Making simple shunters steps for rollingstock

Hi Guy's

Just a quick one. Here is a way that I have been replacing and adding shunters steps to my rollingstock. RTR rollingstockstock is always improving and some of the latest stuff has this issue of easily broken and snapped off plastic shunters steps addressed with metal steps. This is great but to address the issue of replacing the plastic steps in a cost effective way, I am using simple 2/26 staples from the kids pencil case. I have some photo's that go a long way to describe the process rather than boring you all with heaps of words.

I just use a pair of needle nose plyers to straighten

out the staple

as such

Then bend into the shape required

In this case I am adding shunters steps to an

Auscision NLJX. after looking at many photos

of these in my era of the early 90's. It looks like

most of the NLJX's still in service at that time

had shunters steps fitted

I drilled in on a bit of an angle as to not drill

through the louvres

I then added the step

Then placing some superglue on the end of an

old hobby knife I touched in behind the steps

to glue in place

Next time I will put the bend in the staple before

trying to bend the step back to straight on the model

as the staple proved pretty hard and caused some

damage to the model. I repaired this and continued on

Next step was to add some 1x2 (8102) Evergreen

strip Styrene to the steps. This is to represent the

angle iron that the step is bolted onto the wagon.

The angle iron would be welded to the wagon so

that if a step was damaged it could in most cases

be replace with bolts rather that a welding job.

I ran the styrene along a bead of superglue and

then using long lengths for easy handling glue to

the side of the steps

It is just a case of using a single edge razer blade

to cut the styrene off at the required length.

The end result is something that can pass for a

shunters step after painting white

This Auscision NLKY was much the same. The

styrene was extended upward from the step that

was mounted right at the base of the wagon.

I grab iron also had to be added to the NLJX. This

was added using brass wire

This is a shot by Norm Bray that shows a NLJY

so fitted with a shunters step

This photo was also used as a base for the weathering below

Cheers Justin Moy