More to do but these small details do take time!

Now, about those chopped up bits of plastic I blogged about a few days ago!

Well, they are now a cable duct! I could just have laid the uncut strip but that would have looked a bit too well kept and maintained. This way they look as though they have been in place for ages and as time has passed they have moved with ground conditions.

Add a bit more vegetation and the whole thing looks even more weathered! You may also have noted that the point motors have electrical cables feeding into them and literally those cables are just offcuts of layout wire!

Further on there is also more vegetation sprouting whi9ch adds to the realism! More to do but these small details do take time!

All this knowledge just because I model a scene where a dog has relieved itself against a lamp post!

 

Just adding a little realism (hopefully!) to the platform scene, we have a man with his daughter and his trusty canine companion Fido. Now Fido has done what many a canine does and that is leave a puddle against a lamp post as pointed to by the red arrow! Not a scene that you see very often on a model railway but a dab of gloss varnish created the puddle and Fido is from a  pack of Woodlands scenic dogs complete with fire hydrants (it is an American pack!). 

Now calling a canine Fido probably ages me but you do not hear dogs names like Fido, Rex, Duke, Rover, Shep, Spot, Skip, Butch., Bessie, Daisy, Dolly, Duchess, Flossie, Queenie or  Sadie and yes I did Google that lot! Apparently todays names (again using the delights of Goggle) are ones like Charlie, Max, Cooper, Milo, Teddy,  Luna, Bella, Daisy, Lucy and Coco. In fact when I just Googles Fido to see the origins of the name I found that Google throws up - 'FIDO stands for Fast Identity Online, an open set of technology standards created to replace traditional passwords with secure, passwordless login methods like biometrics and hardware keys.' In fact there is even a FIDO Alliance! Well, there you go - another school day! 

However I was persistent and found that the canine related Fido relates to an Italian dog and Wikipedia states ' Fido was an Italian dog that came to public attention in 1943 because of his demonstration of unwavering loyalty to his dead master. Fido was the subject of articles appearing in many Italian and international magazines and newspapers, was featured in newsreels throughout Italy, and was bestowed several honours, including a public statue erected in his honour

All this knowledge just because I model a scene where a dog has relieved itself against a lamp post!

Chopping up plastic!

Before getting some paint on the signal gantry that has featured in recent posts I needed to create something that would get painted at the same time saving on cleaning the airbrush twice!

Some plastic strip and card was sought from the WMD Stores...

..and glued together. It was then marked up into 6mm or so lengths.

Then it was chopped up"

Once attached to some masking tape the chopped bits were airbrushed along with the gantry. So, what are the chopped pieces for? Well, that will hopefully be revealed shortly!

Heritage Open Days

It was Heritage Open Day at the Rocks by Rail Museum which meant that in line with many other attractions in England we opened our Museum for no admittance fee.  As the Heritage Days website says 'Heritage Open Days is England's largest festival of history and culture, bringing together thousands of volunteers and organisations every September to celebrate their heritage, community and history. Stories are told, traditions explored, and histories brought to life. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – and it’s all FREE.'

There were certainly a lot more visitors then a normal day and despite not charging admission the cafe was busy and more than made up for that in monetary terms. It also brought in visitors who had never been before and there were comments made by some that they would be returning another day.

I don't think that any of us got much work done as we were talking to visitors but that was nice and for the Museum this was a once in a year event so there will be plenty of  other opportunities to catch up.

A quick 5 minute job. Wrong!

 As is a trait of mine, I got side tracked from the Dapol signal gantry by this!

Not sure of the manufacturer as there are no markings on the model but suspect that it is a Athearn union pacific fruit express reefer. I bought it with several other freight cars at the Newark Toy and train Fair on New Years Day. I did wonder why it was so much lower in height than usual freight cars but some research revealed that these cars were specially developed to travel with passenger coaches so that the fruit that they contained was delivered more quickly than if it had been hauled as part of a conventional freight train.

