As a musician I've used many retired guitar strings on models, .008" mostly on standard grab irons since they are much tougher than brass of the same thickness. E Strings (smallest on most guitars)

Another alternative to brass wire would be phospher bronze.  This wire bends very well and makes great grab irons.  You can find some at: http://www.tichytraingroup.com as well as other sources.

Tony, ===> THANKS !!! <=== As you know I model "the transition era" for about 95% or more of what I do. The timing of your post and blog entries are 'spot on' for my

Ashley, Yes, this has been discussed here many times. The tank can be used with a type 27 frame (IM) to build the WWII USGA tanks. The frame can be used to model a series of NATX tanks (for which

Alan, As is, the guitar string make nice lagged piping. Chuck Hladik

Question if I may? Can the Tichy car be used as the basis for conversion of other tank cars. For instance the chassis can be used on something else to make it better, or the tank can be put on

I will try to throw in a couple with any order placed if you ask. Jerry Glow http://home.comcast.net/~jerryglow/decals/

Another source for music wire is guitar strings,they are sold by diameter,if you know someone who plays guitar ask them for the old strings next time they change them or go to a music store and tell

Details associates packaged a lot of their brass wire about 20 years ago which were from a bad batch. Wire from these batches would break when brought to any near a right angle. Since the DA packaging

Great stuff, Tony, and I thank you. Very informative and well-photographed. I have several of those placards which I will share with the group when I have time to photograph them. In the meantime,

I am a huge fan of the phosphor bronze wire that Tichy sells. Not as prone to fatigue, stiffer than brass yet much easier to cut and work with than piano wire. Craig Zeni "Bother", said Pooh as

I use .010 Detail Associates Stainless wire. ______________ J. Stephen (Steve) Sandifer mailto:steve.sandifer@... Home: 12027 Mulholland Drive, Meadows Place, TX 77477, 281-568-9918 Office:

Or try .008 brass from a different source. Brass work hardens as it is drawn into wire; what we typically use for model building is rated "half hard". IIRC, the hardness of the finished wire is

That's a good question, so I took a look last night. It seems the Soo was quite enamored with this design, but only for a very short period of time; 1927-1930. Unfortunately, they only bought five

Thanks Tony & Randy, So the better choices seem to be either .01" brass or .008 music wire (I assume that is stainless or something of that sort). Or to muddle along with a high failure rate using

It would be nice if the solution was that easy Nelson, but no, it is brass - from DA. Rob -------------------------------------------------- Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2012 5:45 AM To:

Rebuild. Hi Eric, Your post made me aware of this CV car and got me to Sunshine where I found CV 42000 as well. Sunshine offers two kinds of trucks: TP 40 black plastic cast side frame, non-sprung

More Spam? Joel Holmes

I'm wondering if you're using brass or phosphor bronze. The latter is somewhat brittle, compared to brass. I've bent grabs from both, and brass is quite malleable without heating, while phosphor

Marty, Funny you mention the Sunshine Decal Lettering on the New Kits. I have found several of the new 100 series Auto car kits have over sized lettering for the Rail Road name, " Automobile" and