Small and big projects!

A day of sheltering from the continued rain and what better place then the Man Cave! Of course I had already done some jobs on Mrs. Woody's never ending list just in case she is reading this! 

I took the opportunity to finish off a few small projects and then commence a large one!

Small projects were related to my 00 gauge layout and consisted of painting the cross beam on the buffer stop and then weathering it and the lamp hut and accessories. My usual washes of dilute black and brown were applied which gives that well worn look.

Once dry the washes had done there job well.

 Once on the layout these small items stood out in a good way! There is something very satisfying in building these small kits.

Big project time is the other amphibious tank to go on the other side of the Panzer Ferry.

Initial work is the tedious making of all the wheels and suspension components. It has to be done but progress looks slow!

However having the hull out I took the opportunity to pose it with the almost complete other tank and pontoon.

When finished it is going to be a big model - especially if I pose a suitable vehicle on the pontoon!

Right on track and even left on track!

Well the Panzer Ferry now has had its tracks dismounted from the hull. Knowing I had to do this I had glued the front drive and rear idler wheels on with some UHU glue which enabled them to be taken off fairly easily - thinking ahead for once!

They were the airbrushed with a custom mix of Vallejo Flat Earth, Rust and a few drops of black! Once allowed to dry they were dry brushed with Vallejo Aluminum over the areas where contact with the wheels or ground would in effect polish the surfaces keeping them free of rust. This is an area where I am making some guesses as to what would happen with an amphibious vehicle where the tracks would be immersed in water for much of their time. 

Getting the wheels and tracks back on was somewhat easier than I had envisaged!

Whilst I had been dry brushing aluminum paint I got the exhausts off the hull (not glued yet) and dry brushed them to give that impression of a relatively new part starting to rust.

With that done and the tracks back on, both left and right sides, the kit is looking like this.

With the rust paint in the airbrush various rust requiring parts were given a quick blast. These included the anchor for the Panzer Ferry, the buffer stop from my 00 gauge layout as well as the relay cabinets and some oil drums that will probably end up being 'dumped' somewhere.

The buffer stop looks a bit more at home on the layout although I still need to paint th actual cross bar white and red as in real life.

Better track off now and make Mrs. Woody some dinner!

Back on track!

After a couple of weeks working on my 00 gauge layout it was time to get back on track with some of my many, many outstanding projects! So the Panzer ferry has returned to the bench where the second track has now been assembled and added.

Assembly required the individual links to be glued together and then before they had set fed over the various drive and idler wheels. 

To make sure that the tracks have the necessary sag that they would have in real life between the top idler wheels, pieces of cardboard were added. The tracks should set in the right shape and stay that way when the cardboard is removed!

I also need to get back on track with some of Mrs. Woody's job list too!

A trio of Sentinels!

An operating day at the Rocks By Rail Museum today with a theme of the closure of the Oxford Ironstone Quarries. This is where the Museum's three Sentinel locomotives from that company were coupled together to commemorate the closure. It was an impressive site to see them running!

There is a short YouTube video here...

There were also steam brake van rides - always popular!

And in charge of the train today was Clova who has driven steam engines for years. Who said trains are big boys toys?

This is something you don't see too often - the detail of coupling between the engine and brake van.

You may recall a few days ago I posted about some Christmas decorations that the Museum was going to get rid of including this. I will be seeing a lot of this at Christmas because a lady from near to where I live has bought it to decorate the neighbourhoods Christmas tree!

Much as I enjoy the site of Christmas decorations it might be better if it were a trio of Sentinels!

Up against the stops and YouTube time!

Not much time for any model making but despite being up against the stops I did manage to make something involving just three parts!

This PECO buffer stop has two sides and a cross piece and that is it!

I do need a buffer stop on the siding of the removable baseboard of my 00 gauge layout and once painted it will be just the job. Even in its raw state it still looks good. Certainly any rolling stock using that siding will be up against the stops!

My videoing yesterday now graces YouTube and can be found here....

Its Friday - Relax with a train!

It has been a long and tiring week here at WMD so what better way to relax and play trains! So here are a few photos of todays runners.

Here is Tornado with an excursion train

I had great fun and videoed it so there will be another video out soon on YouTube! 

More greenification.

Some more progress on greenification of the removable baseboard of my 00 gauge Last Great Project layout. I have added some static grass which has added some more texture to the green areas. The Gaugemaster puffer bottle proved the ideal tool for the application of the grass given the small areas involved.

I have also started to build the other Wills Lamp Hut kit left over after building the other for Chalkdon my 009 narrow gauge layout. It just adds a bit of interest to what at the moment is a relatively flat scene and uses up a kit!

There will be some more shrubs, small trees and structures to add further relief and those will be added as and when I have the time and I am in the right mood to do it! However looking at where I am now makes me feel good!

Unusual sightings!

It is early September so the last thing I expected to see, apart from in the shops where such things are almost a year round sale item, was Christmas decorations. However getting to the Rocks By Rail Museum today I was faced with this scene!

After some investigation I established that we were not entering into a early seasonal preparation but just a sort out.

That was unusual sighting one and number two was this large fuel tanker coming in as I carried out my now weekly vegetational butchery! Enough fuel to keep my car going for several years but with a fleet of diesel locos it won't last long!

Talking of vegetational butchery this road side shrubbery was part of my work today.

Slashed back giving a more spacious feeling!

Back at the Exhibition Centre preparations were underway to move rolling stock ready for this Sunday's Quarry day. You don't often see some of these views but with some of the stock outside there were new views on locos. Another unusual sighting!

The van that Thomas has been painting has now had one side sign painted and looks very good even if it would be an unusual sighting on the real railway!

Into the Restoration Shed and it was time for another watch and learn with John. This time he was drilling holes into a thick metal strip.

 Instead of drilling each hole in turn John drilled for about 30 seconds or so on each hole in turn using oil as a lubricant and cooling agent. Doing it this way means that the drill bit doesnt overheat and become blunt. The other thing was to use a slow speed drill. Faster drills just mean the drill bit skims the metal in the hole rather than biting and cutting into it.

Proof that he knows what he is talking about!

Just to draw a conclusion to the theme of unusual sightings, John did surprise me by doing this chalk drawing on the metal strip. Apparently he used to draw such things on the top of his school books. Why, I asked. John said with a smile that it was to show his 'train of thought!'. Brilliant!