Tunnel vision!

To get away from the tedious wall construction that I have been doing for the last few days, I decided it was time to construct the tunnels. This is something that I had been putting off because of the potential complexities in building curved roofs at an an angle but equally those complexities now seemed fairly attractive compared to the tedium of wall building!

There was a lot of trial fitting and measuring but eventually I was at the stage where I could extend one of the inner tunnel walls and create a curved card top to create the tunnel roof.

As card tends to warp when glued it was necessary to add a straight edge and clamp the card whilst the glue set

It just needs to all dry then it can be mounted on top of the tunnel walls where, hopefully, it will fit! It will be a bit tedious if it doesn't!

Talking of tedious, another two door linings/frames got a first coat of varnish. Another coat and they should be done which just leaves me two more to do. Doing the job in that cloakroom is like having a different sort of tunnel vision with its narrowness!

Small steps forward!

After yesterdays concept development of the wall construction for my 00 gauge layout tunnel section it is going a bit faster than before but still not as quick as I would like. It is one of those jobs where you know you cannot really move the project on without doing it but at the same time it becomes tedious to do it! Still, small steps forward!

Equally tedious are the door linings or frames, depending on how you term them, and varnishing them. Mrs. Woody decided that my casually mentioned idea of replacing the upstairs doors and linings/frames was an excellent idea and that whilst Phil the builder was here doing the cloakroom and bathroom refit he could do the doors to. What a good idea! However, as all our woodwork is varnished it is a lot easier to varnish the linings/frames whilst they are still in kit form and in a place where drips of varnish don't matter like in the presently deconstructed cloakroom! So today, frame number one got its first coat of varnish which is a tedious job especially when you realise there are still four frames to do! Is this as tedious as the wall making? It comes very close is all I can say. Still, small steps forward and tomorrows another day of wall building and varnishing!

One pack wrapped and unvarnished.

Then unpacked and first coat of varnish which pongs a lot!

Concept development!

I need to get on and finish the tunnel sub-base on my 00 gauge Last Great Project layout but it is slow going at the moment as I develop the concept as to what I am going to do. This is not a kit so there are no instructions to follow and no pre-moulded or cut pieces to assemble so everything has to be worked out in my head! As Mrs. Woody would no doubt advise, my head is probably not the best place to work things out or even develop a concept! However, being me, I have carried on regardless with developing the concept so first of, lets see if my first wall section looks right conceptionally!

I think that is OK! The initial concept works! Next up is to construct some supporting or strengthening pillars. A vast flat area of brickwork like that would need to have some structural additions to it so it is on with looking at how I make a suitable pillar.

First off two strips of card were cut. One is long enough to go from the ground up to the edge of the wall and the other from the ground to just above the wall.

This is then covered with the Metcalfe brick paper. To get a neat edge to the fold in the paper, it was scored from behind. I glued one edge first and let the glue dry before gluing the rest to make sure that I didn't get any creases.

With the first pillar complete it was tested for fit against the wall and looks good. A second pillar is under construction and a second section of wall has been started. The concept development has worked! 

Was it a magic trick? Or was I just an Ailurophile?

Last week, arriving at the Rocks By Rail Museum, the CAT was stood in the gateway in front of the track broken down and unable to move.

This week on my arrival and as if  by some magic trick, Harriot, the JCB, was broken down in almost the same spot!

It appears that there is a spate of fuel issues going through the plant fleet. No one is sure what it is but it could be coincidences with the fuel systems on the vehicles all giving issues or perhaps contaminated fuel. What ever it is we have a team of experts and keen armatures who can make things work - eventually!

Harriot did start but my curiosity as to where the CAT had gone was soon answered - just round the corner where it had yet again broken down in mid movement!

Which is a bit concerning as this pea gravel for the drainage job at the platform siding has arrived and needs moving by the CAT

so that this mess can be sorted out!

I'm sure it will be but in the mean time I got on with some more backfilling to create the viewing platform that I have been involved in since last year - Projects at the Museum tend to take a long time!

Just like trying to find rock to fill the Gabion baskets/cages some weeks ago, there is a hunt for suitable soil type backfill to go behind the Gabions and create the platform. I dug some out near the drag line excavator, including from within the bucket! It was just a long way to barrow the contents.

However, by chance, I spotted a pile of potential backfill closer to the eventual destination of the platform. Hidden behind undergrowth, David cleared that away and allowed access to some good material.

After a day of work we are nearly at the back of the Gabions!

We now have loyal blog reader Mrs. B on Team Gabion. For some reason she showed an interest in the project and was immediately, before she could have second thoughts, shown the source and destination of material together with the wheeled means of transporting said material and the shovel and pick by which said material is transferred into said means of transport! We can't miss an opportunity when someone shows interest! Thanks Mrs. B! 

Mrs. B also managed to confuse or educate, depending upon the individuals state of mind at the time, everyone at lunchtime by proclaiming that I was an Ailurophile! Now that took me off guard but apparently it is  “a person who likes cats” which I do, and the word was word of the day on the Dictionary.com web site back on the 22 August 2022. Don't say that WMD is never educational or indeed magical!

 

Things can only get better from here!

