My arch Nemesis - Etched brass parts!

It had to come! My affection for the guys at Ryefield Models almost disappeared when I found that I needed to construct the cradles for the external fuel tanks on the rear panel of the T34/122 in etched brass! I am half way there having constructed the cradle itself and just need to mount the plastic tanks on them and then use etched straps to fasten the tanks to the cradle. I fear a contribution to the swear jar coming up but I live in hope that things will go well. My affection for the Ryefield guys was partly restored when I did the rear engine panel. There is a choice of parts for a start. If you don't want to use the etch mesh then there is a part that has it moulded as part of the panel. I did opt for the etched part to mount in the panel and after a slight bend to conform to the bend in the panel itself it just fitted. No fuss, no issues, no problems! Nice! 

I have also glued the upper hull to the lower hull as although the instructions leave this to the end of the build I could foresee potential problems. The two panels did not fit exactly without putting pressure in certain places. As you can see from the photo I have used elastic bands to pull the two parts together whilst the glue dries. Try doing that with a fully detailed upper hull and it is likely that you will be doing some repair work afterwards. I cannot see any reason not to put the two parts together at this stage but I have been caught out before!

Whilst it may not look as though much has progressed from yesterday there are a couple of hours worth of work (don't tell Mrs. Woody) since the last photo - most of it being consumed in dealing with my arch Nemesis etched brass parts! However not much of that left now - Brilliant! 

That special day - 18 'til I die!

Another year gone by! However as the great Bryan Adams sung - 18 'til I die! 

It was a great day. Started with a 25 mile bike ride then Mrs. Woody gave me a card (including one from the cats!) and a few presents which included some model railway stock which I will talk about another time but this box of goodies did look ever so inviting....

There are three layers of various chocolate bars - I can already feel the weight gain!

Off to the Rocks by Rail Museum after that where I visited as a guest and did a Driver for a Fiver getting to be at the controls of Betty whilst Mrs. W watched me! We did not crash!

There aws lots going on with some of the volunteers cleaning the fire box of one of the steam locos or trying out for an audition as a chimney sweep!

Not sure if Mrs. W would allow me back in the house if I came home looking like that! They were enjoying it though!

It was then off to the Ropsley Heath Light Railway which doesn't open to the public very often so being my Birthday I thought it must be specially for me! They had a great deal there with Alpacas...

Classic cars....

Classic fire engines

would you want to ride this with the petrol tank right in front of you?

There was a garden railway...

Then there was the main attraction - the 10 1/2 inch gauge line which runs a half mile lap. There is a diesel and a steam engine and we managed to ride on both! 

Back at WMD HQ Mrs. W cooked me a great birthday meal and I then even had time for an hour on the Ryefield T34/122 where the external fuel tanks are coming along!

A really great day - Thanks Mrs. W! 

Surprising!

As I continue the build of the Ryefield Models Egyptian T34 122 I have been surprised - pleasantly! Having built the MiniArt and Italeri kits of T34s I am used to having to glue the various external fuel tanks together with the tank being made of two halves and two ends. Once dry the joints between the two parts of the tank have to be sanded to make them invisible - a job which I never relish and to be frank one where some problem usually manifests itself with the circular tank becoming more oval in shape as a result of the sanding! I was therefore pleasantly surprised when starting the fuel tanks on this model to find the tank just consisted of two parts.

Brilliant! However the joy was short lived when I found that the grab handles on each end of the tanks were made of my arch nemesis material - etched brass!

However, maybe because of my experience gained from the recently built MiniArt kit where etched brass parts abounded or maybe because the brass appears a little thicker and therefore stronger or indeed a combination of both, things worked out quiet well. I glued the brass to the plastic tanks with Tamiya cement which in effect softens the plastic and the brass then bonds to it. May not be the right way but it works for me!

With a few more additions to the upper hull, surprisingly, this build is still progressing well!

Not sure if anything will get done tomorrow as it is that once in a year day for me with another year added to my age. Woody is getting old in body but not in mind which is not surprising to Mrs. Woody who says I am a child at heart!

Good progress!

Some good progress on the T34/122 kit with all the wheels now prepared and ready for painting and work now focused on the upper hull.

