I was recently unpacking after a move into our new WonderWorks facility when I stumbled onto a surprising discovery. Amongst all of the usual junk you'd expect were several gleaming sheets of brass that I hadn't seen for a dozen years. In the cache was an unopened letter from a man named John Curtin. It was an order with a cashier's check dated from 2,000! That was the year when my business (movie special effects) really took off and I no longer had the time to pursue my hobby of building trains. I was mortified because this man paid for something he never received. That has since been rectified by mailing him one of the brass sheets. Since then I pulled out all of the trains to take inventory of what was there. Things have changed a lot since 2,000. Ebay is a great source for a small enterprise... Any of the remaining kits I kept for personal use, prototypes, etc. will all be sold on eBay over time starting within a few weeks. In the mean time, I wanted to take pictures of the models and let everyone know I am alive and quite well thanks.
What is shown on these pages is just the beginning of what I've found so far. I have a few of everything shown on this page (a half dozen or so of each) except for the Plymouth. I apparently only have one spare above what I kept for my personal use. What is interesting from a collector's standpoint is that there are test kits I ran for trains that were never made in quantity or released publicly. These include a Hawaiian Porter, a Rail Bus, a Box Cab, an On30 Plymouth, an On30 Rail Truck and a couple of others I can't recall. Thanks to all of you for having taken such an interest in this labor of love in the past. I never made any money to speak of on the kits, but they were a hoot to create! The following link will work once the kits go on eBay. Click here for instruction sheets and tips. PLEASE REMEMBER.... NONE OF THESE KITS COME WITH ANYTHING BUT THE SHEET BRASS.
Also of interest is that I found the flats for several of my old hobby books including one that covers HOn30 and On30 model trains. My intent is to work with Ray Hoy of Fictionworks and re-issue these as iBooks/ eBooks with interactivity and lots of color pictures.
MODEL TRAIN KITS - HOn30 On30
The Shay brass HOn30 Kit is designed from the rails
up to fit a variety of 8 wheel diesel chassis such as
the Kato unit here.
The only pieces included with the Shay brass HOn30
Kit are the flat etched pieces.
Anyone with basic modeling skills can build a
running model in 1 or 2 evenings.
This is a Great donor for a larger scale Shay. It is a
good runner and the cylinders are about the right size
The kit does include a notch to clear cylinders as an
option. My kit fits but the trucks are a little small
looking unless you foreshorten everything in the kit to
fit. I may build one for myself soon as it looks like a
lot of fun.
Plymouth Diesel HOn30 Brass Conversion Kit made
to fit any era Plymouth MDT switcher by Bachmann.
The only pieces included with the kit are the flat
etched pieces.
Plymouth Diesel HOn30 Brass Conversion Kit,
painted, weathered and minimal detail. The new
Bachmann N gauge switchers are excellent runners.
Plymouth Diesel HOn30 Brass Conversion Kit
painted, detailed and weathered.
WWI Trench Locomotive HOn30 Brass Conversion
Kit. This actually uses an 0-4-0 steam chassis but an
MDT could work too.
WWI Trench Locomotive HOn30 Brass Conversion
Kit.
Dave Frary style FM Diesel HOn30 Brass Conversion
Kit with instructions by Dave. This classic fits most
smaller 8 wheel N Gauge diesel chassis. The only
pieces included with kit are the flat etched pieces.
Dave Frary style FM Diesel HOn30 Brass Conversion
Kit with instructions by Dave.
Rail Bus HOn30 Brass Conversion Kit. This unit
runs on half of a steam switcher chassis as shown in
the next pictures. The only pieces included with kit
are the flat etched pieces.
Rail Bus HOn30 Brass Conversion Kit. DSC_3877
Rail Bus HOn30 Brass Conversion Kit chassis.
There are many better options than what I did when I
created this kit twenty years ago! This was half of a
Bachmann Steam switcher in N-Gauge.
Forney Style Kit Prototype
Plantation Locomotive HOn30 Brass Kit Prototype
Plantation Locomotive Actual brass parts for HOn30
Kit Prototype. Typical of what is included in most
kits.
BRASS HOn30 CONVERSION KITS
by BRICK PRICE
HOME - HOn30
Page 2 HOn30
During the cleanup, I also found flats for all of my books on
model building, and other subjects. Some of these have not
been released for more than 20 years! The cover above is
part of the new content and look of these popular books.
They are being upgraded with interactive imagery, new
illustrations, new copy, etc. They will also feature feature
unique model building hints from 33 1/3 years of film model
making expertise. The authors have won many awards
which include an Emmy, two Saturns, a Maggie, etc.
