Finished!

The £5 broken, quarter built and glue bomb Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier, bought without really knowing what it was as it was in a plastic bag with no box is now finished - well as far as I am going with it! I am really pleased how this turned out and given with what I started with somewhat surprised that it is finished at all! Anyway a few pictures of it on its finished diorama base that was completed today.

One small step but one giant leap for Woody

The Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier is almost finished! The masked up windscreen was unmasked having had a coat of dirt airbrushed on it yesterday.

It was fitted with some PVA glue to avoid  any damage or smears on the clear parts. In addition the tool rack for the rear tailgate of the truck was painted and fitted. The two remaining figures were also glued into the back of the truck and a few items of cargo were placed in the trailer. Small steps but leaping forward!

A few jobs to do on the base and then it will be fully finished! 

On Chalkdon my 009 narrow gauge layout, the walkway onto the platform I made and painted yesterday have been fitted making it safer for the 4mm passengers to get to the platform with their small steps rather than leaping!

On the step project the blocks are in and the slabs have been placed on the brickwork awaiting setting into a cement bed. However they are at least in place as they are not the easiest things to move and lift! 

Mrs. woody seems impressed which is a major plus point! 

'One small step but one giant leap for Woody' to badly misquote Buzz Aldrin! However it does at least look a lot better then 3 months ago! Hopefully that grass seed will grow soon - how can it not with all the rain!

A mixed bag!

A mixed bag of things done today including an incredible bike ride of two halves. Firstly heading into the brick wall of a wind and then, secondly, on the way home feeling as though I am about to take off! The weather appears to be so unpredictable that even the weather forecast seems to be a best guess at what might happen! Today started sunny but cold. At least it was dry and that was enough for me to mix up some concrete for inside the brickwork of my step into the rebuilt conservatory. I had already put a base of hardcore inside the brick base.

The idea is that seven of the concrete blocks just by the lump hammer in the picture above will be cemented in the base and provide support for the slabs that will span the bricks and form the top of the step. The blocks need a base to sit on hence the concrete base inside the brick work. I do try to think these things out - not always logically though as Mrs. Woody would say!

Mid way through above and the finished job below - just as the temperature really dropped, the wind blew even harder and the rain started!

Luckily although the rain bothered me as I got wet, the concrete was nice and snug under cover from the wooden temporary step. Hopefully I can get the blocks cemented in place tomorrow and then the slabs for the step installed on Friday - weather permitting!

In the dry of the Man Cave I had a mixed bag of small but important things to get on with. First off I need to finish the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier. One of the few parts to fit is the windscreen which is a one piece moulding including the windscreen wipers. As the truck is fairly heavily weathered a clean windscreen was not going to look right. Therefore I used my compass cutting on some masking tape to cut out a mask for the sweep of the two windscreen wipers. I will spray some 'dirt' coloured paint to simulate the grime thrown up on the glass and then remove the masks which will reveal clear glass where the wipers wipe. That's the theory!

For my 009 narrow gauge layout Chalkdon, I need to have a walkway across the tracks to the platform. I also need some packing cases, sacks, cable drums and oil drums to place around the canal wharf. These have been made up and have been sprayed with an initial coat of paint so should be in place soon.

Getting dirty!

Mrs. Woody and myself spent much of the day getting in each others way in the green house planting seeds for this years flowers and some vegetables. We will never be asked to show at the Chelsea Garden Show or indeed any local garden show but we do usually manage to get enough flowers to plant out the garden and at least show some colour along with a few salad vegetables some of which are edible! All worth getting a bit dirty for.

A few of the trays seeded up - hopefully in a few weeks there will be a sea of green in the green house!

Meanwhile back in the Man Cave the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier has also been getting dirty - or should that be dirtier? It had had yet more brown paint wash treatment. I think I am there with it now. I did give the inside floor of the trailer a heavy hit of the brown wash and a sprinkling of some weathering powders. Sometimes you don't appreciate just how much you have done with weathering but look at the inside of the trailer in this picture and then compare wit the next.

The difference is actually that it now looks as though it has been through a war and with that amount of dirt in it you could well plant it out with seeds just like my green house. In fact looking a bit closer it looks just like my lawn does at the moment following the building work!

