I think applying grab irons is cool!

For what it is worth, I was expressing some “grabiron frustration” to one of Milwaukee’s more experienced modelers a few months ago – I had been working on P2K and Intermountain plastic kits and was busting more than my share of the delicate plastic grabs, partly because my geezer fingers are not as steady as they once were – and he suggested a little trick he uses – make one “finger” of the grab iron just a bit shorter than the other. That way you are not trying to poke two fingers into two tiny holes at the exact same moment, but get one in and then the second one in. It was trying to fill both holes at the same instant that was causing me to press down too hard in the center of the plastic grab iron casting, causing breakage (or flyage, to coin a phrase).

I took this image from Phil Campbell’s website which has all sorts of tutorials on Trainz images.

http://www.worldoftrainz.com/Pages/Tutorials.htm

I also slightly ream out the holes so that they are not filled with paint, but not too much or there will not be a good fit.

Dave Nelson