I would have cycled into a brick wall of a wind on the way out and been like Mary Poppins with her umbrella on the way home!

I was intending to go on a bike ride today but the strength of the wind put me off demonstrated by the wheelie bin doing wheelies down the pavement! Ten years ago I would have gone even if the wheelie bin had taken off and I would have cycled into a brick wall of a wind on the way out and been like Mary Poppins with her umbrella on the way home! But, with age, I am much more a self preservationist as I get older! The strength of the wind was perhaps demonstrated by the closure of a nearby main road where a lorry had been blown over by the wind! The picture is taken from a distance which equates to about as close as I want to be to such an incident! Apparently the recovery team cannot  recover the lorry until the wind dies down so it could be a while before all those amber lights go!

Instead of going on the bike I took a recovering from a bad cold Mrs. Woody out to a local garden Centre where various items such as seeds, compost, fertilizer, bread and tea cakes where purchased emptying my depleted from recent compressor and printer purchases wallet!! All items were apparently to do with a therapy to cure the cold. It seems it is called retail therapy!

Anyway, I did make use of some of the items purchased to attend to what is laughingly a lawn but is more like a sea of moss and weeds! First off I aerated the ground with something that I inherited from my Dad who got this back in the 60s or 70s with Green Shield stamps which was like an awards scheme today but you got physical stamps to stick in a book which could then be exchanged for items in a catalogue. If you want to find out more look at this! And if you have old stamps or books they are selling on eBay so there may still be some value in them!

Once holes were punched through the moss and weeds the lawn feed came out spread in a mechanical spreader again inherited from my Dad but of a more modern 90s vintage I think!

As I informed a further recovering aided by retail therapy Mrs. W, in a weeks time we should be able to look out upon a sea of dead moss and weeds! 

Back in the World of model making some more painting of the Scammell Pioneer Tank Transporter and Crusader tank kit has taken place with more painting of wheels, seats and engine block.

I will be glad when this build is complete as it is seemingly taking for ever. What I need is a bit of wind behind me.....

Not a very exciting job but it has to be done!

For various reasons not a lot of model making time today but I have started painting the tyres for tractor and trailer parts of the IBG Scammell Pioneer Tank Transporter and Crusader tank kit.

 Not a very exciting job but it has to be done! Anyway, keeps me amused!

Braided metal core covered in plastic - makes it sound like an ice cream!

Another day at the Rocks By Rail Museum and not long to the first public events of the year which is why Trevor was painting the bench seat on the platform. Talk about sitting down on the job!

No sitting down for me as I was out with Sammy Strimmer back in the Bone Yard.

And this time I was trying out a new strimmer cord - one with a braided metal core covered in plastic - makes it sound like an ice cream!

It is the silver coloured coil in the picture above whilst the normal nylon cord is the orange tangle! Having tried the metal wire out it does what it says in as much as it goes through thicker vegetation then the nylon cord and lasts a bit longer. As you can see in the photo below, it does wear out - not even metal is beyond the strength of the Bone Yard vegetation!

As usual Treasure Junk Hunt uncovered a few things lost for years such as another blue plastic barrel! 

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This yet to be fully revealed pile of bricks!

As well as this assorted pile of concrete fence posts, and concrete and wooden sleepers.

By the end of the day there was a fair amount cleared which means less to do next time and hopefully with the new strimmer cord it might be quicker too!

A very nice bit of kit!

Good news! The new compressor has arrived!

This is the old one...

...and this is the new one!

A very nice bit of kit. The compressor itself is similar to the old one but this one has a three litre air tank which means the airbrush is supplied from a consistent reservoir of air rather than a pulse of air coming directly from the compressor. Hopefully this should last me a few tears - I had the old one for fifteen years so I think it earnt its keep!

Now I can get back to some airbrushing!

My FAWW, which is short for Financial Advisor and Wallet Watcher (aka Mrs. Woody)

As a result of my airbrush compressor having given up the ghost, my FAWW, which is short for Financial Advisor and Wallet Watcher (aka Mrs. Woody) has released funds for a new compressor which is now ordered and should arrive soon. I now also need to negotiate with her for funding for a new printer as that blew up (literally) when I switched it on today! 

In the meantime I managed to just get a bit more air out of the old compressor to apply some top coat paint to the BG Scammel Pioneer Tank Transporter and Crusader tank parts. It was a painfully slow job but at least it begins to look more like a model heading towards being finished then it did last week!

Hopefully the new compressor will make life a bit easier! It would be great if it could also make life a bit easier with fuel prices by compressing them back a bit! Regular readers of this blog may recall back in March 2022 I posted about the rising price of fuel in this post and then again in June in this post and this post. Well things are more or less back where we were four years ago. Same petrol station just four years on!