With wheels added (although the spare still needs to be glued in place) there is not a lot more to do to bring this build to a finish which is good because there are plenty more waiting!

Welding the toilets!

An unusual statement but never the less interesting and it has happened as these photos show.

 

The toilet block is a metal container which has suffered over the years from the dreaded tin worm. Although it is the desire to replace it with a proper purpose built structure when the funding is available we have to make do and mend at the moment. King of the welders, Rob, has his skills stretched in trying to weld repair panels to more rust and fresh air. However as an expert welder he is succeeding!

Meanwhile in the cafe the artistic flair of Jane has seen the front of the counter brightened up with her collage which is now finished. We open two weeks on Sunday so she is also having a clear out of cafe clutter to make the place even more welcoming. Probably means I won't be allowed in!

Back at WMD HQ I have constructed the tool rack for the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier.

It is not very big but there was a lot of flash on the mouldings to clean off but at least it is reasy for paint. Luckily I don't have to weld this in place on the model.

Finishing!

Today I can actually say I have finished three things! Yes, I know that sounds very unlike me and to be honest these are small things I have finished but never the less finished they are!

Firstly, the bridge on my 009 narrow gauge layout is painted, weathered, varnished and now glued in place.

With that done I can now get on with ballasting the track.

Secondly, the last of the decals on the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier has been applied. Given the saga of these and the measures I have taken to maintain the integrity of 50 year old decals and the awkwardness of getting them off their backing sheet I am pleased that is a job finished.

Unfortunately I have remembered by means of look at the parts left over, that I still need to make the tool rack for the rear tailgate. Not a big job and it will add interest to the rear end of the truck but it is strange how you can forget about such things. Must be my age as I tell Mrs. Woody when I tell her I forgot about that urgent job she wanted done

Thirdly the brick laying on my step construction is finished! 

Despite the rain I decided I needed to get that job finished so I could get on with what follows on from it. So although I got wet I am happy!

Although the brick work is done I do still need to backfill and concrete the inside of what Mrs. W commented on when she saw it as 'my coffin'! I knew those murder mystery TV shows were a bad influence on her!

Am I actually getting anywhere?

I have periods when despite working on projects the actual progress is visually minimal. I then think to myself am I actually getting anywhere? It is something that other modellers I have talked to also go through. The reality for most of us is that we are usually working on several projects all of which are at a stage where we have to spend time doing jobs on them which whilst critical to progress them to a finish don't actually show much progress.  I have to remind myself of that fact and in many ways this blog is a good way to have a look back and actually see the amount of progress made on things. Mrs. Woody would probably conclude that I make more progress on my models then her list of jobs for me. 

At the moment I am painting the Dapol Platform Figures, weathering the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier and trying to move my 009 narrow gauge layout on scenically. I may also dabble briefly in some other project that catches my eye in the Man Cave and as anyone who knows me realises, I am easily distracted!

This evenings work saw the bridge over the stream on my 009 gauge layout weathered. A steel structure like this is supposed to portray, will usually begin to show the signs of rust after a few years. In addition the white it is painted in just looks too clean! 

However I did not want to create a rust bucket bridge but one where it was obvious that it had been maintained but was getting to the point where some more paint was required. My chosen method of creating this type of rust was to use a small piece of sponge. This was dabbed into some rust paint and then further dabbing on a piece of paper towel saw most of the paint taken off! Even more dabbing with the sponge saw a random rust pattern applied to the steel sides of the bridge.

As I need the bridge finished in order to start ballasting the track I gave the base a coat of black paint. If  there are any gaps in the ballast then they won't show up as much as if I had left the base in a light colour. Just need to seal it with a coat of varnish and then the completion of this small project will enable much more progress to take place on the main layout.

Meanwhile on the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier I seem to be spending days adding an earth coloured wash to weather it. However it is beginning to get to the point where it looks as though it actually is a working vehicle and not a showroom special. 

So yes I am actually getting somewhere especially when I look back at what it looked like a few weeks ago. 

A mixed bag!

A bit of a mixed bag of model making activities today - just like the weather at the moment! I thought it might be a nice day for a bike ride but as I was getting ready this morning the wind suddenly increased as indicated by the bird table going across the garden at a rapid rate of knots and then the rain started! Every now and again it would go sunny for a few minutes then the next influx of rain. Oh well, a good excuse that I can't do anything in the garden Mrs. Woody (although I am sure she would point out I have a perfectly good weatherproof jacket), so I had a couple of hours in my Man Cave!

