Daylight magnifying lamp.

As we get older, generally our eyes are not so sharp in focusing to close up objects as they were when we are younger. It has happened to me and about 10 years ago I ended up buying a tabletop daylight magnifying lamp. It changed my model making like nothing else! Suddenly I could see just how bad my modelling was with my own eyes! Being serious it has, over the years, made model making a lot easier, more pleasurable and hopefully aided me to build better models. 

In that ten years the lamp has failed once and needed a new bulb and the cover over the magnifier broke when I dropped the lamp! Last night I switched it on and nothing. New bulb. Luckily WMD HQ has stocks of most things although not always easily to hand. Half an hour looking through various boxes found the spare bulb and with that fitted I sat back ready to commence some relaxing brightly lite and magnified model making. Switching it on saw blankness - just like my face! Check the fuse. That was OK. Then I listened to the lamp! I was not waiting physiatrist like for it to tell me it was fed up of illuminating my poor model making but I was listening for the humming of the transformer in it indicating that it was working. There was nothing but silence. Taking the lamp apart revealed no obvious reason for it not to be working. However there comes a time when you have to accept that it is probably better to stop at that point and replace with new. So toady with my budgetary watch person accompanying me (Mrs. Woody) to ensure no excessive purchases were made we ended up at a nearby Hobbycraft. They had a good choice of various lamps and whilst I was intending to replace like for like I did find one which I thought would be even better for me.

Just like an angle poise lamp, this would be more comfortable to use, had a 2x magnifier rather than 1.75x that my old one had and it was LED so would be cheaper to run. Having made my performance and economic case I got the necessary approval and it came home with me and it is great! 

I really like it and so pleased that I bought it. It almost makes me look as though I am a proper modeller at my workbench!

However in making my case for its purchase there was a bargaining process which saw Mrs. Woody adding this to the lamp at the checkout.

Yes Mrs. Woody does the occasional cross stitch and no doubt she will now want a magnifying daylight lamp of her own! It is a lot cheaper when I go shopping on my own and avoid these impulse frivolous non-model making purchases - at least that is what I would tell Mrs. W if I did not value my continued wellbeing!

Getting dirty!

Mrs. Woody and myself spent much of the day getting in each others way in the green house planting seeds for this years flowers and some vegetables. We will never be asked to show at the Chelsea Garden Show or indeed any local garden show but we do usually manage to get enough flowers to plant out the garden and at least show some colour along with a few salad vegetables some of which are edible! All worth getting a bit dirty for.

A few of the trays seeded up - hopefully in a few weeks there will be a sea of green in the green house!

Meanwhile back in the Man Cave the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier has also been getting dirty - or should that be dirtier? It had had yet more brown paint wash treatment. I think I am there with it now. I did give the inside floor of the trailer a heavy hit of the brown wash and a sprinkling of some weathering powders. Sometimes you don't appreciate just how much you have done with weathering but look at the inside of the trailer in this picture and then compare wit the next.

The difference is actually that it now looks as though it has been through a war and with that amount of dirt in it you could well plant it out with seeds just like my green house. In fact looking a bit closer it looks just like my lawn does at the moment following the building work!

With wheels added (although the spare still needs to be glued in place) there is not a lot more to do to bring this build to a finish which is good because there are plenty more waiting!

Welded to the toilet!

After yesterdays post regarding repairs to the toilets at the Rocks By Rail Museum involving welding,I did not think anything more about it until about 1.30 this morning when I became welded to the toilet with a stomach bug. I know, far too much information but it knocked me for six, so today was a day of slowly doing things.

With the brickwork for the step done it was time to clean up the rubbish and there was a lot of that.

The soil got sieved and the hardcore broken down to form an internal base within the step. I could have finished sorting it all today but I was taking things slowly - just in case Mrs. Woody wonders why it is not finished!

I even have a step now with the wood board in place! Just need the slabs to put on top.

After the clear up I retired to my Man Cave where some ballasting on Chalkdon my 009 narrow gauge layout features in my latest YouTube insomnia curing video!

I usually do ballasting in short sections to avoid the job becoming boring so todays length of track was at the front of the layout around the newly installed bridge. I used kiln dried sand for the ballast and that was laid in place. Makes it look better already if you saw the picture in my post two days ago of what it looked like without the ballast.

Dilute PVA glue was applied with a syringe to glue the ballast in postion.

Having used a hair drier (sorry Mrs. W!) to warm up the ballast, the glue was already beginning to harden a few minutes after application.

