Handling Kadee HGC Trucks

Many of us have welcomed Kadee's High Gravity Compound (HGC) trucks with open arms. They are beautifully rendered representations of useful prototypes, eliminate the toy-like, see-through truck springs, and have a weight near their metal cousins due to the HGC material. 

One thing about them that can be maddening is handling them when they are not screwed into a car. They can be like slippery eels as there is nothing holding them together. When purchased as separate trucks, they come with small clips that sit on the screw threads. However, these clips can easily become detached when handling. I am working on painting a pair of sideframes from a PS-1 and came up with a simple solution to keep them together until I get them screwed into the car body. I drilled a hole with a no. 50 drill bit through a piece of 0.030" x 0.188" styrene (although any suitable piece of styrene or even rod will work). I then screwed the truck screw into the piece of styrene. This holds the truck together and allows for handling while I paint and weather the sideframes. Problem solved.