Tooled up for O gauge locos

For a magazine project, I needed some loco tools. Looking around, there is a fair bit of choice but these are the two packs I ended up with.

First up, Springisde's small tools. I like whitemetal for this application. You only need to clean up the mould lines on the parts and they are good to go. A bit of weathering such as a wash of dark grey or brown, and they look the part. You can even polish the metal up a bit first if required.

I paid £8.50 for this set so it's not the cheapest detailing pack in the world. I suspect that if you just want spanners then the laser-cutting or etching boys can do the job a lot cheaper.

The other pack is from Ixion:

 

 For £4.50, these really are a bargain. Tooling up to mould in plastic won't have been cheap but the result is a low price in a world where people will spend money. Arguably, the tools are a bit chunky, you could produce much more slender items in wire, but there is a respectable selection. 

My favourite feature is the bucket which has a separately applied wire handle. I'd have understood if this had been plastic and just included in the pack, but wire is a real bonus. It would look great hung on the rear lamp iron of a shunter.