I recently acquired a gem on eBay I've wanted for a while: a Roundhouse Old-Timer 2-6-0 Mogul locomotive kit, and am in the process of building it now.
While I'm enjoying the build immensely, the little plastic MDC crankpins that hold on the rods are giving me one heck of a time. They've proven very difficult to push into place, and I'm searching for a suitable alternative.
I (kind of) found one from the source that actually inspired my initial purchase. John Ott's Miskatonic Railroad is a truly fantastic model railroad, and features many detailed accounts of turn-of-the-century locomotive kitbashes. One of which is a bash of a Roundhouse 2-6-0 that was already half-built.
Mr. Ott mentioned that when he received the locomotive, the aforementioned, infuriating plastic pins had been replaced with flathead, round-headed screws. The modification can be seen here:
This is a modification I wish to make to my own 2-6-0. But alas, I am semi-new to the in-depth portion of this hobby, and am not entirely sure where to look.
Does anybody here have an idea of what size screws would be suitable for this purpose, and where they could be purchased online? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.
Ok, before modifying anything on the drivers, try filing (gradually) the pins to make them fit. I had to do that on a few of mine. These pins, once in place, are just as dependable as screws. In fact, I think I've had more issues with screws falling out than the MDC pins. And MDC supplied extras in-case of loss.
Simon
I'm glad it worked. Keep us in the loop about your alternate solutions.