well the tan carpet monster has gotten ahold of one of my grab handles for the m-110 thunderbolt. is thier any thing out thier like in some phoet ecth stuff or maybe an easy way to repoduce them. i could probally write it off as battle damage but to me it just done look right with the other handle on the other side being thier.
Mission Modelers “Grab Handler” is an indispensable tool for the 1/35th afv model builder. I have one and it has saved me a few times. It is absolutely worth the investment. You will have to click on the image to see the whole thing.
http://www.missionmodels.com/product.php?productid=16462
What I do?
Easy fix… 
check the spares box.
Or, more difficult but still easy…
Stretch yourself 
a piece of (dragon plastic) sprue (or use lead wire & superglue) and cut a generous section for this.
-
Using the correct diameter (matching the sprue or lead wire) drill.
-
Drill two holes the determined
width apart. -
Loop the sprue or wire to a “U” shape and insert into the holes from the outside.
-
Pull tightly from the back side and press from the finished side.
-
Now, slide the formed handle back out to the desired height and add the appropriate cement from the back side and when dry, cut the excess off.
It isn’t hard at all and … nothing special to buy.
Steve
Very clever Steve. Good tip. I almost hope I lose a grab handle soon to try it[;)]
I have a scale ruler that I bought from Scale Aircraft Modelling Magazine several years ago. As well as 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 scales printed along the edges, it also has a number of circle, oval, rectangular and square templates. It also has holes for demarking rivets.
These holes are also very useful for making grab handles. Make a note of the width of the handle, take a piece of 15-amp fuse wire, and bend it through the required holes. Remove, trim to length, and cement in place with superglue. Job done!
The handles on this Italeri 1/35 LVT-4:
were made using this method.
I think the ruler cost me about £3. The Grabhandler currently retails in the UK at £39.95…
Cheers,
Chris.
I find I can usually just use a pair of pliers to bend handles. Is the “Grab Handler” really that much better? Espically with the price of it.
Grizz
The thing I like about the grab handler is that I get consistent sizes if I am making more than one of the same size. When I was trying other methods to make multiple grab handles, I never could get any two of them to look the same. So, based on that, I justified spending the money. [8D]
Seems to me that drilling two holes, the requiered distance apart, in a piece of 60 thou plastic card, and then bending and cutting a piece of 15 amp fuse wire to shape , gives the same result, with a bit of practice, for a fraction of the price. You might waste a bt of fuse wire, but fuse wire’s cheap.
If yo’ve got a spare £40, for which you have no better use, fine. Myself, for what it does, I think the Grabhandler’s grossly overpriced.
Cheers,
Chris.
For reproducing a single handle, I think getting a specialized tool is probably overkill. Get some fine wire of an appropriate thickness and bend it with tweezers.
Whenever I break one of those insanely thin and delicate plastic grab handles from the sprue, I make one out of the closest available wire in my work box… works like a champ for me and one can bend it to replicate damage without breaking it. Since I have a few dead stereo components lying around, I have no shortage of wire.
I use tweezers… having several widths of ‘flat’ to shape a length of wire with… snip off the excess… been doing that for years.
$80? [:O] Not me!
They have definitely jacked up the price on the grab handler. I paid $25.00 for mine when it first came out and that was overpriced 3 years ago. I sure as heck wouldn’t pay $80.00 either. [:O]
thanks for the info guys. when i seen the price tag for the thing i said no way. i can use that money to buy serval kits.
Well I have to admit for $25 I might have bought one too.[:)] Course three years ago I wasn’t spending as much time or money and would have thought it too much then. Well live and learn.
Grizz