I was replying to a rare O-Scale post on one of Southern Railway Modeling Groups I'm on and realized I should probably write up what I primarily use for parts when modeling locomotives and rolling stock. This isn't an exhaustive list and there are many other mom and pop shops or other sources on eBay and elsewhere that may have something I need, but this is a general Peking order of where I look to first...
Detail Parts:
- Precision Scale carries many things in its many catalogs. The catalogs are located here: https://www.precisionscaleco.
com/ - I have downloaded their 3 O-Scale PDF's and keep them handy as I do projects. It's a little bit of work to look for what I'm looking for. Sometimes I get lazy and search on eBay something like "precison XYZ" and there is a reseller who has many of PSC's parts on there, but not all. No, they are not associated with PSC, but PSC is aware of their existence. I can always order direct from PSC if I need something not carried by either eBay, P&D Hobby Shop, or Des Plaines Hobbies.
- P&D Hobby Shop. RIP Pat Mucci, but I read his son will be carrying on the shop. Not only does he carry many parts, but they also have specific P&D parts that were made over the years, including upgrades to Weaver trains and their own line of F units.
- Des Plaines Hobbies is the brainchild of Ron Sebastian, also unfortunately deceased, but Ron was having his own parts made and also bought the Custom Finishes line from Bob Rzasa. I usually go here when they make something specific I can't get elsewhere. Look for DPO or OSA parts (OScale America), which are the special parts for O scale. The website is a little lacking in photos, so I also google the part and sometimes get to see another image of it from the former custom finishes line. For Southern-specific items, they are good for firecracker antennas, ATC shoes, and the style of brakewheel needed for SOU cabooses.
- Scale City Designs - They took over the Keil Line parts and have added some of their own parts as well. I usually look to them for passenger car related items, but they also have a lot of other stuff in white metal.
- Protocraft - Norm at Protocraft makes killer decals and occasionally has useful detail parts (extras) from the brass cars he brings in from overseas.
- American Scale Models - Run by Bill Davis; he also imports brass cars like Protocraft does, but carries an extensive parts line of what appears to be mostly extra stock from Overland Model production runs.
- Bowser Cal-Scale - I primarily use them for the brass horn kits they sell, including Nathan M3, M5, P3, and P5.
- Occasionally I look at AtlasO's part department if they have something I could repurpose, but this is very rare.
Beyond that, for extremely specific items, I have drawn items up in CAD and had them 3D printed using Shapeways. Shapeways machines allow me to print at better tolerances than I can do with a home machine. Sure its costly, but with a little cleanup, you have near-precision parts. I am exploring other options for printing that require less cleanup.
Paint
I am lucky enough that I still have enough pollyscale sealed and kept at cold temperatures that I should be good for the near future, but I wouldn't have any issues shooting badger, tru-scale, or anyone else as long as I follow their requirements for airbrushing. For brush-painting handrails and any translucent paint, I use the XF series from Tamiya in colors like White, Yellow, Black, and translucent red, blue, and orange.
Decals
- Obviously there is Microscale if they make something you need. If you need something custom, they are not really the place you go unless you have deep pockets. Also I got burned a few years back on a re-release of 48-328 decals. They somehow screwed up the lettering between the old and new releases and then basically went radio silent on the situation when I brought it to their attention. So I'll take that as an FU to me and go elsewhere for decals or roll my own.
- Protocraft - Yes they use Microscale to print, but Norm has quite a selection and we appreciate him providing us these decals from his and other leading modeler's artwork.
- https://protocraft.com/Majors.cfm?ID=1
- K4 Decals - No idea where this gent came from, but I've seen his stuff used and it looks great. He carries a wide line of items.
- https://k4decals.com/
- Custom decals - I know how to use CorelDraw enough to roll my own and send them off to one of three printers whom I trust. I do not know if Tichy decals have gotten better since I wrote about them years ago, but I have not gone back.
- The most known of the custom decal printers I use is https://highballgraphics.com/