Rapid progress perhaps reflects the relative simplicity of the kit but the details are there and present when you compare the hull to the Italeri and MiniArt kits I have previously built. This kit has more of the feel of a Tamiya kit where there is good detail but you don't need the skills and dexterity of a brain surgeon to build it. Hopefully I have not made my opinion too early on this kit and that it continues in the same vein as assembly moves on.

As an aside I was looking back on some photos I took yesterday whilst out with Mrs. Woody in Stamford, Lincolnshire. As modellers we sometimes get too focused and even obsessive on ensuring that everything is built in a straight line and is true and even. This is not always reflective of true life and I did spot this chimney on a building near to the town centre.

Its not the cameras focus. The chimney really is leaning that much. The pointing on the brickwork looks good so I can only assume that it is structurally safe but in a gale I would rather not be sleeping in the room directly below!

Unusual!

Mrs. Woody is off work for the next few days so we had a day in Stamford. The town is unusual in that it is a very historic town with much of its Georgian character retained to the extent that it is a sought after back drop to historical film and TV productions. However on our walk around some of the back streets I did come across this rather unusual road sign that dates back to the pre 1960s and should no longer be in place on the public highway. However it does now have that historic charm so it survives and rightly so in my view! Looks far more in character with the surroundings then the modern high visibility signs do.

On another unusual matter I managed a bit more on the Ryefield Models T34 122. The front panel to the hull along with its various tow hooks is in place and attention is now on the wheels. I have built a lot of tank kits over the years and it is always a fiddle to paint the rubber tyres on the wheels. However Ryefield have adopted an unusual way of moulding the wheel which I have not seen on other kits. The rubber tyre and steel wheel are separate items.

This means that I can paint the wheels and tyres seperately before gluing them together which will be so much easier. Something going easier for me? How unusual!

Although a bit fiddly to cut away cleanly from the sprue I have managed to get the parts ready for 10 of the 24 wheels. I might finish them by the weekend - that rate of progress would be unusual for me!

Watching planes and a new project starts!

After an early morning of cleaning the house (hope you read this Mrs. Woody) it was off for the last bike ride of August. I had a plan of where I was going but just like most of my plans it changed! I ended up, having climbed a couple of 11% hills (and my legs are still feeling that) at the side of a Royal Air Force base where they do flying training. Today they were flying and a gap in the hedge alongside the base gave me a great view of the planes waiting clearance to takeoff once others had landed and then gracefully taking off. I know nothing of the aircraft that were being used other than they were trainers (Mr. Beecham with his encyclopedic of aircraft will no doubt be able to educate me on this matter) and have a distinct fear of flying but somehow found it fascinating watching what was going on. So much so that 45 minutes went by before I moved on.

Taking advantage of gravity taking me down the previously crawled up hills and a with a following wind WMD HQ was reached far quicker on the return journey then on the outbound one. Mileage wise the 27 miles took my total for this month to 690 with a total for this year of 4220. I have racked a lot of miles, for me anyway, in the last two months with 680 in July so the target of 5200 for the year is looking feasible.

Back at WMD HQ the Italeri Scania cab has been put to one side as I leave it for a few days before looking at the paint issue with a fresher and clearer mind. So what do I do whilst that project is on hold? Well in true Woody style I start another kit! No not an aircraft following my earlier observations, although in true Woody style there are some aircraft kits in my yet to be built collection of kits.

I thought I would complete my trilogy of T34 tanks. I built the Russian WW2 one last year where it represents the tank in its early incarnation, then the Egyptian 1950's one this year which shows the tank as a 'second hand' tank in new ownership. This last model shows the tank in effect repurposed with the chassis being used to mount a new turret with a 122mm artillery gun in it. 

The kit is certainly not as complex as the MiniArt Egyptian version or indeed the Italeri kit of the Russian version where the interior was included. Whether that equates to an easier build is yet to be determined! The kit is well packed and all the sprues are in plastic bags so parts loss is unlikely.

Todays assembly saw so rapid progress for the short time available with the running gear almost in place. Certainly the complexities of the MiniArt kit are not missed by me so far and the one piece hull certainly means it less likely that I will get a twisted hull!  More progress soon unless I am cleaning or watching aircraft with the former more likely than the latter if Mrs. W has any involvement in this matter!

