Best Of Notes on body-mount couplers (work-in-progress)

[Iain]

Does anyone here happen to have a pair of the FT couplers I could purchase to experiment with without having to do a full bulk order?

[Sokramiketes]

Does anyone here happen to have a pair of the FT couplers I could purchase to experiment with without having to do a full bulk order?

You can buy a 4-pack here:
http://www.zscalemonster.com/full_throttle/100/

[nscaler711]

Man those coupler boxes and FT coupler conversions are SICK!! sign me up I need 1000 ok... Not 1000... But I could use about 100... Is Lee still taking orders for just couplers? I have looked into those while tinkering in Z scale...
Was hoping to see the Protomate by now but this might be a great alternative to waiting and using MTs... Hate the slinky effect....

[GaryHinshaw]

I can't believe this thread is now 8 years old....   I've been largely preoccupied with layout work for the last 5 years, but I've taken a hiatus for a few weeks to go back into production mode on some body-mounting projects. I thought I would share a few of the results here.

I am still very Gung Ho on the "Bowser Buckler/Lee English" Z scale coupler (I purchased 300 pair from Lee a while back) and the etched brass pockets that @ednadolski and I designed, and Ed perfected (see up-thread for details).   [I was quite intrigued when the MT Tru-Scale couplers came out, but after experimenting on a few cars, I quickly decided they were not for me.]

The new projects have all been covered hoppers and tank cars.  I'll share the tank cars first and save the hoppers for another post.  First up is GATX 35690, an Atlas 17K tanker that first appears on Reply #46 of this thread (on Aug 29, 2010!).  I'm proud to report that the car is now finished and in service, 8 years later, though it has developed a patina of rust in the intervening years.... 



With the etched pockets, it is straightforward to mount the coupler box directly to the bottom of the tank, which makes a very stable installation.  The low profile of the etched box also makes it possible to lower the ride height a bit using BLMA trucks.  Here is a before & after comparison of two other 17K tankers that shows the subtle difference in ride height and car spacing:



Next up is my second favourite N scale tank car: the Athearn LPG tanker:



In this case I kept the stock trucks since the ride height was fine.  Happily, there is a mounting tab just outboard of the truck bolster which the coupler box mounts to which gives the perfect coupler height.   (This conversion is going to be more difficult with the new body-mount LPG cars...)

Last up, for now, is my favourite N scale tank car: the Atlas corn syrup tanker.  I love the squat lines and fine detail on this model:



With the etched pockets and BLMA trucks, it's possible to lower the car by a full 9" (scale):



and also to decrease the car spacing from 6' (platform to platform) to 3.5':



Here's a 3/4 view showing a bit more detail on the coupler itself:



Thanks for looking.

[James Costello]

Looking good, as always @GaryHinshaw

[ai5629]

Is there any chance you will do an etched coupler box group order again.  I missed out the first time, and would like to get in on it if you do another run.  Thanks.

Jeff

[Cajonpassfan]

Stunning Gary, just stunning
Otto

[GaryHinshaw]

Jeff, I will definitely be ordering some more in the coming 2-3 months, so yes.  @ednadolski was kind enough to send me the most recent art work  (I just need to update my software so I can read the file... ).   I'll post info here when I'm closer to pulling the trigger.

Here is one more shot that shows the pocket a bit more clearly:

[ai5629]

Jeff, I will definitely be ordering some more in the coming 2-3 months, so yes.  @ednadolski was kind enough to send me the most recent art work  (I just need to update my software so I can read the file... ).   I'll post info here when I'm closer to pulling the trigger.

Excellent!  Thank you Gary.  The cars look great too!

Jeff

[peteski]

Yeah, those tank cars do look really, really good.  While the cars come already nicely detailed, the weathering, the closer-to-scale weathered metal wheels, and of course the smaller couplers, all contribute to the "rigth" look.  Those cars look H0-ish (and that is a compliment)! 

[ednadolski]

my favourite N scale tank car: the Atlas corn syrup tanker.  I love the squat lines and fine detail on this model:

Those look pretty neat in O scale too 

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

I would love to see what you've done with one of thOse!

[ednadolski]

I would love to see what you've done with one of thOse!

Not much to look at so far, just sitting on P:48 trucks and with most of the details stripped off:




I really need to get one of these for it: https://www.shapeways.com/product/NG72SUWAD/atlaso-trinity-17-6k-gal-tank-car-conversion-bolst?optionId=65248654

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

Cool.  Somehow it's gratifying to see that O scale requires just as much work as N scale to bring things up to snuff. 

Nice looking turnout in the works there!

[ednadolski]

(Indulging in a bit of additional thread drift )

It depends on one's idea of 'snuff'....  for most O scale the Atlas stuff is generally pretty well detailed and RTR.   For P:48, of course the term 'RTR' is incongruous, and OOTB means basically a blank canvas. 

Ed