Complex cardboard engineering!

This is becoming complex cardboard engineering! Lots of clamps, lots of glue and lots of crossed fingers hoping that the whole thing holds together. 

Don't ask how I managed to get the curved roof the right shape - it was more by a fluke of luck than any science based calculation!

Just hope it all fits!

On a completely different note, Mrs. Woody reminded me that despite the grey, wet and cold weather, it would be soon time to prepare for growing seeds for flowers for the garden. She also reminded me that we needed some compost to plant the seeds in and so I was ripped way from my tedious varnishing job that I posted about yesterday and went off to the garden centre. Not a place I relish in visiting as my wallet becomes almost porous as Mrs. W finds items that we never knew we could live without and in all honestly could live without but still find their way back to WND HQ. However, it was a break from the smelly varnish and as I walked in I was delighted to see this.

Which is one of these...

Which is the same as the model that I got for Christmas and put together back in late December and early January.....

I think that stands comparison with the real thing!

When I have a minute!

In my inevitable way I tend to move on from a project before it is completely finished with the thought that I will come back to that - when I have a minute! I have explained this to Mrs. Woody on many occasions when she has questioned when a job on her list for me to do will be finished but she doesn't seem to comprehend my words of explanation! Usually the gap between that thought and actually finding that elusive minute is sometime In some cases that 'sometime' doesn't mean days, weeks or months, it can mean years or even in some cases decades - just ask Mrs. W! However, in the case of the Heller 1/25th scale Fergie tractor, which I amazingly built and painted in little over a week, the job of adding the decals, which was indeed put off for that elusive 'when I have a minute', actually happened today - within days of the build! Absolutely amazing for Woody! But, I am not setting a precedent with this, it just happened this way and will probably never happen again! Please note Mrs. W!

The decal sheet supplied is hardly a large affair with two dashboard dials, three lights and two alternative bonnet badges so it was not going to be the most taxing of jobs!

I started off with the dashboard dials and disappointingly the white fuel dial decal broke up with the white backing splintering into tiny pieces. Not a good start! The other black baked one however went on without issue. Having no white backed decal I merely painted the dial moulded on the dashboard in white paint. I doubt anyone who hasn't read this blog will notice and it looked better than the grey of the dashboard. See what you think from the picture below.

The decals for the lights were added next. I would have much preferred mouldings with a hollowed out light shells that could have been painted and a clear lens added but the decals are what is in the kit so that's what I added. To be fair, they look reasonable, from a distance!

That is basically the Fergie finished. No weathering as such as it is a Show Tractor that has been restored and taken to shows on the back of a Bedford KM truck. Now you may wonder about that but the WMD Stores do have a 1/25th scale resin truck it for such a thing in stock! Handy! Unfortunately, that is on the backburner at the moment but when I have a minute.....

 

2 Shades of grey and now with a bit of colour - The Fergie story continues!

2 shades of grey is probably about the best that I can get to in my Fergie story but I am talking about painting the Fergie tractor and not about anything of a literary and naughty nature! I would normally have undercoated the model with some black primer but this time I went for a dark grey.

Once that had dried it was time to top coat it with a light grey! It may look just like the model before it was primed, but the light grey paint actually brings a realism to the model rather than the raw light grey plastic that the model was mainly moulded in.

With the paint dry it was time to paint in some of the details such as the fan belt, steering wheel and seat as well as finish the wheels. The painting was fairly straightforward but the wheels had a few issues with the tyres needing thinning with my Dremel so fit on the rims properly.

Both the rear and front needed thinning.

With the wheels added and the bonnet on and some more colour the whole thing comes together. Only the decals to add and some small bits to detail and it will be finished. Its not going to get weathered as I have plans for this to be a Show Tractor but more of that another time!

I was disappointed with the hood/bonnet that promises to be able to be opened but in reality it cannot! I tried shaving away plastic on the inside of the bodywork but the radiator is such that if you open the hood/bonnet it will never close and if you close it, it will never open. Given the limited options it remains closed!

What I wasn't disappointed about was to hear from loyal blog reader Mr. Beecham, he of cycling proficiency and model making skills far beyond mine who let me know that the 'contraption hanging off the back' as I described it is actually the Three Point Linkage that these tractors came with and was used to attach implements such as ploughs. It is good to have knowledgeable friends and even better that they read this blog!

Mrs. Woody gets to see some water and it is not the sea!

Mrs. Woody had a desire to go to the seaside. However by the time we actually got going it was getting late so I took her to the next best thing - Rutland Water! This is about as near as you can get to the seaside whilst being near the point furthest form the sea!

Now this is England's largest water reservoir by surface area (Kielder Water in Northumberland has a larger overall capacity), and created between 1971 and 1975 by flooding a valley it has some fantastic walks and is a water recreation haven for many.

During the course of flooding, two villages were submerged, Nether Hambleton and Middle Hambleton. Upper Hambleton survives on a peninsula and is now next to the waters edge. Also next to the waters edge on the opposite shore is what remains of Normanton Church.

To quote Wiki, 'The church was de-consecrated in 1970, and was to have been demolished as part of the reservoir construction, as its floor was below the proposed water level. Following a public outcry, the lower half was filled with stone and rubble, and a concrete cap constructed just below the level of the windows. An embankment was built around the church leaving it a prominent feature on the water's edge.' It certainly provides a memorable land mark looking like something out of an apocalyptical film set and it is now available for civil marriage ceremonies!

Mrs. W seemed to enjoy the day despite there being no ice cream or fish and chips available!

