Time to relax?

Whilst the wiring the that I described in some previous posts is finished on the baseboard the original ballasting that I did some time ago was never finished (not unusual for me) and to be blunt, some parts were not as I would want them to be. That was partly down to the fact that the baseboard was in place on the layout and I could not reach very well. With the baseboard away from the layout I had the perfect opportunity to put right what is wrong and finish the project. Now ballasting is not the most exciting job to do but it can be relaxing so I have had a few hours of soothing work to relax me! And you do see some progress although I will need to wait for the dilute PVA glue that I spread over the top to dry before doing anything else! That should give me some more time to relax or do some jobs on Mrs. Woody's list!

If you add the two numbers of my age together you get a number between 11 and 19!

It was my birthday some days ago and as always Mrs. Woody did me proud with some fantastic gifts. I won't say how old I am but as a hint, if you add the two numbers of my age together you get a number between 11 and 19!

Whilst loyal blog reader Mrs. B works that one out I will get to the gifts.

First off there is this Gecko Models 1/35th scale Cruiser tank which has a fighting compartment interior to it. Probably one of the less know WW2 tanks it will no doubt be an interesting build and should add something unusual to the collection. Not built a Gecko kit before so that will be something new for me too. Just hope there is not too much in the way of small and fiddly etched brass parts!

Next off is the IBG 1/72 Scammell Pioneer Tank Transport complete with a Crusader tank as a load. Again, as with the Gecko Models kit, I have never built an IBG kit so it will be interesting to see how this compares to the Airfix kit of the same transporter that I built about ten years ago.

Last off, told you she did me proud, is this very nice Heljan Class 33 in DRS livery. It is a second hand or as the current vogue describes it, pre-loved! To be fair it was either loved or never used by its previous owner as the loco is pristine and still has the accessory pack unopened. I just need to get my Last Great Project layout back together to see and hear (it is DCC sound chipped - nice!) this running 

Well, just under a year to go to the next gift day!

That swear jar is becoming rather heavy!

It is back to wiring on the fourth baseboard of My Last Great Project model railway layout and I am pleased to say that it is done! Well just about. I just need to attach the chocolate box connector to the baseboard and harness the wiring runs together but that is it! The point motors are all installed and working despite me wiring two on the crossovers in the track back to front but that was easily solved after trying to work out for two hours what was wrong! That swear jar is becoming rather heavy! It is amazing how sometimes the most obvious can be so difficult to spot as I often inform Mrs. Woody as she enquires about progress with her 'For me to do list'! 

These two chocolate box connectors will eventually take the wiring to the yet to be built control panel. The great thing about these are they are robust and easy to join and take apart.

Maybe the swear jar contains enough for a custom built control panel?

Pull a lever!

Having missed going to the Rocks by Rail Museum last week, more about why another day, I arrived to find that the Museum is planning t go hi-tech! Now Hi-tech for the Museum is not some form of digital display or inductive cooker, it is in fact to control the points on site from a central lever frame saving a lot of walking! What is a lever frame you ask. Well it is this only it is its side in the photo from where it was delivered.

Not sure on the history of these levers but there is this clue casted into the frame which indicates that they are from London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. Must check that out when I have time..

Whilst there may be some rust on the lever frame, it has nothing compared to the current Southern brake van being restored.

The amount of rust is so bad that Martyn is having to use a pneumatic needle gun to remove the layers of rust from the steel frame. Hopefully there will be ome sound metal left!

Talking of metal, metal music fan Rob had spent the morning greasing the drag line and looked as though he had been greasing himself too!

He then went off to do some final jobs on the Plant Shed including riveting the final fascia pieces into place. The Plant Shed project has now been three years in the making so by the Museum standards its been a quick job!

Meanwhile, no surprises that after two weeks and a fair amount of rain, the grass needed cutting and that is my job!

 I was surprised by just how much it had grown as was the lawn mower which struggled to get through this stuff!

The nice thing about grass cutting is that unlike restoring a brake van or building a plant shed, you see almost instantons results! Very gratifying!

Just wish I could pull a lever to control the lawn mower from a central point!

 

Another butterfly moment!

Just as I predicted yesterday, I had another butterfly moment and although there is still wiring to finish on the baseboard I decided to make a start on the profile boards! some 3mm ply was used and it was a job and a half to mark everything out so that it matches up to the other already in place boards as well as the scenery modules already constructed. However, the initial job is done.

