Here is my second weekend project: An On3 Tiffany Reefer I changed to On30. This thing is a craftsman kit I got from the Bay. It was built by someone who knew what they were doing. When it arrived I noticed that one of the door hinges was missing and the car door hardware was printed on. After putting new Bachmann trucks under her and adding Kaydee couplers I turned to the car body. I painted over the printed door hardware and added Grandt Line door parts I had left over from another project. The Grandt Line hinges did not match the ones already on the car, so I took a piece of tin foil, laid it over an existing hinge and gently rubbed. All of the bolts and detail came through. I gently cut this out, glued it to the car and painted it black. I think you will agree that you can't tell which one was missing!! Anyway, hats off to the guy or gal that built this thing originally. It will have a home for a long time on our layout! It will be a nice match to the unbuilt kit I have (see thread "What To Do") John
John, Your new hinge is undetectable in those small pictures. Regardless nice job of preserving a nice old kit. Greg
Thanks Greg. Even up close its hard to tell. I recommend this for anyone needing an exact copy of a hinge. Now if I can get the really old Mainline Model kit to look half as good as this one I will have a real pair! Joihn
Not too bad. I used some very small hair trimming scissors. It only took five tries to get it right! John
The really neat part is that I can mke these as many times as needed. I even copied some to use on the lid to the coal box sitting next to my stationary caboose. The trimming is the hardest part, especially if the glue has not set completely. John
I guess that goes into the permanent brilliant idea toolbox from now on. Great lesson in problem-solving.
