A level of sanity returns!

In Mrs. Woody's view, sanity and me are not words that you associate with each other! However, in the case of WMD, a level of sanity returns with me getting out into the Man Cave and doing some model making activity and inside of the WMD HQ the bathroom is now fully plaster boarded and looks a lot better even if there is much more to do!

Lets deal with the model making first and I am still working on the tunnel section of my layout with the installation of the various supporting piers that are needed. Although I had previously made some of these, because of the need to alter much of the main structure these no longer fitted so there I am having to build new ones.

This is where the above is going to fit.

And fitted, it tidies up that joint nicely!

The next one is now under construction so hopefully with the return of a level of  sanity to model making it will be completed shortly!

Meanwhile, the sanity level returns, in part, to the bathroom with plaster boarding complete and things tidied up. Next step is plastering next week. That will be nice!

No bath tonight then!

Old bath in the skip.

New bath in the bathroom but not really ready for use so its a unclean Woody tonight!

But at least we have a toilet!

It will all come together - eventually! And I will celebrate with a bath!

 

This my bathroom - at the moment!

 

Note the toilet eco-flush system - the bucket!

Yes, this is how the WMD HQ bathroom looks at the moment. Not exactly what you would find in the glossy shots that estate agents take to advertise 'the unique opportunity to purchase a sought after property' but, from this will arise something that hopefully pleases Mrs. Woody. It better do or I will need to move into my Man Cave which Mrs. W thinks is actually more of a mess then the bathroom! Phil the builder, however, assures me all is well and things can only get better!!

Well, as appears the norm at the moment, little if any time for model making matters but I can report on the delivery of this.

And with the outer sleeve removed it does look good without even delving any further, which unfortunately I don't have time to do just at the moment. 

Of course, on the opening of any package a WMD cat has to take part which in this case is the inquisitive Monty!

I do have a soft spot for the Class 37, or as they were referred to by train spotters, tractors. Something about their shape which suited so many of the liveries they have worn over their long lives. This is the classic British railway corporate blue which whilst plain compared to some of the latter liveries, to my mind is the classic 37 livery. I look forward to getting it on the layout - when I have time after that bathroom is finished!

Under thge weather 2!

Still not feeling great but well enough to cut the scrap wood from Phil the builders escapades in bringing WMD HQ up to date and use it to restock the log store for the log burner!

I found that the skip makes a great saw bench and the saw dust goes straight into it meaning less cleaning up! Working smarter not harder as I get older! 

With the warm weather I did feel that I should at least make a token gesture bike ride even if I was not feeling that well. Certainly gave me some fresh air but there was no power in my legs. I think local athletic snails would probably have over taken me at some stages. However I did at least get up to the local canal which I have not seen for some weeks now.  

Obviously things have been happening in those weeks with the Marie Celeste of the canal, AKA Earwig having returned and been parked (or is it moored?) in the middle of the canal. No idea why but no doubt the reason will reveal itself at some point if I can reinvigorate myself for another bike ride and indeed find the time to get back to some model amking!

The rebuild begins!

 Following on from my initial bathroom butchery earlier this week, Phil the Builder continued with it as the rest of the walls and ceiling were stripped of plasterboard as well as various fittings being taken out including the toilet cistern! A bucket of water makes a suitable substitute. 

However, unlike me, Phil is able to rebuild and that process has commenced! Plasterboard on the rear wall makes a big difference as does the preparatory plumbing work. Hopefully next week will see even more progress.

Bathroom butchery!

I have, on several occasions in this blog, talked about my abilities, or indeed lack of them, at cardboard butchery, wood butchery and vegetational butchery. Today, I can mow add a new butchery ability to the list, bathroom butchery!

I started with a decades old bathroom in the morning .....

....and by the afternoon it looked like this!

Phil the builder was busy finishing other jobs so I thought I would lend a hand in stripping out the old bathroom There is still more to go but at least it gives Phil a flying start tomorrow and I quite enjoyed the therapy of using a hammer which is an essential tool in bathroom butchery!

Looking like a white van!

Again not much model making today, just a few minutes to stick some brick paper to the card for the walls on the tunnel sub-base that I am building.

However, there was a lot of painting with the various skirting boards and door architrave for the cloakroom getting three top coats. Painting a dark colour over white primer is no fun!

However it does contrast well with the rest of the paint and fittings.

Now here is something that I have never done before - wash a Transit van! Phil the builders van has been filthy for weeks and my questioning as to why he had not cleaned it got no where and with no sign of him getting round to it O took bucket and sponge to it. It was filthy and I did at one point ask Phil if he had a bio-hazard sticker I could put on it!

However, 90 minutes later and it was looking like a .....white van! Just hope Phil doesn't think that this is a regular thing!

