METAL DETAIL CASTINGS
Manufacturer: Ozark Miniatures, P.O. Box 22, Linn Creek, MO 65052. Price: OM-16-C C&S brake chain roller $1.75 per pair; OM-34E cored caboose marker lamps with jewels and reflectors $5.00 per pair; OM-120 oil headlight with lens, rim, and reflector $4.25 each; OM-127 boiler stop and check valve $3.00 per pair; OM-129-1 turned railing stanchions $1.60 per bag of eight; OM-141 oval tender water hatch $3.25 each; OM-144 riveted patches for tender or boiler lagging $1.75 per bag of six.
MODELERS WILL DROOL over the current creative castings from Ozark. All are up to Ozark's usual high standards, too.
Just the other day, Larry Larsen and I were talking about preparing an article on how to scratchbuild accurate models of Colorado & Southern rolling stock. The most glaring unavailable part was the brake chain roller. It hung down from one side of the car, close to the brakewheel. Virtually every C&S freight car had one. Now you may have two, thanks to Ozark.
Dean Lowe has described in more than one article how to drill out marker lamps to install grain of wheat bulbs. It is critical, tedious work. Ozark has made some of it unnecessary with the introduction of the caboose markers.
The oil headlight also provides for mounting a grain of wheat bulb and offers variety to what has been available to locomotive detailers. It comes in four parts: the body, the reflector, the clear plastic lens, and the rim. The headlight also happens to be a little larger than most other castings and that should please modelers trying to represent certain prototypes. With some work, for example, you might bash Ozark's headlight into an approximation of that on C&S Mogul Number 22.
The four remaining parts also belong primarily on locomotives. The boiler stop and check valve kit builds into an elegant and highly detailed assembly; the turned handrail stanchions offer a slightly different size and shape than what is already on the market, and the oval tender water hatch reflects a very common size and shape. Finally, the riveted boiler patches (they come in three sizes) will add detail and character, representing do-it-yourself, backwoods engine repairs.
As usual, each of our sample castings was virtually free of flash and parting lines, fit together precisely, and had clean, sharp detail. We have repeatedly commented on the excellence of Ozark Miniatures' castings. But you should also find many in this group especially useful.-RR
