More greyness!

 Having woken up seemingly an hour earlier then normal due to the clocks going forward I peered out of the window into the greyness of the mist that enveloped WMD HQ. However I did not put me off going for a bike ride which brought my total for hi year up to 946 miles. Not brilliant but better than last year at this time. There was a glimmer of sunshine so I thought that it might brighten up for an afternoon ride but no! More greyness of clouds and drizzle! Well that is the delight of the Easter break. You never know what weather you might get and it is certainly better than two years ago today when I looked out of the window to be greeted by this as I blogged about - click here.

Anyway, having generated enough enthusiasm to get something done I decided I really needed to start on making the joints in the track between the baseboards on my 00 gauge Last Great Project layout. On the first baseboard that I did this on back in July of 2023 it looked like this.

Those are plywood bases to bring the copper clad sleepers which are glued to them to the right height. The post about that is here. I am going to use the same method on the rest of the baseboard joints so the first job is to cut some plywood bases. Luckily I had an off cut of suitable thickness in the WMD wood store!

Out in the murkiness of the garden I cut the necessary strips using a fine bladed saw - always best for cutting plywood.

With the strips cut they were then cut to the required lengths which I had actually managed to measure before starting this work!

Once sanded they were then painted with, what else, but grey paint!

Even Milly the cat has seemed a bit grey in her  basket. I think though she has the best idea on a day like this - just relax inside! Tomorrows not looking any brighter and I am the Rocks By Rail Museum tomorrow working outside on the Easter Monday Quarry Day! Could be another grey day!

Well I never!

Mrs. Woody persuaded me to have a look at the new craft department that had been opened in a nearby garden centre. I didn't really need persuading so off we went. I'm not sure what I was expecting but given that both Hobbycraft and The Range here in the UK already have well stocked shelves full of a wide range of hobby items I thought that anyone competing with those types of retailer would at least have an extensive range of items. Not so though! However there were a few things that did catch my eye and give me that 'Well I never' moment. It is interesting to note the divergence of Hornby Hobbies into other spheres of products with these jigsaws! Well I never!

I must admit compared to other jigsaws the price for this rather large 3000 piece spitfire at £30 seems reasonable especially as you get the 1/72 kit included. The 1000 piece kits were a penny under £15 which again was reasonable. They may be reasonable but I need to reason with myself that I don't have a reason for buying one!

On another 'Well I never' matter my bike ride today was a bit strange with my right foot never feeling secure in the pedal. My cycling shoes have plastic plates that clip into the pedals meaning your shoe is securely fastened to the pedal. You release your shoe by twisting it to unclip the plate. It sounds complex but it isn't once you are used to it. I got home and had a look at the plate. As you can see compared to the new plate which is now fitted, the old has literally worn out - Well I never!

Is Mrs. Woody about to take up model making????

A visit with Mrs. Woody today to the garden centre to buy 2 bags of compost turned into 5 bags, some plants and this......

Mrs. W showed an interest in this and I thought that's good and bought it for her. It will either be made soon or Mrs. W has the beginnings of a stash of kits waiting to be built just like mine! I will report on progress - so dont hold your breaths!

Yesterday I spoke about a day of frustration and this related to the gear cable on one of my bikes which broke a couple of weeks ago. Luckily I was only half a mile from home so being condemned to top gear was not too much of a strain to my worn out legs! What should have been about a 15 minute job turned into something a bit more major as I found that the lever itself had broken. Thirty years or so ago derailleur gears were hanged by levers usually mounted on the downtube of the frame or on the handlebars. Changing a cable was relatively simple. However with new technology comes added complications. The new technology was that the gear lever was incorporated into the brake lever making life so much simpler as you can brake and change down gear without taking your hands off the handlebars. I have been using this type of lever for 25 years now and like them and never had a problem with them until now! The added complication is that the brake/gear lever becomes a lot more complex and if you read the forums trying to repair them, even if they are repairable, requires levels of calmness and perseverance that I just don't have! To that end I had to order a pair of new levers - you can't buy one on its own very easily. List price £240! That nearly made me reconsider my levels of calmness and perseverance but luckily I am still using old technology! With the advent of hydraulically operated disc brakes, cable operated levers have become outdated and so I was lucky to find a brand new pair of levers for £70! Now whilst still a lot of money it is a lot less, even by my calculation, than £240!