The convenience of a skip!

Not much modelling done apart from a stay made on the wall sections for the tunnel sub-base that I have posted about over the past few weeks which will keep me amused for a few days yet!

The reason for a lack of model making is that I am painting various skirting boards and door frames as part of the ongoing rebuild of the bathroom and cloak room. Far easier to paint the parts away from the room especially when you have a convenient skip to support things! If it all goes wrong its not far to dispose of it either!

Maybe I should do my model making near the skip - that could be convenient!

Flushed!

Well, I am flushed - with success! The cloakroom/downstairs toilet rebuild is almost finished with a major achievement - a flushing toilet! The basin also has running water and both drain as they should! It is a major improvement of what was there before too! I just need to paint some skirting and door architrave to put in place and a loo roll holder needs to go in as well but those are minor matters! 

Of course, it wouldn't be WMD if there was not a cat involvement in this project and Monty was the one involved during the latter stages of construction. His paw prints are also in the self leveling compound that didn't self level!

Sometimes your hobbies have to take a back foot!

Sometimes your hobbies have to take a back foot as other things need doing. That is the case at the moment with the cloakroom/downstairs toilet rebuild taking up much of my time. Not that I am doing the main work but just being there to hold onto things, get items and sort out some of the more mundane things that I can do such as painting the door whilst it was out of its frame so that the floor could be laid. Anyway, the result of todays work is a floor in place, a radiator mounted and working and the first of the cabinets fastened to the back wall.

Hopefully the toilet will be working by the end of tomorrow. I can stop crossing my legs then!

Filler, sanding, paint and an empty wallet!

Filler, sanding, paint and empty wallet describes most of my weekend! No model making, just cloakroom/downstairs toilet this weekend as Mrs. Woody has now emptied my wallet following the purchase of paint yesterday. Never the less we have some colours that we seem to both agree on which is unusual However, before getting to the point of applying said paint to the ceilings and walls there was a great deal of preparation to do. I did start last night with by filling various holes and blemishes so that the filler would be dry in the morning. I also applied a mist coat (very watered down paint) to the new plaster to seal it. Not the easiest thing to do when the lights have been disconnected and you are working by a portable light.

This morning it was down to sanding the mainly dry filler. There was a lot of filler to sand too such as this.

In fact after three hours I had collected this amount of sanding dust.

At least with all that out of the way the painting could commence with the ceiling to start with. May as well get the neck ache job out of the way.

Two coats save that a new look and made the place brighter. Was it going to stay bright though?

Mrs. W are I did take a bit of a risk with this colour and initially I was not sure but only painting a small amount never paints the full story!

With the whole room done it looks much better and once the floor and fittings go in it should all harmonise - hopefully! But, as I told Mrs. W I am not painting that room again for many years so we have to like the colour!

When self levelling doesn't level!

On occasions, you wonder how a product managed to get its name. Take self levelling screed for example. You presume, that if you follow the instructions, that when you pour it onto the unlevel floor it will do as it is named and self level. However that was not the case with the rebuild of the cloakroom, which appears to be the posh way to describe the downstairs toilet! With the freshly installed plaster board plastered, it was time to level the floor. Phil mixed the product to the instructions and poured it out in the far, most of level part of the existing floor.

Now you would think that it would flow out and literally find its own level. Not this stuff! Phil poured a second batch to see if it needed more mass. That didn't work! The stuff just sat there as though it wanted to be a hill!

Finally, Phil had to venture in and start prodding and troweling to get the stuff to move.

Finally he managed to get it spread but there were still some humps!

Luckily, when it dried, which was quite quickly, the self leveling product remains soft so Phil was able to use a scrapper and level off the humps, Later in the day Marty Cat decided to investigate as he was sure there used to be a litter box in there!

 Next job for me is to get some filling of small holes done and then do some painting once Mrs. Woody has decided on a colour!

Meanwhile, back in the Man Cave, slow tunnel sub-base progress has been happening. The tunnel inner walls are being constructed.

Trial fitting has taken place.

And it all seems to work but I will need to fill the hole on top from my previous cardboard butchery as I tried to make the previous two attempts work!

Maybe this is third time lucky!

Clamping down!

A large number of clamps on the tunnel mouth section of the sub-base that I am building at the moment as I construct the tunnel lining. Card and paper brick paper do tend to warp as they get wet and then dry with PVA glue so it is always advisable to try to encourage them to keep straight by clamping down on something such as a steel ruler.

Although going on for the last week or so not much mention of the cloakroom rebuild but it is progressing. Having taken the ceiling down it made sense ti insulate it.

Phil plaster boarded the ceiling and wall which made it look more like a room again

Just awaiting some plaster to be applied and then it is ready to paint which is my responsibility - Oh joy!