On my 009 narrow gauge layout I have commenced gluing down the card sub-assemblies of the road through the village and the then the thatched cottage and shop base will be glue onto that once the glue is dry.

The bare baseboard - looks strange!

Always best to weigh the card down as the glue dries.

Whilst I wait for the glue to dry I did some weathering of Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier. Using a dilute brown wash I have started the wheels and a bit more on the trailer and the main carrier itself. It is a slow job as I need to wait for the paint to dry before doing more but an ideal one to fit in around other jobs.

Another slow job is the painting of the Dapol Platform Figures. However it is a job that if you take your time and accept that it is going to take a while can be quite therapeutic. I am not sure if my sense of fashion is right (Mrs. W would say categorically no!) but these figures are supposed to represent the 50's/60's so I am sure they will be OK - I hope! At least my OO gauge figures don't have to face the wind and rain in their small World on my layout!

 

Woody gets it right - for once!

I posted a few days ago about my decal disaster which you can read about by clicking here. Given that the decals were nearly 50 years old I knew they would be fragile and probably break up when soaked to release them from their backing paper. Much as Mrs. Woody would hate to admit I was right. I had sprayed the decal sheet with some acrylic varnish. The theory being that the varnish would hold the decal together. It didn't, proving Mrs. W is right that I usually get things wrong! However, having thought about it a bit, I wondered if soaking the decal to release it from its backing paper was also dissolving the water based acrylic varnish? Hmmm! Having only taken a couple of the decals off the main sheet I still had the main sheet. So out came a can of enamel varnish and the sheet given a coat of it.

My revised theory that the water proof enamel would not be affected by soaking the decal to release it from the backing sheet was right! Mrs. W would just roll her eyes at that but I was pleased! It is not all plain sailing. You have to cut the decals out of the sheet close to the actual printed detail other wise you end up with a large film of clear varnish surrounding the printed detail. Not easy when it is white print on on white backing paper! In addition, despite soaking the decals in water as I need them, I am having to use a scalpel blade to slide between the decal and paper to get the decal fully off the backing paper but in general the decals are coming off more or less complete. Once applied a coat of decal softener is applied to help them set in place. 

It is taking some time to apply all these decals but it does make the model look better. I will need to apply a coat of varnish once all the decals are in place to seal them ready for further weathering.

Whether I will actually get anything else right is open to debate although I know Mrs. W's view but at the moment I am basking in the supposed glory of getting this right!

Woody and the Great Bake Off????

Not sure if I would actually make it to the Great Bake Off with my recipe but my ingredients certainly produced the right mix for my diorama base. Starting with a mixing bowl I added filler, brown paint, PVA and water - Mmmmm!

After a thorough mixing with this less than hygienic looking spreader it looked like this. Double mmmmmm!

 Having placed masking tape around the edges of my base to keep spillages to a minimum the mix was spread to create my desired landscape which was a lane on a slight curve. 

Left to dry in the kitchen (don't tell Mrs. W) things did not quite go to plan! It dried but despite the PVA glue to provide grip to the base there had been a slight warp during the night which loosened parts of the mix. Never mind! The art of the modeller is to recover from mistakes and as you know I make a lot of mistakes so I am used to making recovery strategies! In this case I glued the pieces back with PVA. It did not need to be perfect as it would be covered in scenic materials later.

Once that gluing session had dried it was time for yet more glue! This time for the lane surface.

I brushed the PVA glue on and left it for 10 minutes to spread naturally. Then I spread my favoured road making material, kiln dried sand. It is perfect for this type of effect where I am trying to recreate a gravel lane. I bought a 10kilo bag years ago for about £1.50 and still have most of it so value wise it is great.

That Gaugemaster Scenic Puffer Bottle gives a hint of the next stage which was to spread yet more PVA and then apply static grass using the Puffer Bottle. Although I still need to tidy up the edges it certainly has made a big difference.

You may notice some decals appearing despite the issues I posted on a few days ago. More on that hopefully tomorrow.  In the meantime I feel like baking a cake for some reason !