With new levers delivered I decided to just change the broken one.

The handlebar tape had to come off, the brake and gear cables taken out.

The clamp holding the lever released and the lever slid off. It all sounds easy but takes time especially when you have not done this for a long time!

With the new lever in place and cables refitted the gear cable had to be fed through the frame itself which involved taking this bracket out of the bottom bracket. 

Eventually, after several deposits in the swear jar, the cable was through to rear mechanism. Then I had to index the gears which involves adjusting the cable so that as the lever ratchets up and down the movement of the cable moves the rear mechanism enough to move the chain to each of the cogs.

With that done and as the old handlebar tape was in good condition that was reapplied and job done!

It was going to be tested today but the rain prevented that! Later this week though I will find out if I have been successful or whether I should take up building model greenhouses!

Really!

My clear out continues and I had to send to the unbelieving Mrs. Woody the photo below of the back of my car to prove I was on my way to the tip! Really! and for another really moment read to the end of this post!

I have about 25 foot of bookshelf space in my Man Cave which is all full, or was all full, plus a few boxes of magazines. My plan is to try to reduce that by half! So far I have emptied about 8 feet and two boxes so still some way to go!

This clear out is causing chaos in the Man Cave but I did get to see my USA switching layout for the first time in a few months which reminds me I need to have play operate it!

Clearing out magazines does bring about some interesting things. I used to take a USA magazine called Bicycling back in the 70s.

Some interesting adverts for top range bikes which nowadays look so old - just like me!

The advertising methods are somewhat of the time too!

and I do remember this advert which I think at the time made me say 'Really' and still does! I don't think I need Bummer power!

Back to track matters!

Lots of track related matters in my life at the moment and the Trumpeter L/15 Mörser "Bär" has had the other track stuck to the wheels as described yesterday. It is set to one side for the glue to fully go off. 

That is one track matter and cycling is another where I am tracking my mileage as I always do. With the warmish weather over the last few days I have managed 49 miles this weekend which is a good start to February bring the months total up to 60miles. Looking back through my blog I can see January this year was better than last month with 267 miles as opposed to 207 last year but a far cry from the 360miles I did in January 2022. I knew this blog had a use!

The other track matter is related to my 00 gauge Last Great Project layout. Having done a fair amount of track setting, wiring and ballasting last year on the viaduct section, the layout has not really progressed much in the last few months. I spent the last part of 2023 bringing Chalkdon my 009 layout to a near finish so time for the 00 gauge layout was limited. The start of this year saw me scratch an itch to glue plastic together so the Italeri Kangaroo and the Trumpeter L/15 Mörser "Bär" have occupied most of January. And, sometimes it is like that - you have to be in the right mood and frame of mind to move on with a project and I am now in that zone with my 00 gauge layout. I have started to sort out the circuit's passing loop and sidings. They were laid very roughly to shape and the trains did run but before I start to wire it, make the breaks in the track at base board joints and ballast the track it needs to be just right! So lots of measuring and looking at odd angles to see the curves and straights with some new pieces of track being fitted to make it flow properly and hopefully enable the trains to run without derailments!

You have to start somewhere and taking apart what is there is the start.

With some careful measurements I ahve managed to get the right geometry to the track.

I need to turn my attention to the other end of the loop next and then the sidings which do need some serious work to make them right! At least I can track my progress on my blog!

Well, I must have been good!

Fear of a Pot Noel Christmas Dinner for not being good, as described in my post on Christmas Eve, was fortunately unfounded as I got a full on dinner! Mrs. Woody did a magnificent job (its best I don't get involved in such edible masterpieces!) and there was stuffing and Yorkshire Puddings on a separate plate.

I had worked up a bit of an apatite for my dinner by having a morning bike ride and whilst out I spotted this rainbow. Then it rained on me! Oh well it was only a short shower! 

The apatite was further enhanced as before my meal I liberating some of the logs left behind from the clearance of a fallen tree near to WMD HQ that fell due to the wind. I was amazed, the guys turned up at 7pm Christmas Eve and had the road clear by 9pm. The logs will be ready for the log burner in a couple of years. 

