Several steps forward!

After yesterdays step back, today sees several steps forward with the Tiger 1 tank build.

With the hull already in its base coat of dark yellow it was a good time to add some muck and weathering where the wheels and tracks go before these were fitted. As it will end up as Tiger based somewhere around the Normandy area of France in early 1944 if the painting guide in the instructions is correct, it is likely that the terrain it drove over would be muddy leading to the underside of the tank also becoming muddy. 

My favoured product to recreate that gritty muddiness is an acrylic product from MIG that has a grainy texture to it.

 

What I did not realise is that I have had the product so long that the half of it left in the container had almost dried out. Not one to waste things if there is a way around the issue I poured some acrylic paint thinner into the container and then used a knife blade to work it into the semi dried out product - and guess what? It actually worked!

With a useable product a stiff brush was used to apply the product to mimic the build up of mud. I concentrated especially on the areas where the tracks would throw up mud.

Once dry, I airbrushed some  earth coloured paint over both the mud as well as the underside of the hull to create that dirt layer that covers this type of vehicle.

It is going to also get some weathering powder treatment but overall I am pleased with that. Certainly a step forward!

The turret has also been undergoing some more painting with almost all of it now primed so it will soon be time for a top coat which will be another step forward!

Taking a step back!

 

Sometimes you can get caught up in something which, when you actually take a step back, makes little sense! That is how I am feeling about the five hours I have spent on getting these four brass etched assemblies made and glued in place on the Tiger turret in the picture above. Looking at them I have a sense of some achievement in actually having been able to put these tiny things together but there is also an awful lot of frustration at the time it has taken and will I or anyone else actually notice them once painted and weathered?

However, as an old boss of mine used to say, 'We are where we are!' so forget about this occasion but next time I am dealing with tiny frustrating parts I will try to take a step back sooner!

And now for something completely different!

And now for something completely different! Those of a certain age and certain sense of humour will recall that phrase from the Monty Python Show. In this case though no humour, unless you think my YouTube videos should be classified as such, but a video I have been meaning to do for some weeks but not had the chance to do due to kitchen rebuilds, Norovirus, Rocks by Rail and Mrs. Woody's seemingly increasing jobs for me to do list! Anyway, today was the day so it was completely different! 

Ballasting model railway track usually involves the ballast itself and a means of adhering it to the baseboard. Usually that is done with a diluted glue which penetrates the layers of ballast and glues it in place. The problem comes near to points. Due to the dilute nature of the glue it can seep under the tie rod which operates the switching blades and in effect glues it in place. Depending on the strength of the glue it is sometimes possible to free the tie rod with some force, a tool such as a screwdriver or solvents or indeed a combination of these. If you are lucky it works without damaging the point but it is frustrating and time consuming. However you can end up damaging the point which means a new one is required. £15 buys a basic set track point with the larger points coming in with equally larger prices! So not only can a glued up point cause frustration, time but it can cost money too. 

Not sure how I came up with this idea but suspect it was some years ago reading a car magazine where petroleum jelly was rubbed on the rubber door seal to prevent the door freezing shut. My brain must have done its usual unconventional thinking and transposed that to model railways!  The thought was that if it stopped ice sticking to metal and rubber then petroleum jelly should stop glue sticking to the plastic tie rod of a point. 

It worked for me! Rubbing a small amount on the underside of the tie rod ended any problems I had with glued up points.

That hint is now in a short WMD YouTube video available for your visual delight! Now that really is something completely different compared to the last few weeks of blog posts!

You always learn new things!

I did find time to get out to my Man Cave for a short while and this is the sum of what I managed to produce!

More etched parts for the Tiger turret stowage bins. I did actually make a bit of a break through in dealing with these small parts in that instead of try to hold both parts using my hands and get the pivot points of the one part into the holes on the other I taped some making tape to the workbench and fastened one etch part to that it was held steady. Made it much easier. 

You always learn new things! Just wish I had learnt that years ago!

A bonus find of £1.05!

 Another day at WMD Recycling! This time the old washing machine was subject to reverse engineering! It is surprising just how much space a machine takes up when in bits!

Once it was all tidied up and sorted there is a a fair amount of metal including a 5p and a £1 coin found in the filter - bonus find!

Inside, the kitchen is so near to being finished that tomorrow should see it done with just a few painting jobs for me to do - as well as the fact that Mrs. Woody has now deemed that every other room now requires repainting! Great!

