Manufacturer: Ozark Miniatures, P.O. Box 22, Linn Creek, MO 65052. Price: OM-107 4 pocket link/pin couplers including links and pins, $4.50 per pair; OM-111 round firebox door, $2.00 each; OM-116-4 loco brake shoes for 4 wheels, $3.75 for four; OM-129-2 cast railing stanchions $1.60 for eight; OM-140 tender/caboose truck leaf springs, $3.50 for four.

The firebox door and locomotive brake shoes should be a big help to scratchbuilders as well as detailers; those parts are difficult and time consuming to fabricate by hand. The four pocket link-and-pin coupler is perfect for modelers of logging or industrial lines where non-standard and homemade equipment often required locomotives to offer a wide range of coupler heights. The handrail stanchions represent a less common offset-ring type. When you need it, it is the kind of item you need badly. But the part most modelers will probably be buying off the shelves is the leaf spring set for tender and caboose trucks. Talk about a part missing from mass produced large scale rolling stock since the advent of the hobby!

And speaking of scale, Ozark has become the one of only three parts manufacturers to recognize the growing number of hobbyists scratchbuilding and kitbashing in 1:20 size. The packaging for each of the above items reads, "'G' & 1:20 SCALE". While the actual size of the castings is consistent with Ozark's previous releases, the company now recognizes many are actually closer to exact size for 1:20.3 than for 1:22.5. Actually, the firebox door and brake shoes might also work well for some 1:24 scale applications and possibly for an occasional situation in 1:29.

As usual, our samples were free of flash and required virtually no clean-up, even by fastidious modelers. Each has good proportions and crisp detail. They make up an exciting group of goodies and their quality is very good.-RR