene to keep the grab in the bottom and simply push the legs over.
2 down, 34 to go. Slightly tedious but the end results are worth it.
1 comment:
Tichy Train Group makes O scale drop grabs.
http://tichytraingroup.com/index.php?page=view_product.php&id=107&category=Freight+Car+Parts
They also make 18 inch straight grabs
http://tichytraingroup.com/index.php?page=view_product.php&id=158&category=Freight+Car+Parts
Hundman used the same type of tool in a number of his projects for Mainline Modeler.
George Losse
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