Now this particular model had an issue but at I think £3 that was something I could easily fix - or so I thought! The issue was that it rattled and that was caused by the ballast weight in the car body being loose. Now normally you remove the floor and get into the body and as when I bought it I saw two screws holding the bogies on I though no problems to get that floor out then. Since being bought the reefer has sat awaiting attention and as I had to move it to get at something I was remined of the need for attention. A quick 5 minute job. Wrong!

Having removed the bogies I found that the floor is part of the body moulding and the roof is the way in. However, the roof was glued in place! Being careful I managed to break the glue bond and get the roof off. So far that 5 minute job had taken about an hour!

I suspect by looking at it, that the loose ballast weight had previously been attended to looking at the glue marks on it but obviously not successfully! 

My solution for a permanent repair was to use double sided tape.

With that applied the weight was stuck to the reefer floor. Just put the roof back on which luckily I did not glue yet and then replace the bogies.

As I screwed in the screws that held the bogies I found out why the ballast weight was loose as I heard a thud inside the reefer body. Taking the roof off it was clear that the screws protruded above the floor level and had pushed the ballast weight off the floor.

I could have shortened the screws but that had issues so as the ballast weight was only a couple of mm too long I used a file to create a notch at each end of the weight which cleared the screws!  Now into the job by an hour and a half I reapplied some double sided tape and reattached the weight, replaced the roof, reattached the bogies this time with no internal thud and job done!

Signal gantry progress.

Some more progress with the Dapol signal gantry. 

The maintenance platform now has its stanchions added and I have also attached some rod to make a guard rail. The signal heads have been backed with plastic card as well so it is now a case of getting some paint on the parts - a job for another day!

Much easier and working smarter as I get older!

Having altered the main parts of the Dapol signal gantry to fit the intended site it was time to start building the kit!

Having already built one I knew that I would want to add girder detail to the uprights as I did with the first kit. However, having learnt from the first one, I added the plastic strip before attaching anything to the uprights - much easier and working smarter as I get older!

Whilst waiting for the glue to set I remembered I needed to also shorten the maintenance platform and move the mount for the ladder! So some measurements were taken and the appropriate amount removed and the mount sliced off.

Those parts were glued together along with the main structure of the gantry. Looking good! Just need to add a few more parts and the construction will be finished - unless of course I have forgotten something!

That went well too! Must be mu luck day!

Having been inspired by the train running session I have actually been getting on with some mode making activities.

This Dapol signal gantry is the same as the one I have already built for the station area so I should know what I am doing with this kit!

There is one difference though! I need to make the gantry shorter in length to fit the location. Some careful measurements showed me that I could luckily do this by cutting one section of the girder structure out. I managed that with a razor saw and no disasters!

I also needed to locate the maintenance platform and ladder onto the other side of the structure so one of the mounts for a support had to be cut off the upright 

That went well too! Must be mu luck day!

With those two things done I can start to put this together!

Having got some trains running should inspire me to do some more model making!

Sometimes, I forget that the purpose of building the My Last Great Project layout is to actually have somewhere to run trains! So having spent many a day working on the station area I decided I would sit back with a can of Pepsi Max (other beverages are available from your preferred beverage retail supplier) and just watch some trains run!

The problem when working on a layout is that they become convenient places to put things down on and then forget about them. Note to self - clear the rubbish from the base of the viaduct!

As my layout has an operating well in the middle it means that you do not see the whole layout in one view. You need to follow a train around meaning that it appears to actually go somewhere rather than in a glorified circle that it actually does! So, if I am looking at the viaducts I do not see what is happening in the station.

Talking of the station, I do like this picture which captures the essence of what I have been doing over the past few weeks. The grime, the weeds, the leaning electrical cabinet and the brightness of the loco!

Anyway, having got some trains running should inspire me to do some more model making just as soon as I finish this can of drink!

A random stack!

One of those, unusually for me anyway, quickish jobs involving some bits from the scrap box of plastic parts!

A few sleepers were cut from a strip.

Looking clsoely at them they are quite detailed mouldings but my inspection was short lived as I glued them into a, what would hopefully look like, a random stack.

Once painted and weathered and placed on the layout they look rather like what you might find ion a real railway!