I just need to paint them grey now! When that will happen is open to debate given my current butterfly mood but at least it is all progress!

It is a bit like keyhole surgery!

Wiring continues on My Last Great Project layout with the point motors having been fitted which is never an easy job. Basically you have to feed the actuation pin from under the baseboard and try to get it through the small hole in the tiebar of the point. It is a bit like keyhole surgery! You then have to ensure that the motor will actually work the point and then mark and drill holes through the mounting plate of the motor into the baseboard and screw it in position. A third or indeed a fourth hand would be useful! However, success eventually came about with all eight now in place.

Further back ache and contributions to the WMD swear jar have seen six of the eight motors actually wired up.

There is still a lot to do once the wiring is finished including things on the surface of the baseboard including profile boards and tidying up the ballast as well as thinking about the scenery. In my butterfly mood at the moment of fliting randomly from one job to another who knows what tomorrow may bring!

A butterfly moment!

In one of my butterfly moments of fliting from one thing to another, I have put aside the oil depot kit for a while to allow me to get on with the wiring of the final board of four on My Last Great Project layout. There is some logic behind this in that I would rather get this job done whilst the warmer weather is with us. Nothing worse then dealing with wires in a cold room! 

The big clear off from the board of rolling stock and yet to be attached scenery saw the board on its side.

A few cobwebs and dust were apparent, must get a new cleaner! However, having already wired up three boards, this last one didn't show anything that I had not already dealt with previously.

A few hours saw the wires connected to the wiring modules which just need to be screwed in place and connected up to the chocolate box connector. 

Next up is fitting the point motors and wiring them up and then the profile boards for the scenery need to be cut, painted and fitted to the back edges of the board. It may be a long while before I get back to that oil depot kit!

Plastic Part Panics!

Building this Ratio Oil Depot kit has been very laid back and relaxing for some reason which makes a nice change from my usual plastic part panics where some calamity strikes meaning hours of searching for a lost elusive but critical part or trying to unglue a wrongly located part getting finger prints everywhere from wet glue, etc, etc! Hopefully this trend will continue to replicate itself in future builds. Somehow I doubt it though! Anyway, back to the oil depot and a relaxing time adding some etched dial faces to the various pipes and painting said pipes sees the project move on. Not too much more to do now!

On a different note, I have mentioned the classic K6 phone box on this blog before. They are very iconic and since they have been removed from the streets many alternate uses have been found for them including as garden tool sheds, green houses, showers, community book swap centres, and many other things including as a drinks bar. Prices of these phone boxes is high and you need about £2500 for a good one which means you seriously want to own one if you pay that. However, whilst out with Mrs. Woody, who was listing up products for future jobs for me to do, I saw this.

Obviously not a real K6 phone box but never the less neatly done as a bar for inside use. Probably a lot easier to get in a room then the real thing and not being cast metal, won't fall through your floor either! Price wise? Well less than a real box but you still really want to have a phone box bar if you are willing to pay.....

Just hope Mrs. W hasn't got any ideas from that!¬

It now looks like this....

I have hawe moved onto the various pipes for the oil depot. Not much to see really but valve handles added and awaiting painting.

You may have noticed the two etched handles in the above photo which were tiny when compared to this etch for the catwalk along the top of the tanks.

Cut out from the fret and put into my bending tool....

It eventually looked like this....

And after some airbrushing, like this.

Things are moving on even if slowly and it is interesting to look back on photos to see how things have changed. And that is the same with the local canal which I visited whilst out on a bike ride. A few weeks ago it looked like this....

but despite the lack of rain during August it now looks like this....

Just wish I could make rapid progress like that on my jobs! No doubt so does Mrs. Woody!

Anyway, a local swan seems to like what has happened.

Another relaxing hour!

Another relaxing hour (hope Mrs. Woody does not read that!) with some Panzer Light Rust colour paint saw the brickwork on the recently constructed bund painted and the coping stones got a stoneish colour on them too. As with most of my brick painting, I then mixed up some darker and lighter colours to randomly highlight individual bricks. More relaxation!

With that done I then used a wash of dilute grey paint to settle into the mortar joints on the bund and the office building. This also subdued the overall brick colour making it look waethered.

I think that looks OK, but then again I would!