Tools and Materials:
Here is a list (in no particular order) of the tools and materials I used for this project:

1. Dremel Tool with cut-off wheel and sander attachments.
2. Small Metal files
3. Drill Press or Hand Drill with 1/8" and 1/4" drill bits.
4. Scroll Saw
5. Small Butane Torch or a 200 watt Soldering Iron.
6. Silver Solder and Flux.
7. One 4" piece of 9/32" Brass Tubing.
8. One 91/2" piece of 1/4" Brass Tubing.
9. One 10" x 3" piece of hardware cloth.
10. 1/16"x3/4" strip of brass (about 3" long).
11. A small piece (2 ½" square) of extruded PVC sheet.
12. Small piece of clear plastic (approximately 1/16" thick).
13. Number 5 circular punch tool.
14. Paint, pencils and paper.

Wow... that’s a lot of stuff, and if you don’t happen to posses some or most of the material listed above, it will definitely be more cost affective to purchase a building kit that includes a semaphore. However, if you want to try your hand at building a similar type device, let’s get started.

Step 1:
The first thing you need to do is either draw, scan, or copy a drawing of the type of arm you want to model. I found one in an old ‘Model Railroader’ magazine (see Figure 1). The drawing was in HO (1:87) scale, so after scanning I enlarged it 300 percent in a paint program to get the correct size for my 1:29 scale model.

Figure 1

Step 2:
After cutting out the shape with a pair of scissors, trace the outline onto the type of material you choose. I used a piece of 3 mil PVC sheet. You can use wood, brass or any other type of stock. After the outline has
been traced, cut them out using either a scroll saw, razor saw, or Dremel Tool. Because of the many curves
I found it much easier to use a scroll saw, then smooth the edges with some small files (see Figures 2, 3 and 4).