Glad Hands

[DPD327]

Anybody know where I can get some 1/14th scale glad hands? I have some solder that I've wrapped around a pencil....which looks perfect for air lines....will paint one red and one blue but need some glad hands...

DPD327 Jim

[Dreamweaver]

Jim, I know I saw some for the wedico but I can't find them right now..

Solder might not be the best to use for air lines. I have to admit i have not tried this yet but I figured that what I was going to try was taking some red and blue wire, appropriate size of course. Wind it around something as you did and then using a heat gun get it nice and hot. You want all the shield around the wire nice and hot but not melting. then just leave it to cool by it's self while still wrapped around what ever it is you wrapped it around.

In my mind that would take the shields resistance to keep its original shape, and change it so that it would want to stay coiled. thus making it have the spring effect and want to return to the coiled state..

Just a thought. I will try and find the glad hands I saw and post a link when i find them.

-Mike

[DPD327]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the tip regarding using wire....that would probably be more resilient in the long run....I liked the pliability of the solder (easy to mold shape etc....) but painting it and the propensity for the paint to come off is much greater....wire would seem to be a better solution. What gauge wire did you use?

I just thought too...if you used multi-strand, you probably could try single copper center wire and lose the heat gun altogether.

Let me know if you can find the glad hands...I spoke with Ric at Garden Trucking and he had purchased a pair whilst at a show in Germany but 1) he can't find them and 2) he doesn't remember from whom he got them.

Jim

[Dreamweaver]

Jim I have looked and I guess there was not enough stuff on the site I saw them on to hold my interest because I can not find them on any of the site's I have in my favorites.

As for the wire. I would say 18 to 20 gauge wire. You could use the solid core. I am not sure what your intentions are to do with the lines. If you are just going to have them be static then the solid core will work fine. If you want the lines to move or be hooked to the trailer and you want them to expand and contract. Then I would stay with the stranded and heat treat the shield. This should allow it to expand and contract just like the real lines...

I don't know if it will work for sure. But I can tell you that I have done the reverse in real life. I took a standard green coiled up pig tail cord on one of my big trucks. I stretched it out straight (between my truck and a fork lift) and used the heat gun on it and it stayed straight.

So therefore I am assuming that the same will work in reverse. Like I said I have not tried making a coil yet. So give it a try and see if it works..

-Mike

[Dreamweaver]

Jim, I found them... The favorites link said nuts, bolts, glad hands, and hinges.... Imagine that..

These are for trains and are at 1:10 scale but train glad hands are bigger than truck glad hands so they should work for you.

Look under "Details & Fittings" on the left menu.

Click Here (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.knupfershop.de/shop/&ei=nbTETO6PFIOisQOK54z1Cw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwww.knupfershop.de/%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DAZU%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26prmd%3Div)

-Mike

[DieselKid]

Not sure of the link right off hand but I believe there's a German outfit that has some made out of pot metal or brass....but they are pretty pricey for as fragile as they appear.

Maybe try some spade connectors that are used for wiring and give that a shot...

http://www.trailertek.com/acatalog/el177.jpg

I've been meaning to try this on a truck....only problem is apparently you have to have a completed truck for that to work, LOL.:D

Best part is you can get them in blue, red, and green so therefore you can replicate service and emergency air, as well as your electrical.

I think they would look the part, and be strong enough to stay together when making turns with a truck and trailer.

-Alex