Today saw Phil the builder finish off the floor that leads out of the kitchen and down the hall. It makes the place feel bigger and as Mrs. W has pointed out it is easy clean so my cleaning tasks will be easier! Fantastic!

What would be more great and fantastic would be to get out in my Man Cave and finish that Tiger. Maybe tomorrow and maybe I can get another kit with that £1.05 bonus find!

Reverse engineering!

As a day for doing any model making today was not the day! However I did reduce the old cooker into kit form using a screw driver and pair of pliars in my reverse engineering escapades so that could count as some form of reverse kit building! It is actually quite interesting to see how something has been put together - a good insight into both design and engineering - whether it is reverse or forwards!.

Meanwhile, whilst I have been reverse engineering, Ben the electrician has fitted a new consumer unit as the old one which was state of the art 32 years ago is now classed as barely adequate - a bit like me!

Wish I could wire that neatly!

In the kitchen itself things are progressing with handles and splash backs being fitted and held in place with clamps and wood so it still looks a work in progress. One thing is certain though, I don't want to reverse engineer that kitchen - Mrs. Woody certainly would have words to say even if I just mentioned it!

Abraded, worn and weathered - and that is not me!

A great day at WMD HQ as the kitchen rebuild skip has now departed! That does not mean that the Kitchen rebuild is complete, just that the skip was as full as it was safe to do so!

The skip had obviously been recently painted and with its shiny paint yet to be abraded, worn and weathered by use and nature. The Tiger has also recently been painted with a clean looking coat of paint that will be abraded , worn and weathered by me!

First I need to finish the turret though but this project is moving on again!

Where has the year gone?

Whilst a cliché,  the phrase 'where has the year gone' did strike me yesterday evening as I put up the banners for one of the final events at the Rocks By Rail Museum this year.

Hopefully it and the other two remaining events will be good ones! In one way I will be glad when the season is over as I won't have to make the adaptations to last years banners to save on the cost of new ones! Then again will next year mean I have to adapt the already adapted banners? 

Whilst I mull that over in my somewhat confused mind, more progress with the Tiger build with the hull now being fully primed.

Before I prime the turret I thought I would confuse my already confused mind further by trying to put together the brass etch latches on the storage bins. These are so small that my camera doesn't seem to be able to focus on them! However one is partly in place so just three and a half and my sanity to go!

 

More of the etched brass to brass me off!

Things are moving on with the Tiger build but there have been some more etched brass parts to fit. One largish piece that has laid in the box for some time mystified me. I had been looking at the plans for some days to find where it went as I did not recognise what it was supposed to represent. I thought it was a grill mesh but I finally found it on the plans and it all clicked! It is designed to replicate the zimmerit coating over the join of the deck to the lower hull. Easy once you know!

It was glued down just by melting the plastic surface with some liquid glue and gently pressing the part in. You can also see that I have rammed some tissue paper into the drivers vision block to mask the clear part behind it. One of those things about digital photos is that they pick up things that my aging eyes miss. In this instance I did not realise that the bow gun moulding even has a representation of the barrel being a tube! Must go to Spec Savers - usual disclaimer in that other vision enhancing purveyors are available! 

Talking of eyesight, mine was really tested along with my sanity by these padlocks. The main body is plastic and the shackle is a brass etch. You can see the sizes involved by scaling with the scalpel. Doing a few of these can really brass you off!

 

After an hour the four etches were glued with super glue to the plastic bodies. Again, digital photography is not forgiving! Whilst this close up may show some crudeness in assembly, at normal viewing distance and with aging eyesight they look fine!

I had a few minutes to start priming the main hull in my usual black colour. It needs a few more coats but it does provide a good base for the top coats.

Tiger hull glued!

It has been a busy, interesting and varied week. Getting over Norovirus, the kitchen rebuild, working at the museum and making some progress with the Tiger tank rebuild. 

The Tiger now has a glued together deck and hull following some final fettling with the bow gun and masking off of the two forward hatches and the turret aperture. 

The fitting of the deck to the hull was not without a few near miss contributions to the swear jar but it all eventually went into the right places. With some liquid glue seeped into the joints it was all successfully held together.

With the hull and deck together it was time to fit the side track guards - a fiddly but greatly rewarding task once done as the pair really added to the character of the tank..

Placing the turret on top of the hull shows what a beast this tank was.

Hopefully getting to this stage makes the rest of the build a bit easier but that is never my luck!