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Here I go again. Bob.

Awhile back, I made these molds for the MTH passenger cars for both the smooth and the corrugated sides so that the cars would be closer to the prototype length. I just bought some more cars and when I finish the T1, I will be using these molds to stretch out come cars. I hope I live to be 120. Somewhere I had posted these, but I have forgotten where, so this is for anyone interested in stretching some cars. Anybody have any questions, fire. Bob.

I am stretching an MTH passenger and the trucks to make it more scale. Here is the start of the trucks. Stretched 1/2 inch. Made them to hook up to the stock MTH bolster, so using all stock parts except the side frames. Made a revised mold for the side frames. More pictures later. Bob.

I mentioned that I would like to build a P42. I looked at this LGB P42 with all of the flat areas to be able to remove sections and reduce from an approximate scale of 1:27 to 1:32. I, at first, was going to start from scratch and make molds, but before I do, I am going to try to reduce the size of the LGB model. The height has to be reduced about 1 inch and the width about 5/8th of an inch. I am going to keep the length and call it phase VI. I will use the F7 trucks, as it is the same tread. I will redo the side frames from the LGB to make them look similar and use MTH electronics and also battery powered. If it doesn't look good, than I will someday start from scratch and do it the right way, we shall see. Here is the first cutting of some of the parts and tomorrow I will mill about 5/8ths of an inch from the center of the roof and the bottom section. I will probably have to make patterns for the front end and the rear to make them look proper. I am sure if any LGB lovers see this, they would like to shoot me for cutting up such a beautiful model. Bob.

Some of you have seen the procedure that I used before on how to make flush number boards. That method was hit or miss and had some inherent problems that made the procedure difficult, so I am trying something new to make this method a little more user friendly. Instead of attaching the outside lens with rubber cement, that made is stick too much and therefore, when demolding the board, part of the seal of the board would stick to the mold and then render it useless. This new method fixes the outside lens, the paper number and the inside plastic, with winding some thread around the assembly to hold it in position while the epoxy sets up. The board is drying as we speak and I will demold in a couple of days to make sure that it has set up, so I don't know at this point if it will work, I have my fingers crossed. Here are some pictures of the project so far. I might be posting this procedure in vain because, really, how may people are making scratch E-8's? However, this procedure can be use for a number of different type number boards. The clay that is laid on top of the top plastic is to form an opening for the light to come through for a bulb to light up the numbers. When I demold the board, it will be ground down to the clay with a dremel and then the clay will be removed allowing a void for the light. I would like to know, if possible, if anyone is using this procedure, or if not what procedure they are using to make number boards, it would be nice to share. So, here are some pictures of the project, so far. I mixed black pigment into the epoxy to represent the rubber seal around the lens. The first picture, I forgot to mix the pigment into the mix, so It will have to be painted black. Bob.

Hello All: I am interested in modeling the FM C-truck Trainmaster and the FM B-truck H16-44. I figure I'll use the USA Trains PA and F unit motor blocks with the associated truck mounting blocks. Since I don't either full model on hand, I'm curious about what the chassis looks like in general and how the truck mounting blocks attach to it. I'm hoping one of more of you out there, if you have these models, will pop the shell off and take some photos of the chassis and the attachment of the motor truck/truck mounting blocks and post them. It would be very helpful. I also don't know the make of the female pin connector that goes into each motor truck. Any identifying info on that connector would be super. If that ID isn't available, a photo or two and measurements of the female pin connector into the motor truck would also be a Big Help. Thanks for any assistance, Hilary Smith In the Pacific Northwest, USA