Woody hounded!

 This is the third time in a week that I have, on my bike ride, come across the local hounds being exercised so am I being hounded? It is quite a sight to see but dogs do seem to have an interest in cyclists, especially cyclists legs, so best to keep your distance! 

Meanwhile back in the hound free Man Cave it was back to the 3D printed engine shed and the rusted roof got a light coating of grey pain which looks like the galvanised finish these panels of corrugated iron have when new to stop the rust - which never works!

It is beginning to come together so unless I get hounded by Mrs. Woody to get on with even more tasks on her job list for me, it should not be too long before this project gets finished or in my usual way, nearly finished!

Aging and weathering and that's not me!

As shown in the YouTube video that I posted about yesterday, the engine shed has received some aging and weathering - just like me as Mrs Woody likes to point out! A dilute black wash has certainly taken that 'new build' look away from the stone work and it does look as though the building is old - just like me as Mrs. Woody would again point out!

The doors and window frames have also been treated to the wash.

The roof has now been airbrushed in a rust paint from Vallejo and once that was dry it got some rust weathering powder applied and then matt varnished. Next it will be receiving a light coat of grey which will allow some of that rust to show through.

Therapeutic painting and aging and weathering!

The WMD film crew have been at it again! This time two short videos based around some of the modelling on the 3D engine shed. The first being about painting realistic stone the therapeutic way....

The second being about  a quick way to age and weather model buildings.....

Sometimes the visual nature of a video and narrative that goes with it can explain things better than words - well at least my words!

More colour and a murmuration!

Out on a bike ride I was reminded of yesterdays post about shades of colour when I came across this beautiful field of wild of wild flowers in varying shades of yellow and blue.

Back to the 3D printed engine shed and the walls have all been 'shaded' and now matt varnished ready for some dilute black paint wash.

In addition the doors, window frames and barge boards have been painted in the Chalkdon red which is on several other railway related buildings on my 009 layout so matches the company livery.

Coming out of the Man Cave yesterday evening I had to stand and watch the skies for about 10 minutes as a murmuration (which I understand is the right name for what I saw) of rooks took place. Literally hundreds of them flying in circles, landing in a tree and power cables then all flying for another circuit before going back to the tree and cables and repeating it several times. Just fascinating!

Shades!

On a day like the sunny and hot day it is I could look cool in a pair of shades and be cool by sitting in the shade although Mrs. Woody would disagree with both of those possibilities! However the shades I am talking about are shades of colour on my 3D printed engine shed. This is what it looked like with a coat of rattle can 'sand' coloured paint.

Interestingly, if we focus in hard on the building you can see the individual layers of plastic laid down by the 3D printer.

To bring some realism to the stones I painted random stones in slightly different shades of complimentary paint to the sand colour.

I think that looks good! I only used three colours as shown below, but by mixing them a whole spectrum of different shades emerged. The hardest thing about the whole process is actually being random in which stones you paint. Sub-consciously I start doing things like every alternate of third stone!

Just need to finish the rest of the shed which is a job to do in the shade of my Man Cave!

Colour me!

Having almost shouted 'colour me' the 3d printed engine shed has now had its exterior walls base coated in a 'sand' coloured paint from a rattle can that was conveniently lying around the Man Cave! 

It looks a bit stark but that will be cured by the next stage of painting which will soon be done - famous last words!.

Yesterday was also a day at the Rocks by Rail Museum for me and having sourced a set of keys to ley everyone in as the regular key holder was absent, I installed my patented banner rack! I did need to use a grinder just to reduce the diameter of the threaded rod slightly and whilst not the prettiest thing it works! 

It was a day of grass cutting - when will it slow down growing? - but I took time out to see how the cab of Subdew was going with its repaint - another case of 'colour me' especially as the white is being redone in a soft cream colour. There is some scaffolding in place so hopefully the upper parts should be a lot easier to rub down and paint.

That front part is not going to be easy to get access to but there will be a way!

It is 50 years since Sundew 'walked' to Corby and much of the story is on the Museum's Facebook page available here. Well worth a look and read.

Paint it white.

Back with the £d printed engine shed, I have applied some white primer to the inside of the engine shed itself and to both sides of the rook as well as to the doors and window frames. The white on the inside of the engine shed will remain but be dirtied to replicate how many such buildings where painted in this colour to increase the light levels. The roof will be rusted up and the other parts will probably end up a red to match some other railway infrastructure on my 009 layout Chalkdon.

With the primer dry I have masked off the inside of the shed ready to put a stone colour on the outside but that will have to await until tomorrow - but it won't be painted white!

A real mix of things!

This post is a real mix of things! First off, a success! Out on my bike ride this morning I came to a level crossing that I probably go over two or three times a month. Oddly, I must be one of the few people who actually hopes that the barriers are down when I approach. This is partly to give me a justified rest but also to watch the train go by. Over the years I have tried to get a decent photo of the passing train but for all sorts of reasons I always end up with the middle of a carriage or a blur! However today some success!

Back at WMD HQ I had to get on with a job that I have been putting off for some while - taking a pile of scrap metal to the scrap merchant. The good thing is getting some money for it and by creating a large clear space getting in Mrs. Wood's good books (a rare event?) but the bad thing is having to sort it all out into different materials! At least the good parts come after the bad!

Always looking out for unusual number plates that have some relevance to their vehicle, I saw this on the way to the scrap merchants. Nice!

Back at WMD HQ I could have gone to the Man Cave but I actually did a job I have been putting off, again for some time, which is to make a hanging rack for the banners at Rocks By Rail. Old salvaged wood and some metal threaded rod got used and if my initial trial is anything to go by the principal is good. I just need to run an angle grinder along the threaded rod so that the banners slide on easily with their pre-made fastening holes.

I think that is me done for the day now - a real mixed day!

Changes!

Having returned from my bike ride this afternoon (it had dried up from this mornings downpour) I got caught in another downpour! Wet and soggy I thought where has summer gone? Looking back two years ago I blogged this on the 16th July 2022.....

With warnings of a hot weekend I still had to remind myself that it was only mid July whilst out on my bike ride this morning seeing harvested fields, hay stacks and tractors out ploughing - sights normally for late August and September!!

How times change with this today! Wet, wet and to avoid the pop group cliché, more wet!

And talking of change the 3D printed engine shed has changed a bit! The rook trusses have been fitted to the underside of the corrugated iron roof sheets

 

And it is a nice tight fit on the shed itself whilst still being able to be lifted off.

I have also fettled the window frames by removing some flash as well as on the doors.

 Next stage is to think about some paint and then it will really have changed!

Barge boards on!

A busy day with jobs plus I had a puncture on my bike ride  means just a small amount of model making time - enough to put the barge boards cut yesterday on the 3d printed engine shed roof. Once the glue has hardened I will sand the joints smooth and then think about the ridge that I need to put on.