New to this,what is goodfor repairing?

[savage99]

I got the fever of HO a couple months ago buying a setup for my nephew's birthday.I have really gotten into repairing rolling stock and tring to repair locos,dsl's&steamers.is there something thats best for filling screw holes  for drilling out and running a new screw into especially for trucks that have been torn out.Ive tried silicone,epoxy of a couple types,and body putty,none really is right for the job. Thanks for any ideas!savage99

[LD303]

An old carpenters trick to fill reamed out screw holes is to use a piece of dowel rod and glue it in the hole,allow to dry, then put a screw back in it.
I've used match sticks to do this on some old rolling stock that  I replaced the trucks on.....but most screws that hold the trucks in place on newer rolling stock are very small and a match or a toothpick might be too large.
   IF you're dealing with plastic, you might visit your local hobby shop and see if they have styrene or pvc tubing....buy an assortment of small diameter tubing and when you need to fill a hole find the right one and glue a small piece of it in the hole. You will be able to put a screw in it after it dries without having to drill or use a lot of force.
If you're dealing with the cast metal bottoms of old cars, then you'll most likely have to fill and drill. Liquid stell body filler works well,  it's availible at auto parts stores.

[ebtbob]

Good Morning,

        Not knowing what type of damage may have been done with the torn out trucks,  besides Jim's excellent suggestions,   You may investigate the possibility of getting a set of taps and a pinvise to hold them so that you might be able to re-thread a hole.   The Kadee sets come with the tap and two drill bits.  One of the bits is for a clearence hole.  That is hole that a screw goes thru without being turned in by a screwdriver and will require some sort of nut on the back side.   The other bit is to create a hole that can be threaded to accept a screw.  When talking trucks,  I find that the 2/56 size is best.   For couplers,  wherever possible,  I like to use a 1/72 screw as the head is noticably smaller than the 2/56 and thus not as easy to see.

[Woody Elmore]

Sometimes new shirts come with clear plastic, or maybe vinyl, inserts under the collar around the neck button. These things are great for shimming in general and shimming enlarged holes in specific. There is also the old "use the sprue from a kit trick." Unfortunately many cars are now RTR and sprues are getting scarce.

I suggest that the writer check out the North West Short Line website for tools and screws. Kadee, as mentioned, is also good.