Stay calm!

We all have a moment when we think what have we done and a sort of panic sets in. I must admit that was my reaction yesterday evening when I started painting the walls in the bedroom with what Mrs. Woody and myself had chosen from the vast range of possible colours that can be mixed at our local DIY emporium. What was supposed to be Soothing Sage looked more like swamp mud as I painted around the edges. I had visions of having to go back and choose a different colour and in effect scraping £40 worth of paint - oh the pain in my wallet! However, I stayed calm and waited for it to dry as that surly would brng out the real Soothing Sage. It dried and still looked like swamp mud. So I left it for this morning hoping that things would change in the natural light of day. It didn't. The photo below perhaps doesn't show just how brown this paint was looking but believe me it was.

However I continued to stay calm and decided to paint the whole wall just in case my colour awareness was being hindered by the peppermint coloured original paint. Luckily it came out well. With the peppermint covered and the walls fully covered in Soothing Sage I was, well, soothed. Probably not as soothed as these two having a kip in the cat conservatory but I certainly was calm.

With a full days work the walls are all painted. The ceiling was painted yesterday so all that remains is to paint the window sill, radiator and door and refit some skirting boards that needs shortening to fit where the wardrobe is fitted.

Mrs. W has suggested that the side of the wardrobe could be used as a chalk board for the list of her jobs for me to do. I remain silent on the matter!

All in all I am pleased that what looked early on to be turning into a mud swamp has indeed turned into a soothing place. One thing though I am not calm or  soothed about is the fact that there is an awful lot of empty space in that wardrobe at the moment. Even as I write this, I can see Mrs. W pursuing the internet and its retail outlets!!!! Stay calm Woody!

The Great Wardrobe Project - finished?

 Its finished! The wardrobe is complete! Yippee!

The 'Expert' fitter was more than just an expert. He was a perfectionist and a really nice guy who it was a pleasure to have at WMD HQ. Now that the wardrobe is fitted Mrs. Woody has said that she will be having a clear out of her stuff which means she will be making room for more things! Oh well!

For me this is not the end of the whole project which will not be finished fully until I have completed painting the room which is something I will be doing next week after a hopefully restful weekend! Unless Mrs. W has other ideas!

On the Scania build, the lights are painted and most lenses fitted and I have fitted the fuel tank as well as finally fixing the wheels in place. The mudguards and front panel are temporarily in place although I suspect I may have issues with that front panel fitting properly. The semi gloss finish to the parts is giving a nice contrast to the matt finish on the chassis. Getting those mudguards and the front and side panels fitted properly is my next job. 

In the meantime I will be getting the bed back into service - sofas are not comfy for sleeping!

Radiator issues but progress with the great wardrobe project!

Taking on a kit started 23 years ago is always going to have an issue or two. Luckily so far there have not been any major problems although that changed today when I came to fit the radiator to the Scania chassis. It has two pegs that fit into holes on the inside faces of two mounting points that fit on the chassis. The manufactures intention is you fit one of the mounts to the chassis, then pop in the radiator and then fit the second mount. Of course I had fitted both mounts some 23 years ago. I ended up having to break the mount off one side to insert the radiator but it worked. The mount was reglued and luckily there appears to be no visible damage!

I have also sprayed the side skirts, mudguards and front panel in matt black. From what I could see I must have had a paint compatibility issue back in 1999 when I sprayed them originally as some of the paint was crazed. I figured after 23 years the paint should be fully hardened so I smoothed the rough parts and sprayed acrylic black on which worked well. I then sprayed a coat of semi-gloss varnish on just to give it a slight sheen.

Need to wait for the paint and varnish to harden and then fit the lights.

On the wardrobe front things have moved on and the 'Expert' is really showing his skills with a real top notch job.

Just hope my painting skills match up when I get to paint the room or Mrs. Woody will not be happy! 

Small and big steps!

With the wardrobe being fitted today I thought that I might have an opportunity to get some model making done. Well it did not really work out that way as I got involved in a bit of cleaning and sorting as instructed by Mrs. W. However I did sneak in an hour on the Italeri Scania making some small steps on its build. 