Back in the also ice creamless and fish and chipless WMD Man Cave things have progressed with the Heller 1/25th scale tractor kit. I have got to the stage where it really is looking like a tractor and despite there being good detail on the parts I still felt that the solid exhaust pipe was something that needed a bit of extra detail by drilling it out. Out came the pin vice drill and a suitable hole was created.

Adding the exhaust pipe to the manifold on the engine required some masking tape to hold it in place whilst the glue dried.

With that added I added the inner parts of the rear wheels and I then built the bonnet with its lights 

I also added the contraption hanging off the back of the tractor which I have no idea of what it is supposed to be but whatever it is it looks the part!

Just about ready for some paint!

The devil is in the detail!

It may not look that different to yesterday but the devil is in the details so they say! I have to admit that I did look up the Google AI definition of 'Devil in the detail' and it read - The idiom "the devil is in the details" means that something may appear simple, but the details are actually complicated and could cause problems. It's used to warn or remind people to pay attention to all the details of a situation to ensure success. Well I think that definition covers both the kit and me!

Anyway, back to the kit and the details relate to more brake linkages and steering linkages.

I don't think that I have built a kit with so many rods to it but at least most are now in place. What is evident is that each wheel was braked separately by a foot lever on either side of the gearbox which must have been interesting to operate.

The instructions were also lacking with the positioning of the stub front axles which I initially glued wrongly but luckily worked out that was wrong before the glue set.

I believe, that the rest of the construction is very much wheel and body work focused if the instructions are to be believed! In the meantime I will let the glue set before moving onto that stage.

I might be letting the glue dry but the devil in me could not resist just trial fitting the radiator and one of the rear mudguards!

Looking a bit more like a tractor!

 I have to admit, if I did not actually know what I was building with this kit I might be pushed to think that it was a tractor from the initial stages. I have, in the past built model tanks with engines which this could be at these early stages of construction. However, getting the rear axle built and adding a few more items like the rather fragile braking rod system slowly brings some identity to the model.

Overall I am impressed with the level of detail on the moulded parts and in general the parts fit is good. However, the instructions are something to take as a guide rather than a definitive placement plan. The rear linkage to the brake disc is a case in point. Mounting it n the hole on the transmission shown in the plan means it wont fit, and it trying to get it to fit I broke it! This was not the end of the World though as the WMD Stores had some suitable plastic rod in stock so a new part was made and mounted in the position that the plans should have shown. I do know it is in the right place now as drawings further n in the instructions show it in that place! There have been one or two other similar issues but I am now double checking if it doesn't look right during test fitting. At least it now is looking more like a tractor!

Doesn't look like a tractor!

Whilst I peacefully slumbered away last night the glue joining the initial parts of the Heller Fergie tractor was drying ready for me to continue to strike whilst the iron was hot on this kit.

As I outlined yesterday where two parts are glued together there is usually a seam line that needs to be smoothed out and this was the one on the main engine/gearbox/transmission backbone of the tractor. Nothing that some needle files and fine abrading paper can't solve though.

With that done I could start to attach various parts to the backbone. I have some idea of what some of them represent but not being a tractor fanatic there are parts that I have no idea of what they do in real life. However you can see that the fuel tank is fitted on top of the engine and the beam for the front axel is attached. So it is making progress but I guess not many people would recognise this as a tractor - yet!

Next on the agenda is applying the rear axle. maybe it will look more like a tractor then?

Striking whilst the iron is hot!

One of my traits is that I probably have too many plans and planned projects for one lifetime! That means that I have projects waiting in the wings some of which will get done and some which won't - just like the chores on Mrs. Woody's list for me! The ones that won't may just be down to lack of time but also the passage of time can change your ideas about, what at the time, seem liked a well thought out and reasoned plan becoming one which no longer makes sense! This does mean that sometimes I get something, like a kit, and it ends up in the 'waiting' pile. However there are other things which never see that pile because I strike whilst the iron is hot! That is the case with the Heller 1/25th scale Fergie tractor kit I got for Christmas.

The box is fairly large  and the instruction booklet is also fairly large and glossy for a relatively small kit.

There are two sprues and a set of 6 tyres (there are two different front sets for whether you model the very early Fergie or the layer one). 

Having spent some time going through the instructions it was actually time to do some kit building. I tend to join the two part pieces first so that the glue dries over night and I can then eradicate the seam line with some filing and sanding. So after an hour or so the spine of the tractor - the engine, gearbox and rear transmission were joined as were the starter and a couple of cannister type attachments to the engine block. These should hopefully be ready to work on tomorrow when I will hopefully be able to keep this build going before the iron cools!

Woody's Christmas Day!

 

Well this was the scene on my pre Christmas lunch bike ride - you need to build up an apatite or so Mrs. Woody told me as she encouraged me out of the house! Certainly not seasonal but what a great day to go for a bike ride even in shorts!

Prior to that Woody had been recipient to a couple of very nice presents. First off was this unusual, for me, 1/25 scale kit of a Fergie tractor by Heller. Going to enjoy the new challenge of building that and there are no brass etched parts!!!!

Second was this 00 gauge model of an Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 tank engine by Accurascale. Very much like the one being re-tubed at the Rocks By rail Museum at the moment. The box is certainly large for such a small loco.

It certainly should not have been damaged in transit with that protection round it!

It looks fantastic - really do like that.

I will need to take it the Museum and photo it on the footplate of the real loco but that is something for next year!

Hope that you all had a great time over the past couple of days even if you ended up in front of the TV where I did for some of the time but well worth the time to watch Wallace and Gromit!