That sinking feeling!

Not that I have been on any water borne mode of transport that has failed and sunk but a quick update on the Scania. I rubbed down the various imperfections that I talked about a couple of days ago and resprayed the areas. It did not go well and I had that sinking feeling when things keep going wrong! 

Obviously things are not going to plan so I am going to do the wise thing and put it to one side and leave it for a few days and review whether I strip it and start again or try something else! Stay tuned!

A fantastic day at the Rocks by Rail Museum!

When you work in something like a museum you always hope that you will get guests visiting and that they will have a great time. Bank holidays are always a time when you expect more people to visit but sometimes due to the weather, other events or just the cost of living going up you don't end up with as many visitors as you hoped for. Fortunately, for what ever reasons, the Museum had its best day since it re-opened after the Pandemic! Fantastic!

I was greeted to this sight this morning as I arrived.

All ready to give steam powered break van rides down the line and this is what it is like inside the brake van.

Today you could see right into the locomotive to see the crew driving it and get a look at the controls.

Half a mile down the line you get to the end of the ride before returning to the station.

There was also shunting going on with the diesel locos using a selection of wagons including the classic 16 ton mineral wagon and the standard hopper wagons..

The drag line digger was working at the top part of the museum but unfortunately I did not get the chance to go and see it - one of the problems of being a volunteer - you never get to see all of what your guests do!

We also had a couple of classic road vehicles on display.

This is a rare petrol powered Massey Ferguson tractor immaculately restore by one of our young volunteers and driven by hm to the Museum this morning.

There was also this beutiful Austin 7 from the era when motoring was an adventure!

So just how successful a day was it? Well for a small volunteer run museum the cafe sold out of just about everything having cooked over 80 bacon cobs and poured hundreds of drinks and cut in-numerable pieces of cake - oh and don't forget the ice-creams as well!

In this day and age to get a family of 2 adults and 3 children admission into an operating day with free brake van rides and lots of things to see including working steam engines for £25 has to be great value. Add to that you can probably feed the family in the cafe for another £25 and it makes it a great value family day out. Talking to people to find out their views on the Museum  is part of what I do and it is fantastic to hear people saying they have had a great time and will come back again. Hopefully 2023 will be an even better season than 2022 is turning out to be.

Looking a bit better!

Following yesterdays problems spraying the cab of the Italeri Scania I had the opportunity for a fresh start today. A rub down of the body using some fine wet and dry paper levelled off the problem areas. An un-opened tin of paint was thinned at a ratio of 60% paint to 40% thinners and mixed thoroughly. Had I got 'the knack' back to spray enamel paints? Well not quite! However results are far better than yesterday.

It needs another coat of paint and there are a few blemishes to take care of but there is one area that needs a bit more in the way of rubbing down.

Not sure what went wrong on the upper part of the left side of the cab but it looks like a run and possible reaction in the underlying paint. Whatever it is it needs to harden off before I can do anything and that will take a few days. The front panel of the cab is not glued at the bottom at the moment to allow for it to slide over the interior once the painting is complete. Italeri's construction method requires you build the exterior of the cab around the interior which does not make painting the exterior very easy or practical unless you love spending hours masking up things like windows.

I have been playing with operating my 00 gauge railway recently and today had a bit of a Class 37 evening. These two early liveried E W & S 37's gave a nice background noise from their DCC sound chips  - class 37's have a great engine noise much like a large tractor which I guess is why the spotters nicknamed them tractors! 37427 is a Vi Trains model fitted with a Hornby TTS chip whilst 37114 is a Bachmann redinition with a DCC sound chip factory fitted.

Meanwhile The two Hornby Central Trains 2 car Class 156's running as a consist meet the Lima class 37 in Railfreight livery hauling a mixed freight train. None of these models have sound chips but the Lima model with its old and noisy pancake motor almost sounds like a real class 37!

An early start tomorrow with the last bank holiday opening of the Rocks by Rail Museum where we have a fully quarry day of working locomotives and excavators and me welcoming guests and taking money! Makes a change for me to take some money - its usually Mrs. Woodt who relieves me of money!