biggest /most overscale EMD hood latches on 1st generation (or other) N locos ?

[scaro]

This forum still looks to the THE place to ask questions about old bits of N gauge, A1G kind of esoterica. 

I was trying to harvest hood latches for the doors on my GP30 TT scale shell, and harvesting overscale ones from older or cheaper N scale locos looked to be one route.

Does anyone know which N scale shell has hood latches which are way too big or stand out way too much?

Ben

[drgw0579]

The original Atlas GP9 and GP30
http://www.spookshow.net/loco/rocogeep.html

[scaro]

Thanks, yeah looking at the pics of these beasts online, the latches do look ginormous for N.

[leikec]

I’m actually surprised that a company/importer hasn’t made a serious foray into North American TT scale. It would be a bold step, and take considerable resources, but there is also considerable potential for TT, much in the same way that Bachmann created a market for On30.

Jeff C

[peteski]

I’m actually surprised that a company/importer hasn’t made a serious foray into North American TT scale. It would be a bold step, and take considerable resources, but there is also considerable potential for TT, much in the same way that Bachmann created a market for On30.

Jeff C

It was tried IIRC in the '90s, but failed to gain any traction. Funny thing is that I read that TT was originally developed in USA.  My first layout (as a teen growing up in Poland in the '70s) was TT gauge.  East German's Berliner TT Bahnen (Zeuke) was the model manufacturer.

[dem34]

Eh, my thing with TT is that I don't really really see its as a happy middle ground. Just seems too close to either N and HO to really grab at any of the advantages that either extreme offer.

[scaro]

Hopefully this doesn't turn into some vague survey of the pros and cons of TT.  That's been gone into ad infinitum.

Any other suggestions for N scale EMD diesels with oversize door latches?

Model Power? Lima? What other horrors lurk that I could use ?

[wm3798]

In this age of 3D printing, it seems odd you would be looking to cut such jewelry out of a tiny styrene shell.  Why not just draw what you need and print it?

Lee

[scaro]

Old school. You said it.

[wm3798]

How are you planning to transfer these cast on goodies to their new home?
Will you be shaving them off the surface?

I assume the new shell is scratch built from styrene sheet.  Kudos on that.  Brass would be even more impressive.

Then there's the question of reattachment.  What's your plan?

It's a very interesting project.  I'll be interested to see progress photos.

Lee

[Peachymike]

In this age of 3D printing, it seems odd you would be looking to cut such jewelry out of a tiny styrene shell.  Why not just draw what you need and print it?

Lee

Have to agree with Lee, printing them, even getting someone to do it for you would yield a lifetime supply at minimal cost.

[scaro]

All this is well and good, but anyone else aware of other models that would be good candidates which I can harvest overscale EMD hood latches from ?

Someone else can start a 3-D print thread if there isn't one already. Do unrelated issues really need to squat on this topic ? 

Does anyone have a spare Roco GP9 or 30 shell he is happy to sell?  Am in the UK.

[Jim Starbuck]

I don’t know of a particular model to use and this isn’t an answer to your original question but have you considered making open face castings?
I made cab faces and sand fill hatches for my Model 40 build.
There’s a Japanese craft product called Hinodewahsi Oyumau that’s inexpensive and available at some craft stores and Amazon.
It comes in small blocks that remind me of a rubber pencil eraser and about the same density.
When placed in boiling water for a few minutes, the material softens to a bubble gum consistency then you press whatever you want to make a mold of into it. After 5 or 10 minutes it cools and you remove the master leaving a nice impression of the desired part.
I’ve used Milliput 2 part epoxy putty and JB weld 2 part epoxy to create the parts. The epoxy doesn’t stick to the molding material and doesn’t require and release agent.
The mold material can be re softened and reused over and over again.

Jim

[scaro]

Thank you for the description of this Hinodewahsi Oyumau product. For things where a full mould curing would be too slow, it sounds very handy. I will buy some of it! 

In this case, something made out of plastic that can be glued with a solvent to the styrene of the shell would be more use, which is why I wanted to harvest latches from existing plastic loco shells. I do go to swapmeets and keep an eye out for old N scale shells.

[Peachymike]

So building on Jim’s suggestions, something I used to use was a silicone mould and plastic baking pellets. It worked quite well, and the finished piece could be glued with styrene glue. The pellets were made to create sun catchers, and meant to be heated in a regular oven, basically a kids craft thing. A quick search on line shows they are still available. Today you could use silicone putty, made to take impressions, drop a few beads in the mould, heat it for ten minutes, let it cool and you have a part. Bonus is it is glueable with styrene glue. I used to copy fans, doors, headlights, etc off of shells. I used plain old automotive silicone in a tube, put a blob on and let it dry for a day or two. Just had to be careful not to get air bubbles in the silicone.