Time to add some detail to the plain brick sides. I am looking to make a wall to run across the top of the sub-base. Not just content with a simple flat fall I have had to make life difficult for myself by building a paneled wall! I had part of the Metcalf viaduct kit to hand which has such a wall as in the upper part of the photo below. Unfortunately there is no where near as much as I need so time to construct my own from card and brick paper.

Using the Metcalf sheet as a guide, I marked up some card and cut the panels out.

With the now holey card done it was covered with Metcalfe brick paper glued on with PVA. The panels were created by diagonally cutting the brick paper on its reverse side and then bending the paper through the hole and gluing the surplus onto the back of the card.

With three holes done it was time to test if it would look right. It did to me so it was worth carrying on.

Eventually the holey card was finished.

Putting that on to some more brick paper further proved that the idea was right but it would take a long time to do so it is onwards with further paneling! 

Something else that will no doubt take a long time is the rebuild of the cloakroom which Phil the builder, in a matter of half a day, managed to turn into this!

He assures me that things can only get better from here! 

It looks so much better!

Following my cardboard butchery on this sub-base, it is now time to start making it look like a real piece of railway infrastructure - well at least less like a white odd shaped box! The walls are being clad in Metcalfe brick paper which whilst being relatively cheap, does look good. First off to be covered were the two tunnel mouths. Not having glued them in place yet meant that they were easy to work on.

The brick paper was glued on with PVA glue.

There are some curved or arched brick sections included on the sheets of brick paper and luckily theses were just the right radius for the arches to the tunnel mouths! Just a little careful cutting and a dab of PVA glue and that job was done.

Having covered the rest of the walls and temporarily placed them against the sub-base as well as having painted the top in grey primer the effect is a tones down structure that is beginning to look more part of the overall scene rather than the white, oversized and odd shaped shoe box of a few days ago!

Unfortunately I still need to create some internal tunnel structure to get rid of all that whiteness that shows when looking at this angle.

Taking a look from a distance makes me pleased that I did take the time out to deal with something that I wasn't happy with. It looks so much better! Just need to start detailing it up which will take a few days especially as Mrs. Woody long awaited bathroom and cloakroom rebuilds have started! More of that another day!

Cardboard butchery!

In my last post about my Last Great Project layout, I was pondering over this oversized and odd shaped shoebox construction that I had spent several days building. My initial conclusion was that it was not right and needed alteration and even after a day or two to further consider I still came to the same thought.

Having built this as a sub-structure that can be moved off the layout meant that any alteration could be done at the comfort of my workbench and the mess kept away from the layout. Mr. Saw came into play as there was some serious cardboard butchery to be undertaken!

The initial butchery produced this.

Much better but still a bit more cutting to do with the angle of that entrance to the left-hand tunnel as it will be!

 Looking from a distance it looks better as well.

Cutting the blank pieces to infill the tunnel portal and side wall area.

Then it was time to be creative and form the tunnel portals themselves. I did check the clearances with some large rolling stock and whilst it is tight they do fit through!

Looking from a distance it all looks so much better than originally and no one can tell the cardboard butchery that has gone on!

Amazing things snowdrops!

Here in the UK as we approach Spring, the emergence of snowdrop flowers is seen as a positive step forward towards Summer. I took Mrs. Woody to Belton House in Lincolnshire to see the how their snow drops were getting on and to take the opportunity to think over the way I was going to rectify the issues with the structural scenic sub-base for my layout that I posted about yesterday. 

Despite it being a grey and cold day the snow drops still looked nice.

There was also a lot of information on boards around the grounds giving facts that I never knew about snowdrops!

Having refreshed my mind and increased my rather limited knowledge on snowdrops as well as having the company of Mrs. Woody I think I am clear about how to do the rectification process for the sub-base! Amazing things snowdrops!

Just not right!

You can do all the planning you like for a project and be convinced it will be just right, but, sometimes it just does not look right! That is the case with the scenic structure I am building at the moment which has been finished from the point of view that the basic structure is done and now needs detailing. Before getting to that stage I just wanted to check that it would look as wonderous on the layout as I had planned it would. It didn't and I knew that straight away!

So what is wrong with it? The structure fits within the space which is a positive. However, despite the fact that it will receive tunnel mouths where the tracks go through and will be clad with some form of brick covering it just looks too tall. There are reasons why I wanted it high but I have probably gone higher than I need to. So visually at the moment it doesn't work for me. There is another visual matter which is the angle of where the tunnel mouths will be. At the moment I cannot see them and the angle compared to the cutting side is just not right! The angle should, in my view, now be in line with the metal ruler on top of the structure. It might need staggering but it needs amendments. 

Even looking from the other side of the baseboard did not make it look any better!

So those are the visual matters but there is more! Despite checking clearances to allow the largest rolling stock to pass through without collision with he structure I made the error of altering an internal frames location without rechecking. The result was that the first time the Virgin Trains rake of coaches went through they derailed!

The next issue is also technical in that I forgot to take account that part of the structure would rest on the track underlay which is 5 mm above the rest of the baseboard on to which the rest of the structure sits. Obviously, that leads to level issues which I don't want to have to deal with!

So do I scrap it and start again? No, I think that I know what needs doing but not quite how yet but when I do it should then visually and technically be just right instead of just not right! We will see in a few days time if that is the case!