How I managed to turn that simple job into a 22 minute video is a mystery but there are some hints and tips in it which may make ballasting easier if anyone reading this is about to do their layout.

Hope I have a more peaceful night - maybe I should watch my video to send me to sleep!

Welding the toilets!

An unusual statement but never the less interesting and it has happened as these photos show.

 

The toilet block is a metal container which has suffered over the years from the dreaded tin worm. Although it is the desire to replace it with a proper purpose built structure when the funding is available we have to make do and mend at the moment. King of the welders, Rob, has his skills stretched in trying to weld repair panels to more rust and fresh air. However as an expert welder he is succeeding!

Meanwhile in the cafe the artistic flair of Jane has seen the front of the counter brightened up with her collage which is now finished. We open two weeks on Sunday so she is also having a clear out of cafe clutter to make the place even more welcoming. Probably means I won't be allowed in!

Back at WMD HQ I have constructed the tool rack for the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier.

It is not very big but there was a lot of flash on the mouldings to clean off but at least it is reasy for paint. Luckily I don't have to weld this in place on the model.

Finishing!

Today I can actually say I have finished three things! Yes, I know that sounds very unlike me and to be honest these are small things I have finished but never the less finished they are!

Firstly, the bridge on my 009 narrow gauge layout is painted, weathered, varnished and now glued in place.

With that done I can now get on with ballasting the track.

Secondly, the last of the decals on the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier has been applied. Given the saga of these and the measures I have taken to maintain the integrity of 50 year old decals and the awkwardness of getting them off their backing sheet I am pleased that is a job finished.

Unfortunately I have remembered by means of look at the parts left over, that I still need to make the tool rack for the rear tailgate. Not a big job and it will add interest to the rear end of the truck but it is strange how you can forget about such things. Must be my age as I tell Mrs. Woody when I tell her I forgot about that urgent job she wanted done

Thirdly the brick laying on my step construction is finished! 

Despite the rain I decided I needed to get that job finished so I could get on with what follows on from it. So although I got wet I am happy!

Although the brick work is done I do still need to backfill and concrete the inside of what Mrs. W commented on when she saw it as 'my coffin'! I knew those murder mystery TV shows were a bad influence on her!

More bricks!

A day free of model making activities - unfortunately! However I need to progress this brick laying for the step so having got some more sand it was time to mix a barrow of 'gobbo', as mortar is referred to in the trade! Then down to getting some bricks down. It is fortunate that I am not a bricklayer by trade as I would never have made any money at the rate I lay bricks. Anyway it is not about how quick you do the work but the quality of what you do as I tell Mrs. Woody in a vain attempt to explain the slow progress. Strange that she is not so interested in me finishing my model making projects!

As you can tell from the darkness of the photo I am making use of the longer daylight hours. That reminds me that next weekend the clocks go forward to Summer Time - hopefully I will be able to 'step' into Summer Time if I have finished the bricklaying! Just hope the weather remembers it is Summer Time. 

Am I actually getting anywhere?

I have periods when despite working on projects the actual progress is visually minimal. I then think to myself am I actually getting anywhere? It is something that other modellers I have talked to also go through. The reality for most of us is that we are usually working on several projects all of which are at a stage where we have to spend time doing jobs on them which whilst critical to progress them to a finish don't actually show much progress.  I have to remind myself of that fact and in many ways this blog is a good way to have a look back and actually see the amount of progress made on things. Mrs. Woody would probably conclude that I make more progress on my models then her list of jobs for me. 

At the moment I am painting the Dapol Platform Figures, weathering the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier and trying to move my 009 narrow gauge layout on scenically. I may also dabble briefly in some other project that catches my eye in the Man Cave and as anyone who knows me realises, I am easily distracted!

This evenings work saw the bridge over the stream on my 009 gauge layout weathered. A steel structure like this is supposed to portray, will usually begin to show the signs of rust after a few years. In addition the white it is painted in just looks too clean! 

However I did not want to create a rust bucket bridge but one where it was obvious that it had been maintained but was getting to the point where some more paint was required. My chosen method of creating this type of rust was to use a small piece of sponge. This was dabbed into some rust paint and then further dabbing on a piece of paper towel saw most of the paint taken off! Even more dabbing with the sponge saw a random rust pattern applied to the steel sides of the bridge.

As I need the bridge finished in order to start ballasting the track I gave the base a coat of black paint. If  there are any gaps in the ballast then they won't show up as much as if I had left the base in a light colour. Just need to seal it with a coat of varnish and then the completion of this small project will enable much more progress to take place on the main layout.

