In all there were six missing brake shoes from the five wagons. If I had a 3D printer I could probably produce replacements fairly quickly however I don't so it was back to making replacements the old way!
Despite the warm weather the PVA layers forming the water on the Panzer Ferry diorama base, as suspected, are taking a while to dry. Therefore this current project with the R131 Hornby Flat wagon should keep me amused whilst the glue dries!
First thing to do was dismantle the wagons. Being a 1970s Hornby product, this was easy to do - even for my usual incapable and ham-fisted approaches to such matters! Four clips fix the body to the chassis and once released the two come apart revealing a ballast weight. The two wheels from the chassis just pop out after edging the axle boxes apart a small amount.
With that done it was time to look at what needed doing to make the models a little more realistic and inspect for any damage incurred over their 50 years of existence.. One of the things that struck me was that most of the couplers needed straightening and most had suffered some rust as they are metal. Now I could have replaced the couplers with modern NEM pockets and small couplers but that would add to the cost by about £3 to £4 a wagon and this is very much a budget project and I will stress budget project again just in case Mrs. woody reads this! All I will do is remove the rust and paint the couplers along with the chassis once I remove the moulding lines on the buffer beam and buffers.
I did find that two of the buffers were missing. Luckily, the WMD Stores had some suitable replacements in stock.
After filing flat the remains of the broken buffers were filed flat and holes drilled to accept the shank of the replacements. Although not identical, the replacements look fine normal viewing distances!
Next job is to deal with some missing brake shoes for which I don't have ready made replacements!
A few days ago I posted about the diorama base for the Panzer Ferry and creating water using PVA glue. I did think it would be a slow process and so it is!
This is what it looked like after the second layer was applied and nearly dry. To be honest it doesn't look much - yet!
The third layer has now been applied so I will wait to see how that looks after drying out.
In the meantime as this is going to take a long time I have dug out another project!
I am going to create something a little less toy like from these five R131 Hornby Flat wagon with detachable wheel load that I bought at the Newark Toy and Train Fair back on New Years Day.
Carrying on from the strap line to yesterday's post, you always learn something new. Take this view of the chassis of steam loco 1931. You can tell from first glance that it is big bit of engineering with massive bits of metal all designed and made to come together to become a steam engine.
However, take a closer look and ask someone like John who has worked with such machines for more years than he cares to remember and you find out about the delicacy of the lubrication system to the wheel bearings. It is not just a sealed bearing that modern vehicles have but with the tiny copper pipes and various brass fittings it is a continuous lubrication system feeding the bearings with oil designed to work in harmony with all that big engineering.
Things are moving on with the Southern brake van where the floor is just about finished and work has started on the repair of the sides with new wood being inserted.
Across the tracks from the restoration shed, steam loco Uppingham continues to get painted . The firebox is now black...
...and the buffer beam looks rather smart in red although it will be brighter when it gets the top coat.
Walking through the Exhibition Centre I noticed some new wiring which has all the hallmarks of Steve as it is so neat! I believe this is another part of the colour light signal project or maybe it is some sort of clandestine monitoring system to see how long I spend in the cool of the Centre!
One of the positive aspects of the current heat wave is that the grass is not growing! In fact it looks dead!
Although I did bring Morris Mower out and butchered some remaining straggly grass I did use the opportunity created by t=dead grass to tidy this area up. After a few hours it was looking a lot tidier.
For how long is another question though!
A drive out with Mrs. Woody took us on an unplanned journey that usually results in the discovery of something of interest. In this case it was Lincolnshire's smallest church, St. Andrews in the now long gone village of Scott Willoughby. There are only a couple of farms, the Rectory and the church left. The original settlement dates back to being mentioned in the Doomsday Book and medieval finds have been made around the area as well as aerial photography revealing the sites of various buildings and field boundaries.
The church itself, whilst far from an imposing building has a charm especially on a sunny day.
The church yard has only a few gravestones and this one caught my eye as Mr Sly lived to 104 whilst his wife lived to 83. There is certainly something to be said about living in the countryside and from what I understand, the Sly family is a long-standing, prominent dynasty heavily tied to Fenland agriculture and history. With roots dating back to the 13th century in the region, the name evolved from the Middle English word sleight (meaning wise, clever, or skillful) and has been prominent in towns such as Spalding, Crowland, and the Fens for generations.
I'm sure Mr. Sly would be interested to see that the harvest has already commenced thanks to the hot weather.
As they say, everyday is a school day and we certainly learnt a bit more!
With ice cream consumed and the heat of the Man cave having done its work the sand applied to the PVA was fixed in place. The last of the profile sides was added at the lowest point of the diorama base. I had avoided fixing it in place before so that I had a clear path with the PVA and this profile board is higher than the so far constructed scenery,
The reason for that is that this part of the diorama will supposedly be the edge of the water that the Panzer Ferry operates in.
With the profile board fully glued in place I sealed the edges with a bead of PVA glue. At this point I am not sure if I will use PVA for all the water as it supposedly dries clear or whether I will use a varnish. What is sure though is that either material will need to be built up in layers with each drying before the next is applied. Maybe the heat of this heat wave is useful!
With the brown base coat dry on the diorama base it was time to add some texture with my usual medium of dry sand spread onto a coat of PVA glue.
Some newspaper under the diorama means that any excess sand can be collected and put back into the container for reuse - saves on sweeping up too!
To spread the sand more evenly I used an empty garlic granules jar which I liberated before it ended up in the recycling bin!
Once the base was covered in sand I added a dilute coat of P_VA glue using an old syringe. That should hold any sand not directly in contact with the base coat of PVA. Now its time for another ice cream as I let the glue dry!
A cooler day meant that the Man cave was enterable which meant I could progress with the scenic base for the Panzer Ferry. It was just a case of painting the white plater with a thinned brown base coat to take away the whiteness! Normally I would mix the paint into the plaster as I mixed it but in this case I had ready mixed plaster so I missed that out.
It looks a bit stark but when dry and then covered all will be well!
Now out of the Man Cave to let that dry and off for an ice cream!
Work continues on the base for the Panzer Ferry with the base receiving some profiles to the sides. made from mounting card I sprayed the inside surface with acrylic primer to seal it as there would be some more filler added to bring the base and profiles together.
Once those were stuck in place the gaps were filled with more filler.
I will need to let that dry and then paint the surface which is a job for tomorrow as the Man Cave has reached temperatures even saunas have trouble getting too!
Cool cat! Cool car! Riding a bike brings you into contact with all sorts of things you might never normally see. Take my recent ride on a hot July day.
First off, I saw in the distance something that I didn't think looked right! Maybe it was a mirage given the desert like heat!
However getting close it was a Canadian Sphynx a hairless breed of cat.
Cool looking cat and in the heat of the day it must have been cool with no fur!
A bit further on this rather cool car was in a car park.
It is a Kei Car from Japan. This is the smallest car that can legally use the motorways of Japan and is designed to a maximum size allowed in many Japanese cities where road space is minimal. Talking to the owner who loves it, it has 4 wheel drive and air con with a maximum sped of 60mph so it does about 60 miles to the gallon. A grey import from Japan it is in superb rust free condition for a 10 year old vehicle. A cool car and a cool Kei! Just wish I had that air con as I cycled home!