In other news and just when I thought things might go right I heard a siren behind me whilst out on a bike ride! I had visions of being carted off for breaking a speed limit ( I like to be optimistic about my cycling proficiency and speed) but no, it was a Fire Engine! Well at least I got to take a photo of it without being carted off!

Cold and compressor woes!

Mrs. Woody is still under the weather with her cold and mine is just lurking in the background - letting me know it is there but not unleashing its full onslaught - oh woe is me and if you are with Mrs. Woody when she has a cold you know it is woe time!

In the meantime though I have Been out to the Man Cave with the intention of starting the painting of the IBG Scammel Pioneer Tank Transporter and Crusader tank kit. However more woes with my compressor more or less giving up. It blows some air along with some water and as Mrs. W would highlight it is a bit like me - knackered! I pointed out that the compressor has only lasted 15 years which is a lot shorter than me so far before it gave up but I think the cold has blocked her ears as there was no reaction.

 I did manage to get primer on most of the parts but I now need to look for a suitable compressor before continuing. More woe for the wallet then!

When laid out like this there are a lot of parts for such a small scale model!

Feeling a bit under the weather as the phrase goes! Mrs. Woody is feeling a lot under the weather so I presume we have picked up a bug from somewhere. However, I have still managed to do something in the Man Shed. Not a lot but all the parts of the IBG 1.72 scale Scammel Pioneer Tank Transporter and Crusader tank kit are now ready for priming before a top coat is applied.

When laid out like this there are a lot of parts for such a small scale model!

Back with building the Scammel Pioneer readying for paint.

I am back to the tractor unit of the IBG 1.72 scale Scammel Pioneer Tank Transporter and Crusader tank kit. Having pondered the painting of this i had a few parts to add to the chassis like the radiator and lights. The lights were a disaster! The kit parts flew off the bench as I tried to clean them up and remain lost! I made some new ones up from some kit sprue. They are passable and in this scale I don't think my efforts will be noticed!

Cab wise, I am leaving the roof off as well as one of the cab sides and the two halves of the cab will be painted separately. I should then be able to paint the details on the interior and then put the side and roof on having not forgotten to put in the steering column and steering wheel!

Hopefully the weekend may see all the parts in at least primer!

There was also this sign that says STOP, so I did!

A truly glorious day weather-wise at the Rocks By rail Museum today which made everything seem a bit easier to do. 

I brought Morris Mower out of his Winter sleep for a bit of action and to join Sammy Strimmer. He started after a few pulls of the starter cord so was soon awake unlike me!

Andy was bringing the oversized washing machine out of its Winter hibernation after I had used Sammy Strimmer to cut back the vegetation. It is now ready to wash more ballast.

John and Alex shunted a few wagons about to get the ballast wagon ready to be loaded with washed ballast.

It is now in the platform siding awaiting its first use this year.

Having gone down to the oversized washing machine with Sammy Strimmer I could look back up towards the top of the Bone Yard and appreciate just how much undergrowth is still to be cut back.

Being at the other end to Bone Yard with the strimmer, I used the opportunity to do a bit of clearance work and discovered the following in my usual weekly treasure Junk Hunt.

Fist off a dustbin with what looks like a wheel barrow tyre in the water that has filled the bin!

An empty plastic blue barrel.

Some interesting electrical equipment that may have worked but that is now unlikely having been left outside for years!

There was also this sign that says STOP, so I did!

I didn't stop for long though!

A combination of the strimmer and mower cut back undergrowth on the approach to the Museum entrance which brings a bit of symmetry to the approach. The cut back bit is the brown part to the right!

The thing I noticed again was the number of ladybirds that were out. These were down by the oversized washing machine

It should be a good summer!

On the other hand our regular Robin was having a great deal foraging in the cut back areas.

And as I left for the day these two pheasants were fighting out their territorial aspirations!

 

Whilst rummaging in the box I did find this interloper!

Out on todays bike ride and one of the local hot spots for flooding is still flooded. Now, being on a bike is bad enough in dealing with potholes but when you cant even see them under water or know how deep the water is makes me think sensibly and find an alternative route. 

 Unfortunately for a number of motorists this is not their thinking as this collection of number plates and other automotive paraphilia ripped from vehicles as they plunged through the flood testifies! There are going to be some big bills coming to some people soon!

Meanwhile, back in the dryness of WMD HQ work on the Crusader tank has progressed to the point that it is ready for paint!

I did have to replace the aerial but that was a simple job. Whilst rummaging in the box I did find this interloper!

Some form of ladybird which seem to be in abundance at the moment but I have let it where it is so it can fly off when it is ready!