I was also very fortunate to get a couple of great presents from Mrs. W. First off is this AFV Club Churchill bridge layer kit in 1/35th scale.

I was also very lucky in getting this Hornby Lion presentation set.

Having eaten that received these and eaten that delicious dinner it was a great Christmas but lot not a lot else happened apart from falling asleep on the sofa! I'll have to be good more often!

Woody gives the hill a haircut!

Well that title should at least make you think that Woody may have lost it but I will clarify as we go along.

A fair amount of progress today. I had much of the day in the Man Cave - just don't tell Mrs. Woody. It was a wet, cold day so I was not inclined to do much outdoors although I did take advantage of a small break in the rain to go on a bike ride. It was a small break in the rain and the bike ride was cut short after 8 miles as I was getting soaked from the rain which had come back with vengeance. Bad weather appears to be the story of my cycling this year. Last year at this time I had well over 500 miles done whereas this year its 3684 miles. Never mind, November and December could be good! 

Anyway, back in the dryness of the WMD HQ Man Cave I was able to review the morning's ballasting operations which had been assisted in drying by Mrs. W's hair drier which had been reliberated from her dressing table! 

It was then time to think about getting some greenery on the bare hills. Most people would reach for static grass or flock powders but I wanted a more wild unkempt look so I naturally turned to hanging basket liner! Not what you would think of to model grass but its use has been described before in the model rail press and I have used it before too. Both hills had full strength PVA brushed on them to which pieces of hanging basket liner were pressed into.

 It was taken inside to dry and then transported back into the cold Man Cave where Woody took to his haircutting skills! A suede shoe brush was used to tease the fibers up.

It was then down to scissors and hair trimmer to bring about some uniformity yet unkemptness! I certainly would not make a barber and I don't think Mrs. W will ever let me loose on her hair! However as the before and after pictures show of both hills I managed something close to what I wanted!

Just like the barbers there was a fair amount of sweeping up to do afterwards!

I also took the opportunity to add some green to between the tracks. Still more to add but this is a good base.

Putting everything in place temporarily it is looking very much as I hoped for!

 

Very lucky!

I have to say that although I some times doubt it, I am actually very lucky. Out on a bike ride this morning I stopped to take this photo as a reminder of the countryside I am so lucky to have around WMD HQ in which to cycle. Perhaps I was not so lucky in having to cycle uphill into a head wind to get to this view point but it was worth it!

Talking of cycling it is not going well! Last year at this point I had over 4000 miles done but this year with the bad weather I have only reached 2880 which means this years target of 5200 is looking doubtful. Never mind, at least I am lucky enough to be able to get out sometimes!

Back at WMD HQ the top side of the Panzer Ferry pontoon has been primed in black.

The deck of the pontoon is supposed to be grey painted wood planks. However the paint would in real life wear away where it was trafficked so it will be sprayed with some Tamiya deck paint and then hairspray will be applied before applying the same grey as the amphibious tank has been painted in. Once painted the hairspray should allow parts of the grey paint to be abraded off leaving the deck colour showing.

On my 00 gauge Last Great Project layout progress amazingly continues. My job at the moment is to prepare the track at the baseboard joints so that it can be cut through to allow the removable board to be, well, removed!

First job was to retrieve from WMD HQ Stores my stock of copper clad strip. Bough many years ago it is sold as a sleeper strip for modeller who build their own track. It is roughly sleeper width and just needs cutting to lenght.

Using some side cutters and a plastic sleeper as a templet I cut a number of sleeper length parts. 

To make life easier when soldering these strips to the rail I pre-tinned them with solder.

A bit of a production line means I had enough to do one end of the board.

I then superglued them to the plywood strips I had glued in place some weeks ago ready for this moment! I love it when a plan comes together and it is also amazing if it is one of my plans!

Once in place they were soldered to the rail.

I had to file through the copper cladding to prevent a short circuit between the rails. It may look a bit messy at the moment but once cleaned up, painted and ballasted the track should look OK. I will cut through the rails once I have soldered all the tracks so that may be later this week. Once cut, that saw width gap between the baseboards should disappear - if I am lucky!!!!