The engine and gearbox is now installed with the propshaft in place. I had constantly reminded myself that the propshaft had to go into position before the engine and gearbox was fitted as it can not be fitted once the engine and gearbox are in place. With this thought firmly in my mind I am still trying to figure out how I ended up congratulating myself on the successful fitting of the engine and gearbox without any contributions to the swear jar before I realised that I had forgotten the propshaft! In best Homer Simpson voice - Doh! Luckily the glue had not set and I was able to do the job as it should be!. Other parts have been fitted such as the small steps on the battery box and I have temporarily placed the rear mudguards in place which look as though they fit reasonably well. I just need to repaint them along with the side skirts.

 I am pleased I painted some of the details on the engine which looks better than it did

On the matter of big steps, the 'Expert' wardrobe fitter is here and I must admit he is an expert. There have been some big steps in its build but this is now going to be a two day job so Mrs. W and myself will be sleeping on the sofas tonight as the bedroom is covered in tools and the bed tipped on its side. A slight miscalculation by me means that the other bed is covered to a considerable depth with the contents of the wardrobe! In best Homer Simpson voice - Doh and Doh again! However as the old saying goes, you cannot make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

Whilst Mrs. W will no doubt get the large sofa to sleep on tonight I will be left with the smaller one (such is my position in the importance of sleeping facilities) in the lounge. Luckily I don't have fight with the cats to get procession of their sofa in the cat conservatory. This lot may look cuddly and cute but they can bite and scratch! Honest! Upset that lot and I won't be taking any steps small or big!

The See Saw Game!

 Having taken apart the old wardrobe yesterday I needed to get the parts off to the tip before the rains started and the whole lot became a soggy mess of saturated chipboard. Most parts would fit in my car with no problems but there were some long parts that needed halving in size. Getting close to 8pm, it was not the time to annoy my neighbours by getting a power saw out so in the Woody way of unconventionality I persuaded Mrs. Woody that I had developed a new see saw game that required her assistance. Note the subtlety of the word 'game' rather than work. Mrs. W readily agreed to take part but was probably disappointed when the see saw was a piece of the aforementioned wardrobe balanced on a piece of 3 x4 inch timber. Anyway the game started with her standing on one end of the board and me then stepping on the other. Hey presto and Woody's wizardry saw the board snap in half just right to fit in my car. By the time we had done the 9 boards Mrs. Woody had concluded that this was not a 'game' and went back in to watch some TV shopping channel!

All fits nicely - never go to the tip without a full load!

My hopes that the wall would paint itself unfortunately failed to materialise so last night at 8.30 I painted a first coat. Given that I was at the Rocks by Rail Museum today that was one of my better decisions as it was obvious this morning that it needed another coat. That went on this after noon....

Hopefully that is it until the 'Expert' fitter comes tomorrow. Once the rest of the room is painted after that then hopefully a bit more time for model making although looking at this scence out of the window which has not been like this for some time, it will soon be time to start cutting the grass again! Maybe I can persuade Mrs. W that grass cutting is a 'game'....

Archeological discovery whilst Woody's wizardry makes wardrobe disappear!

Now that is a title and a half to a blog post! It has been a very hard day. Why does everything take twice as long as you plan? However, the wardrobe is dismantled and I kept Mrs. Woody updated of my wizardry with pictures of the progress so she did know I was doing things! Apart from the length of time it took, the job went remarkably damage, injury and swear jar contribution free.

The wizardry slowly happening...

Almost there....

As if by magic all gone....

Unfortunately what was behind the wardrobe was not the best in wall integrity. So, before painting a packet of wall filler was mixed and all of it used in making good cracks, missing plaster and various other issues. At least with the hot weather and almost sauna like conditions in the bedroom it should dry fairly quickly.

Well it has to be dry by tomorrow as this kit form wardrobe is being fitted on Wednesday by the 'Expert' who I explained in an earlier blog is not me according to Mrs. W! 

As to the archeology. Well it won't excite the historians but it is never the less  a slight insight into the builders of the house some 50 years ago almost to the month. I uncovered this pencil calculation on one of the floor boards - remember this was in the days before calculators although I have to admit the calculation is not exactly complex! It will be covered up again when the new wardrobe is fitted but it is recorded here for posterity or when Mrs. W decides on another new wardrobe! 

Now if only I could wizard the walls to paint themselves.....