Meanwhile on the Airfix Dodge 1 1/2 Ton Personnel Carrier I seem to be spending days adding an earth coloured wash to weather it. However it is beginning to get to the point where it looks as though it actually is a working vehicle and not a showroom special. 

So yes I am actually getting somewhere especially when I look back at what it looked like a few weeks ago. 

Another brick in the wall!

 Another brick in the wall by Pink Floyd was the ear worm song in my head as I started to lay bricks for my step up into the rebuilt conservatory. 

It may not seem as though many bricks have gone down but I have sorted out the levels and the squareness. Even experienced brick layers say the worse part of any build is the setting out so whilst I am sure they would still be much quicker then me at least I have something in common with them! I quite enjoy brick laying as well for some reason. Probably because you can lose yourself in the work and you do see something developing as you go along. Apparently Winston Churchill laid bricks as a hobby to unwind from the World of politics. I can understand that.

Before I go any further I need to get some more sand and hopefully the weather will stay dry and reasonably warm. The only thing about a job like this is I find my model making time limited but it keeps Mrs. Woody happy that a job on her chore list is actually getting done. As I will point out its just another brick in the wall!

Foundation time.

It is another day of back ache! It was another reasonable day so having drained myself yesterday moving the drain to enable me to put the foundation in for a step into the rebuilt conservatory I did actually put that foundation in. My back is again aching! Mrs. Woody tells me I am over doing things! I think it is more that I am getting older and my back just isn't as hardy as it used to be! Anyway the foundation is a two step one which means one side will have three courses of bricks to bring it up to the level where the step needs to be whilst the other side will have two courses. The ends will be a mix! It makes sense in my mind but how that equates to a workable solution is as usual open to debate! The foundation had to be dug out and concrete hand mixed which is probably why my back is somewhat aching.

I was hoping that the base left from the lifted slabs would be a suitable foundation but unfortunately it was very thick in the first place I tested but very flimsy in all the other areas so it had to come up!

The rear of the foundation in and three couses of bricks will go on that.

The front and ends are at a higher level.

A smaller cat audience today and Matty was probably wondering why I was out in the rain which came during the last hour of work.

I did manage a half hour or so continuing to paint my model people from the Dapol Platform Figures. It is one of those jobs which if you just have a half hour or hour every so often is quite therapeutic and more importantly back friendly! They are almost at the point where I will varnish them and then cut them from the sprue to paint hair/hats and shoes. Leaving them on the sprue makes it easier to paint and avoiding handling them means the risk of rubbing the paint off with fingers is minimised. Once the varnish is on they will be more robust to being handled. 

You may notice the plastic pot lid that is my paint pallet - very handy and once it is too messy it can be washed clean and looking like new. Wish I could look like new when I wash!

The drain has drained me!

I am well and truly drained today. The cause - a drain! Going back to the conservatory rebuild at the beginning of this year, a drain was installed to take one half of the roof water. The other part went into an existing drain. When the guy installed the new drain it was a horrible wet and cold day and I guess it was not conductive to doing much digging. The result was that the drains position was such that I did not have room to put a foundation in for a step to the doors.

I have been planning to move it for some time but with this continued winter weather I guess I felt like the ground worker did when he put the drain in - I just wanted to be in the warm and dry! However until the drain was moved just about all the other jobs to sort the WMD HQ garden out could not get done. So this morning it was dry and warmish so I decided today was the day. However the job was bigger than I thought it would be. Where the pipe goes through the lawn it only had about 3 inches of cover. I could easily have put a fork through it and in a dry summer the grass above the pipe would just die. 

So the whole pipe was exposed, removed and the trench dug down another 9 inches. That doesn't sound much but it will be enough and it was a tough dig in clay so I think that its is about as much as my back can stand! Anyway my back lasted long enough to put the pipe back into its new deeper home and backfill. 

I did have a bit of an audience who were probably bemused by what I was doing just as Mrs. Woody was when I told her what I was doing!

The foundation for the step will need a bit more digging out but that can wait for another day and a better back!

Back in the comfort of my Man Cave I was able to remove the various weights that I had placed on the sub-assembly for the gardens to the thatched cottage and shop on my OO9 narrow gauge layout that I glued down last night. I have used PVA and whilst it gives a good bond once dry it does take its time to go off and during that period it is best to weigh down the surfaces.

Everyuthing apart from the kitchen sink weighing the car base down!

The sub-assembly now well and truly flat and stuck down!

At least I won't have to dig any drains for the 4mm scale houses on the layout!